8 Best PEO Companies for Small Businesses in 2024

• Basic: $59 per employee monthly
  • Includes full-service payroll, payroll tax filings, employee onboarding, PTO management, commuter benefits, health and wellness perks and access to 401(k), life and disability, workers’ compensation plans
• Plus: $109 per employee monthly
  • Basic plus access to COBRA administration, health advocacy services, FSA/HSA plans, and medical, dental, and vision insurance
• Payroll: $50 base fee plus $8 per employee per month
  • Includes employee payroll, contractor pay, off-cycle pay runs, tax reporting, PTO management, employee onboarding, and more. Does not include PEO services.
    • Paid Add-ons: Time tracking, state tax account set up, benefits (not available in all 50 states), and workers comp

Add-on

• Time tracking: $8 per employee monthly
• International contractor payments: $39 per paid contractor monthly
• Employer of Record (EoR): $599 per employee monthly

• Payroll: Like Rippling and Papaya Global, Justworks lets you do off-cycle pay runs at no extra cost. Aside from processing payments for employees, contractors, and vendors, Justworks handles the applicable federal, state, and local tax payments and filings, including year-end tax reporting. However, its payment options are limited—Justworks pays only via direct deposits and paper checks.
• Employee portal: In addition to viewing payslips and benefits, Justworks’ online self-service portal makes it easy to onboard new hires. It allows employees to complete online forms, access tax and payroll documents, read company policies, request paid time off (PTO), and more.
• Benefits: Justworks offers competitive medical plans from top carriers like UnitedHealthcare, Kaiser, and Aetna. It also has enterprise-level options for dental, vision, accidental death, disability, and life insurances, including flexible spending accounts (FSAs) and health savings accounts (HSAs). It even has Teladoc solutions, gym benefits, and medical advocacy services.
• Compliance support: In addition to having HR experts who keep you up-to-date on labor laws and compliance, it proactively works to keep you compliant. Justworks does this by providing free sexual harassment prevention training videos that meet state regulations. It even has some state policies preloaded into its software. Further, Justworks (along with TriNet, ADP, Paychex, and Insperity) is an IRS- and ESAC-certified PEO.
• Ease of use: Unlike ADP TotalSource and XcelHR, which look dated, Justworks is user-friendly and aesthetically pleasing. Its platform also contains in-app links to articles that explain points of law and compliance, including how to use the software. If you need assistance, its customer support personnel are available 24/7 through email, chat, phone, SMS, and Slack.

Justwork scored a collective 4.6 out of 5 across both G2 and Capterra. Users love how easy it is to set up the software and the robust variety of available features. Additionally, they reported a helpful and timely customer support experience. However, users did express frustration over limitations with Justworks that aren’t found with larger PEO companies, like ADP. Plus, they complained about its limited reporting and third-party software integrations.

For Rippling’s PEO pricing, you must call for a quote. Rippling also has the following:

• Rippling Unity*: Starting at $35 plus $8 per employee monthly; this includes Rippling’s core workforce management platform, payroll, and time tracking solutions
  • Includes workforce automation, analytics, onboarding and offboarding, time tracking, full-service payroll, tax filing services, and software integrations

Other Per-Module Costs*

• App, device, and computer inventory management: $8 per employee monthly
  • Includes IT tools to manage business apps and computer provisioning and deprovisioning processes
• Benefits administration: Pricing varies, depending on your insurance broker
• HR help desk: Custom-priced
  • One-on-one email/phone support from HR experts

*Pricing is based on a quote we received

• Payroll: Rippling offers full-service payroll and tax filing services (federal, state, and local taxes), including year-end reporting (W-2s and 1099s). It tracks PTO, handles deductions, and pays garnishments. You can pay employees through direct deposits and checks, but not by pay card.
• Benefits: Rippling offers Fortune 500-level medical, dental, and vision insurance. It also has FSA, HSA, commuter benefits, and EPLI coverage, and handles Affordable Care Act (ACA) and COBRA administration as well. It even offers one-on-one expert healthcare support to employees who have benefits plan questions, medical bill disputes, or a need for help in finding the appropriate type of care/clinic for their symptoms. However, it lacks some specialty benefits, such as non-standard legal assistance or pet insurance, medical advocacy services, and employee discount plans.
• Compliance support: While Rippling doesn’t have an ESAC or IRS certification, it nonetheless offers tools and advice to help you stay compliant with payroll, safety standards, and labor laws. However, if you need strong compliance support to conduct safety audits and meet Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) requirements, we recommend you partner with ADP TotalSource, Paychex, TriNet, or XcelHR.
• IT support: For technical companies that use a lot of different software, Rippling is the best for onboarding. In addition to the usual new hire documents, it lets you assign computers and software licenses to employees. It can even provide the computers with software preloaded and help with the return of hardware at termination. Only Rippling offers essential IT tools for device and business app management among the PEO companies we reviewed.
• PEO service on/off switch: If you no longer require PEO services, you can quickly switch Rippling’s PEO off and use its HR platform. This differs from all the others on our list, which don’t have an easy on/off option and a seamless transition to HR software.
• Ease of use: Despite the modularity of the software and the extreme number of integrations, Rippling is very user-friendly, with helpful menus and icons for both in-app and third-party tools. All of its solutions “talk” to one another, so you don’t have to enter any information twice. However, while it has an online help center, its how-to articles are a bit limited.

Rippling scored an impressive 4.85 out of 5 average across G2 and Capterra—the top score on our list. Users like how it simplifies HR and payroll tasks and its integration capabilities with third-party software. Complaints across the board suggest Rippling is not as user-friendly for midsize to large businesses as it can become complicated. And, they didn’t like that everything is an add-on, causing costs to potentially exceed budget.

To receive pricing for any of XcelHR’s offerings, you must call for a quote. XcelHR offers the following services:

• Administrative services organization (ASO) & PEO
• Payroll and tax
• HR management
• Risk management
• Employee benefits
• Talent acquisition
• Performance management
• Software solutions

• Payroll: XcelHR automates payroll, integrating benefits and deductions in its calculations. Like Paychex, Insperity, and ADP, it pays employees either by check, direct deposit, or pay card. It handles federal, state, and local taxes, including all the required tax forms. It also files end-of-year paperwork and maintains IRS compliances. However, XcelHR is not currently ESAC- or IRS-certified (although they did formerly acquire IRS certification in 2020).
• Job costing: Its job costing tool computes employee wages per job or department, something not many PEO providers handle naturally. Rippling, for example, has job costing tools but the calculations are based on the employees’ work hours instead of total wages (which includes additional earnings like bonuses and allowances).
• Benefits: It uses MetLife’s Preferred Provider Organization (PPO) plans for dental and runs a 401(k) option through Slavic401k. In addition to FSAs, it has disability, critical illness, and group accident insurance plans. However, if you want HSA options, we recommend partnering with Justworks, ADP TotalSource, Insperity, or Rippling.
• Non-standard benefits: XcelHR’s wide selection of nonstandard benefits is what sets it apart from the other PEO companies on our list. You can select legal assistance plans, auto and home insurance, telehealth services, hospital indemnity insurance, and pet insurance. You are also granted access to exclusive travel and entertainment discounts. It even offers an employee assistance program to help workers cope with stress, get legal or financial advice, and more.
• HR support: You can get assistance with job description writing, resume reviews, and phone interviews, including drug testing, background checks, and pre-employment testing. Advisers can help craft policies and assist in performance management. Unlike Justworks, XcelHR can help create specific reports if the options provided in the software don’t meet your needs.
• ASO services: XcelHR also acts as an administrative services organization (ASO) to provide HR administration, payroll support, regulatory compliance, and benefits administration. However, different from a PEO, an ASO does not operate under a co-employment model. Your business remains the employer of record and is responsible for all legal obligations.
• Compliance support: XcelHR advises you on all aspects of compliance—from fair hiring practices to legally terminating an employee. It excels in safety, with workers’ compensation teams that help you develop OSHA-compliant programs, manage a safety training library, and conduct safety audits (Paychex offers safety assessments as well).

XcelHR has no ratings and zero reviews on both G2 and Capterra. Based on our evaluation of the software we found it has excellent compliance maintenance and benefits that go beyond the basics, such as its ASO services and job costing. However, its interface is outdated and may result in a higher learning curve, making it not as easy to use as others on our list.

Paychex’s PEO services are an add-on to its Paychex Flex offerings. While you must call for a quote, it does offer three packages:

• Paychex Flex Select: Includes employee and training development system, online payroll processing and tax filing, and dedicated support available 24/7.
• Paychex Flex Pro: Includes full-service setup, payroll, and tax filings, robust HR software and handbook tools, and dedicated support available 24/7.
• Paychex Flex Enterprise: Includes all-in-one payroll and HR, custom analysis, hiring and onboarding employees, and support available 24/7.

• Payroll: If your regular payroll doesn’t change, Paychex lets you run payroll in as few as two clicks. It can pay via direct deposit and pay card—note that not all the PEO companies on our list offer a pay card option, which is becoming more popular with GenZ workers. Like ADP, it also supports paper checks and even offers check stuffing services. However, you have to pay extra for check mailing services.
• International payroll: Paychex offers international payroll through its partner vendor, FMP Global. For global payroll services, we recommend ADP TotalSource, Rippling, and Papaya Global.
• Benefits: Paychex offers several benefits plans, such as dental, vision, dependent care FSA, financial benefits, and a Paychex-run 401(k). It has enterprise-level insurance that includes health maintenance organization (HMO) coverage, PPO options, and high deductible plans. Like ADP, it has an employee discount program, but for nonstandard benefits like pet insurance, you need to go to XcelHR.
• HR support: You get a team of experts, with each member specializing in an area of your PEO plan, plus an HR generalist. Not every PEO on our list (except ADP) offers a team setup like this. In addition to onboarding and offboarding tools, you can get other HR solutions like an AI-powered learning management system (LMS) that recommends courses based on the employee’s position and work goals.
• Compliances: Paychex offers employment practices liability insurance (EPLI) and cyber liability insurance. Further, its HR team provides proactive updates on legislation changes, and a Paychex safety rep can even help you assess and mediate risks and meet OSHA requirements.
• Ease of use: Paychex PEO is managed with the Paychex Flex software, which is easy to set up and use. Aside from granting you access to a team of HR experts, it offers 24/7 phone support.
• Paychex Voice Assist: An artificial intelligence feature that offers the first voice-activated payroll experience on the market. You can start a pay period, work on a pay period already in progress, apply standard pay, make adjustments, review totals, and submit payroll all hands-free using your mobile device.

Paychex scored an average of 4.15 out of 5 on both G2 and Capterra. Users rave about how easy it is to use and maintain the software; plus, they like the response of the customer support team. In terms of user feedback, Paychex itself has a lot of negative reviews. Most complaints are around nontransparent pricing and being billed for functions the user did not want (this is also a common complaint with ADP TotalSource). Of more concern are the complaints of incorrect tax withholdings—and Paychex not honoring its guarantee. It should be noted that where those complaints are seen, Paychex has responded, offering to resolve the issue.

TriNet’s PEO pricing is based on a hybrid pricing model that charges a flat insurance fee plus a percentage of your total payroll for administration fees and taxes. One thing TriNet does that we have not seen with other PEO companies in this guide is that its prices decrease as employees either max out their Social Security deductions or unemployment taxes. It also reduces your rates if employees elect for a pretax medical deduction.

• $150–$165* per employee monthly (for a company with 25 workers)
  • Includes full-service HR and payroll for managing the entire employee lifecycle
• Prices go down as employees reach certain payroll milestones

*Pricing is based on a quote we received

• Payroll: TriNet offers paperless W-2, calculates and manages payroll, and takes care of federal, state, and local taxes. TriNet even handles unemployment claims for you. What sets it apart from the other PEO providers we reviewed is that it allows employees to import W-2s directly into TurboTax.
• Time and attendance: Unlike most of the providers on our list, which either don’t have time clock software or charge extra for it, TriNet has time and attendance features. It offers a scheduling solution that generates schedules with your policies in mind and optimizes staff mix. It also lets you set employee work shifts by client, department, and location.
• Benefits: Like most PEOs, TriNet leverages the power of all its small business customers to get excellent rates on major medical insurance. Unlike some, however, it offers plans from a variety of providers, including Aetna, Kaiser Permanente, UnitedHealth, MetLife, and Aflac. It has retirement plans, critical accident and illness policies, and nonstandard benefits, such as home and pet insurance.
• HR support: You’ll have access to HR advisers, performance management tools, and training programs that include professional courses for online learning and certifications. Like Insperity, it even offers leadership training. TriNet also has employee culture surveys and a team engagement tool to help you develop better employees and working groups.
• Compliance support: TriNet can provide industry-specific guidance on compliances and labor rules, keeping you up-to-date on the latest employment laws and regulations. Similar to XcelHR and Paychex, it has a team that can assess your workplace for hazards and violations. In addition, TriNet can provide active management of claims against you for employment practices, including pre-negotiated legal fees and caps with external counsels if needed.

TriNet scored a modest 3.9 out of 5 on G2 and Capterra. This is a bit lower than our expert score due to complaints of implementation difficulties and glitches in its third-party software integrations. Additionally, users complained of how expensive the software was to use. However, users did like the benefits options and the ability to scale as their company grows.

Like most PEO providers, Insperity’s pricing is available by quote only as fees are based on a percentage of your total payroll. It offers the following services:

• Employee benefits
• HR admin and payroll
• Risk management
• HR-related compliance
• Talent management
• HR support and technology

• Payroll: Insperity pays by direct deposit, pay card, and checks. It also comes with 50 prebuilt payroll-related reports (including job costing), and you can request a customized report. However, it doesn’t support global payroll, so we recommend using either ADP, Papaya Global, or Rippling if you have international workers.
• Benefits: Apart from an employee assistance program, you can access enterprise-level health, dental, and vision plans, FSA/HSA, life and accident insurance, and basic disability insurance. You can use an Insperity-run 401(k) plan or sponsor your own Insperity Customized 401(k) designed for your specific situation with various options for eligibility, enrollment, vesting, and more. However, it lacks a health reimbursement arrangement (HRA) program like Paychex has.
• HR support: Compared to Justworks and XcelHR, Insperity’s employee engagement and training tools are more robust. In addition to the usual HR support (such as handbooks and onboarding), Insperity provides excellent employee development and engagement tools. It assists with conducting culture surveys, crafting mission statements, and customizing a rewards program for your staff. Plus, it helps keep employees learning with over 30,000 online books, 2,000-plus audiobooks, and more than 5,000 self-paced courses in business, technology, and compliance, among others.
• Compliance support: Its reps can help keep you compliant with various regulations, such as hiring, tax, payroll, and termination rules. It also supplies labor law posters and even has an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) hotline for employee grievances. However, it doesn’t have ADP TotalSource’s legal defense benefit or Paychex’s cyber liability insurance coverage.
• Employee support: Insperity’s self-service solutions let your staff view and make changes to their benefits from a computer or mobile device. If your employees have questions about a plan’s coverage, they can contact Insperity’s benefits specialists 24/7.
• Ease of use: Insperity grants you access to dedicated reps and a team of HR specialists. While it has how-to articles, the guides are basic and difficult to find online.

Insperity scored 4.25 out of 5 on G2 and Capterra. Users like the ease of navigation of the website and user-friendly mobile app. They also liked the flow of the dashboard and being able to see everything in one spot. However, users complained about how difficult it was to terminate the PEO relationship. They also didn’t like the lack of urgency when contacting customer support.

Papaya Global is one of the few providers that shows pricing on their site. However, it is just a starting price—to get full transparency, you must contact them for a quote.

In addition to the below, Papaya Global charges a setup fee.

• Payroll Plus: Starts at $25 per employee monthly for 101-500 workers. As your employee count decreases, your price decreases.
  • Includes payroll, local tax filing assistance, and benefits management
• Global EoR: $599 per employee monthly
  • Payroll plus workers classification and compliance checks
• Contractor Management: $30 per employee, monthly
  • Payroll plus onboarding, locally-compliant contracts, and contractor management
• Global Workforce Payments: $2.50 per transaction
  • Transforms local payroll data into global disbursements
• Agent of Record: $200 per contractor monthly
  • Local compliance, worker classification, and contractor management

• EoR function: With Papaya Global acting as the EoR, it can hire international employees and pay them on your behalf. It also provides benefits and workforce management through its network of partners located across more than 160 countries.
• Payroll: Aside from calculating withholdings and deductions, it can handle payroll for both employees and contractors. Papaya Global pays your employees (via direct deposits and bank transfers) in their local currency with pay stubs in their local language. It also handles payroll taxes—from documentation to payments and year-end filings—wherever you have employees. Moreover, its platform lets you view payroll information in one location, by country, and as a whole business.
• Benefits: Papaya Global analyzes your benefits plans by country to help you come up with attractive packages. In addition to standard benefits, it can help you create incentives for executives or equity rewards for workers. Not every PEO offers this high-level focus. It works between you and the EoR to deliver the plan.
• HR support: In addition to managing payroll, Papaya Global provides access to HR documents, sends monthly employee status reports, and reminds you of birthdays and work anniversaries. However, it doesn’t have 24/7 support. This is unlike ADP TotalSource, Justworks, and Paychex, which offer round-the-clock support.
• Compliances: As an EoR for foreign businesses, it provides local expertise to ensure compliance with local regulations and laws. Papaya Global also monitors global tax laws to keep you compliant and even tracks work permits, residence permits, and family permits. Other PEOs (like Rippling and ADP TotalSource) don’t offer immigration-related services.
• Ease of use: You get a dedicated onboarding manager to get you started and access to in-country experts for questions. It also integrates with your existing HRIS, ERP expense management, and time and attendance systems. However, its integration options aren’t as robust as Rippling’s 500-plus partners.
• Global employment cost calculator: Probably one of the coolest things Papaya Global offers is its global employment cost calculator. This tool helps you estimate the total cost of employing staff in other countries. Simply plug in the country of employment, gross annual salary, and currency, and it will give you the gross to net costs.

Papaya Global scored an average of 4.55 out of 5 on G2 and Capterra, however, user reviews were low (below 100). Users liked the dedicated payroll experts on hand to quickly answer questions and how user-friendly and easy to navigate the portal is. However, they didn’t like the glitches associated with the software (though customer service resolved them quickly). They also indicated reporting was not as detailed as they would have liked.

• Starts at $85* per employee monthly
  • Includes hire-to-retire HR services, compliance assistance, and complete payroll administration

*Pricing is based on a quote we received

• Payroll and tax filing: With ADP TotalSource, pay processing takes minutes to calculate, and its system flags potential errors. In addition to payroll tax filing (federal, state, and local taxes) and year-end reporting (W-2s/1099s), it manages withholdings and benefits. Plus, if you have questions, you can call a payroll expert 24/7.
• Variety of pay methods: ADP TotalSource supports several employee payment options, such as via direct deposits, paychecks, and the Wisely Pay card. Similar to Paychex, it also offers check signing and stuffing services. For employers with preferred payment options of only direct deposits and checks, then Justworks and Rippling are good alternatives.
• Benefits: ADP TotalSource leverages the power of over 500,000 client employees under its PEO to get Fortune 500-level healthcare options for your business. It also conducts an annual comparison against your competition to ensure you offer the best benefits to your employees. Benefits options include COBRA administration, commuter benefits, medical, 401(k) plans, life and accident insurances, FSA and HSA accounts, health advocacy services, a work-life employee assistance program, and even a discount program. Nonetheless, XcelHR’s benefits selection is more diverse with general legal services and even an insurance option for your employees’ pets.
• HR support: ADP provides hire-to-retire support to recruit and track applicants, onboard new hires, manage employee information (including performance reviews), and offboard or terminate employees. It has training and development programs, employee survey management, and more. However, you have to pay extra for time tracking, employee engagement tools, and full-service recruitment. This is unlike Insperity’s services, which include a complete HR solution with strong employee development tools.
• Compliance support: ADP TotalSource’s HR experts have decades of experience and are constantly learning. They can advise you on compliance regulations to just about everything, from COVID-19 legislation to terminating employees. Its compliance services can help you avoid potential legal issues. Further, ADP may provide legal assistance if an employee sues your company—provided you followed its recommended processes. ADP TotalSource is the only PEO that we reviewed that has this feature.
• Employee portal: Employees can onboard through the portal and enroll in benefits. They can also use the portal to raise PTO requests, clock in/out, create timesheets, view pay stubs and benefits, and contact colleagues. And unlike Justworks, it has employee mobile apps (for iOS and Android devices) with intuitive controls.

ADP scored an average of 4.3 out of 5 across G2 and Capterra. Users praised how easy it is to navigate between HR and payroll modules and the responsiveness of customer support. However, users complained that tax filing issues occurred and the technology was a bit outdated. Many users even complained about ADP’s pricing complexity, including having received confusing billings. Others also mentioned that while its support team is generally reliable, they sometimes experience difficulties contacting a customer representative.