A professional employer organization (PEO) provides comprehensive HR solutions that are best for small and mid-size businesses. When it comes to benefits, the best PEOs have solid buying power among all of its client employees, making it easy for them to negotiate enterprise-level pricing options that you can’t get as a small business. They also tend to be more affordable for you if they charge a per person rate vs a percentage of salary. Let’s take a look at the seven PEOs we recommend to see if they’re right for your business.
Top PEO Companies
PEO Services | Best For |
|---|---|
Best overall for small businesses needing a low-cost, high-functioning PEO | |
Growing businesses or those wanting the power and experience of a large PEO | |
Small businesses seeking benefits that go beyond the standard medical insurances and 401(k) | |
Technical companies that need integrations and hardware support in their onboarding | |
Small businesses (even under five employees) seeking a flexible solution for tackling the tasks of HR and payroll | |
Mid-sized businesses wanting a highly-rated and complete PEO service with a focus on training | |
Global businesses wanting a PEO to help them keep compliant and handle international payrolls while integrating their own software |
How We Chose the Top 7 PEOs
We started our search with 12 top-of-the-line PEOs. We evaluated each according to the most important needs for small businesses, weighing attributes accordingly. Then, we ranked them from highest to lowest. Many scored equally, so we gave special attention to user feedback for breaking ties. Overall, Justworks ranked highest among small business PEOs.
RUBRIC SCORECARD CRITERIA:
20% of Overall Score
Most PEOs do not list their pricing and require you to call and get a custom quote. Some charge by employee, while others charge by total payroll. Some have set-up fees, though quite a few waive these if asked.
25% of Overall Score
We looked for HR support, from hiring to retiring, including assistance with employee career development and culture.
10% of Overall Score
These include time and attendance and recruiting.
10% of Overall Score
The IRS and the Employer Services Assurance Corporation (ESOC) both certify PEOs for adherence to strict standards and ethical practices, so we checked whether these providers are certified. We also considered customized reports, as these are often for compliance issues.
15% of Overall Score
We looked for automatic payroll runs, direct deposits, taxes, and W-2 reporting.
20% of Overall Score
In addition to helpful features like dedicated representatives and support options, we averaged user ratings from G2, Capterra, and TrustRadius on a 5-star scale; any option with an average of 4+ stars is ideal.
If you need help making a final decision, follow our guide on finding the right payroll solution.
Justworks
PROS
- Enterprise-level benefits from major insurance companies + 401(k)
- Excellent customer support
- Intuitive interface
- IRS and ESOC certified
CONS
- Limited reports and integrations
- No mobile app for employees or employers
- Users say the PTO tools are not robust
| RATING CRITERIA | Pricing | 5.00 | OUT OF | 5 |
| HR Administration | 5.00 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Additional Software & Tools (Non-Payroll) | 2.25 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Licensing & Reporting | 3.50 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Payroll Features | 5.00 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Ease of Use | 4.50 | OUT OF | 5 |
Justworks is an affordable PEO that offers payroll, files your taxes, and provides employee benefits, and its HR professionals help you stay compliant. It’s a great choice for small businesses with limited HR experience or those that have HR teams that prefer someone to take over the administrative tasks of payroll and HR. With 70,000 employees through its clients, it offers excellent benefits.
Justworks Pricing
Justworks is one of the few PEOs that offer fully transparent pricing. It has discounts for nonprofits, and part-time workers (earning under 30 hours) are priced on the Basic plan even if you get the Plus plan.
# of Employees | Basic | Plus |
|---|---|---|
1–24 Employees per month | $49 per employee | $99 per employee |
25–99 Employees per month | $44 per employee | $89 per employee |
100–174 Employees per month | $39 per employee | $79 per employee |
175+ Employees per month | Call for Quote | Call for Quote |
Payroll Tax Filings | ✔ | ✔ |
Unlimited Vendor and Contractor Payments | ✔ | ✔ |
Year-end Filings | ✔ | ✔ |
HR Consulting | ✔ | ✔ |
Online Employee Onboarding | ✔ | ✔ |
Harassment Prevention Training | ✔ | ✔ |
Benefits: workers’ comp, life and disability insurance, health and wellness, fitness memberships, 401(k) | Access (pay by employee) | Access (pay by employee) |
PTO management | ✔ | ✔ |
Reporting | ✔ | ✔ |
Commuter benefits | ✔ | ✔ |
COBRA administration, Health Advocacy Services, One Medical (as available) | N/A | ✔ |
Medical insurance, dental and vision insurance, HSA/FSA | N/A | Access (pay by employee) |
Other Justworks Features
Stand-out: Justworks’ inexpensive and transparent pricing set it apart from the rest of the top PEOs. It’s also extremely user-friendly and works to help educate small business owners, as well as take on important payroll and HR tasks.
Payroll: Justworks processes payroll but pays only via direct deposit. Employees can split checks among multiple accounts. It also calculates and records withholdings and deductions, including garnishments. The time tracker is simple, or you can integrate with TSheets or Boomr.
Tax Filing: Justworks handles and pays federal, state, and local taxes. It lets employees fill out their tax documents online and files end-of-year paperwork. It’s an IRS-certified PEO.
Benefits: Justworks can offer you great medical plans from UnitedHealthcare, Kaiser, and Aetna. In addition, it offers enterprise-level plans for dental and vision, as well as FSA and HSA accounts, accidental death and disability, and life insurance. Small businesses can also get Teladoc services, gym benefits, and medical advocacy. Of course, it administers the plans and processes the deductions.
HR Support: Justworks offers a dedicated representative for HR and payroll. You can access templates for common documents like handbooks, and the manager dashboard lets you view important employee information.
Compliance: In addition to having HR experts for each of the 50 states who keep you up-to-date on compliance, it also works proactively to keep you compliant. For example, it provides, free of charge, sexual harassment training videos that meet state regulations. It even has some state policies pre-loaded into the software.
Employee Portal: The employee portal makes it easy to onboard. It allows employees to complete online forms, access tax and payroll documents, read company policies, request PTO, and more. It does not have a mobile app.
Ease-of-use: The software is attractive and user-friendly. It not only handles the administrative tasks of payroll and HR but also contains in-app links to articles that explain points of law and compliance and how to use the software. Its customer support personnel are available 24/7. Justworks users rated it an average of 4.65 out of 5 stars on G2 and Capterra.
ADP TotalSource
PROS
- Highly experienced
- Can get custom, specific reports
- Dedicated reps helpful
- Easy to onboard employees
CONS
- Pricing not transparent; customers say it’s confusing
- Dated software
- Customer service not always speedy or helpful
| RATING CRITERIA | Pricing | 3.00 | OUT OF | 5 |
| HR Administration | 5.00 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Additional Software & Tools (Non-Payroll) | 4.25 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Licensing & Reporting | 5.00 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Payroll Features | 5.00 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Ease of Use | 4.63 | OUT OF | 5 |
With clients from small businesses to international corporations, ADP TotalSource is a great choice for companies that expect to grow. While pricier than Justworks, it offers more years of expertise and experience (30+) and a greater set of features to choose from. Like most PEOs, it has custom pricing.
ADP TotalSource Pricing
Like many PEOs, ADP creates a custom plan and does not provide general pricing information. Sources we found placed monthly rates at anywhere from $85 to $125 per employee, per month. The representative we spoke to said the average annual rate was $2,000 per employee, per year but could vary by as much as $1,000. Pricing depended not only on features but other factors like your geographic location. Transparency and confusion about billings are common in complaints about ADP.
Other ADP TotalSource Features
Stand-out: ADP is a goliath among PEOs both in size and range. It works with companies as few as five employees or as large as 5,000 or more. It partners with Globalization Partners PEO for international PEO.
Payroll: Pay with direct deposit, checks, and the Wisely paycard. It takes minutes to calculate, and the system flags potential errors. It also manages withholdings and benefits, and if you have questions, you can call a payroll expert 24/7.
Tax Filing: ADP calculates, files, and pays your federal, state, and local taxes. It also manages state unemployment insurance. At the end of the year, it files W-2s and 1099s.
Benefits: ADP leverages the power of over 500,000 client employees under its PEO to get Fortune-500-level health care options for your business. It also does an annual comparison against your competition to ensure you offer the best benefits to your employees.
HR Support: You can get hire-to-retire support, as ADP can help you 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.
Compliances: Both ESAC and IRS-certified, ADP’s HR experts have decades of experience and are constantly learning. They can advise you on compliances in everything from COVID-19 legislation to terminating employees.
Employee Portal: Employees can onboard through the portal and enroll in benefits. They can also use the portal for PTO, clock in/out, create time sheets, view pay stubs and benefits, and contact colleagues. The mobile app has 4.5 out of 5 stars on Google Play.
Ease-of-use: The software is dated, but the employee mobile app is intuitive. There are articles and a support section, but the online support was more FAQs than how-to. Users rated it an average of 4.35 out of 5 stars on G2 and Capterra.
XcelHR
PROS
- Flexible functionality
- Wide range of benefits including pet insurance
- Workers’ comp team includes inspections and policy help
CONS
- Not IRS or ESAC certified
- Older interface
- Can’t request PTO off the app
| RATING CRITERIA | Pricing | 4.50 | OUT OF | 5 |
| HR Administration | 5.00 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Additional Software & Tools (Non-Payroll) | 3.00 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Licensing & Reporting | 3.00 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Payroll Features | 5.00 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Ease of Use | 4.63 | OUT OF | 5 |
XcelHR is another excellent PEO with reasonable but custom pricing and a wide range of services. It does well with payroll and HR but shines in pricing options, benefits, and compliance. The software feels dated, however.
XcelHR Pricing
XcelHR charges either by employee or by percentage of total payroll, the only PEO software we examined with this flexibility. Charging by percentage is a good idea if you have many employees that earn low pay, such as in a restaurant or store. XcelHR also lets you add or subtract services as needed instead of bundling features per contract. Our research uncovered prices starting at $49 per month, per employee.
Other XcelHR Features
Stand-Out: We were impressed by the range of benefits XcelHR offers. With everything from PPOs to pet insurance, it’s a good choice if you want a range of benefits that address your company culture. Plus, you get strong payroll and HR.
Payroll: XcelHR pays employees by check, direct deposit, or pay card according to the schedule you set. It automates the process, integrating benefits and deductions. It also does job costing, something not many PEOs handle naturally.
Tax Filing: XcelHR handles federal, state, and local taxes, including all the required forms. It files end-of-year paperwork and maintains IRS compliances. It is not an IRS CPEO, however.
Benefits: Your employees can take advantage of enterprise-level health care plans. It uses Metlife PPO for dental. It also has disability and critical illness insurance, legal assistance plans, FSA, group accident insurance, employee assistance, auto insurance, and even pet insurance. Your employees can opt-in for virtual doctor visits and telehealth. It runs a 401(k) through Slavic.
HR Support: You can get assistance on job description writing, drug testing and background checks, resume reviews, even pre-employment testing and phone interviews. Advisers can help craft policies, assist in performance management, and also create specific reports if the dozens provided in the software don’t meet your industry needs.
Compliances: XcelHR advises you on all aspects of compliances, from fair hiring practices to how to terminate an employee. It excels in safety, with workers’ compensation teams that help you develop OSHA-complaint programs, conduct safety audits, keep a safety training library, and more.
Employee Portal: Employees can access digital files, see pay stubs, and upload documents. The mobile app is similarly simple but has few user ratings.
Ease-of-use: The software feels outdated and has some idiosyncrasies, like needing to put the employee’s name in all-caps when onboarding. However, it has how-to videos online as well as live and online training, and of course, dedicated representatives.
Rippling PEO
PROS
- Can easily turn PEO on and off and still access HR/payroll software
- Offers hardware onboarding
- Excellent integrations capabilities
- Intuitive interface highly rated by users
CONS
- Gets pricey as you add functions
- No live customer support for software issues
- No ESAC certification
| RATING CRITERIA | Pricing | 4.50 | OUT OF | 5 |
| HR Administration | 5.00 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Additional Software & Tools (Non-Payroll) | 4.25 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Licensing & Reporting | 3.00 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Payroll Features | 5.00 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Ease of Use | 3.75 | OUT OF | 5 |
We recommend Rippling PEO for companies whose employees need company computers and software licenses. Rippling offers all the important features of a PEO, including HR support, enterprise-level benefits, compliance advising, and payroll with taxes. It’s modular, and some users say it gets pricey with each add-on, but the interface is fantastic. It has the highest user approval we’ve seen.
Rippling PEO Pricing
Rippling does not provide pricing for its PEO services unless you call for a quote. However, it does say that its customers save an average of $1,775 per year, per employee. If you don’t need a particular function or outgrow the PEO altogether, you can quickly switch it off and then adjust HR and payroll services as needed. This differs from other PEOs that don’t have other options for you to transition to when you no longer need the extensive features they provide.
Other Rippling PEO Features
Stand-Out: For companies that use a lot of different software, especially technical companies, Rippling is the best for onboarding. In addition to the usual documents, you can assign computers and software licenses. Rippling can even provide the computers with software preloaded. It also helps with the return of hardware at termination. It integrates with over 500 apps.
Payroll: Rippling offers full-service payroll, paying by direct deposit or check and filing and paying all taxes. It tracks time and PTO, handles deductions, and pays garnishments. Even more, it has multiple pay codes for job costing and lets you create custom reports. Promoting someone mid-pay cycle? Rippling prorates to the new pay rate.
Tax Filing: Employees fill out tax forms while onboarding, and Rippling handles federal, state, and local taxes. It sends out W-2s and 1099s at the end of the year. Rippling is IRS-certified.
Benefits: Rippling offers Fortune-500-level medical, dental, and vision insurance. It also has FSA, HSA, and commuter benefits and handles ACA and COBRA administration.
HR Support: You can get one-on-one HR support, store and track documents, stay up-to-date on important employee events like birthdays, set up custom workflows, automate calendars and scheduling, and instantly post job openings to job sites and social media. HR or IT can handle third-party software permissions and more right from the dashboard.
Compliance: Rippling does not have an ESAC certification but does a lot to help you stay compliant with payroll, safety standards, and labor laws. Assistance varies from posters to advice on issues.
Employee Portal: Employees can manage PTO and benefits through the payroll, as well as help you validate and resolve employee complaints and claims against your company.
Ease-of-use: Despite the modularity of the software and the extreme number of integrations, Rippling is very user-friendly, with menus and icons for both in-app and third-party tools. All systems “talk” to one another, so you don’t have to enter any information twice. Rippling is still in the process of building an online help center with how-to articles, however. Nonetheless, users give it 4.9 out of 5 stars with overwhelming praise for the interface on both G2 and Capterra.
Paychex PEO
PROS
- Charges per employee, per month, split by pay run
- Great choice of payroll and HR tools to customize your plan
- Benefits include 401(k)
CONS
- Can get expensive as you add features
- Pricing can change each year
- Payroll support can be hit-or-miss
| RATING CRITERIA | Pricing | 3.00 | OUT OF | 5 |
| HR Administration | 5.00 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Additional Software & Tools (Non-Payroll) | 2.50 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Licensing & Reporting | 5.00 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Payroll Features | 4.75 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Ease of Use | 5.00 | OUT OF | 5 |
If you have specific needs, Paychex PEO can create a highly customized PEO plan for you. It offers hundreds of functions in HR, payroll, and compliance support, as well as a wide variety of benefits. If you have fewer than five employees, it can get you on an Administrative Services Organization (ASO) plan instead. It can get pricey as you add features, however.
Paychex PEO Pricing
Paychex does not reveal its pricing. The representative I spoke to said that they have 350+ different products and services that it mixes and matches to meet your needs. It does charge by employee, per month and breaks up the cost by pay period. Thus, if you are charged $100 per month and pay once a week, you can pay $20 or $25 per employee, per pay period. It also charges a set-up fee.
Other Paychex PEO Features
Stand-Out: Paychex offers an extremely varied and versatile set of tools that you can put together in a plan to best meet your company’s needs. When you call, a representative will discuss your company in-depth to recommend a plan that works best for you and your budget.
Payroll: Paychex lets you run payroll in as few as two clicks if you didn’t have any changes since the last pay period. It offers time and attendance tracking, customizes earnings and reductions, and pays with direct deposit or pay card. Paper checks cost extra for mailing.
Tax Filing: Paychex handles federal, state, and local taxes, plus year-end forms. Employees can fill out required tax paperwork during online onboarding.
Benefits: You can use your own provider or integrate with payroll. Paychex offers several tiers of PEOs, but even the first tier offers dental, vision, dependent care FSA, financial benefits, a Paychex-run 401(k), and more. It has enterprise-level insurance that includes HMO, PPO, point-of-service, and high deductible plans.
HR Support: You get a team of experts, with each member specializing in an area of your PEO plan, plus an HR generalist. In addition to onboarding, offboarding, and PTO management, you can get other benefits like an AI-powered learning management system (LMS) that recommends courses based on the employee’s position and goals.
Compliances: Paychex offers Employment Practices Liability Insurance and Cyber Liability Insurance. The HR team provides proactive updates on legislation changes, and a Paychex safety rep can help you assess and mediate risks and meet OSHA requirements.
Employee Portal: The employee app is available on mobile and PC and has 4.5 out of 5 stars on Google Play, one of the best employee apps we looked at. Also, employees can access pay stubs and tax and benefit information and request PTO through the platform.
Ease-of-use: Paychex PEO is managed with the Paychex Flex software, which has an average of 4.2 out of 5 stars from users on G2 and Capterra. You can get help from your team or customer support 24/7.
Insperity PEO
PROS
- Extensive training opportunities
- Employees can call Insperity for a wide range of concerns
- 50 pre-built reports, including job costing
CONS
- Expensive
- Help section is not great
- Users said the software could be overwhelming; things were hard to find
| RATING CRITERIA | Pricing | 3.00 | OUT OF | 5 |
| HR Administration | 5.00 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Additional Software & Tools (Non-Payroll) | 4.25 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Licensing & Reporting | 5.00 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Payroll Features | 4.50 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Ease of Use | 4.00 | OUT OF | 5 |
With over 100,000 client companies and two million client employees, Insperity is another major player in PEOs. It has 70 offices across the US, so its specialists know their regions well. It’s one of the most expensive on our list and is best for mid-sized businesses that want a strong HR partner.
Insperity PEO Pricing
Insperity does not list its pricing online, but we found prices that start around $230 per person, per month. It has a standard set of HR features for the plan, and you can add on other services, from hiring help to expense management, for additional fees.
Other Insperity PEO Features
Stand-Out: This is not the cheapest PEO on the list, but it makes up for that in the depth of assistance it offers. If you are a growing company or in a complex field, Insperity offers extensive training for employees and managers, plus extras like an EEOC hotline to take some of the HR burden off your team.
Payroll: Insperity pays by direct deposit or pay card. It has time-tracking and PTO management and handles garnishments including paying directly to the appropriate government agency. With 50 pre-built reports, it makes it easy to analyze payroll data (including job costing), and you can request a customized report.
Tax Filing: Insperity handles all the tax filing and payments, as well end-of-year paperwork. It is an IRS-certified PEO.
Benefits: You can get access to Fortune-500-level employee health, dental, and vision plans, as well as FSA/HSA, life and accident insurance, and basic disability insurance. It also offers an employee assistance program. You can use an Insperity-run 401(k) or sponsor your own Insperity Customized 401(k) designed for your specific situation including eligibility, enrollment, and more.
HR Support: In addition to the usual HR support—handbooks, onboarding, and the like—Insperity excels in employee engagement and productivity. It assists with culture surveys, mission statements, and a customized rewards program. Plus, it helps keep employees learning with 5,000+ self-paced courses in business, technology, compliances, and more, plus over 30,000 online books and 2,000 audiobooks.
Compliances: Like all the PEOs on our list, it offers workers’ compensation insurance. It has EPLI coverage as well. Its reps can help you keep compliant with issues from hiring to taxes to termination. It also supplies labor law posters and even has an EEOC hotline for employee grievances.
Employee Portal: Employees can access benefits specialists 24/7. The panel lets them see and make changes to their benefits from a computer or mobile device.
Ease-of-use: Insperity offers dedicated reps and a dedicated team of HR specialists. The software is unimpressive and the guide is basic and difficult to find online. Overall though, many users on third- party sites found customer service to be helpful.
Papaya
PROS
- EOR in 140 countries
- Handles payroll, HR, compliances in all nations and localities
- Offers immigration support
CONS
- Expensive
- Need a separate time and attendance system
| RATING CRITERIA | Pricing | 5.00 | OUT OF | 5 |
| HR Administration | 3.75 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Additional Software & Tools (Non-Payroll) | 1.75 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Licensing & Reporting | 3.00 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Payroll Features | 4.50 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Ease of Use | 3.00 | OUT OF | 5 |
Papaya didn’t score as high as most of the PEO services we evaluated, but we included it because it’s one of the best for international businesses. It can help you with hiring international employees, including immigration law compliances, and acts as the employer of record in over 140 countries, taking on payroll and liabilities so that you can concentrate on work.
Papaya Pricing
Papaya is another PEO that shares its pricing online. In addition to the plans below, you can purchase the Payroll Intelligence Suite for $250 (annual plan) or $320 (quarterly plan) per location. This tool is a full business intelligence software for payroll and expense analysis and reporting.
Features | Payroll | Global EoR | Contractor Management and IC compliance |
|---|---|---|---|
Price | $20–$100 per employee, per month | $770–$1,000 per employee, per month | Starting at $25 per employee, per pay period |
Description | Manages Payroll | In-country partner acts as employer of record | Outsourcing services to domestic or foreign contractors |
International Payroll | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Annual reports | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Third-party payments (IRS, national insurance, etc.) | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Benefits administration | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Customized reports | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Integrations (HRIS, VMS, T&A, ERP, custom) | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
24/7 support | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Worker classification and compliance checks | N/A | ✔ | ✔ |
Other Papaya Features
Stand-Out: Papaya acts as Employer of Record for your employees, meaning it hires and pays an employee on your behalf, taking responsibility for compliances and the most common employment tasks.
Payroll: Papaya pays your employees in their nation’s currency with pay stubs in their own language. It calculates withholdings and deductions and can manage contractors as well as employees. You can view payroll in one place, by country or as a whole.
Tax Filing: Papaya handles taxes from documentation to payments and year-end filings for wherever you have employees.
Benefits: Papaya analyzes your benefits plans by country to help you create attractive packages. In addition to standard benefits, it can help you create incentives for executives or equity rewards for workers. It works between you and the EOR to deliver the plan.
HR Support: Papaya gives you management of your payroll, provides documents, sends monthly reports of employee status, and reminds you of birthdays and work anniversaries. It offers international hiring help, PTO management, and more.
Compliances: Papaya tracks global tax laws to keep you compliant. It tracks work permits, residence permits, and family permits. As Employers of Record for foreign businesses, it provides local expertise to ensure compliance with local regulations and laws.
Employee Portal: Workers can access pay slips, PTO and time- tracking tools, and ask questions about benefits and even personal issues affecting work.
Ease-of-use: You get a dedicated onboarding manager to get you started, and access to in-country experts for questions. It integrates with your existing HRIS, ERP expense management, and time and attendance systems. It emails reminders to employees and managers
For a wider range of payroll options, check out our buyers’ guides on the best payroll services and best payroll software. If you need help making a final decision, check out our guide on choosing a payroll solution.
Bottom Line
PEO companies invariably say the biggest benefits their clients get are relief from the administrative tasks of HR and protection from non-compliance issues. Both of these save their client businesses time and money—sometimes thousands of dollars. PEOs are ideal for businesses with over five employees, but some offer reduced services at lower prices. If you want to remove some of the headaches of HR and concentrate on employees and growing your business, contact a PEO and see how they can help you.
Ben Cady
Hi Jenny,
I was wondering if you ever did any research on Insperity and what your thoughts were on them as a PEO. I am very surprised that they are not on the list as they have the highest retention rate and the lowest 10 year accrual of benefits percentage change in the last 10 years (3.68% combined for all benefits). Businesses that use Insperity just do not want to leave because of the level of service/technology and the transparency provided. Let me know your thoughts!
Laura Handrick
Hi Ben, We actually did a review on Insperity and it didn’t fare well — at least for our small business audience. We do our best to research and recommend only top rated firms that serve the small business audience and provide great value.
Best!
Laura
Sanna Jesse
Hi Laura,
We recently got a proposal from Trinet and the pricing is way higher then the article states for small businesses do you have any experience with that?
Laura Handrick
Hi Sanna,
Yes! So sorry that happened. We posted the prices in our article that we got on a proposal from TriNet — as they don’t provide pricing online. However, we recently talked to a sales rep, from TriNet and they’re completely changing the way they price and sell their PEO services. What they’re doing now is creating pricing specific to industry needs like financial services, manufacturing, retail or non-profit. We haven’t been able to get updated pricing from them and have been asked to remove pricing from our articles (which doesn’t help our readers now, does it)? Consider taking a look at Justworks, which is a PEO that offers pricing where you don’t have to buy a whole package and can add services as you need them. That’s often more in line with what a small business needs. Another option we like is ADP TotalSource, but they’re pricey too. We, at Fit Small Business choose TriNet as our PEO, and we love it; but being office based, our workers comp rates are much lower than a business like construction, for example, and we signed up before they changed their pricing and updated their website. Another option you might consider is a payroll service that can provide benefits and HR too. As a last resort (there’s no charge), you may want to contact a PEO Broker like The Huldisch Group. They can talk with you and recommend PEO services that might fit your local needs as we only cover the national PEOs, and sometimes a local PEO can meet your needs best.
Good luck to you and your business!
Laura, HR Staff Writer, SPHR, MA Ed.
Jenny
Hi Laura,
Thank you for the suggestion of TriNet as the best PEO company for small businesses with employees in multiple states. I’m looking into them now. Do you have recommendations of any other PEOs for small businesses with employees in multiple states?
Thank you,
Jenny
Mario
Hi, Jenny. We use JustWorks and have employees and contractors in Oregon, California, New York and North Carolina. Works great and zero hassles or stress figuring out what you need to do for each state. I also like the $99 per employee per month transparent pricing. (They also optionally handle 1099 contractors at no additional cost, which is a nice benefit.) Only shortcoming is that they don’t support employees/contractors in Canada/Mexico and sometimes their support can be a little frustrating/doesn’t always seem to be super informed.
Michelle
Howdy Laura,
You should check out Unique HR. They are a mid-size PEO quickly winning over clients from many of those listed in this article. They stand apart when it comes to service, pricing, and product.
Regards,
Michelle
Laura Handrick
Hi Michelle,
There are many PEOs, so of course, we can’t showcase them all. We update the article annually. Maybe next year your company will make the list…
Laura
Peter
Curious to know why you advocate for Justworks for small biz owners when you acknowledge that your company uses TriNet.
Laura Handrick
Peter,
Yours is a great question. We advocate all of them but for different reasons. TriNet is pretty pricey compared to the other PEOs, and if you don’t want to offer benefits, or you’ve got just a few employees, then they’re not going to be the best option. Justworks is probably the best option for price, but not if you plan to grow fast … That’s why we provide pros and cons. In fact there may be a local PEO in your community, better for your business than any of the national firms. So we recommend talking to a PEO Broker (free) like the Huldisch group that can help match you. Because of our diverse population (I work in the Mountains of Arizona, others work in Florida or even outside the US), TriNet was best for us, and our employer was willing to pay the extra cost to get the best value benefits and other PEO services TriNet offers.
Best!
Laura