Labor is the biggest expense for many companies — and one of the biggest headaches. If you're a small- to medium-sized business, hiring a payroll department or even affording top-of-the-line software may be out of the question.
CNBC Select has named the best payroll services that balance affordability and functionality, looking at factors like pricing, features, benefits administration and HR tools. For more information on how we made our picks, see our methodology.
Best for simplicity
Who's this for? Wave is ideal if you want a no-frills payroll service without many complex features. It offers some of the lowest pricing on the market, but lacks benefits administration and a robust portfolio of HR tools.
Standout benefits: Customers enjoy features like direct deposit, W-2s and 1099s processing, and an online portal for employees. There is also a 30-day free trial available.
Wave
Cost
Starter plan is free, Pro plan starts at $190 per year. Wave Advisors bookkeeping service starts at $199 per month.
Benefits administration
No
HR tools
No
Pros
- 30-day free trial
- Free Starter tier has robust offerings
- Unlimited free direct deposits
Cons
- Can't administer employee benefits
- Bookkeeping and payroll services not available nationwide
- Time tracking not included
Best for free trial
Who's this for? SurePayroll is great if you want to test your payroll service before committing. It offers new users a generous six-month free trial for the full-service or no-tax-filing service.
Standout benefits: SurePayroll offers free direct deposit and an intuitive mobile app allows you to manage payroll from any device. You can also opt out of tax filing to save even more money.
SurePayroll
Cost
$19.99 per month + $4 per employee (without tax filing); $29.99 per month + $5 per employee (full service); offers a 6-month free trial
Benefits Administration
401(k) plans, workers' compensation, health insurance
HR tools
Yes
Pros
- Lengthy 6-month free trial period
- Offers unlimited payroll runs
- Live assistance available
- Offers access to an HR advisor
Cons
- Benefits administration isn't as comprehensive as what's offered by some competitors
- The lowest pricing tier doesn't include tax services
Best for unlimited monthly pay runs
Who's this for? OnPay's big draw is its ability to accommodate numerous pay schedules across multiple states and to provide unlimited pay runs.
Standout benefits: Business owners can integrate with accounting services like QuickBooks and Xero. It also has built-in HR and employee benefits features, like onboarding new employees and requesting PTO.
OnPay
Cost
$40 per month, plus $6 per person (One-month free trial)
Benefits Administration
Health insurance, retirement, vacation and PTO, life and disability insurance, liability, commuter benefits, HSA and FSA
HR tools
Yes
Pros
- One month free trial
- Employees can access info via mobile app
- Automated tax payments and filings
Cons
- Limited HR features
- Few third-party software integrations
- Does not include built-in time tracking
Best for international payments
Who's this for? Rippling allows business owners to onboard and pay international employees and contractors in their local currency.
Standout benefits: If you have a global workforce, Rippling helps you remain compliant with local and international tax laws. It also offers a wide array of HR tools, IT and finance features and benefits administration.
Rippling
Cost
Starts at $8 per month per user; custom quote available based on the services needed
Benefits Administration
FSA, HSA, commuter benefits, medical, dental and vision insurance, 401(k)
HR tools
Yes
Pros
- A-la-carte platform allows you to add HR, payroll, benefits, IT, etc. as you scale
- Employees can access their info from app
- integrate with 600+ apps, including Slack, Zoom, QuickBooks, Zendesk, Xero and Salesforce
- Supports compliance and payments in 185+ countries
Cons
- Must request a demo to get specific price quote
- DIY model means price can add up
- Phone support is not available
Best for mobile payroll
Who's this for? Roll by ADP is ideal if you want to manage payroll on the go. It's an AI-driven, chat-based mobile payroll app that lets business owners run payroll in under a minute, simply by texting "run payroll"
Standout benefits: Roll by ADP uses generative AI to offer your business chat support, HR assistance and payroll advice. Onboarding takes approximately 15 minutes and employees can get paid as quickly as the same day payroll is run.
Roll by ADP
Cost
$39 per month plus $5 per employee; 3-month free trial
Benefits Administration
Retirement plan deductions
HR tools
Yes
Pros
- Mobile-friendly payroll service
- Pays W-2 and 1099 employees
- Available in all 50 states
- Offers live chat support
- Same-day and next-day direct deposits available
- Integrates with Quickbooks
- Offers new hire reporting
- 3-month free trial
Cons
- Less information available on full suite of benefits administration offers
How to choose the right payroll service
If you're shopping for payroll services, prioritize those that:
- Support your pay frequency
- Have a user-friendly interface that the entire team can use
- Automate tax filings
- Integrate with your existing accounting software and time-tracking systems
- Incorporate security features like multi-factor authentication and encryption.
- Offer a free tier, free trial or money-back guarantee
Other factors to keep in mind include:
What you need (and what you don't). Do you just want basic payroll or full-service HR, including benefits administration, workers' compensation and time tracking?
How much you have to spend. Set a budget so you're not paying for add-ons you don't actually need.
How often you'll be paying your team. Decide on cadence and method: weekly or biweekly runs, direct deposit, paper checks or even international payments.
The status and location of your workers. Full-time, part-time, hourly and contract workers each have their own tax and reporting requirements. And if you operate across multiple states (or countries), you'll need a service that can handle different tax and compliance obligations.
Payroll FAQ
Can I do my own payroll?
While it's possible to do your own payroll, the process can be time-consuming and puts you at a higher risk for miscalculations.
What is a payroll service?
A payroll service helps business owners facilitate employee payments and, in some cases, benefits administration and HR. These services help ensure employees get paid the appropriate amount on time and that the business complies with local tax laws.
How do payroll services work?
Payroll services take into account data like hours worked, pay rate, taxes, benefits and time off to help businesses pay employees the correct amount for the work they've done.
Why trust CNBC Select?
At CNBC Select, our mission is to provide our readers with high-quality service journalism and comprehensive consumer advice so they can make informed decisions with their money. Every payroll service review is based on rigorous reporting by our team of expert writers and editors with extensive knowledge of small business products. While CNBC Select earns a commission from affiliate partners on many offers and links, we create all our content without input from our commercial team or any outside third parties, and we pride ourselves on our journalistic standards and ethics. See our methodology for more information on how we choose the best cheap payroll services.
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Our methodology
To determine the best cheap payroll services for small businesses, CNBC Select analyzed over a dozen software companies and looked at their pricing, features, user reviews and ratings.
The software we've chosen received high marks for:
- Affordability
- Having an easy-to-navigate user interface
- Having helpful integrations with other business software
- Having automation features that make payroll easier
- Easy to customize based on your company's needs and policies
We sifted through online reviews for each platform to better understand the functionality when it comes to user experience, customer service, features for full-time and contract employees and the implementation of HR resources.
The payroll services we selected for this ranking offer payment processing for contractors and tiered packages tailored to business needs.
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