The short answer: Every payroll provider prices the same way — a monthly base fee plus a per-employee fee — but none of them shows you the total. For 5 employees, full-service payroll runs roughly $62–$85 a month depending on the provider. The real decision isn’t the $15 price spread — it’s whether the plan actually files and pays your taxes for you, because doing it wrong triggers IRS penalties that start at 2% and climb to 15%.
Payroll software is a line item in the real budget — our true-cost-of-employee calculator includes it alongside salary, taxes, and workers’ comp, so the hire you approve is the hire you can afford.
This guide is educational, not tax advice. Prices below were verified on each provider’s own pricing page in October 2026 — providers change prices frequently, so check the current page before you buy.
The pricing model, decoded
Nearly every provider uses the same two-part structure:
- Base fee — flat monthly charge for the account itself.
- Per-employee (or per-worker-paid) fee — multiplied by headcount each month.
The advertised headline is almost always just the base fee. Your actual bill is base + (per-employee × headcount). Here’s what that means for a 5-employee business, at current published prices:
| Provider | Base | Per employee | 5-employee total | Full-service? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gusto (Simple) | $49/mo | $6/mo | $79/mo | Yes |
| OnPay | $49/mo | $6/mo | $79/mo | Yes |
| QuickBooks Workforce Payroll | $50/mo | $7/mo | $85/mo | Yes |
| Patriot (Full Service) | $37/mo | $5/mo | $62/mo | Yes |
| Patriot (Basic) | $17/mo | $4/mo | $37/mo | No — DIY |
| Square Payroll | $35/mo | $6/mo | $65/mo | Yes |
All prices verified October 2026 on the providers’ own pricing pages. QuickBooks also sells Premium ($88 + $13/employee) and Elite ($134 + $17/employee) tiers; Square and Gusto both offer contractor-only plans (Square: $6 per contractor with no base fee) if you only pay 1099 workers.
The decision that matters: full-service vs. calculation-only
This is the fork that actually costs people money.
Full-service means the provider calculates withholding, files the returns, and moves the tax money to the IRS and state agencies — and typically backs it with a tax-filing accuracy guarantee. Gusto, OnPay, QuickBooks Workforce, Patriot Full Service, and Square Payroll are all full-service at the prices above.
Calculation-only (Patriot Basic at $17 + $4) does the math and prints the pay stubs — you file the returns and make the deposits. It’s cheaper by ~$25/month. It is also how small businesses end up paying the IRS failure-to-deposit penalty:
- 2% — deposit 1–5 days late
- 5% — 6–15 days late
- 10% — more than 15 days late
- 15% — still unpaid 10+ days after the IRS’s first notice
(IRS, verified October 2026. Penalties don’t stack — a very late deposit is 10% total, not 2+5+10.)
One 10% penalty on a single quarter’s deposits erases years of the DIY “savings.” If you’re choosing calculation-only to save $300 a year, you’re buying risk at a terrible price — unless you genuinely have a bookkeeper making every deposit on schedule.
What else to compare (beyond the monthly number)
- Multi-state payroll. Employees in more than one state mean more filings. Some providers include multistate; others charge extra. Ask before you hire across state lines.
- Tax guarantee terms. “Accuracy guarantee” usually means the provider pays the penalty if their error caused it — not if you entered wrong hours. Read the fine print, but full-service with a guarantee still beats DIY on expected cost.
- Contractor payments. If you pay both W-2 employees and 1099 contractors, check whether contractors ride free, cost extra, or need a separate plan — and remember that misclassifying workers to dodge payroll entirely is the most expensive option on this page.
- PEO and bundled HR upsells. Some providers will pitch professional-employer-organization plans that bundle payroll with benefits administration and HR compliance. For a 5-person business that just needs payroll done right, that’s usually overbuying. Buy payroll; revisit HR when you have HR problems.
- New-customer promos. Intuit in particular runs aggressive introductory discounts (recently 50% off base for 3 months). Price the renewal rate, not the promo — you’ll be paying the real number for years.
The 5-employee worked example, annualized
| Provider | Monthly (5 employees) | Annual |
|---|---|---|
| Patriot Full Service | $62 | $744 |
| Square Payroll | $65 | $780 |
| Gusto Simple | $79 | $948 |
| OnPay | $79 | $948 |
| QuickBooks Workforce | $85 | $1,020 |
| Patriot Basic (DIY) | $37 | $444 |
The spread between the cheapest full-service option and the priciest is $276 a year — less than one month of a single employee’s payroll taxes. Pick the one whose interface you’ll actually use and whose support answers the phone, not the one that’s $7/month cheaper.
Methodology
Prices are October 2026 published list prices from each provider’s own pricing page (Gusto, OnPay, QuickBooks/Intuit, Patriot, Square); OnPay’s figure rests on their own-domain published content plus recent third-party corroboration. Introductory promos excluded — the table shows ongoing rates. The 5-employee example assumes all five are W-2 employees paid monthly. Failure-to-deposit tiers are IRS §6656 via the IRS’s published penalty page. This guide makes no “best payroll software” ranking — the pricing models and the full-service/DIY fork are the decision, and the right answer depends on the business. This page is educational, not tax advice.
Sources
- Gusto pricing — gusto.com/product/pricing ($49 + $6), verified October 2026
- OnPay pricing — onpay.com ($49 + $6, provider’s own domain), verified October 2026
- QuickBooks Workforce Payroll pricing — quickbooks.intuit.com ($50 + $7), verified October 2026
- Patriot Software pricing — patriotsoftware.com (Full Service $37 + $5; Basic $17 + $4), verified October 2026
- Square Payroll pricing — squareup.com ($35 + $6), verified October 2026
- IRS failure-to-deposit penalties — irs.gov (2%/5%/10%/15%), verified October 2026
Frequently asked questions
Can’t I just do payroll myself for free? You can calculate it for free. What isn’t free: the deposits, the filings, the quarterly returns, the W-2s — and the penalties when any of it slips. Full-service payroll at ~$62–85/month is insurance against the penalty schedule above.
Do I need payroll software if I only have contractors? You don’t need payroll software — you need a way to pay contractors and file 1099s. Contractor-only plans (Square, Gusto) run ~$6 per contractor with no base fee. But first make sure they’re actually contractors: the misclassification guide.
What’s the difference between Patriot Basic and Full Service, really? Basic does the calculations; you file and deposit. Full Service files and deposits for you, with a tax-filing guarantee. The $25/month difference is the cheapest penalty insurance in this cluster.
Will my payroll provider handle multiple states? Most full-service providers do, but confirm before you need it — and confirm whether it costs extra. Hiring your first remote employee in another state is when this question gets expensive.
Should I switch payroll providers to save $10/month? Almost never worth the migration hassle and the risk of a missed filing mid-switch. Switch for missing features or terrible support, not for $120 a year.