Best Payroll Apps 2020

The best payroll apps make it easy for employers on the go to manage payroll when they’re out of the office. When evaluating apps, our primary focus was on cost (service cost; most apps are free), ease of use, and depth of payroll processing features. Some apps may cost less money to use but won’t allow you to run payroll or e-file payroll taxes from your mobile device. Others require you to spend more money but have the 24-hour support your business needs.

• Square Payroll: Best for employers, especially those using Square point-of-sale, needing access to all payroll functions on the go, at an affordable rate
• Paychex: Best for growing businesses that want flexible payroll plans
• QuickBooks Payroll: Best for employers that are existing QuickBooks users
• SurePayroll: Best for employers with simple payroll needs (no major reporting or customization needs)
• Payroll Guru: Best for employers who calculate payroll by hand and only have a handful of employees
• Zenefits: Best for businesses within highly regulated industries
• ADP: Best for large employers with an in-office payroll worker

Most of the best payroll apps require you to purchase a payroll service to use them, but we included one that doesn’t. Let’s take a more in-depth look:

Square Payroll: Best Overall for Small Businesses

Square Payroll is a great payroll app for small businesses, because it does the best job at offering a full range of payroll features at the lowest price. You can set up your company with ease, enter employee details, sign up to offer insurance and other employee benefits, and run an unlimited number of payrolls, all within the app, at no additional fee.

Visit Square Payroll

Our Observations

• 4.6 to 4.8 out of 5 stars
• 50,000 downloads on Android
• Works on Android and iOS
• In-app tech support usually responds to comments within one to three days
• Most complaints we saw were usually bugs that were later resolved and/or compatibility issues
• Intuitive dashboard, easy to use

Mobile App Features

• Run payroll; pay employees and contractors
• Sends payment via direct deposit or Cash App; check will require using a printer
• Syncs with Square Point of Sale (POS) app to transfer hours worked
• Automatically withholds, files, and pays payroll taxes
• Request quotes on and choose employee benefit plans
• Sends new employees details on how to set up their online accounts after you enter their information (name, email address) into the app.

Pricing

Square’s pricing is pretty cheap compared to alternative providers. If you’re only paying independent contractors, you will pay a flat rate of $5 per contractor per month, and only during the months you actually make a payment. If you need to pay employees, you will pay a monthly $29 base in addition to the $5 per person you pay each month.

If you decide to offer benefits, you may pay extra.

• Health insurance: Starts at $190 monthly per plan; you only pay if you want to contribute toward employee accounts
• 401(k) plans: $39 monthly subscription fee + $8 per employee per month
• Pre-tax plans: $0 base fee per month; other fees vary
• Workers’ Comp: Must request quote from AP Intego via the app

Strengths and Weaknesses of Square Payroll

For more information about using Square Payroll as a payroll provider in addition to real-life user reviews, check out Square Payroll Reviews.

Paychex: Best for Growing Businesses

The Paychex Flex app allows you to run payroll, manage benefits, and view reports, much of the same functions you can perform from a PC. Unlike ADP, you can make changes to employee data within the app. Because the service cost is a little pricier than some of our other options, we recommend this for growing businesses. There are multiple pricing plans to choose from that will support your company from the startup through its growth stage.

Visit Paychex

Our Observations

• 4.5 to 4.8 out of 5 stars
• Works on Android and iOS
• Most complaints we saw seemed to be one-off issues where setup wasn’t done correctly or there was some lag.
• There were many positive comments, primarily from employees who found it easy to use, but also employers. Happy employees make happy employers. Employers liked that they could perform the same functions on mobile that they could on a desktop.

Mobile App Features

• Run payroll (can even resume pay runs started on desktop)
• Set up direct deposit and pay employees
• Change pay rates
• Add new employees
• View payroll reports and cost sheets
• Access health and benefits guides and enrollment information
• Employees can view stubs, request time off, set up direct deposit on their own, and notably enroll in retirement and other benefits (unlike most of the other apps on our list).

Pricing

Like ADP, you’ll have to call Paychex to request a quote. There’s a $200 setup fee that’s usually waived and four plans to choose from. Prices can vary from a couple of hundred dollars a month for a few employees to a thousand, depending on the additional features you add (benefits, HR tools).

Strengths and Weaknesses of Paychex

For more information about using Paychex as a payroll provider in addition to real-life user reviews, check out Paychex Reviews.

QuickBooks Payroll: Best for Existing QuickBooks Users

The QuickBooks Payroll app is an ideal payroll app for employers who are existing QuickBooks users as the accounting system integrates with the payroll software seamlessly. It works well if they want to run payroll when they’re out of the office as well as give their employees access to view their paychecks. You can send employees direct deposits within 24 hours and pay taxes with the click of a button.

Visit QuickBooks Payroll

Our Observations

• 4 to 4.6 out of 5 stars
• 500,000+ downloads on Android
• Works on Android and iOS
• In-app tech support usually responds to app issues within a week to a week and a half after the issue is reported
• There are complaints about the app sometimes not pulling up users’ company information or allowing them to file taxes
• Users like how easy the app makes running payroll on the go

Mobile App Features

• Process payroll (same-day or next-day direct deposit)
• Can E-file federal and state taxes with the click of a button
• Shows tax filing deadlines and highlights those that are past-due
• Employers can review paychecks and see pay history
• Employees can use it to view paychecks
• Allows you to email or text paycheck breakdown to yourself and the employee
• Will sync with your phone so you can initiate an email or phone call to an employee from the app

You can e-file your taxes through the app.

Pricing

You’ll have to sign up for a QuickBooks Payroll plan to use the app. The service offers a discount, but only for the first three months of service. Both non-discounted and discounted pricing are shown in the table below.

Strengths and Weaknesses of QuickBooks Payroll

For more information about using QuickBooks Payroll as a payroll provider in addition to real-life user reviews, check out QuickBooks Payroll Reviews.

SurePayroll: Best for Small Businesses With a Simple Payroll System

The SurePayroll app is designed for small businesses that need to run payroll without all of the bells and whistles. It allows you to run payroll on the go, change paycheck details, and track paid time off. The app is free to use for SurePayroll customers, and pricing is affordable. However, it’s not the highest rated and is described as crashing often.

Visit SurePayroll

Our Observations

• 3.1 (Android) To 4.8 (iOS) out of 5 stars
• 10,000+ downloads of the employer app on Android
• Works on Android and iOS
• In-app tech support appears to be nonexistent; there weren’t any responses to customer complaints within the app
• Users complained about not being able to email (or print) pay stubs from the app and that it crashes often
• When it’s working, users consider the app intuitive and secure

Mobile App Features

• Enter employee earnings, deductions, and hours worked
• Access employee contact information
• Add a bonus
• Access payroll reports
• Pay employees with a two-day turnaround time
• Employers can review paychecks and see pay history
• Employees can use it to view paychecks, PTO, and payroll tax details; they can also check pay and retirement contribution rates.

You can edit each employee’s payroll information within the app.

Pricing

For most small businesses, the price is $29.99 monthly plus $4 a month per employee. It’s $39.99 monthly for household employers with one employee, and if you want to add benefits and HR tools, you’ll have to speak with a representative to get pricing specific to your business. You can add a time clock for an extra $9.99 monthly.

Strengths and Weaknesses of SurePayroll

For more information about using QuickBooks Payroll as a payroll provider in addition to real-life user reviews, check out SurePayroll Reviews.

PayrollGuru: Best for Employers With a Handful of Employees

Payroll Guru has a free app you can use without purchasing a payroll service. From our review, we found that primarily, employees use it to estimate their take-home pay, but employers can also take advantage of it if they don’t have a more efficient way to calculate payroll amounts. It’s best to only use it if you have less than five employees because it only gives calculations (doesn’t actually run payroll) and can get tedious with more.

Visit Payroll Guru

Our Observations

• 3.1 to 3.2 out of 5 stars
• 100,000+ downloads
• Works on Android (free) and iOS (costs $4.99)
• In-app tech support usually responds to comments within one to three days
• There are complaints about the app temporarily locking up users’ phones
• Users like how close the estimates align with their actual paychecks
• We didn’t see any responses to user complaints from an in-app tech representative

Mobile App Features

• Calculates federal and state payroll taxes you need to withhold
• Calculates gross pay and take-home pay you need to process
• Allows you to email or text paycheck breakdown to yourself and the employee
• Calculates overtime
• Gives you the option to enter W-4 information (exemptions, filing status, pay frequency)

Pricing

There is no payroll service associated with this app. You can use it for free if you have an Android. However, iOS users will have to pay $4.99 for an upgraded version. Android users also have the option to upgrade if they’re willing to pay. You’ll be able to add line items for deductions like insurance, unemployment, in addition to viewing the payroll data in a pie chart format.

Strengths and Weaknesses of Payroll Guru

Zenefits: Best for Businesses in Highly Regulated Industries

The Zenefits app is a mobile extension of the Zenefits human resource information system (HRIS) platform. It’s more HR focused, and the app’s features reflect that—you’re not able to run payroll but can view pay stubs, check the org chart, approve PTO, and manage HR and time tracking data. If you’re planning to expand to 50 employees anytime soon or operate in a highly regulated industry, HR compliance will become more important, and Zenefits could be a good fit.

Visit Zenefits

Our Observations

• 4.2 to 4.5 out of 5 stars
• 100,000+ downloads of the employer app on Android
• Works on Android and iOS
• There aren’t many In-app tech support responses to user complaints
• Users complained about the limited functionality of the app (can’t make any changes to the data within it, except work hours) and believe the quality to be beneath ADP’s usual standards
• The app user reviews we found were from employees and they like being able to see their pay stub

Mobile App Features

• View org chart
• Review task list
• Approve paid time off requests
• View offers and onboarding checklist
• Approve employee work eligibility forms
• Review handbooks and other agreements
• View pay stubs and employee data

This is the view that employees see when they want to request time off; employers need to select the “Company” tab, and it will give the option to approve the time off.

Zenefits’ Pricing

Pricing starts at $40 monthly with per-person fees that range from $6 to $12 per month. You’ll have to add payroll as an add-on, because the core service is HR. The base plan includes an HR platform with employee data, an org chart, and onboarding support, and the advanced plan adds on time tracking and ACA compliance.

• Payroll: $6
• Time and attendance: $5
• HR adviser: $5
• Payroll adviser: $5
• Ultimate adviser (HR and payroll): $8
• Employee performance management: $4

Strengths and Weaknesses of Zenefits

For more information about using Zenefits as a payroll provider in addition to real-life user reviews, check out Zenefits Reviews.

ADP: Best for Large Employers With In-House Payroll Staff

ADP has a mobile app for employers and one for employees. The employer app allows you to run payroll so employees can be paid on time, but that’s about it. You can’t change any pay rate data or employee information within the app, so it’s best to only sign up for the service if you won’t be relying on its mobile functions regularly.

Visit ADP

Our Observations

• 2.5 out of 5 stars
• 500,000+ downloads of the employer app on Android
• Works on Android and iOS
• There aren’t many In-app tech support responses to user complaints
• Users complained about the limited functionality of the app (can’t make any changes to the data within it, except work hours) and believe the quality to be beneath ADP’s usual standards
• Users who left a positive review noted that it’s easy to run payroll within the app, although that’s the main value it provides

Mobile App Features

• Submit payroll
• Can view list of existing employees, their pay rates, and more
• View and share reports
• See weekly HR tips
• Employee app is separate but allows them to view their employee data, year-end tax forms, and paycheck stubs

Pricing

You’ll have to call for a quote. There’s usually a $200 set up fee, and the more often you run payroll, the higher your rate will be (weekly vs biweekly). Rates tend to be a bit higher than those offered by QuickBooks Payroll and Square Payroll—$100 monthly for one or two employees is reasonable, depending on the services you add to your plan.

Strengths and Weaknesses of ADP

For more information about using ADP as a payroll provider in addition to real-life user reviews, check out ADP Reviews.

Bottom Line

Using mobile apps to manage payroll out of the office is a necessity for many business owners. Good payroll apps help employers pay employees accurately and on time, as well as avoid tax-filing penalties. The best payroll apps for your business depend on the type of workers you hire, employees versus contractors, whether you have payroll or HR support staff, and your compliance needs.

Our recommendation for the best payroll app is Square Payroll. It offers the cheapest rates, is easy to use, doesn’t leave out basic features (like payroll processing, tax payments, and filings), and still provides access to advanced features like benefits. Sign up for a 30-day free trial.

Visit Square