Best Workday competitors in 2024

Rippling’s seamless integration of payroll processing with other HR, IT and finance operations makes the service a great choice for SMBs that do business internationally or that plan to expand into new markets. The company’s Unified Workforce Platform centralizes management of payroll, benefits, recruiting and other HR functions with app and identity management, device and inventory management and expenses and bill paying, along with other IT and finance functions.

The global payroll features built into Rippling’s integrated management solutions let you pay employees in the currencies of more than 50 countries, including Canada, India, the U.K., France and Germany. The product automatically files taxes in those countries and lets you use a single general ledger to track spending in all jurisdictions. Among the automated workflow options is the ability to set triggers for emails, Slack messages, meeting invitations and other actions based on specific conditions.

Learn More: Read our full Ripping review.

The two payroll plans sold by Patriot Software provide small businesses with an easy and affordable way to process their payrolls. Both the Basic and Full Service payroll packages let you schedule any number of payroll runs each month and change hourly pay rates without having to cancel the run in progress. They also offer free four-day and two-day direct deposit for qualifying customers, as well as an employee portal, time-off accrual tracking and the ability to assign user permissions.

While the Basic plan supports customized hours and payroll deductions, only Patriot Software’s Full Service offering includes payroll tax calculation, filing and deposit of tax payments. The Full Service package costs $37 per month plus $4 per month for each employee or contractor.

The company sells its time and attendance and HR software separately, each of which costs $6 per month plus $2 per employee or contractor. Patriot’s accounting software is sold in Basic and Premium plans, priced at $20 per month and $30 per month, respectively.

Learn More: Read our full Patriot Software review.

Homebase sells its payroll solution as an add-on to its four HR software packages — Basic, Essentials, Plus and All-in-One. If you are already in the market for HR software, adding your payroll to one of these plans may be worth considering. However, if you are only in need of payroll software, other providers on this list may prove more economical.

The Homebase Payroll add-on provides a complete toolkit that can fully integrate timesheets into payroll. It also includes features like employee scheduling, time tracking, messaging and team communication, applicant tracking, onboarding, PTO tracking and free payroll transfer service.

Homebase Payroll supports multiple wage rates, overtime calculations, bonuses and commissions, pre- and post-tax deductions, printable checks, W-2s and 1099s, new hire reporting and integration with QuickBooks Online. Among its tools for employees are time-off requests, shift trades and self-onboarding for W-4, I-9, W-9 and direct deposit forms.

Learn More: Read our full Homebase review.

Businesses that rely on contractors in the U.S. and overseas will benefit from Gusto’s Contractor Only payroll package, which costs $35 per month plus $6 per contractor and supports unlimited payments to contractors located anywhere in the U.S. International contractor payments are offered in more than 120 countries for an added fee that isn’t shown until you begin the payment process.

Gusto sells three payroll plans. Its Simple plan supports unlimited payroll runs for a single state, including W-2s and 1099s. It includes employee profiles and self-service, basic hiring and onboarding, benefits administration and payroll and time-off reports. Plus costs $80 per month plus $12 per person. It adds multi-state payroll, advanced hiring and onboarding, time tracking and team management tools, among other features.

The Premium plan is priced based on a custom quote and features a dedicated support manager, HR Resource Center, compliance alerts, health insurance broker integration and access to certified HR experts.

Learn More: Read our full Gusto review.

Workful offers small businesses a single, affordable solution that combines payroll with HR management. The payroll component includes all the features that U.S.-based small businesses require, starting with unlimited payroll runs with multiple pay rates.

Workful also includes W-2 and 1099 preparation, an employee portal for completing W-4s and other onboarding tasks, electronic pay stubs and check printing, automatic calculation of time accrual and overtime and tracking of time-off requests and manager approval roles.

The HR component lets you create custom policies, track and manage expenses, create a centralized document repository and send employees notifications automatically. The system helps you complete and file tax forms, as well as generate reports that include tax liability, time worked and time off, expense and mileage reimbursements and payroll register details. It syncs automatically with employees’ time clocks, time-off requests and reimbursement requests to allow payrolls to be run in fewer than five minutes, according to the company.

Learn More: Read our full Workful review.

OnPay combines payroll and HR for organizations with one to 1,000 employees and targets specific industries with its customizable solutions, which range from nonprofits, including handling FUTA exemptions for 501(c)(3) organizations, to doctors’ offices and other healthcare providers.

Payroll can also be customized for restaurants, including Form 8846, to claim credits for tax payments paid or incurred by tipped employees, and farms and agriculture operations, including the automatic filing of Form 943 with the IRS. OnPay sells its payroll and HR software at a single price: $40 per month plus $6 per person. The price includes unlimited payroll runs, new hire support and reporting, document templates and PTO management, among other features.

OnPay integrates with the QuickBooks and Xero accounting systems, as well as with time-tracking apps like QuickBooks Time. Other third-party add-ons are Guideline and Vestwell for retirement accounts, Magnify for farm accounting and Mineral and PosterElite for HR advice and compliance.

Learn More: Read our full OnPay review.

As the service’s name suggests, Payroll4Free is free to use, with limitations. For example, you’re restricted to paying 10 or fewer individuals, after which the fee for payroll processing is $10 per posting for 11 to 25 employees and $35 for each increment of 25 employees paid thereafter. If you need to adjust a posted batch, the fee is $25, and employee data setup and “major use of system training” are charged at rates of $100 per hour each.

If you choose to have Payroll4Free deposit and file your business’s payroll taxes, the fee is $35 per month or $350 per year. You can choose to use Payroll4Free’s bank rather than your own to transfer direct deposit funds for employees for a fee of $35 per month or $350 per year. However, if you sign up for both services, the fee for both is $40 per month or $400 per year.

Payroll4Free offers a Lifetime Service Fee of $1,750. Other fees apply when amending a deposit ($100) or prior filing ($350), canceling or adjusting a direct deposit file ($100 each), batch posting ($25) and adjusting a posted batch ($25).

Learn More: Read our full Payroll4Free review.

QuickBooks makes it easy for businesses to combine payroll processing with their accounting and HR operations. The company sells three plans that bundle payroll with bookkeeping, starting with Payroll Core + Simple Start, which includes calculating, filing and paying your payroll taxes, as well as reports on payroll history, bank transactions and contractor payments.

The other two bundled payroll options are Payroll Core + Essentials — which adds assistance with managing and paying your company’s bills and the ability to enter time and billable hours — and Payroll Premium + Plus, which offers 24/7 support, expert review of your payroll setup, time and attendance tracking and the HR support center.

The company also lets current QuickBooks customers add payroll to their account with Payroll Core, which supports payroll tax processing, 1099 e-filing and payments and next-day direct deposit. The Payroll Premium plan includes same-day direct deposit, time tracking, 24/7 support, the HR support center and an expert review of your business’s payroll operations. Payroll Elite adds expert setup, tax penalty protection and a personal HR advisor.

Learn More: Read our full QuickBooks Payroll review.

Roll by ADP focuses on making payroll processing easy for small businesses and their employees. You download the mobile app from the Apple App Store or Google Play and step through the chat-based setup, which requires your EIN, business bank account and routing number. Then, you enter the name, address, SSN and contact information of employees, along with their hire date.

Chat is also the foundation of Roll by ADP’s tool based on generative AI that answers natural language questions such as “Is my business eligible for tax credits?” or “Who are my longest- and shortest-tenured employees?” The AI-powered chatbot serves up advice on taxation, interviewing, writing job descriptions and social-media marketing strategies.

For a flat fee of $29 a month plus $5 per employee/contractor a month, Roll by ADP lets you run an unlimited number of payrolls and calculates, deducts and pays applicable taxes. The service offers AI-based error checks as payrolls are processed, and it lets employees download their tax documents and pay stubs.

Learn More: Read our full Roll by ADP review.

Wave Payroll is sold to U.S. businesses in two distinct plans. In 14 states, the company’s payroll services include filing and paying your state taxes. The price of the payroll service in these states is $40 per month plus $6 for each employee or contractor paid. In the other 36 states, businesses must file and pay their state taxes themselves, although Wave helps by indicating the information to include and the amount to pay.

Wave’s invoicing software lets you set up recurring invoices and automatic credit card payments by repeat customers. The invoice information syncs automatically with your accounting, payroll and payment apps. Wave also features accounting software that links to your business’s bank accounts for automated entry of receipts and other financial data. Available financial statements include cash flow reports, balance sheets, expense reports and profit and loss statements.

Other services offered by Wave include online payment processing, mobile receipts and Wave Advisors, who provide advice to small business owners on bookkeeping, accounting and payroll matters.

Learn More: Read our full Wave Payroll review.