Why I chose Gusto

Gusto's simple but modern user interface (UI) helps you quickly establish basic payroll flows and maintain compliance requirements. It offers a wide range of payroll tools and services, such as its AutoPilot feature, which automatically approves pay runs, saving you time from manually doing payroll yourself. You also don't have to worry about payroll tax filings and remittances, Gusto will handle these for you.

• With a 4.27 out of 5 score, Gusto's rating reflects its capability to offer accessible tools to both payroll newbies and experts while supporting their needs. In addition to full-service payroll, Gusto's project tracking allows you to pay your contractors the right amount while providing you with data to make more accurate, competitive project bids to your clients. And if you decide to grow into an international business, Gusto can compliantly pay your global contractors and employees. It can even help you hire international employees with its EOR service—Gusto Global.

For HR features, Gusto provides basic versions of several HR processes, like performance reviews, but it's not the best choice if you need a full-scale human capital management (HCM) system. Paycor or Rippling are better options in this scenario. Both have feature-rich HR platforms that can handle simple to complex HR processes.

Why I chose OnPay

OnPay has an intuitive interface and uncomplicated payroll workflows that can accommodate multiple payroll schedules, worker types, and pay methods. Coming in with a score of 4.11 out of 5, OnPay makes running payroll easy with its simple-to-use features and automatic alerts that highlight payroll errors and discrepancies. It also comes with a suite of HR tools to meet minimum compliance requirements by state and industry, including PTO policy management, compliance audits, and an HR resource library.

OnPay's flat-rate pricing structure makes planning for and controlling long-term business costs much easier. However, this also makes OnPay less likely to innovate and offer more modern features at the same rate as competitors. Its one-price-fits-all feature means that adding more capabilities will result in profit loss for the company unless they raise prices or offer add-on modules for additional fees. If you want a small business payroll product that improves and adapts constantly, go with Gusto instead. Over the years, the company has added more functionalities to its platform, the latest include global payroll and EOR services.

Why I chose QuickBooks Payroll

QuickBooks Payroll is one of the top providers for small business payroll, with an interface, pricing, and features very similar to those of competitors like Gusto and OnPay. It earned 4.08 out of 5 and stands out for its accounting functions—even within its payroll product—and easy integration with Intuit QuickBooks products. It automatically syncs payroll data to your chart of accounts and offers data analysis tools, provided you have a QuickBooks Online subscription. You can even customize how it enters this data into your accounts to meet your business needs.

While QuickBooks Payroll is an excellent choice if you want to save money by joining your payroll and accounting processes together, it lost points for its minimal HR and employee management features. For example, it relies on partnerships with Allstate Health Solutions and Mineral for benefits offerings and HR advisory services. It also doesn't have Gusto's hiring and performance management tools, OnPay's detailed employee profiles, and Paycor's feature-rich HR platform.

Why I chose Paycor

Paycor's advanced analytics, in-app tax compliance alerts, and customizable payroll processes suit growing businesses that need more advanced and versatile pay controls. I was impressed with its pay grid for completing payroll functions, which lets me adjust how I wanted to see and complete payroll. It also allows me to do payroll faster since I don't have to go through a set series of steps compared to competitors like Rippling and Gusto.

However, its monthly fees aren't published on its website—you have to call Paycor to request a quote. Plus, it does not include support for businesses with international teams. But if you need a customizable payroll system or more robust modules to complete your increasingly advanced HR needs, then Paycor is a great choice.

Why I chose Patriot Payroll

Patriot's payroll module made my list of the best payroll software for small businesses mainly because of its affordability. For a monthly fee of $37 plus $5 PEPM, you get unlimited pay runs with tax payment and filing services. This is the lowest full-service payroll plan that I reviewed and comes with all of the essential tools you need to pay employees and contractors. If you have a limited budget and prefer to handle tax filings yourself, its basic plan only costs $17 per month plus $4 PEPM. It has all the features included in the full-service option but without tax filing services.

Patriot Payroll earned an overall score of 3.67 out of 5, losing points for its limited HRIS features and third-party software integrations. It also only generates new hire reports, but you have to file these yourself. While it has over a dozen payroll report types, you need to get its HR add-on if you want employee-related reports like staff demographics and retirement plan contribution reports.