6 BEST Paychex Competitors (2024)

Paychex is an ideal payroll provider with robust tools to hire, pay, and manage your employees effortlessly. It allows you to effortlessly manage employee benefits, compliances, deductions, attendance, etc. Even after such valuable features, Paychex has significant drawbacks, which include the lack of a free trial and hidden costs for premium consultations and integrations.

After conducting over 110 hours of research on 45+ BEST Paychex Competitors, I have curated a comprehensive list of top choices, both free and paid, to suit various business needs. This in-depth, unbiased guide delves into features, pros and cons, and pricing, helping you find the most suitable option. This may help you make a well-informed decision—read the full article to discover exclusive and trusted insights! Read more…

Best Paychex Competitors & Alternatives: Top Picks!

1) OnPay

Best for its PEO and HR assistance features

I found OnPay amazing for its fast payment processing and compliance-focused payroll handling. Throughout my setup, I could rely on their well-trained support team, which was ideal for my transition and setup needs. It also offers a superior choice for small businesses needing health and retirement benefits, which made my payroll management a top-notch experience.

OnPay’s HR technologies assist in automating recruitment, onboarding, and training. Moreover, their compliance management features to ensure you completely comply with the latest land laws. Employee self-service dashboards reduce the burden on you and provide employees with all relevant tools, information, and forms in a modern dashboard.

Features:

• Employee Access: Lifetime accounts allow former employees to access pay stubs and personal tax records easily.
• Small Business Tools: Special tools are great for small businesses like restaurants, bars, gyms, and franchises, providing essential support.
• Admin Control Levels: Six admin levels aim to let employees access payroll, HR information, and administrative tools flexibly.
• Direct Deposit Speed: Deposits typically complete within 2 to 4 days, providing a reliable payment solution.
• Self-Service Portal: Enables employees to manage personal details, payroll, and benefits independently, a great option for convenience.
• Benefits Administration: Covers health, FSA, HSA, retirement, and education plans, allowing flexible benefits management.
• Tax Filing Support: Supports W-2 and 1099 tax filings, helpful to ensure compliance and simplify tax season.
• Third-Party Integrations: Integrates with Guideline, When I Work, and Deputy for enhanced workflow and data sharing.

Pricing:

• Free Trial: 30 Days
• Price: Plan start at $46 per month

How does OnPay compare to Paychex?

• OnPay offers services to companies in a variety of sectors, including agriculture, construction, healthcare, and more
• All of your previous pay and employee data will be migrated to OnPay for free when you set up your account

Visit OnPay >>

30-Day Free Trial

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2) Rippling

Best overall payroll management tool

I found that Rippling is a great option for handling business operations, from payroll to HR. During my review, I noticed it makes onboarding and recruitment easy to manage. Its strong IT solutions are awesome for benefits and effective HR services, which I particularly appreciate.

Employee attendance and time tracking tools help you remain aware of all employee activities. It also provides tools like online document management solutions that allow you to store and manage critical documents effortlessly. You can access a modern self-service dashboard with plenty of tools and data. It also offers a customizable PTO policy to manage employees’ leaves, allowances, etc. You can use their automation solutions to perform tasks automatically and ease your workload.

Features:

• Wage Disparity Strategy: Assists in crafting strategies to identify and rectify wage disparities among new and existing staff.
• Onboarding Solutions: Onboarding solutions allow you to send offer letters and report new hires to the state efficiently.
• Employee Training Support: Provides training courses and guidance, which I find helpful for enhancing employee skills.
• IT Solutions: Simplifies office equipment administration and manages access to essential business software tools effectively.
• Direct Deposit Speed: Processes direct deposits within 2 days, a reliable solution for timely employee payments.
• Self-Service Portal: Empowers employees with a self-service portal for accessing payroll and managing benefits independently.
• Time and Attendance Tracking: Tracks time and attendance, a great option for accurate workforce management.
• Benefits Administration: Manages health insurance, 401(k), FSAs, and HSAs, providing comprehensive employee benefits.
• Tax Filing Support: Supports W-2, W-4, 1099, and new hire filings, simplifying tax processes and ensuring compliance.

Pricing:

• Price: $8 per user per month

How does Rippling compare to Paychex?

• Rippling has far better recruitment features like applicant and document monitoring, onboarding and training, etc. that make simply HR processes
• Unlike Paychex, In Rippling has the majority of HR services included in their cheapest plans.

Visit Rippling >>

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3) ADP Payroll

Best for effortless and time-saving payroll services

In my experience, ADP Payroll stands out among top-rated payroll services with reliable tools supporting over 140 countries. Its platform enables small and large businesses to manage payroll with ease. I found its mobile deposit feature helpful to handle payroll at any time, which is ideal for businesses needing flexibility.

It can effortlessly manage time-off requests, keep track of hours worked, and integrate with other tools effortlessly. You can use it to provide customized employee benefits to specific employees. Robust data-driven reports allow you to analyze various business aspects and take actions to improve performance.

Features:

• Automated Payroll Processing: Automates payroll tasks like paycheck calculations, factoring in hours, vacations, and more for accuracy.
• Unified Business Management: Manages various business functions, including hiring and onboarding, all on a single platform. I find this integration helpful.
• Automatic Contribution Calculations: Computes retirement contributions, health allowances, and tax deductions, a great way to simplify payroll deductions.
• New Hire Notifications: Notifies relevant state and federal agencies about new hires automatically, reducing administrative workload.
• Self-Service Portal: Offers employees a self-service portal to access payroll and benefits independently.
• Time and Attendance Tracking: Tracks employee time and attendance, an effective solution for ensuring accurate work hours.
• Comprehensive Benefits Administration: Includes health insurance, 401(k), retirement, and college savings plans, helping manage benefits efficiently.
• Tax Filing Support: Supports filing of W-2, W-4, and 1099 forms, which simplifies tax season for businesses.
• Third-Party Integrations: Integrates with Xero, Wave, ClockShark, and When I Work for expanded functionality.

Pricing:

• Free Trial: 3 Months
• Price: Request a free quote from sales

How does ADP Payroll compare to Paychex?

• Customers can search, compare, activate, and pay for software on the ADP One-Stop Partner Marketplace, which Paychex does not offer
• Depending on the billing cycle, ADP offers a choice to fund your payroll system with a business credit card and prolong payments by up to 30 days

Visit ADP Payroll >>

3 Months Free Trial

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4) Paycor

Best HR management platform

According to my review, Paycor ranks as a great option for medium and large businesses seeking Paychex alternatives. I liked its excellent HR tools that cover recruitment and training essentials. The templates and workflows allowed me to manage tasks easily, adding value for any business scaling its operations.

Their knowledge base has in-depth data, information, and guidance to help you learn about various aspects of payroll and taxation. They provide data-rich HR analytics that helps you better understand various business aspects. Paycor’s Predictive Resignation tool helps predict staff resignations and prepare them in advance.

Features:

• Flexible Payment Options: Supports Direct Deposits, paper checks, pay cards, and multiple payment methods for easy payroll management.
• Time Clock Security: Employee time clocks allow PIN, proximity badges, and biometric fingerprints to help prevent time theft.
• Peer Recognition & Development: Employees can recognize peers and track skills, which I find helpful for team morale.
• Self-Service Portal: Provides a self-service portal, allowing employees to access payroll and benefits independently.
• Time and Attendance Tracking: Time and attendance tracking are essential for efficient workforce management and accurate timekeeping.
• Benefits Administration: Includes health insurance and 401(k) options, a great way to manage employee benefits.
• Tax Filing Support: W-2 and 1099 tax filing support simplifies tax season, typically reducing administrative load.
• Third-Party Integrations: Integrates seamlessly with DailyPay, Employee Navigator, and Zapier for enhanced data sharing and functionality.

Pricing:

• Free Trial: 14 Days
• Price: Plan start at $99 per month

How does Paycor compare to Paychex?

• Unlike Paychex, Paycor is suitable for small to large businesses
• Paycor offers HR analytical feature compensation plan modeling, which Paychex does not offer

Visit Paycor >>

14-Day Free Trial

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5) Gusto

Best for payroll management, tax filings, and human resources

Gusto stood out to me as a remarkable HR tool that helps over 200,000 businesses in various activities. I liked that new hires could easily manage onboarding and set up their own benefits independently. This app is top-notch for handling employee taxes, making it a perfect fit for businesses seeking efficiency.

Gusto provides professionally designed templates and checklists to assist you in streamlining employee recruitments, paperwork, tax filings, etc. You can access data-rich customizable reports with filters to effortlessly analyze business performance. They have one of the most simplified initial setups with easy migrations.

Features:

• Multi-Currency Payments: Supports multi-currency payments in over 80 countries, a great solution for global payroll needs.
• New Hire Reporting: Automatically reports new hire details to the state, a helpful way to stay compliant without extra costs.
• Compliance Assistance: Assists with compliance, including recommendations to meet FLSA’s minimum wage, which I find essential.
• Tax Filing Technology: Utilizes e-file, e-sign, and e-fax to streamline federal, state, and local tax filing processes.
• Direct Deposit Speed: Provides deposits within 2 to 4 days, a reliable way to manage payroll effectively.
• Self-Service Portal: Offers a self-service portal for employees to manage payroll and benefits independently.
• Time and Attendance Tracking: Tracks time and attendance, a great option for accurate employee time management.
• Benefits Administration: Includes health, 401(k), retirement, and college savings plans, allowing comprehensive employee benefits management.
• Tax Filing Support: Supports filing W-2, W-4, and 1099 forms, which helps simplify year-end tax filing.
• Third-Party Integrations: Integrates seamlessly with 15Five, 7 Shifts, and Accelo to extend platform capabilities.

Pricing:

• Price: Plan start at $40 per month

How does Gusto compare to Paychex?

• Unlike Paychex, Employees can check pay stubs, get W-2 forms, and update personal information in their accounts at any time with Gusto
• Gusto has far better customizable unlimited payroll processing per month

Visit Gusto >>

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6) Patriot Payroll

Best solution for managing payroll, compensation, and benefits

Patriot Payroll stands out as one of the most effective tools for small business payroll management. It offers seamless integration with Patriot’s accounting tools, which allowed me to simplify bookkeeping. Its basic plan covers the essentials for local businesses, making it a top-rated alternative to Paychex.

Its payroll experts are of the best in terms of assistance in initial setup and migration. You can create variations of payment schedules with support for repeated payment types, employee deductions, and configurable working hours.

Features:

• Worker’s Compensation Deductions: Automatically deducts worker’s compensation insurance premiums from each pay cycle, an efficient payroll solution.
• Location-Based Tax Management: Manages and calculates taxes based on employees’ locations, helping you meet local tax requirements.
• PTO Carryover Control: Allows you to decide if employees’ accrued PTO hours should carry over to the next year. I find this feature flexible.
• HR Reporting Access: Provides HR solutions with access to reports for payroll tax verification, employee information, and more.
• Direct Deposit Speed: Processes direct deposits within 2 to 4 days, a reliable solution for on-time employee payments.
• Self-Service Portal: Offers a self-service portal, empowering employees to access payroll and benefits details independently.
• Time and Attendance Tracking: Tracks employee time and attendance, which is essential for accurate workforce management.
• Benefits Administration: Includes health insurance, 401(k), FSA, and HSA, a comprehensive way to manage employee benefits.
• Tax Filing Support: Supports filing W-2, W-3, 940, and 941 forms, simplifying the tax process for compliance.
• Third-Party Integrations: Integrates with QuickBooks, GoCo, and Workforce Hub, expanding payroll management capabilities.

How does Patriot Payroll compare to Paychex?

• Unlike Paychex, Patriot’s simple UI makes it easy to use for its users
• Patriot Payroll has better functionality and services than Paychex

Visit Patriot >>

30-Day Free Trial

What are the Payroll Processing Stages?

Multiple steps must be correctly executed for proper payroll processing. These are:

• Data Collection: Data for attendance, working hours, compensations, etc. is collected for employees, part-time workers, and contractors
• Data Validation: Collected data is verified and validated with various user-definable conditions and filters. That ensures complete compliance with land law and satisfies your company policies.
• Payroll Calculation: All data is calculated to make precise calculations about the due payments.
• Payouts: The calculated payment amounts are transferred using Direct Deposits to respective accounts of employees on a specific date
• Reporting: The database updates the latest payments after payroll runs. Data-driven reports are created that can be used to understand better and optimize business operations.

How Did We Choose BEST Paychex Competitors?

At Guru99, we are dedicated to providing credible and objective information, ensuring each resource is both accurate and reliable. Through 110+ hours of research on 45+ Paychex Competitors, we curated a top list of free and paid alternatives that meet diverse business needs. This comprehensive, unbiased guide examines each option’s features, pros, cons, and pricing to help you make a well-informed choice. Finding the right Paychex competitor is crucial for tailored HR and payroll solutions, balancing core services with cost efficiency.

• Comprehensive Features: We looked for competitors offering a full suite of HR and payroll solutions to meet varied business needs.
• Cost-Effectiveness: It is important to keep in mind the affordability of these solutions, especially for smaller businesses.
• User-Friendly Interface: A simple and accessible interface is one of the easiest ways to ensure effective use by all employees.
• Customer Support: A top pick offers responsive support, essential to resolve issues and improve the user experience.
• Customizability: According to business requirements, the best options allow flexibility in service packages.

Verdict:

In this review, you have seen some of the most reliable Paychex alternatives. Each tool brings specific strengths, and I have highlighted key aspects to help you make a choice.

• OnPay provides a top-notch, user-friendly experience with smooth integrations and dependable HR features for efficient onboarding.
• Rippling stands out as a superior choice, integrating payroll and HR tools effortlessly, offering robust functionality for fast-growing businesses.
• ADP Payroll provides a comprehensive and scalable platform, ideal for businesses needing reliable, secure, and feature-rich payroll services.