Deluxe Review 2024: Features, Pricing And More

Deluxe Payroll is software that aids small to medium-sized business (SMB) owners in the processing of both employee and contractor payroll. Deluxe offers a full range of features and add-on options such as benefits administration and an HRIS option to manage all HR documentation.

Deluxe purchased Payce Payroll in 2016 to increase its software offering and try to help its customers with HR-focused options. Prior to that, Deluxe was focused on software for business operations, marketing and payment processing. Businesses looking for an all-in-one solution might find Deluxe a very strong option.

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1

Rippling

Benefits administration

Yes

Contractor Payments

Yes

Base Price

$35/month plus $8 PEPM

1

Rippling

Learn More

On Rippling's Website

2

OnPay

Benefits administration

Yes

Contractor payments

Yes

Base monthly price

$40 per month + $6 per user

2

OnPay

Learn More

On OnPay's Website

3

Paychex Flex

Benefits administration

Yes

Contractor payments

Yes

Base monthly price

$39-plus per month, depending on company size and needs (6 month free offer)

3

Paychex Flex

Learn More

On Paychex's Website

4

Gusto

Benefits administration

Yes

Contractor payments

Yes

Base monthly price

$40 per month plus $6 per user

4

Gusto

Learn More

On Gusto's Website

Deluxe’s payroll packages help you modernize your payroll so you have less work to do come payday. Its services help digitize your HR practices, including offering employees direct deposit or a pay card instead of paper checks and automating the hiring process. Also, the software is cloud-based, meaning you can make changes to the payroll wherever you are.

Unfortunately, Deluxe’s stand-alone payroll software doesn’t come standard with every feature you’d probably like. You have to add on benefits administration, which is included in industry-leading software such as Gusto. Time tracking, PTO accrual policies, applicant tracking systems and HR handbook administration are also services you’ll need to pay extra for that come standard in many other software.

Overall, Deluxe can be easy to set up, but the more you customize it, the more difficult it becomes, and a lot of businesses will want to customize it in order to get the most out of the software. While Deluxe can be a full HR software solution, it only unlocks a lot of those features in more expensive packages or with add-ons.

The basic dashboard is very intuitive and easy for anyone to use to process payroll. Anyone using traditional operations software consistently will find that Deluxe’s system fits right in with what you’re used to. The software offers seamless integration between HR, benefits and payroll, meaning a change made to an employee in one mode automatically syncs between systems.

Deluxe is easy to set up if you don’t need to customize anything. Customization is clunky and difficult, even though you can customize just about anything. You’ll likely need a tech team to get the most out of the software and make it a powerful HR delivery and data tool. Still, the available integrations—including Microsoft, Google Workspace, Slack, LinkedIn and QuickBooks—mean you’ll enjoy functionality and compatibility with all of your company’s tools.

Ease of Use

Deluxe’s dashboard is relatively modern and simplistic, making it easy to use. When you log in, you’ll see options for your team, company, benefits, payroll sync and more on the left-hand side.

You can enter each employee’s hours manually or automate things with a regular salary. After submitting payroll, reports are available right away. That said, you need Deluxe to help you set everything up the first time.

Compliance

With time and attendance built in, Deluxe lets you track hours and compliance to ensure you’re following all local and federal regulations. It also includes benefits compliance tracking, which can be helpful if you have employees in several locations with varying benefits guidelines.

Onboarding

Deluxe specializes in electronic onboarding, taking away the hassle of physical paperwork. It lets you collect digital signatures and automates mundane administrative workflows. There are even built-in new hire checklists you can follow to make sure you’ve completed every step in the process.

Tax Filing

Deluxe can handle tax forms and payments in all 50 states, meaning you can hire employees anywhere in the country without it being a hassle. If Deluxe makes a mistake when filing your taxes, it promises to deal with any paperwork and pay any fines as a result.

Beyond that, it doesn’t offer additional tax services.

Time Tracking

Time tracking is an add-on with Deluxe. With it, you can track hourly employees, create shift schedules, schedule short-term employees and track time on jobs that pay different rates. Each punch-in is also sorted by job, location, site and whatever other details you track.

You can easily drag and drop shifts, and when you publish them, the whole team will automatically be notified. There are also administrative tools that let you track unexpected clock-ins and clock-outs, track break periods and deny or approve time off.

Benefits Administration

You can bring your own broker or use one of Deluxe’s brokers for your benefits plans, which include health, dental, vision and more. You can also manage life, accident and disability insurance through Deluxe.

Employees have the freedom to manage their own benefits and coverage, saving you from spending your day fielding questions. Any and all changes are synced directly with your and your insurance carriers’ systems to keep selections as up to date as possible.

Analytics and Reporting

Deluxe’s reporting capabilities fall a bit short of the competition. It doesn’t offer any new hire or payroll reporting features. You do have the option to create custom reporting fields, but the fact that these aren’t included as a default in the system means they won’t be very robust.

Accessibility

Deluxe doesn’t have an employer-facing app for on-the-go access—something that could be a deterrent if you have a remote business. It does offer the Deluxe Mobile app for employees, which lets them track time and schedules while on the job.

However, since the software is cloud-based, you can access it online at any time. The Deluxe HR Solutions website lets you manage HR tasks, while the MyPayCenter website is used for payroll tasks.

	Payroll + HR Essentials	Payroll + HR Enhanced
Starting Price	$45 per month plus $7 per employee per month	Contact sales for monthly price, plus $14 per employee per month
U.S. Payroll	All 50 states	All 50 states
Global Payroll	Not available	Not available
Onboarding	Yes	Yes
Tax Filing	Yes	Yes
Benefits Administration	Add-on service	Add-on service
Time Tracking	Add-on service	Add-on service
Expense Management	No	No
Mobile Apps	Yes (employee-facing)	Yes (employee-facing)
Workflow Automations	No	Yes, unlimited
Reporting and Analytics	No	Yes, with custom fields
Document Templates	No	Yes
Digitized Documentation	No	Yes
Third-Party Integrations	QuickBooks, Microsoft, Google Workspace, Slack, LinkedIn	QuickBooks, Microsoft, Google Workspace, Slack, LinkedIn
Error-Free Guarantee	Yes	Yes
Customer Support	HR support center, phone and chat support 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. CT	HR support center, phone and chat support 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. CT

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Payroll + HR Essentials

The base Deluxe plan comes with full-service payroll and tax filings in all 50 states. You’ll also get access to digital hiring and onboarding tools, direct deposit, accounting integrations and employee self-service. You’ll have 24/7 expert support available in the form of online tutorials, but to get actual human help, you’ll have to call in between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. CT.

Payroll + HR Enhanced

The only difference between the top-tier plan and the base plan is the addition of custom reporting fields and document templates, digitization of all employee documents and unlimited workflow automation. This may be worth it to upgrade, but since Deluxe isn’t transparent on pricing, we’re not certain.

You can reach Deluxe customer service by calling or live chat. Unfortunately, they’re only available for 12 hours a day—not great if you like to burn the midnight oil.

If you need help outside of those hours, Deluxe does offer an HR Support Center included with all packages with example employee handbooks, job descriptions and training courses. You can also upgrade to more thorough HR support packages for additional help. That said, these are more geared toward HR knowledge in general, not help navigating the Deluxe dashboard or troubleshooting a problem.

Otherwise, reviews typically note the customer service is helpful and supportive in resolving any issues.

Deluxe comes with a learning management system that lets you track learning and development for all of your staff. You can create customized courses based on your business’s needs, especially if you’re in an industry that requires mandated certifications. However, you might not need to create your own course, as Deluxe offers over 325 courses on its Learn platform. Choose from compliance training, sexual harassment and conduct training and employee development courses.

You can also take advantage of applicant tracking and job posting. Deluxe can post to over 25 career sites with one click. Then, when you find a candidate, they can enjoy self-scheduling and direct texting. Knockout questions are also available to help find standout candidates before prescreening.

	Deluxe	Gusto	Paychex	OnPay
Starting Price	$45 per month plus $7 per employee	$40 per month plus $6 per employee	$39 per month plus $5 per employee	$40 per month plus $6 per employee
Free Trial	No	No	No	No
Payroll Features	– Easy to set up – 100% tax penalty protection – Customizable reports – Integrates with most popular POS and accounting software	– Direct deposit for employees and contractors – Automatic tax filings – Integrated free checking for employees	– Intuitive self-service portal – Tax filing must be added on – Free content to teach payroll, taxes and HR best practices	– Benefits administration included – Automated tax filings – Send and collect electronic signatures – Integrates with QuickBooks and Xero
Benefits Administration	Can be added on, quoted separately	Can administer health, retirement, transportation, wellness, housing and more	Not included	Can administer dental, health, vision, retirement, life insurance and liability insurance
Learn more	On Deluxe’s Website	On Gusto’s Website	On Paychex Flex’s Website	On OnPay’s Website
Read Reviews	—	Read Gusto Review	Read Paychex Review	Read OnPay Review

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Deluxe is on par when it comes to price compared to the industry leaders in the payroll software industry, but in some cases, it offers less for that price. Gusto offers everything Deluxe offers but for less per employee per month. Plus, you won’t have to add on some features with Gusto like you’ll have to do if you want a full HR system in Deluxe.

Deluxe does offer benefits, which some options such as Paychex do not. This makes Deluxe a fair option to try if you’ve soured on using Gusto for whatever reason. However, with all things considered, it’s difficult to suggest using Deluxe over Gusto’s powerful features, affordable pricing and great customer service.

Deluxe vs. Gusto

Deluxe lacks many of the features that come in Gusto, including PTO management, next-day direct deposit and automated compliance alerts. The fact that benefits administration comes standard with all plans is a huge plus if you’re looking for an all-in-one HR solution.

Deluxe vs. Paychex

Interestingly, tax filing has to be added on with Paychex—it’s an included service with Deluxe, meaning you could save yourself a lot of money. There are also extra fees for W-2 and 1099 filing and no built-in time tracking solution, which could make Deluxe the better option if you deal with a lot of contractors. Finally, the lack of benefits options in Paychex doesn’t make it viable if you want to offer employees an all-in-one HR platform.

Deluxe vs. OnPay

Deluxe and OnPay both integrate with QuickBooks, but if you use Xero, you’ll definitely want to choose OnPay. OnPay also doesn’t include time tracking. However, OnPay’s included benefits administration options far exceed Deluxe’s add-on services.

Deluxe has a lot of options and features available to businesses, but it’s still playing catch-up compared to some of the best payroll software options on the market today. While Deluxe might be a good option to try if you’ve tried one of the industry leaders and didn’t like it, most will find better options elsewhere

Deluxe is also more expensive than similar software options that are easier to use. The pricing can also be difficult to understand because the company doesn’t quote add-on pricing directly on its website. You have to get a quote to offer benefits administration, for example. Deluxe is just a bit behind some of the leaders throughout the payroll software industry.

Deluxe Is Best For:

• Businesses that don’t need bells and whistles for their HR software
• Businesses with employees across several states
• Businesses that want benefits administration included in payroll software
• Businesses that need time tracking and scheduling features
• Businesses that want to integrate popular accounting software

Deluxe Is Not Recommended For:

• Businesses that need analytics and reporting
• Businesses that require global payroll
• Businesses that want to test a service before committing
• Businesses that want a transparent payment plan for add-ons

Deluxe is a simple yet powerful payroll tool that can help your company make payday a lot smoother. While it doesn’t come loaded with bells and whistles, it has every feature a small- to medium-sized company should need for managing pay and taxes.