Pay VoucherNo. 2026

Period · May 08, 2026

Independent comparison

Cheapest Payroll Service / 2026 Edition

Find the cheapest payroll for your team

Enter how many people you pay. Every provider gets ranked by true monthly cost. We are not affiliated with any vendor, so the cheapest option is the cheapest option, not the one paying the highest commission.

See ranked list Total cost calculator

10 providersHidden fees includedZero affiliate ranking bias

Field 01 / Headcount

How many employees do you pay?

Cheapest at 5 employees

$50/ mo

SurePayroll

Tax filing is an add-on

5 employees, every provider, true monthly cost

11 entries

No.

Provider

Base

Per ee

Monthly

SurePayrollCheapestTax add-on

Cost-conscious small businesses comfortable with self-service tax filing.

$19.99+$10 tax

$50/ mo

Wave PayrollRunner-upTax add-on

Solo owners and freelancers already on Wave Accounting in a tax-service state.

$20

$50/ mo

Patriot Full Service

Small businesses that want low base price plus done-for-you tax filing.

$37

$57/ mo

Paychex Flex Essentials

Growing businesses that want a dedicated payroll specialist on the phone.

$39

$64/ mo

Square Payroll

Hourly workforces, restaurants, and businesses already on Square POS.

$35

$65/ mo

Patriot BasicTax add-on

Micro-businesses with one or two employees that handle their own tax filings.

$17+$30 tax

$67/ mo

OnPay

Multi-state small businesses that do not want to think about add-ons.

$40

$70/ mo

Gusto Simple

Small businesses in one state that want a polished, employee-friendly experience.

$40

$70/ mo

Homebase Payroll

Hourly staff, scheduling-heavy businesses, restaurants, and retail.

$40

$70/ mo

QuickBooks Payroll Core

Businesses already on QuickBooks Online accounting.

$45

$75/ mo

ADP Run Essential

Mid-size businesses that want enterprise-grade reliability.

$79

$99/ mo

Cheapest at 5 employees

$50/mo

Pricing reflects each vendor's published rates as of April 2026. Always verify on the vendor's pricing page. Tax filing add-on shown for self-service tiers. W-2 processing and other year-end fees are covered on /hidden-fees and folded into the /annual-cost view.

Schedule A / Crossover

Cheapest at 1, 5, 10, 25 employees

The provider that wins at one headcount rarely wins at another. This table shows true monthly cost (including tax-filing add-ons where applicable) for every provider at four common team sizes. The green cell in each column is the cheapest option at that headcount.

Provider	Base	/ ee	Tax filed	W-2	1 ee	5 ee	10 ee	25 ee
Patriot Basic	$17+$30 tax	$4	add-on	$25/form	$51	$67	$87	$147
Wave Payroll	$20	$6	add-on	$6/form	$26	$50	$80	$170
SurePayroll	$19.99+$10 tax	$4	add-on	$5/form	$34	$50	$70	$130
Patriot Full Service	$37	$4	✓	$25/form	$41	$57	$77	$137
OnPay	$40	$6	✓	✓	$46	$70	$100	$190
Gusto Simple	$40	$6	✓	✓	$46	$70	$100	$190
Square Payroll	$35	$6	✓	✓	$41	$65	$95	$185
QuickBooks Payroll Core	$45	$6	✓	✓	$51	$75	$105	$195
Homebase Payroll	$40	$6	✓	✓	$46	$70	$100	$190
Paychex Flex Essentials	$39	$5	✓	$7/form	$44	$64	$89	$164
ADP Run Essential	$79	$4	✓	$6/form	$83	$99	$119	$179

Cheapest base price

Patriot Basic

$17/mo + $4/ee

Lowest sticker. Tax filing is a $30/mo add-on, so it stops being cheapest once you want done-for-you taxes.

Cheapest with tax filing

OnPay

$40/mo + $6/ee

Single tier, multi-state included, W-2s included. The cleanest 'one bill' option for 4 to 25 employees.

Cheapest for contractors only

Square / Gusto contractor

$6/contractor, no base

If you only pay 1099s, skip a full payroll plan. Square and Gusto's contractor-only plans charge nothing until you actually pay someone.

Worksheet B / True monthly cost

Total cost calculator with add-ons

Most calculators stop at base plus per-employee. This one folds in tax filing, time tracking, and multi-state, then sorts every provider by your true monthly bill.

Inputs

Employees

Need tax filingAdd Patriot Basic / SurePayroll tax add-onNeed time tracking$6/employee penalty where not includedMulti-state employees$12/employee penalty where not included

Cheapest

$50

SurePayroll

Most expensive

$99

ADP Run Essential

Annual delta

$593

cheapest vs priciest

01SurePayroll

$50$625/yr

02Wave Payroll

$50$630/yr

03Patriot Full Service

$57$809/yr

04Paychex Flex Essentials

$64$803/yr

05Square Payroll

$65$780/yr

06Patriot Basic

$67$929/yr

07OnPay

$70$840/yr

08Gusto Simple

$70$840/yr

09Homebase Payroll

$70$840/yr

10QuickBooks Payroll Core

$75$900/yr

11ADP Run Essential

$99$1,218/yr

Estimated penalties: $6 per employee for time tracking, $12 per employee for multi-state. Annual figure adds W-2 processing for providers that bill it separately. Always confirm actual quotes from each vendor.

Trade-off Notes

What "cheap" actually costs you

Every cheap option asks for something in return. Time, compliance risk, multi-state coverage, or year-end fees. Here is what each cheap option asks of you.

Trade-off

Patriot Basic at $17/mo

You file your own federal and state taxes, or pay $30/mo for the add-on.

See hidden-fee breakdown

Trade-off

Wave Payroll at $20/mo

Tax-service only in 14 states. Outside those, you handle filings yourself.

Free option stress test

Trade-off

DIY / Payroll4Free

Your time is the cost. One late-deposit penalty erases months of savings.

DIY true-cost analysis

Field Notes

Cheapest payroll: common questions

Direct answers from the same data that powers the ranking.

What is the cheapest payroll service for a small business?+

The honest answer is: it depends on employee count and whether you want tax filing included. Patriot Basic at $17 plus $4 per employee has the lowest sticker price, but tax filing is a $30 per month add-on. Once you add taxes, OnPay and Gusto Simple at $40 plus $6 per employee become cheaper for most teams of four or more. For one or two employees with simple needs, Patriot Basic stays the cheapest even after the tax add-on.

How much does payroll cost per month for 5 employees?+

At 5 employees, the cheapest options are Patriot Basic at $37 if you handle tax filing yourself or $67 with tax filing, SurePayroll self-service at $40, Patriot Full Service at $57, OnPay and Gusto Simple at $70, QuickBooks Payroll Core at $75, and Square Payroll at $65 with time tracking included. Verify on each vendor's pricing page.

Is there a truly free payroll service?+

Payroll4Free is the closest, but it does not file federal or state taxes for you and does not include direct deposit on the free tier. Wave Payroll has no separate platform fee in 14 tax-service states, charging only $6 per employee. For most US businesses, the realistic floor is around $20 to $40 per month from a paid provider.

Is it cheaper to do payroll yourself?+

DIY payroll only saves money for solo owner-operators or businesses with one or two employees in a single state. Once you have three or more employees, the time cost of running payroll plus the risk of an IRS late-deposit penalty (which starts at 2 percent and climbs to 15 percent of the unpaid amount) usually exceeds the cost of a $40 per month service.

What hidden fees do payroll services charge?+

The most common surprises are year-end W-2 processing ($5 to $25 per form at some providers), tax filing add-ons ($30 per month at Patriot Basic), off-cycle payroll run fees ($10 to $25), garnishment processing, multi-state add-ons, and time tracking add-ons. ADP and Paychex also commonly charge setup fees that are negotiable but rarely waived without asking.

Can I switch payroll providers mid-year?+

Yes, and the cleanest windows are at the start of a quarter or the start of the year. Mid-quarter switches are possible but require careful YTD data transfer to avoid double-counting wages on W-2s. Plan a one to two month overlap if you want to run a parallel test. See the switching guide for the step-by-step.

Voucher Stubs / Deeper reads