Prices checked 2026-10-17 to 2026-10-19
Cheapest payroll service for a small business: 1, 2 and 5 employees
Every payroll plan we track with a published price, ranked by what it costs for 1, 2 and 5 employees at the regular price. Plans that leave the tax filing to you are labelled and kept out of the ranking.
Disclosure: Some of these vendors run affiliate programs. Every vendor link on this page is a plain link today; if we join a program, its links will be marked sponsored. It never changes the prices or the order we show. Details
The short answer
- 1 employee: SurePayroll Small Business payroll at $36/mo ($432 a year). Next: Square Payroll $41, Patriot Payroll $42.
- 2 employees: SurePayroll Small Business payroll at $43/mo ($516 a year). Next: Patriot Payroll $47, Square Payroll $47.
- 5 employees: Patriot Payroll Full Service Payroll at $62/mo ($744 a year). Next: SurePayroll $64, Square Payroll $65.
Ranked on price only, at regular monthly list prices, among plans that file and deposit your payroll taxes. Ties share a rank.
Jump to: 1 employee · 2 employees · 5 employees
Cheapest payroll for 1 employee
| # | Provider and plan | 1 person, per month | Per year | Intro offers and notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | SurePayrollSmall Business payroll | $36/mo$29/mo + $7 × 1 employee | $432 | — |
| 2 | Square PayrollFull-service payroll | $41/mo$35/mo + $6 × 1 employee | $492 | — |
| 3 | Patriot PayrollFull Service Payroll | $42/mo$37/mo + $5 × 1 employee | $504 | Intro: $18.50/mo + $2.50/person for 3 months; year one with intro $441. |
| 4 | Zoho Payroll (US)Standard | $45/mo$39/mo + $6 × 1 employee | $540 | — |
| 5 | WaveWave Payroll (US) | $46/mo$40/mo + $6 × 1 employee | $552 | Add-on to Wave accounting; the Starter plan is $0 |
| =6 | GustoSimple | $55/mo$49/mo + $6 × 1 employee | $660 | — |
| =6 | Homebase (with Payroll)Payroll add-on + Basic plan | $55/mo$49/mo + $6 × 1 employee | $660 | Basic is $0 for 1 location and up to 10 employees |
| =6 | OnPayPayroll Essentials | $55/mo$49/mo + $6 × 1 employee | $660 | — |
| 9 | QuickBooks Payroll (QuickBooks Workforce)Workforce Payroll | $57/mo$50/mo + $7 × 1 employee | $684 | Intro: $25/mo + $7/person (per-person fee not discounted) for 3 months; year one with intro $609. |
| 10 | JustworksPayroll | $58/mo$50/mo + $8 × 1 employee | $696 | — |
| — | Patriot Payroll Doesn’t file taxesBasic Payroll | $21/mo$17/mo + $4 × 1 employee | $252 | You file and deposit payroll taxes yourself. Not ranked. |
| — | SurePayroll Doesn’t file taxesNo Tax Filing (Self-Service) | $24/mo$20/mo + $4 × 1 employee | $288 | You file and deposit payroll taxes yourself. Not ranked. |
| — | RUN Powered by ADP | Quote only | — | No public price, so not ranked. |
| — | Paychex Flex | Quote only | — | No public price, so not ranked. |
| — | Rippling | Quote only | — | No public price, so not ranked. |
Cheapest payroll for 2 employees
| # | Provider and plan | 2 people, per month | Per year | Intro offers and notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | SurePayrollSmall Business payroll | $43/mo$29/mo + $7 × 2 employees | $516 | — |
| =2 | Patriot PayrollFull Service Payroll | $47/mo$37/mo + $5 × 2 employees | $564 | Intro: $18.50/mo + $2.50/person for 3 months; year one with intro $494. |
| =2 | Square PayrollFull-service payroll | $47/mo$35/mo + $6 × 2 employees | $564 | — |
| 4 | Zoho Payroll (US)Standard | $51/mo$39/mo + $6 × 2 employees | $612 | — |
| 5 | WaveWave Payroll (US) | $52/mo$40/mo + $6 × 2 employees | $624 | Add-on to Wave accounting; the Starter plan is $0 |
| =6 | GustoSimple | $61/mo$49/mo + $6 × 2 employees | $732 | — |
| =6 | Homebase (with Payroll)Payroll add-on + Basic plan | $61/mo$49/mo + $6 × 2 employees | $732 | Basic is $0 for 1 location and up to 10 employees |
| =6 | OnPayPayroll Essentials | $61/mo$49/mo + $6 × 2 employees | $732 | — |
| 9 | QuickBooks Payroll (QuickBooks Workforce)Workforce Payroll | $64/mo$50/mo + $7 × 2 employees | $768 | Intro: $25/mo + $7/person (per-person fee not discounted) for 3 months; year one with intro $693. |
| 10 | JustworksPayroll | $66/mo$50/mo + $8 × 2 employees | $792 | — |
| — | Patriot Payroll Doesn’t file taxesBasic Payroll | $25/mo$17/mo + $4 × 2 employees | $300 | You file and deposit payroll taxes yourself. Not ranked. |
| — | SurePayroll Doesn’t file taxesNo Tax Filing (Self-Service) | $28/mo$20/mo + $4 × 2 employees | $336 | You file and deposit payroll taxes yourself. Not ranked. |
| — | RUN Powered by ADP | Quote only | — | No public price, so not ranked. |
| — | Paychex Flex | Quote only | — | No public price, so not ranked. |
| — | Rippling | Quote only | — | No public price, so not ranked. |
Cheapest payroll for 5 employees
| # | Provider and plan | 5 people, per month | Per year | Intro offers and notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Patriot PayrollFull Service Payroll | $62/mo$37/mo + $5 × 5 employees | $744 | Intro: $18.50/mo + $2.50/person for 3 months; year one with intro $651. |
| 2 | SurePayrollSmall Business payroll | $64/mo$29/mo + $7 × 5 employees | $768 | — |
| 3 | Square PayrollFull-service payroll | $65/mo$35/mo + $6 × 5 employees | $780 | — |
| 4 | Zoho Payroll (US)Standard | $69/mo$39/mo + $6 × 5 employees | $828 | — |
| 5 | WaveWave Payroll (US) | $70/mo$40/mo + $6 × 5 employees | $840 | Add-on to Wave accounting; the Starter plan is $0 |
| =6 | GustoSimple | $79/mo$49/mo + $6 × 5 employees | $948 | — |
| =6 | Homebase (with Payroll)Payroll add-on + Basic plan | $79/mo$49/mo + $6 × 5 employees | $948 | Basic is $0 for 1 location and up to 10 employees |
| =6 | OnPayPayroll Essentials | $79/mo$49/mo + $6 × 5 employees | $948 | — |
| 9 | QuickBooks Payroll (QuickBooks Workforce)Workforce Payroll | $85/mo$50/mo + $7 × 5 employees | $1,020 | Intro: $25/mo + $7/person (per-person fee not discounted) for 3 months; year one with intro $945. |
| 10 | JustworksPayroll | $90/mo$50/mo + $8 × 5 employees | $1,080 | — |
| — | Patriot Payroll Doesn’t file taxesBasic Payroll | $37/mo$17/mo + $4 × 5 employees | $444 | You file and deposit payroll taxes yourself. Not ranked. |
| — | SurePayroll Doesn’t file taxesNo Tax Filing (Self-Service) | $40/mo$20/mo + $4 × 5 employees | $480 | You file and deposit payroll taxes yourself. Not ranked. |
| — | RUN Powered by ADP | Quote only | — | No public price, so not ranked. |
| — | Paychex Flex | Quote only | — | No public price, so not ranked. |
| — | Rippling | Quote only | — | No public price, so not ranked. |
The calculator
Paying a different number of people?
The payroll calculator ranks the same plans for any crew from 1 to 100, with the same tax-filing switch.
How these are priced
- Each provider’s lowest-cost standard plan that files payroll taxes: base fee + per-person fee × employees. Year = monthly × 12.
- No provider here publishes a fee on every regular pay run, so how often you pay doesn’t change these totals. Optional same-day or instant pay fees are on each provider page.
- Bundles with HR or accounting software, PEO plans and limited-time offers aren’t ranked.
- Plans that don’t file payroll taxes (2) are hidden unless you tick the box above, and never ranked: with them you file and deposit taxes yourself.
Limited-time offers (not ranked)
- Homebase (with Payroll) Payroll add-on, small-team offer + Basic plan: $29/mo + $6/person; Promotional: teams of 5 or fewer including the owner; offer terms and dates on Homebase’s page. Not ranked, because it’s a limited-time offer.
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