How to Compare Payroll Pricing for a Small Team

Payroll software is priced as a monthly base fee plus a per-person charge, so you cannot rank vendors on either number alone. At five employees in one state, the listed rates work out to $780 a year on Square Payroll and $948 on both Gusto Simple and OnPay. The figures that actually decide the bill are elsewhere: the number of states you pay into, how fast you need money to move, and whether the price you were shown is a promotion. All numbers below come from each vendor's own pricing page, checked October 10, 2026.

Compare the base fee and the head count charge together

The four pages we could read use the same two-part structure. Gusto lists Simple at $49 a month plus $6 a month per person, Plus at $80 plus $12 per person, and Premium at $180 plus $22 per person.

OnPay lists a single Payroll Essentials plan at $49 base plus $6 per worker. Square Payroll lists $35 a month plus $6 a month per person paid, with unlimited pay runs and no commitment.

Square has the lowest base of the three and matches Gusto Simple and OnPay on the per-person rate, so it stays cheapest at every head count among those three. That is unusual: normally a low base is paid for with a high per-person charge.

All three advertise unlimited pay runs, which removes a variable that used to matter. The per-seat logic is otherwise familiar from other categories, as set out in what per-agent pricing means when agents are part-time.

A second state can force a plan change, not an add-on

This is the biggest hidden difference between the pages. Gusto describes its Simple plan as running basic payroll in one state, and lists multi-state payroll among the features of Plus.

So hiring one remote employee in a second state moves a five-person team from $49 plus $6 per person to $80 plus $12 per person. That is $948 a year against $1,680, by our calculation from the listed rates.

Gusto also sells Business Compliance, which tracks state tax registrations and annual reports, at $85 a month per state on an annual contract, included on Premium. State tax registration itself appears as a paid add-on on Simple and Plus.

OnPay prints the opposite position on the same question. Its all-plan inclusions list says you can pay workers in as many states as you need, with no separate charge and no implementation or integration fees.

If you expect to hire across state lines, that single line is worth more than any base-fee difference. It also removes the kind of one-time charge described in what onboarding and implementation fees cover.

Speed is sold by the payroll run

Payroll vendors now charge for how fast the money moves, and Gusto publishes the clearest menu of it.

• Next-Day pay: $15 a month plus $3 a month per person on Simple, included in Plus and Premium
• Same-day pay: $90 per payroll on Simple and Plus, included in Premium
• Instant pay: $100 per payroll on Simple and Plus, included in Premium
• Time and Attendance Plus: free trial then $6 a month per person on Simple
• Priority Support: $30 a month plus $3 a month per person on Simple and Plus

Those per-run charges change the arithmetic quickly. A business running two same-day payrolls a month on the Plus plan adds $180 a month, which is more than the $140 a five-person Plus subscription costs.

At that point the Premium plan, which includes same-day and instant pay, becomes the cheaper option at $180 plus $22 per person. Count the runs you expect before you choose the tier.

Contractors are billed on a different rule

Mixed workforces are where the per-person charge gets confusing, and the vendors handle it differently in print.

Gusto states that US contractors are billed at the per-person cost for the plan you select, but only in the months when you have paid them. Global contractor payments carry no monthly per-contractor fee, with a service and foreign exchange fee per payment and $5 per payment to US-based bank accounts.

Square Payroll sells a contractor-only option at $6 a month per person paid, with no base fee. For a business paying four contractors and no employees, that is $24 a month against Gusto Simple's $49 base before any head count.

OnPay includes W-2s, 1099s and year-end filings on all plans and bills $6 per worker, without printing a separate contractor rate on the page we read.

Promotional pricing hides the renewal number

QuickBooks is the one vendor here whose page leads with a discount rather than a price. Its payroll page shows bundles of payroll plus accounting, not standalone payroll.

Workforce Payroll with Simple Start is listed at $44 a month, struck through from $88, plus $6.50 per employee per month. Workforce Payroll with Essentials is $62.50 from $125, and Workforce Premium with Plus is $101.50 from $203 plus $10 per employee.

The discount is stated as 50% off for three months, with a further 10% off the annual price available at checkout. Budget the undiscounted figure, because that is what month four costs.

Bundled accounting also makes the comparison uneven, since you are buying two products. We separate those costs in how to compare small business accounting software pricing.

Work the twelve-month total for five employees

Editorial calculation at five employees in one state, twelve months, no speed add-ons and no promotional discount applied. Listed rates checked October 10, 2026.

• Square Payroll: ($35 + 5 x $6) x 12 = $780 a year
• Gusto Simple: ($49 + 5 x $6) x 12 = $948 a year
• OnPay Payroll Essentials: ($49 + 5 x $6) x 12 = $948 a year
• QuickBooks Workforce Payroll with Simple Start at the undiscounted rate: ($88 + 5 x $6.50) x 12 = $1,446 a year, including accounting
• Gusto Plus, the tier needed for a second state: ($80 + 5 x $12) x 12 = $1,680 a year
• Gusto Premium: ($180 + 5 x $22) x 12 = $3,480 a year

The spread from cheapest to dearest is more than four to one on the same five employees. Almost none of that gap comes from the payroll calculation itself, which every vendor here performs.

One page would not open. Patriot Software's payroll pricing page returned a bot-protection challenge to both a direct fetch and a headless browser on October 10, 2026, so it is absent from these totals rather than estimated.

Bottom line

Write down your head count, your number of states, your contractor count and the number of off-cycle payrolls you expect in a year. Only then compare plans, because each of those four inputs can change the tier you need.

As of October 2026, Square Payroll has the lowest listed cost for a single-state employee team, OnPay has the most favourable printed position on multi-state work, and Gusto has the widest add-on menu and the steepest climb between tiers.

Price the rest of the back office with the same method in how to compare CRM pricing for a small sales team and how to compare password manager pricing for a small team, and check the exit in what data export limits mean when you leave a tool.

Frequently asked questions

How much does payroll software cost for five employees?

At listed rates checked October 10, 2026, a single-state team of five costs $780 a year on Square Payroll, $948 on Gusto Simple, $948 on OnPay, and $1,680 on Gusto Plus, which is the tier Gusto lists for multi-state payroll.

Which payroll software is cheapest for a small business?

Among the pages we could read, Square Payroll at $35 a month plus $6 per person paid has the lowest listed cost at small head counts. Patriot Software's pricing page would not open on October 10, 2026, so it is not included.

Do I pay more for payroll in two states?

On Gusto, yes. Simple is described as basic payroll in one state and multi-state payroll sits on Plus, which raises the per-person rate from $6 to $12. OnPay lists paying workers in as many states as you need on all plans.

How are contractors charged on payroll software?

Usually at the per-person rate. Gusto bills US contractors at the plan per-person cost only in months when you pay them, and Square sells a contractor-only plan at $6 a month per person paid with no base fee.

Why does QuickBooks Payroll pricing look so low?

Because the page leads with a promotion. The listed $44 a month is struck through from $88 and described as 50% off for three months, plus $6.50 per employee per month, as of October 2026.

Is same-day payroll worth paying for?

Only if you use it often. Gusto lists same-day pay at $90 per payroll and instant pay at $100 per payroll on Simple and Plus. Two same-day runs a month cost more than a five-person Plus subscription.