Cheapest Payroll Software in 2026: 10 Providers Priced for a 10-Employee Business
Ten US payroll services with a printed price, ranked by the monthly bill for 10 W-2 employees on full-service tax filing, with the headcount where the cheapest pick changes, from prices read in October 2026.
Short answer: Patriot Full Service Payroll is the cheapest full-service payroll software for a 10-employee business in 2026, at $87 a month, with federal, state and local tax filing included. Roll by ADP is $2 behind at $89, Square Payroll costs $95 and SurePayroll $99 for the same team. Prices read on each vendor's pricing page on October 26, 2026.
The ranking is not fixed. SurePayroll's lower base fee makes it the cheapest at one to three employees, the two tie at four, Patriot leads from five, and the gap widens with every hire because Patriot's per-worker fee is the lowest on this page alongside Roll's. Gusto, OnPay and Homebase tie a step further down, QuickBooks Workforce Payroll costs $120 and Justworks, at $130, is the most expensive printed plan.
Key facts10 tools compared: Patriot Software, Roll by ADP, Square Payroll, SurePayroll, Wave Payroll…
- 10 tools compared: Patriot Software, Roll by ADP, Square Payroll, SurePayroll, Wave Payroll, OnPay, Gusto Simple, Homebase Payroll, QuickBooks Workforce Payroll, Justworks Payroll
- Roll by ADP (best for: Owners who want to run payroll from a chat-style mobile app at a Patriot-level price): $39/mo + $5 per employee, $89 at 10 employees; unlimited payroll runs, three months free at signup
- Square Payroll (best for: Square sellers and businesses that mostly pay contractors): Full service $35/mo + $6 per person paid, $95 at 10 employees; contractor-only plan has no base fee
- SurePayroll (best for: Businesses with one to three employees, where the lowest base fee makes it the cheapest full-service plan): Small business plan from $29/mo + $7 per worker, $99 at 10 employees; a second card on the same page shows $39
Cheap payroll software means two numbers, a base fee and a per-employee fee, and the cheapest provider depends on which one your headcount makes bigger. A low base fee with a high per-worker fee wins for a three-person shop, ties at four and loses from the fifth hire to a provider with the opposite shape. This page computes the monthly bill for ten providers at 1, 5, 10, 25 and 50 W-2 employees, counts only full-service plans where the provider files and deposits the taxes, and shows the exact headcount where the cheapest pick changes. Promotional months are listed but never counted.
Toolradar data: the Toolradar payroll ranking, from the software directory we run, tracks 76 payroll tools as of October 25, 2026, and only 22 of them publish a price, with a median cheapest paid plan of $22 a month. Every provider on this page is one of the ones that prints its fee, so the totals below are the vendor's own numbers multiplied out, not estimates.
Top Picks
Based on features, real-world fit, and value for money.
The cheapest full-service payroll from five employees up, with free direct deposit, free setup and local tax filing included.
Full Service $37/mo + $5 per worker paid, $87 at 10 employees; Basic $17/mo + $4 if you file taxes yourself
Single-state businesses of five or more employees that want the lowest full-service bill
ADP's self-serve mobile payroll app at one flat price, a couple of dollars a month behind Patriot at every size.
$39/mo + $5 per employee, $89 at 10 employees; unlimited payroll runs, three months free at signup
Owners who want to run payroll from a chat-style mobile app at a Patriot-level price
Full-service payroll at a low base fee, with a contractor-only mode that has no monthly base fee at all.
Full service $35/mo + $6 per person paid, $95 at 10 employees; contractor-only plan has no base fee
Square sellers and businesses that mostly pay contractors
| Tool | Pricing | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Patriot Software | Full Service $37/mo + $5 per worker paid, $87 at 10 employees; Basic $17/mo + $4 if you file taxes yourself | Single-state businesses of five or more employees that want the lowest full-service bill |
| Roll by ADP | $39/mo + $5 per employee, $89 at 10 employees; unlimited payroll runs, three months free at signup | Owners who want to run payroll from a chat-style mobile app at a Patriot-level price |
| Square Payroll | Full service $35/mo + $6 per person paid, $95 at 10 employees; contractor-only plan has no base fee | Square sellers and businesses that mostly pay contractors |
| SurePayroll | Small business plan from $29/mo + $7 per worker, $99 at 10 employees; a second card on the same page shows $39 | Businesses with one to three employees, where the lowest base fee makes it the cheapest full-service plan |
| Wave Payroll | $40/mo + $6 per active employee or contractor paid, $100 at 10 employees; tax service in all 50 states | Owners already on Wave's free accounting who want payroll and books in one login |
| OnPay | Payroll Essentials $49/mo + $6 per worker, $109 at 10 employees; HR add-on $15/mo + $2 per worker | Small businesses that want one plan with HR tools and no tiers to upgrade through |
| Gusto Simple | Simple $49/mo + $6 per person, $109 at 10 employees; Plus $80 + $12 per person for multi-state; Premium $180 + $22 | Teams that will add benefits, time tracking or a second state and want one vendor for all of it |
| Homebase Payroll | Basic plan $0 for 1 location up to 10 employees; payroll add-on $49/mo + $6 per employee paid | Hourly teams of 10 or fewer at one location that schedule and clock in on Homebase |
| QuickBooks Workforce Payroll | Workforce Payroll $50/mo + $7 per employee, $120 at 10 employees; 50% off for 3 months at signup | Businesses already on QuickBooks Online that want payroll inside the same login |
| Justworks Payroll | $50/mo base fee + $8 per employee, $130 at 10 employees; PEO plans from $79 per employee with no base fee | Businesses that expect to move to a PEO for benefits later and want the same vendor |
Pricing read from each vendor's own pricing page, checked Nov 2026. Every vendor here publishes a price.
Patriot Software
The cheapest full-service payroll from five employees up, with free direct deposit, free setup and local tax filing included.
- Pricing
- Full Service $37/mo + $5 per worker paid, $87 at 10 employees; Basic $17/mo + $4 if you file taxes yourself
Best for: Single-state businesses of five or more employees that want the lowest full-service bill
Pros
- Cheapest at 5, 25 and 50 employees as well as at 10: $62, $162 and $287 a month, our arithmetic from the printed fees
- Full Service files and deposits federal, state and local taxes and year-end forms with no setup fee
- The per-worker fee is the lowest on this page, shared only with Roll, so the lead over the other providers grows with every hire
Cons
- Each additional state costs $12 a month, so a team in three states pays $24 more than the totals here
- Time and attendance and HR add-ons each carry another per-employee fee, and the promotional half-price base lasts three months
Roll by ADP
ADP's self-serve mobile payroll app at one flat price, a couple of dollars a month behind Patriot at every size.
- Pricing
- $39/mo + $5 per employee, $89 at 10 employees; unlimited payroll runs, three months free at signup
Best for: Owners who want to run payroll from a chat-style mobile app at a Patriot-level price
Pros
- Second cheapest at both 10 and 50 employees, with the same per-employee fee as Patriot
- One plan with everything included and no tiering, sold by ADP without the quote process of RUN
- Three months free at signup, a limited-time offer that is not counted here
Cons
- Always slightly more than Patriot Full Service because of the higher base fee
- One plan and no tiers, so an owner who later wants HR tools or a dedicated advisor has nowhere to upgrade inside Roll
Square Payroll
Full-service payroll at a low base fee, with a contractor-only mode that has no monthly base fee at all.
- Pricing
- Full service $35/mo + $6 per person paid, $95 at 10 employees; contractor-only plan has no base fee
Best for: Square sellers and businesses that mostly pay contractors
Pros
- Third cheapest at 10 employees, and the cheapest of the providers on the middle per-person rate at every size
- Contractor-only payroll costs the per-person fee and nothing else, the cheapest way on this page to pay a few 1099 workers
- Timecard import brings hours into payroll, so hourly teams on Square's tools do not key them twice
Cons
- The per-person fee loses to Patriot's and Roll's from the second employee, so the gap reaches $48 a month at 50
- Mailing paper W-2s and 1099s costs $3 per person a year, and the value case assumes you already sell through Square
SurePayroll
The lowest base fee on this page, which wins at one to three employees, ties Patriot at four and loses from the fifth hire.
- Pricing
- Small business plan from $29/mo + $7 per worker, $99 at 10 employees; a second card on the same page shows $39
Best for: Businesses with one to three employees, where the lowest base fee makes it the cheapest full-service plan
Pros
- Cheapest at 1 employee at $36 a month and still cheapest at 3, our arithmetic from its base and per-worker fees
- First state included, with multi-state payroll at $9.99 a month, less than Patriot's per-state fee
- Unlimited payroll runs, free two-day direct deposit and every other month free in the first 12 months, an offer not counted here
Cons
- The per-worker fee is the highest on this page, so at 50 employees the bill is $379, the highest of the four lowest-base providers
- Year-end W-2 and 1099 forms are billed at $50 plus $5 per form, areas with local taxes carry a separate fee, and the pricing page shows two different starting prices, so confirm the base fee at signup
Wave Payroll
Payroll add-on for Wave's accounting at a flat base fee per month, with tax filing in every state since April 2025.
- Pricing
- $40/mo + $6 per active employee or contractor paid, $100 at 10 employees; tax service in all 50 states
Best for: Owners already on Wave's free accounting who want payroll and books in one login
Pros
- Fifth cheapest at 10 employees at $100, and the books and payroll share one ledger with no integration to maintain
- Tax service covers all 50 states at the same base price, after Wave dropped its two-tier state pricing on April 2, 2025
- Only active employees and contractors paid in the month are billed
Cons
- A few dollars a month more than Square for the same per-person fee, and $13 more than Patriot at 10 employees
- Payroll is an add-on to Wave's accounting, so a business on QuickBooks or Xero gains nothing from the bundle
OnPay
One payroll plan at the same price as Gusto Simple, with an optional HR add-on instead of a tier ladder.
- Pricing
- Payroll Essentials $49/mo + $6 per worker, $109 at 10 employees; HR add-on $15/mo + $2 per worker
Best for: Small businesses that want one plan with HR tools and no tiers to upgrade through
Pros
- One plan covers payroll, filings and year-end forms, with no Plus or Premium tier to grow into
- The HR add-on brings compliance resources and live HR support for $35 more at 10 people
- Ties with Gusto Simple and Homebase for 10 employees
Cons
- The base fee is higher than both Patriot's and SurePayroll's, so OnPay is never the cheapest at any headcount on this page
- At 50 employees the bill is $349, $62 a month more than Patriot for the same filings
Gusto Simple
The most-used small business payroll at the OnPay price on Simple, with pricier tiers the moment you add a state.
- Pricing
- Simple $49/mo + $6 per person, $109 at 10 employees; Plus $80 + $12 per person for multi-state; Premium $180 + $22
Best for: Teams that will add benefits, time tracking or a second state and want one vendor for all of it
Pros
- Simple ties OnPay and Homebase for 10 employees with unlimited payrolls, filings and basic PTO policies
- US contractors are billed at the per-person rate only in months they are paid
- Benefits, 401(k), time tracking and HR tools are a plan change away rather than a second vendor
Cons
- Simple runs payroll in one state only; a second state means Plus, which is $200 at 10 employees
- Priority support costs $30 a month plus $3 per person on Simple and Plus
Homebase Payroll
Free scheduling and time clock for up to 10 employees with full-service payroll added per employee paid.
- Pricing
- Basic plan $0 for 1 location up to 10 employees; payroll add-on $49/mo + $6 per employee paid
Best for: Hourly teams of 10 or fewer at one location that schedule and clock in on Homebase
Pros
- Basic is $0 for one location and up to 10 employees, so the payroll add-on is the entire bill
- Hours flow from the free time clock into payroll, which removes the timesheet step for hourly teams
- Six free months of payroll, then a $29 base for teams of five or fewer who set up by December 15, 2026, a limited-time offer not counted here
Cons
- The 11th employee or a second location forces Essentials at $30 a month per location, so 25 employees cost $229 rather than $199
- Payroll alone costs more than Patriot at 10 employees, and the value depends on using the scheduling product
QuickBooks Workforce Payroll
Intuit's full-service payroll sold on its own or bundled with QuickBooks accounting, ninth of ten for a 10-person team.
- Pricing
- Workforce Payroll $50/mo + $7 per employee, $120 at 10 employees; 50% off for 3 months at signup
Best for: Businesses already on QuickBooks Online that want payroll inside the same login
Pros
- Sold alone or with accounting: the Simple Start bundle is $88 plus $6.50 per employee for a business that needs both
- Full-service tax filing, unlimited 1099 e-filing and next-day direct deposit on the entry plan
- Existing QuickBooks Online subscribers add payroll from inside the product, with no second login
Cons
- $33 a month above Patriot at 10 employees and $113 above it at 50, because both its base and per-employee fees are higher
- Time tracking and HR tools start on Workforce Premium at $88 plus $13 per employee, $218 a month for 10 people
Justworks Payroll
Payroll and HR tools priced as the on-ramp to Justworks' PEO rather than as the cheapest payroll.
- Pricing
- $50/mo base fee + $8 per employee, $130 at 10 employees; PEO plans from $79 per employee with no base fee
Best for: Businesses that expect to move to a PEO for benefits later and want the same vendor
Pros
- One plan with payroll for all employees, HR tools, expert support and access to time tracking
- Moving to the PEO Basic plan at $79 per employee later keeps payroll history with one vendor
- The base fee is close to OnPay's and Gusto's; the difference is all in the per-employee fee
Cons
- The per-employee fee is the highest on this page, so Justworks is $43 a month above Patriot at 10 employees and $163 above at 50
- A business that never wants a PEO pays for an on-ramp it will not use
What it is
Payroll software calculates wages and withholdings, pays employees by direct deposit, and files and deposits federal and state payroll taxes, with year-end W-2 and 1099 forms. The cheap end of the market sells it as a flat monthly base fee plus a per-employee or per-worker fee, billed for the people paid that month. Full-service means the provider files and deposits the taxes; a self-service plan like Patriot Basic at $17 a month plus $4 per worker leaves the filing to you, which is why it is listed on this page but not ranked. The ten providers here are the ones with a printed US price: Patriot, Roll by ADP, Square, SurePayroll, Wave, OnPay, Gusto, Homebase, Justworks and QuickBooks. ADP RUN, Paychex and Paycor sell by quote and are not ranked.
Why it matters
At 10 employees the spread between the cheapest and the most expensive printed plan is $43 a month, or $516 a year, for the same federal and state filings. That is the difference between Patriot and Justworks, our arithmetic from both price lists. The spread grows with headcount: at 50 employees Patriot is $287 and Justworks $450, because Justworks charges the highest per-employee fee on this page and Patriot the lowest. For a business that will double its team in two years, the per-employee fee matters more than the base fee it signs up on, which is why the tables below run the numbers at five sizes instead of one.
Key features to look for
Pricing
The ranking uses each plan's regular base fee plus its per-employee fee times the headcount, for W-2 employees in one state on full-service tax filing, our arithmetic from the prices printed on the vendor pages on October 26, 2026. At 10 employees the order is the one in the pricing table below. At 1 employee: SurePayroll $36, Square $41, Patriot $42, Roll $44, Wave $46, OnPay, Gusto and Homebase $55, QuickBooks $57, Justworks $58. At 5: Patriot $62, Roll and SurePayroll $64, Square $65, Wave $70, OnPay, Gusto and Homebase $79, QuickBooks $85, Justworks $90. At 25: Patriot $162, Roll $164, Square $185, Wave $190, OnPay and Gusto $199, SurePayroll $204, QuickBooks $225, Homebase $229 with Essentials, Justworks $250. At 50: Patriot $287, Roll $289, Square $335, Wave $340, OnPay and Gusto $349, SurePayroll and Homebase $379, QuickBooks $400, Justworks $450. Sources: Patriot pricing, Roll by ADP pricing, Square Payroll pricing, SurePayroll pricing, Wave Payroll, OnPay pricing, Gusto pricing, Homebase pricing, QuickBooks payroll plans and Justworks pricing.
The flip points follow from the fees. SurePayroll beats Patriot while 29 plus 7 times the headcount is below 37 plus 5 times the headcount, which holds for one to three employees; at four both cost $57, and from five Patriot is cheapest and stays there. Square beats Patriot only at a single employee, by $1. Roll never beats Patriot because its base is $2 higher and its per-employee fee the same. SurePayroll's second pricing card at $39 would add $10 to every SurePayroll total, and at that base it is never the cheapest at any size. Gusto Simple's totals assume one state; a second state moves Gusto to Plus at $80 plus $12 per person, $200 at 10 employees, while Patriot and SurePayroll only add a monthly multi-state fee for the same hire. The payroll cost guide explains the fees behind these totals, and the Patriot pricing page walks through the leader's add-ons.
| Plan | Price | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Patriot Full Service Payroll | $87/mo at 10 employees | Federal, state and local filing and year-end forms; a monthly fee per extra state; Basic plan if you file taxes yourself |
| Roll by ADP | $89/mo at 10 employees | One plan, unlimited runs; three months free at signup |
| Square Payroll | $95/mo at 10 employees | Full-service filing; contractor-only payroll with no base fee; $3 per person a year for mailed forms |
| SurePayroll | $99/mo at 10 employees | Lowest base fee here; multi-state payroll for a monthly fee; W-2 and 1099 forms billed annually; a second card on the page shows a higher base |
| Wave Payroll | $100/mo at 10 employees | Active employees and contractors billed at the same rate; tax service in all 50 states |
| OnPay Payroll Essentials | $109/mo at 10 employees | One plan with filings and year-end forms; HR add-on priced per worker on top |
| Gusto Simple | $109/mo at 10 employees | One state only; Plus for multiple states at $200 for 10 employees; Premium is the top tier |
| Homebase Basic plus Payroll | $109/mo at 10 employees | Basic is free for one location up to 10 employees; Essentials $30 per location from the 11th employee |
| QuickBooks Workforce Payroll | $120/mo at 10 employees | Full-service filing, unlimited 1099 e-file and next-day deposit; Simple Start accounting bundle available; 50% off for 3 months |
| Justworks Payroll | $130/mo at 10 employees | Highest per-employee fee here, with HR tools and time tracking access; PEO Basic $79 per employee with no base fee |
| ADP RUN, Paychex Flex, Paycor | Contact sales | No printed price, so none of the three can be ranked; use the totals above as the ceiling for a quote |
The bottom line
Patriot Full Service Payroll is the cheapest payroll software for a 10-employee business in 2026, and it keeps that position at 25 and 50 employees because its per-worker fee matches the lowest on the page while its base fee sits below Roll's. SurePayroll is the pick for a team of one to three, Square for a business that mostly pays contractors or already sells on Square, and Homebase or Wave when the free product underneath is the one you run the business on. OnPay and Gusto cost more than Patriot at 10 employees and earn the difference only if you want HR tools or benefits from the same vendor; QuickBooks and Justworks are the most expensive printed options and make sense mainly for a QuickBooks Online shop or a business headed for a PEO. How we compared: ten US payroll providers with printed prices, read on their pricing pages on October 26, 2026, with the monthly bill computed at 1, 5, 10, 25 and 50 W-2 employees in one state on full-service tax filing, regular rates only, no hands-on payroll runs. For the full product verdicts see the Patriot review, SurePayroll review, Square Payroll review, OnPay review and Gusto review; for free tiers, best free payroll software; for the feature-led ranking, best payroll software for small business; and for leaving a quote-only incumbent, cheaper ADP alternatives and cheaper Paychex alternatives.
Cite this: HRpresso, "Cheapest Payroll Software in 2026: 10 Providers Priced for a 10-Employee Business", November 2026.
Frequently asked questions
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