Small Business Payroll Software Cost Calculator

Almost every payroll platform charges in two parts, a fixed monthly base fee and a charge for each person on the run. The base fee dominates the bill for a tiny team, and the per-employee rate dominates it for a bigger team. This calculator applies both parts at your own headcount, so you can compare plans on the same basis.

1. Enter the number of employees you pay each month.
2. Choose a plan. Basic is $40 a month plus $5 per employee, Standard is $49 a month plus $6 per employee, and Premium is $80 a month plus $12 per employee.
3. Enter the add-ons cost per employee per month, such as HR tools or time tracking, or leave it at 0.
4. Press Calculate, or press Enter. The monthly cost appears first and large, with the annual cost and the cost per employee below.

Monthly cost = base fee + (per-employee fee x employees) + (add-ons per employee x employees). Annual cost = monthly cost x 12. Cost per employee per month = monthly cost / employees. The plan prices in this tool come from published November 2026 list prices. Gusto Simple is $49 a month plus $6 per employee, OnPay is $49 plus $6, Patriot Full Service is $37 plus $5, Square is $35 plus $6, and QuickBooks is $88 plus $6.50 on its current entry listing. ADP and Paychex do not publish a rate card for small business payroll, so they are not in the plan list. The prices are list prices with no promotions, no annual billing discount and no negotiated rate.

A small business with 10 employees picks the Standard plan at $49 a month plus $6 per employee, with no add-ons.

1. Per-employee cost: $6 x 10 = $60.
2. Monthly cost: $49 + $60 = $109.
3. Annual cost: $109 x 12 = $1,308.
4. Cost per employee per month: $109 / 10 = $10.90.

As a second check, take the same 10 employees on the Basic plan at $40 plus $5. The monthly cost is $40 + $50 = $90, the annual cost is $1,080, and the cost per employee is $9 a month. On Patriot-style pricing at $37 plus $5, the same team costs $87 a month and $1,044 a year. The same steps work for any team size, so try your own headcount in the tool above.

Headcount is the biggest driver, because the per-employee fee scales with every person you add. On the Standard plan, each extra employee adds $6 a month, or $72 a year. A team of 5 costs $79 a month, a team of 10 costs $109, a team of 25 costs $199, and a team of 50 costs $349. The plan tier is the second driver. At 10 employees, Basic costs $90 a month, Standard costs $109 and Premium costs $200, before add-ons. Add-ons are the third driver. HR advisor access, time tracking and benefits administration typically add $4 to $8 per employee per month each, so a $5 add-on for 10 employees adds $50 a month or $600 a year. Pay frequency matters with some providers, because a provider that bills per pay run charges more for weekly payroll than for monthly payroll. State count matters too, because multi-state payroll often needs a higher tier. Our salary calculator converts pay between hourly, weekly and annual figures, which helps you work out the payroll you will run through the software.

Below about nine employees the base fee dominates the bill, so the cheapest base fee usually wins. For a single employee, Square at $35 plus $6 costs $41 a month, Patriot at $37 plus $5 costs $42, and Gusto or OnPay at $49 plus $6 costs $55. Above nine employees the per-employee rate is what matters. At 50 employees, the Standard plan at $49 plus $6 costs $349 a month, while a plan at $35 plus $12 costs $635, even though its base fee is lower. A plan with no base fee and $29 per employee looks free at first glance, but it costs $290 a month at 10 employees, far more than any of the plans above. Full-service plans that file taxes automatically run 20 to 40% more than basic self-service tiers, but they take the deposit deadlines off your shoulders, and the IRS charges 2% of a deposit that is 1 to 5 days late, 5% at 6 to 15 days and 10% after that. Run your headcount through the tool above on each plan before you choose, and compare the monthly totals, not the base fees. Our overtime pay calculator works out regular and overtime pay from the hourly rate and hours, which is the pay data the payroll software needs each run.

Ask each provider for the full monthly figure at your actual headcount, with every module and add-on quoted as one annual number. Ask whether tax filing is included, whether the price covers all your states, and whether the provider charges per pay run or per month. Check whether the plan includes direct deposit, new-hire reporting and year-end tax forms, because those are often add-ons on a basic tier. Ask about the price when you grow. A provider that is cheap at 5 employees can be dear at 25 if its per-employee rate is high. Ask about the exit terms too, because moving payroll history to a new provider takes time and some providers charge for the export. Try the free trial with your real headcount and your real pay schedule, and run the numbers through the tool above before you sign. A plan that costs $109 a month for 10 employees is $1,308 a year, so a $20 a month saving is worth $240 a year, every year. Our hourly to salary calculator converts an hourly wage to annual pay, which helps you check the salary figures you enter into the payroll software.