Find the Right Best Payroll Software
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Best Payroll Software
Payroll tools for small businesses — from simple solo setups to full HR suites.
1. Gusto
★ Top Pick PaidModern payroll and HR built for growing small businesses
Gusto is the most popular modern payroll platform for US small businesses. It handles federal and state tax filing automatically, supports benefits administration, and has the cleanest interface in the category.
- ✓ Auto tax filing for all 50 states
- ✓ Employee onboarding built in
- ✓ Health and 401k benefits admin
- ✓ Very clean, easy interface
- ✓ Contractor payments included
- ✗ Expensive for larger teams
- ✗ Benefits admin requires higher tier
- ✗ Limited international payroll support
2. Rippling
PaidPayroll, HR, and IT management in one platform
Rippling combines payroll with HR and IT device management — meaning you can onboard an employee, enroll them in payroll, set up their laptop, and give them software access in a single workflow.
- ✓ Unified HR + payroll + IT platform
- ✓ Fastest employee onboarding
- ✓ Strong global payroll support
- ✓ Automatic device management
- ✓ Excellent compliance tools
- ✗ Complex pricing structure
- ✗ Requires a sales call to get started
- ✗ Overkill for very small teams
3. OnPay
PaidFull-service payroll at a flat, simple price
OnPay charges a flat $40/mo base plus $6 per employee — same structure as Gusto, but with unlimited pay runs and unlimited filings included. It also covers agriculture and household workers.
- ✓ No extra fees for additional pay runs
- ✓ Covers agriculture and household employment
- ✓ All-state tax filing included
- ✓ HR documents and onboarding built in
- ✓ No long-term contracts
- ✗ Less polished UI than Gusto
- ✗ Smaller integration ecosystem
- ✗ No mobile app
4. ADP RUN
PaidEnterprise payroll reliability for small business pricing
ADP is the largest payroll processor in the world. ADP RUN brings that enterprise infrastructure to small businesses with 50 employees or fewer — useful if you want the compliance confidence of a major brand.
- ✓ Brand reliability and compliance depth
- ✓ Strong HR compliance support
- ✓ Workers comp integration
- ✓ 24/7 customer support
- ✓ Large accountant network
- ✗ Opaque pricing — requires a quote
- ✗ UI feels dated compared to Gusto
- ✗ Upselling can be aggressive
- ✗ Setup takes longer
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