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Whether you’re trying to process payroll on a remote expedition or while on the way to get your car from the parking garage, payroll apps make payroll processing easier than ever before. Most apps come fully featured with payroll tax calculation, automatic payroll and employee direct deposit. The best payroll apps will also offer features such as time tracking, paid time off (PTO) tracking and 401(k) integration. To help you find the best payroll app for your business, Forbes Advisor did the research and analysis to bring you the best payroll apps.
The Forbes Advisor Small Business team is committed to bringing you unbiased rankings and information with full editorial independence. We use product data, strategic methodologies and expert insights to inform all of our content and guide you in making the best decisions for your business journey.
We reviewed several payroll software providers using a detailed methodology to help you find the seven best payroll apps for small businesses. Our ratings consider factors such as starting price and per-employee pricing, essential payroll features useful to small businesses, third-party reviews and our own expert scoring review. All ratings are determined solely by our editorial team.
| Company | Forbes Advisor Rating | Starting Price | Tax Modules | App or Mobile Responsive | LEARN MORE | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| OnPay |  |
4.9 |  |
$40 per month, plus $6 per person | Yes | Mobile responsive | Learn More | On OnPay's Website | |
| Gusto |  |
4.7 |  |
$40 per month, plus $6 per person | Yes | Mobile responsive | Learn More | On Gusto's Website | |
| QuickBooks |  |
4.5 |  |
$15 per month for your first three months (then $30 per month) | Yes | Mobile responsive | Learn More | Read Forbes' Review | |
| Justworks |  |
4.5 | |
$59 per month per employee (for your first 50 employees) | Yes | Mobile responsive | Learn More | On Justworks' Website | |
| Remote |  |
4.4 | |
$29 per month per contractor or $599 per month per employee | Yes | Mobile responsive | Learn More | Read Forbes' Review | |
| Paycor |  |
4.4 | |
$99 per month, plus $5 per employee | Yes | App | Learn More | Read Forbes' Review | |
| SurePayroll |  |
4.3 | |
$29 per month, plus $4 per employee | Yes | App | Learn More | On SurePayroll’s Website |
To create a ranking of the best payroll apps, we analyzed a variety of payroll app options and narrowed them down to the best based on the following criteria: features, ease of use, customer support, pricing and reviews. We assigned weighted scores to numerous data points to narrow down the payroll apps that offer the best features and customer support while also being easy to use and reasonably priced.
For pricing, a payroll app’s starting price was given the most weight, with providers that were more budget-conscious faring better. We also looked at the range of pricing between an app’s lowest and highest pricing tier and whether the provider offered a free trial of the app. This accounted for 20% of our weighted scoring.
A payroll app needs to offer useful features for companies handling many different payroll situations. Some of the key ones we considered included offering tax modules and compliance features, along with analytics, new hire reporting, integrations with third-party providers and quality of the mobile app. We weighted features at 35% of our total score.
We looked at reviews on third-party sites, such as G2 and Capterra, from real users to gauge opinion of each software. Specifically, we looked at the number of ratings of 3.5 or higher out of 5 that each payroll app had on each site. These accounted for 15% of the total score.
Finally, taking all of these aspects into consideration, we considered each software app by how it performed in customer reviews that included popularity, value for the money, ease of use and any stand-out features or details. Altogether, these criteria make up 35% of the total score.
Featured Partners
1
OnPay
Yes
Yes
$40 per month + $6 per user
2
SurePayroll
Yes
Yes
$29.99/mo plus $5 per employee
3
Gusto
Yes
Yes
$40 per month plus $6 per user
4
Rippling
Yes
Yes
$35 per month + $8 per user
When choosing a payroll app, it’s important to consider your business’s needs. Does your business have employees in multiple countries? If so, you’ll need payroll software that offers compliance management for multiple countries. Does your business have hourly employees? If so, you’ll need payroll software that can track time and approve time cards. Does your business have salaried employees? If so, you’ll need payroll software that can calculate payroll for salaried employees.
Payroll apps typically charge per employee, per month. The price usually ranges from $35 to $55 per employee, per month. Payroll apps rarely offer a free trial but there are some that do, such as QuickBooks Payroll App.
When choosing a payroll app, it’s important to read the reviews. Reviews can give you insight into an app’s features, ease of use, customer support and pricing.
Payroll Solutions Tailored To Your Business Goals
If you have employees, you need to pay them. Payroll apps make it easy to pay your employees by direct deposit, and they can also calculate payroll taxes for you.
Payroll apps typically cost $35 to $55 per employee, per month. If you’re combining payroll with other HR features, you may spend a couple of hundred dollars per employee, per month.
The best payroll app for your business depends on your business’s needs. If you have employees in multiple countries, you’ll need payroll software that offers compliance management for multiple countries, such as Remote. OnPay is our number one pick for payroll apps and is ideal for full-service payroll needs.
The features you want in a payroll app for your small business include one that is simple to set up, provides payroll processing and management, makes it possible to do tax filing, creates detailed payroll reports, offers direct deposit to your employees, allows employees to make certain changes as needed and offers quality customer support.
