Workful Review 2024: Cost, Plans, Features And More

Workful review 2024: Cost, plans, features and more

Jackie Lam

BLUEPRINT

Updated 4:51 p.m. UTC Jan. 3, 2024

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Pros

Full suite of HR tools.
Unlimited payroll runs.
Time and expense tracking.

Cons

No multi-currency support.
Only integrates with one third-party application.
No benefits administration tools.

Why trust our small business experts

Our team of experts evaluates hundreds of business products and analyzes thousands of data points to help you find the best product for your situation. We use a data-driven methodology to determine each rating. Advertisers do not influence our editorial content. You can read more about our methodology below.

25 companies reviewed.
40 hours of product testing.
1,025 data points analyzed.

Featured payroll software offers

OnPay

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$40 per month plus $6 per employee

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Yes

SurePayroll

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$29.99 per month plus $5 per employee

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Gusto

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Via Gusto’s website

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Starting at $40 plus $6 per month per employee

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Rippling

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Workful payroll software review

Pricing and plans

Workful offers a single pricing plan which costs $35 monthly, plus $6 for each team member. Stacked up against similar payroll software companies, Workful is on the more affordable end. For example, QuickBooks Payroll starts at $75 per month and goes up to $160 a month. On the other hand, some payroll software costs less than Workful. For instance, Wave Payroll starts at $20 a month and Payroll4Free is free for companies with 25 employees or fewer.

Workful might be a good fit for small businesses that need a wide range of payroll, HR and time-tracking tools. But note that — with time tracking, overtime tracking and multiple pay rate management tools, its tools center around hourly workers, so it isn’t the best solution for managing salaried employees’ payroll.

Features and add-ons

Workful stands out against competitors for its wide range of bundled payroll and HR features and services. They include the following:

Payroll features

Unlimited payroll runs.
Multiple pay-rate support.
The ability to pay employees and contract workers.
Direct deposit and check payment options.
Built-in time tracking.
Integration capabilities with Quickbooks.
State and federal tax liability tracking.
W-2 and 1099 tax form preparation tools.
Reporting.

Time tracking capabilities

The ability to sync time-tracking data with payroll.
Automated overtime calculations.
Time off request management, accrual tracking and policies.
Customizable policies.
Multiple accrual methods.
Geolocation or Wi-Fi for employee clock-ins.

Employee management capabilities

Employee onboarding tools and workflows.
An employee self-serve portal for onboarding, employee profile, pay stub and tax form management.
New hires onboarding tools.
Expense tracking and mileage reimbursement capabilities.
Employee document storage.
Time-off request tracking.
Options to reimburse with payroll.
Internal communication tools.

Stacked up against similar payroll and employee management software companies, Workful offers a wider range of human resource-related features for onboarding new hires, storing and sharing documents and time tracking. Plus, contractors and employees who work from home can track their hours, and submit reimbursement requests for expenses and mileage from anywhere.

Here’s where Workful falls short: It doesn’t offer benefits administration tools or policies, so you’ll need to hire a benefits specialist or work with a consultant to fulfill that aspect of your human resource needs. If you’re looking for benefits administration as part of your payroll package, Gusto and Rippling are competitors that include them in their HR features.

Customer support and experiences

There are a few different ways to reach Workful for customer support. Phone support is available Monday through Friday from 5 a.m. to 5 p.m. Eastern Time. You cannot leave a message after business hours, as calls are only picked up during regular business hours. You can also email Workful’s customer support team or use its live chat feature during regular business hours.

Workful offers an iOS and Apple mobile app for employees to complete tasks such as tracking paid time off, viewing their pay stubs and submitting mileage and expense reimbursement requests. With few reviews for each app, it is difficult to assess its popularity or user experience.

However, on the Google Play store, the app has a three out of five-star rating with six reviews. Customers complain that it is overly complicated to use. Though user review sites, such as Capterra, show a differing opinion, with customers praising the software’s ease of use, excellent customer support and ability to help companies quickly run payroll and file taxes.

Workful vs. the competition

When it comes to affordability, HR features, and tools for managing hourly employees, Workful stands out against its competitors. But you may fare better with a competitor when it comes to benefits administration, automations and global-workforce tools (such as multi-currency support).

Some alternatives that can fulfill these needs include:

Rippling: Rippling offers the ability to pay employees throughout the globe (via, in part, multi-currency support), administer employee benefits, automatically calculate tax withholdings and file taxes on the federal, state and local level. You must request a custom quote for pricing details.
Quickbooks Payroll: With plans starting at $45 per month plus $5 per employee, Quickbooks Payroll offers automated payroll processing, health plans, 401(k) plans and automated federal and state tax filings.
Homebase: With payroll plans starting at $0, Homebase offers automated tax filings, payments, payroll calculations and disbursements.

“Small companies should evaluate what their needs are, so they can then compare [them] to the payroll platforms they are looking at to make sure it fits their needs,” says Deanna Baumgardner, a human resources consultant and president of the North Carolina-based human resources firm Employers Advantage, LLC.

“Pricing, functionality, customer service and support are all big items to pay attention to. Outside of that, it depends on what your business needs are. If your business is planning to grow in the next year or two, will the system grow with you and does the functionality support your growth plans?”

Workful is a good fit for small businesses with basic HR needs and many hourly employees and contractors who work from home or have a hybrid work arrangement. It isn’t a good fit for growing businesses with global teams needing multi-currency support, global payroll processing and benefits administration.

Is Workful right for your business?

Workful is our top choice for payroll software with HR services due to its wide range of onboarding, reporting and employee time-tracking capabilities. However, if you need benefits administration, more comprehensive features for salaried employees, or integration capabilities with third-party software other than QuickBooks, you might be better off with another payroll software provider.

Rippling, for example, offers comprehensive global payroll processing and benefits management tools. And Quickbooks Payroll offers over 750 integration options and fully-automated payroll processing.

Since no small business’s needs are the same, no single payroll services platform will perfectly fit every company’s needs. Given this, shopping around to find the best provider for your needs is important. Read our best payroll software list to find the best fit for you.

Methodology

We extensively research the key competitors within an industry to determine the best products and services for your business. Our experts identify the factors that matter most to business owners, including pricing, features and customer support, to ensure that our recommendations offer well-rounded products that will meet the needs of various small businesses.

We collect extensive data to narrow our best list to reputable, easy-to-use products with stand-out features at a reasonable price point. And we look at user reviews to ensure that business owners like you are satisfied with our top picks’ services. We use the same rubric to assess companies within a particular space so you can confidently follow our blueprint to the best payroll software.

Featured payroll software offers

OnPay

Learn More

Via OnPay’s website

Monthly fee

$40 per month plus $6 per employee

Direct deposit

Yes

SurePayroll

Learn More

Via SurePayroll’s website

Monthly fee

$29.99 per month plus $5 per employee

Direct deposit

Yes

Gusto

Learn More

Via Gusto’s website

Monthly fee

Starting at $40 plus $6 per month per employee

Direct deposit

Yes

Rippling

Learn More

Via Rippling’s website

Monthly fee

$35 per month + $8 per user

Direct deposit

Yes

Frequently asked questions (FAQs)

Yes, Workful offers a 30-day free trial. Not all payroll companies offer free trials. Among the ones that do, the free trial period is typically 30 days. However, a few companies let you try their software for free for up to three or six months.

Yes, Workful offers direct deposit for all types of employees — including salaried, contractor and hourly workers. This feature is included in Workful’s monthly subscription cost. It takes at least four days from the time you run payroll for your team members to receive a direct deposit payment. For faster direct deposit processing, consider an alternative such as Gusto, which offers next-day direct deposit.

Workful doesn’t offer automated tax filing. It does offer tracking capabilities for state and federal tax liabilities and helps you prep your W-2 and 1099 forms. For automated tax filings, consider Gusto or Quickbooks Payroll.

Yes, Workful offers geolocation time-tracking that can be accessed from anywhere. It can be used for contractors and employees working remotely or during business travel.

Workful does have a mobile app for iOS and Android. Through the mobile app, team members can view pay stubs, track time and submit mileage and expense reimbursements.

Note: Workful’s apps currently have only one review on the Apple App Store and six ratings on the Google Play Store.

Yes, but only with QuickBooks. Other payroll providers offer more third-party integrations, including Quickbooks Payroll, which provides more than 750 integration options, and Rippling, which offers over 500.