Patriot Payroll Pricing 2026: Basic vs Full Service Costs

Patriot Payroll costs $17 a month plus $4 per worker paid on Basic Payroll and $37 a month plus $5 per worker on Full Service Payroll, billed monthly in arrears with unlimited payroll runs. New accounts get a 30-day free trial, then 50% off for three months. Prices read on Patriot's payroll pricing page in October 2026.

Our view: the plan choice is really a question about payroll taxes, not features. Full Service costs $20 a month more plus $1 per worker, and for that Patriot deposits and files your federal, state and local payroll taxes and guarantees the filings. For a business with even a few employees, that handoff is worth more than the fee, and doing the filings yourself to save the gap is a false economy for most owners.

Toolradar data: among the 75 payroll tools Toolradar tracks as of October 2026, Patriot's entry plan ranks #11 of 30 for price among those with a verified flat entry fee, where the median is $27/mo (payroll statistics). Only 16% of the category has a free plan, and Patriot is not one of them. Toolradar is the software directory we run.

Patriot Payroll plans at a glance

Prices are monthly in USD from Patriot's payroll pricing page, October 2026. There is no annual plan and no contract: Patriot bills on a flat monthly fee plus a fee for each worker you pay that month, in arrears. In a month with no payroll run, you pay only the base price.

The per-worker fee counts people paid, not people on file. A seasonal shop that pays 4 people in January and 20 in July pays for 4 and 20, which suits businesses with swinging headcount better than per-seat software that bills every active profile.

How much does Patriot Payroll cost per month?

HRpresso data: we priced both plans at four team sizes from the published list rates on 19 October 2026. Each figure is the monthly base plus the per-worker fee times the number of workers paid that month, before the introductory discount and without add-ons.

At five workers, Full Service costs $300 a year more than Basic. That is the whole price of handing off quarterly 941s, the annual 940, W-2s and state filings, plus the deposits that go with them. Doing that work in-house takes someone's time every quarter, and the IRS charges penalties when a deposit or filing slips.

The table also shows the per-worker fee doing most of the work as teams grow. At 30 workers, the base fee is under a fifth of the Full Service bill, so a business planning to double its headcount should budget on the per-worker line, not the headline.

What the first year costs with the promotion

Patriot's FAQ says every product comes with a 30-day free trial, then 50% off for three months, and the pricing page prints the discounted rates. We modeled a 5-worker business on Full Service for its first 12 months: one free trial month, three months at the discounted $31 (half base plus half the worker fees), then eight months at the $62 list rate.

That first year comes to $589, against $744 at list for twelve paid months. From year two the bill is the list price. The discount is real but short, so judge Patriot on the list price; a provider that is cheaper only during its promo window is not cheaper.

What does Patriot charge on top of the plan?

The add-ons are where a Patriot bill grows past the headline. All of these come from the same pricing page and its linked 1099 e-file pricing:

• Time & Attendance: $6 a month plus $2 per employee. Approved hours flow into the payroll run.
• HR Software: $6 a month plus $2 per employee, for employee status, position history, managers, notes and files.
• Each additional state on Full Service: $12 a month per state. A remote team spread over three states pays $24 a month on top.
• 1099 e-filing on Basic Payroll: $20 for up to five forms, then $2 per form, capped at $80 from 36 forms.
• Bookkeeping Service: from $100 a month plus a one-time onboarding fee, and the introductory discount does not apply.

The add-on math changes the plan cost faster than headcount does, so price the add-ons before comparing Patriot with an all-in-one platform that bundles time tracking and HR. A 15-person team on Full Service with both Time & Attendance and HR pays $112 for payroll plus $72 for the two add-ons, $184 a month in total. The add-ons alone are nearly two thirds of the payroll fee.

Patriot also lists what it does not charge for: no setup fee, free payroll setup assistance with year-to-date data entry, free direct deposit on 4-day or 2-day timing for qualifying customers, unlimited users with permissions, and free 401(k) integration through Vestwell. Support is US-based by phone, email and chat, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. ET on weekdays, which matters if your payroll runs on a weekend.

Basic or Full Service: which Patriot plan fits?

Basic Payroll fits an owner who already files payroll taxes, or has an accountant who does, and only wants the calculations, direct deposit and pay stubs handled. Patriot computes the withholding and reports the liabilities; you make the deposits and file the forms. It is also a sensible plan for a business that pays mostly contractors, since contractor payments run through payroll on both plans.

Full Service Payroll fits everyone else. Patriot deposits and files federal, state and local taxes based on your account settings, files the year-end forms at no extra fee, and states it will cover penalties and interest if an error on its side causes a late or wrong filing. If you do not already know your federal deposit schedule, you want this plan. Our guide to running payroll yourself shows what Basic leaves on your desk.

A business with one employee is the edge case. At that size the gap is $21 a month, and the second worker you hire narrows the relative premium further. Our small business payroll cost guide puts that decision next to hiring a payroll service or an accountant.

Is Patriot cheaper than Gusto, Square or QuickBooks?

At list price, Patriot's Full Service undercuts Square Payroll from three workers up, and the gap widens with headcount because Patriot's per-worker fee is lower. Square Payroll lists $35 a month plus $6 per person paid for full-service payroll with automated tax filings, read in October 2026:

Square is a dollar cheaper for a one-person payroll, the two tie at two workers, and from three workers up Patriot wins by $1 more per worker. For Gusto, OnPay and QuickBooks tiers, see our Gusto pricing and OnPay pricing breakdowns, the QuickBooks Payroll review and the head-to-head in Patriot vs Gusto.

What Patriot does not include is the reason some teams pay more. Health insurance is arranged through SimplyInsured, a partner broker, there is no HR suite without the paid add-on, and no next-day or same-day direct deposit tier on the pricing page. A team that wants payroll, benefits and onboarding in one system should compare the all-in-one platforms in our best payroll software ranking and best payroll software for small business list. Owners leaving a bigger provider can start with our cheaper ADP alternatives, and those hoping for $0 should read the best free payroll software list first. Patriot's own profile is on Toolradar.

How we built this page

We read Patriot's payroll pricing page, its pricing FAQ and its 1099 e-file pricing on 19 October 2026, and Square's payroll pricing page the same month. Category figures come from Toolradar's payroll statistics, computed in October 2026. The monthly tables and the first-year figure are our arithmetic on published rates, before taxes and add-ons unless stated. We did not open a Patriot account for this page. We re-check it when Patriot changes a plan, fee or promotion; our full Patriot Payroll review covers the product itself. Louis Corneloup, who founded Toolradar and Dupple, edited it.

FAQ

How much does Patriot Payroll cost in 2026?

Basic Payroll costs $17 a month plus $4 per worker paid, and Full Service Payroll costs $37 a month plus $5 per worker paid, as listed on Patriot's pricing page in October 2026. Both include unlimited payroll runs and free direct deposit, and both start with a 30-day free trial and three months at half price.

What is the difference between Patriot Basic and Full Service Payroll?

Full Service adds federal, state and local payroll tax deposits and filings, year-end forms at no extra fee and a tax filing guarantee. Basic calculates pay and withholding but leaves the deposits and filings to you. The price gap is $20 a month plus $1 per worker paid.

Does Patriot Payroll have a free plan?

No. Patriot's FAQ says there is no free payroll tier, but every product has a 30-day free trial followed by 50% off for three months. After that the list price applies.

Does Patriot charge per employee or per payroll run?

Per worker paid in the month, plus the flat base fee. Payroll runs are unlimited, and in a month with no payroll you pay only the base price, so a business that pays fewer people in slow months pays less those months.

How much does a second state cost on Patriot Payroll?

$12 a month for each additional state on Full Service Payroll. A team with employees in three states pays $24 a month in extra state filing fees on top of the plan.

Is Patriot Payroll cheaper than Square Payroll?

From three workers up, yes at list price: a 15-person payroll costs $112 a month on Patriot Full Service and $125 on Square Payroll. For a single employee Square is a dollar cheaper, at $41 against $42, and at two workers the bills match.

Cite this: HRpresso, "Patriot Payroll Pricing 2026: Basic vs Full Service Costs", October 2026.

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