Paycom offers payroll and HR support primarily aimed at midsize and larger businesses, although many small businesses enjoy its services. However, if it isn’t right for your business—because of expense, company size, or simply not having the right match of tools—many excellent Paycom competitors provide comparable functionality, pricing, and standout features.
The eight best Paycom alternatives are as follows:
- Paycor: Best overall Paycom alternative
- Gusto: Best Paycom competitor for businesses needing solid payroll services
- BambooHR: Best for companies that have a payroll service but need a strong HR platform
- Bambee: Best for businesses that need dedicated HR management
- Paychex: Best for solopreneurs
- ADP: Best for growing and international companies
- Rippling: Best for technical companies needing integrations and software management
- Paylocity: Best for medium to large businesses
Paycom Alternatives Compared
Starting Monthly Pricing | Free Trial | Payroll Tax Filing Services | Health Benefits Coverage | International Payroll | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
$4–$6 per employee* | ✕ | W-2 and annual transmittal costs extra | 50 states | ✕ | |
Custom-priced | ✕ | Some tax services cost extra | 50 states | ✕ | |
$6 per employee + $40 base fee | ✕** | ✓ | 50 states | ||
$8.25 per employee* | ✓ | ✓ | 50 states | ✕ | |
$99 a month | 30-day trial for $1 | ✓ | ✕ | ✕ | |
$39 + $5 per employee | ✕ | Some tax services cost extra | 50 states | ||
$65 + $3 per employee* | ✕ | Year-end reports cost extra | 50 states | ✓ | |
$35 + $8 per employee* | ✕ | ✓ | 50 states (benefits admin costs extra) | ✓ | |
$200 + $9 per employee* | ✕ | Tax filings cost extra | 50 states | ✓ | |
*Prices are based on a quote we received. **Get one month free when you run your first payroll. Offer will be applied to your Gusto invoice(s) while all applicable terms and conditions are met or fulfilled. |
Why You Can Trust Fit Small Business
Fit Small Business’s mission is to provide small business owners with the best answers to their small business questions. We are committed to bringing you unbiased evaluations of payroll software and services. As such, I applied my three years of evaluating HR and payroll software alongside my 20-plus years of human resources expertise to these recommendations, considering overall performance, pricing, the spectrum of payroll features, and what other users thought of the software. |
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When to Choose Paycom
Paycom is a comprehensive HR and payroll software that serves businesses of all sizes but primarily works best with businesses that have 50 to 500 employees. Like most of its competitors, it requires you to call for a quote and builds a plan based on your company’s needs. Paycom is an excellent choice for companies moving up from a small business system, especially if they need more automation and streamlining of workflows.
Its top feature is its Beti application. Beti takes much of the payroll work off your HR team’s plate by having employees review and approve their pay cards and fix any errors discovered by Paycom’s automated system. HR still has final authority over payroll approval, but it has been shown to save hours of work and minimize the hassle of back-and-forth communication to make corrections.
Paycor: Best Overall Paycom Alternative
Pros
- User-friendly software with a lot of functionality
- Waives setup fees for new customers
- Users say its time tracking is one of the best and easiest to use
- Unlimited and automatic pay runs
Cons
- Benefits administration, time tracking, and learning management are paid add-ons
- Few third-party integrations
- Pricing is no longer transparent
- No PEO option
Paycor Overview
Paycor, like ADP and Paycom, can handle companies of all sizes. However, it most commonly works with businesses with anywhere from 10 to 5,000 employees, making it the best overall competitor to Paycom. Other providers on our list, like Gusto or BambooHR, don’t have the advanced HR tools that businesses transitioning into midsize would need—Paycor does.
It’s often a recommended alternative to other HR payroll systems (see our best Paychex competitors and best ADP competitors guides, for example) and also ranks among our best HRIS software. We thought it closely matched Paycom for function and ease of use, and user reviews seemed to agree.
Gusto: Best for Small Businesses Needing Payroll and Basic HR Tools
Pros
- Unlimited pay runs
- Affordable contractor-only plan
- Gusto Wallet helps employees with financial health and get salary advances
- Includes basic job posting and applicant tracking tools
Cons
- Limited international employee payroll services (Employer of Record [EoR] services only two countries; over 75 countries through a partnership with Remote)
- Lacks learning management tools
Gusto Overview
If you’re a small business that just needs basic payroll and some HR tools, Paycom will be more than you need. In that case, consider Gusto. As our best payroll service and one of our leading small business HR software, it’s a great choice, offering unlimited pay runs, a special rate for contractors, multistate payroll options, and hiring tools.
BambooHR: Best for Small Business HR
Pros
- Intuitive platform
- Integrates with over 80 applications
- Customizable workflows and reports
- Strong mobile app for HR managers
Cons
- Lacks learning management tools
- Payroll is an add-on
- No dedicated representatives
BambooHR Overview
Unlike the other Paycom competitors on our list, BambooHR is HR-first, with payroll being an add-on. Therefore, it’s a great choice if you are satisfied with your payroll service but want to add some HR support. With BambooHR, you get easy-to-use software that can be as basic as handling employee records, benefits, time off, documents, and workflows or can include hiring, performance management, employee satisfaction, and time tracking.
Bamboo’s primary customer base has 10 to 200 employees. The pricing is competitive. BambooHR is on our best HR Software list for its strong integration capabilities.
Bambee: Best for Small to Midsize Companies That Need Dedicated HR Management With Compliance
Pros
- Dedicated HR managers
- Payroll processing in all 50 states
- Helps with employee relations and HR problem-solving
- Provides compliance training
Cons
- Does not offer healthcare enrollment
- Pricey depending on the number of employees
- Does not have an international payroll plan
Bambee Overview
Bambee puts your HR on autopilot by providing you with a dedicated HR manager that keeps your company compliant. It offers employee management, policy creation, and training, plus it will help you identify any HR gaps. Additionally, Bambee has guided payroll with 2-day payroll and automated tax filing. It’s best for small to midsize companies (up to 500 employees) because they help keep your company safe by navigating labor regulations for you.
However, if you need a payroll service that also offers healthcare enrollment and coverage for your employees, you may want to consider Rippling instead. Bambee does not offer health benefits services; instead, you would need to secure these through a third-party provider.
Paychex: Best for Solopreneurs
Pros
- Great choice of payroll and HR tools to customize your plan
- Handles new hire reporting
- Has a PEO option
- 24/7 live support from customer service and HR experts; offers dedicated payroll support
Cons
- Software comes with a learning curve (due to the many features)
- Some of its payroll tax administration services cost extra
- Charges by pay runs
Paychex Overview
While Paychex can handle medium and even large companies, it’s the only one on our list with a plan for solopreneurs (including incorporation services and other features). Its sweet spot is 10 to 200 employees. Like the others on our list, it offers custom pricing and is one of the most customizable plans, with 300 different tools to meet your specific needs.
Paychex ranks high on many of our best-of articles, including best professional employer organization (PEO) companies (along with ADP), best payroll apps, and best HR apps. It’s also a good choice for restaurants. We were impressed with Paychex’s financial wellness program that provides access to short-term loans, educational resources, and other tools to assist employees in achieving their financial goals.
ADP: Best Paycom Competitor for Growing & International Businesses
Pros
- Feature-rich platform with a wide range of HR solutions
- Grows with your business
- International payroll and HR available
- Highly experienced PEO (IRS- and ESAC-certified)
Cons
- Customer service isn’t always easy to contact
- Year-end tax reporting, time tracking, and access to benefits plans costs extra
- Benefits, time tracking, and workers' compensation are add-on products
ADP Overview
ADP often makes our lists for best HR payroll software, and makes a great Paycom alternative for companies of any size. Its ADP Run software is best for companies of 10 to 200 employees, while ADP Workforce Now is best for 50 to 5,000 employees. Thus, ADP can grow with you. If you are looking to outsource your payroll, it offers a PEO solution.
It can also handle international payroll. It provides a scalable HR system for over 140 countries for both payroll and workforce management. Several of its international solutions are for large companies, but it can accommodate smaller businesses, too.
Rippling: Best for Hardware & Software Onboarding & Integrations
Pros
- Intuitive interface highly rated by users
- Offers hardware and software onboarding
- Integrates with 500-plus third-party software
- PEO services available on demand
Cons
- Gets pricey as you add functions
- Limited employee payment options
- No live customer support for software issues unless you pay extra
Rippling Unity, Rippling’s base platform that all subscribers must purchase, is now called Rippling Platform.
Rippling Overview
Rippling features a highly intuitive platform and module-based system that lets you add the functions you need and also has excellent integration capability (it integrates with more than 500 applications). It is our choice for the best HRIS software and also ranks among our lists of leading online payroll, international payroll, and PEO systems.
Where Rippling shines is IT support. It stands out from all the others on our list in its ability to onboard hardware and software, even allowing you to purchase hardware with your software preloaded directly from them. It also has incredibly high user satisfaction ratings.
Paylocity: Best for Medium & Large Businesses
Pros
- “On-demand payment” payroll options
- Expense management system
- Strong compliance support
- Wide range of HR solutions and integration options
Cons
- Tax filings cost extra
- Costly implementation fee
- Expensive for small businesses
Paylocity Overview
Like Paychex, Paylocity is a highly customizable HR and payroll system designed to streamline your payroll and benefits administration; keep you compliant with local, state, and federal laws; and manage employees from hiring to retirement. The price point and complexity make it better for medium to large businesses, and its customer sweet spot is businesses with 50 to 200 employees, like Paycom.
We were impressed by its expense management features, which can automatically feed into payroll. Employees can request advances on pay. It handles same-day deposits, where most default to two-day direct deposit. If you get the HR Edge module, then you have access to consulting, training, and more. With over 300 integrations, it works well with just about any software you use. (Rippling leads here with at least 500 integrations.) It is one of the most expensive on our list, however.
How We Evaluated
To find the best Paycom alternatives, we looked at user review sites for the most common comparisons and considered our own lists of the best HR and payroll services. Then, we looked at size, pricing, and what each product offered that set it apart from Paycom. Some are very similar, while others, like Rippling, offer unique functions that make them stand out.
Paycor comes closest as a match to Paycom for functions, features, and ease of use. Even its mobile app ranks similarly for features and user satisfaction. For the overall software, real-world users actually prefer Paycor to Paycom for ease of use and toolset.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
The best payroll provider depends on your specific needs. However, in general, any software that offers comparable or increased functionality and features at a more affordable rate is better than Paycom. We found that Paycor offers similar features at similar pricing, whereas Gusto has a more affordable and transparent pricing structure.
Paycom’s software, a human capital management provider, is designed to be used for businesses of all sizes—working best for those in the midsize range. Many similar providers either are not affordable or lack HR and payroll features needed for their growing businesses.
Bottom Line
Paycom is an HR payroll service with a strong emphasis on employee self-service, as evidenced by its Beti application that lets employees do their own payroll. However, if it’s too expensive, too complex, or simply not what you need, there are plenty of options available.
For the closest match, we recommend Paycor. It lacks the employee self-payroll of Paycom but has other tools that make it great for managers. Pricing and user satisfaction are similar as well. Paycor offers standard pricing but asks you to call for a quote so they can match you to the best plan. Give them a call and get started on making payroll and HR easier.