For a U.S. team of one to five W-2 employees, the best payroll software is usually the one that runs reliable paydays, tax deposits, and year-end forms without selling you an HR suite you will not use. On November 13, 2026 list prices, most payroll-first micro teams still land on Gusto Simple at $49 per month plus $6 per person ($55 for one employee, $79 for five) in a single state. QuickBooks Workforce Payroll fits better when your books already live in QuickBooks Online; it lists at $50 plus $7 per employee and can also be bought on its own. If cash is tight, Patriot Full Service is the lower published full-service total ($42 for one, $62 for five).
Research note: List prices were checked on November 13, 2026 from official pages: Gusto pricing, QuickBooks products, QuickBooks Workforce payroll, QuickBooks payroll software FAQ, OnPay pricing, and Patriot Software pricing. Introductory discounts are noted separately from regular monthly totals. Confirm live prices, state coverage, and filing scope before you buy. This guide is educational, not tax or legal advice.
Disclosure: Some links may be affiliate links. If you sign up for Gusto through our partner link, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
Quick picks for teams of 1 to 5
Takeaway: Start with Gusto Simple for a single-state, payroll-first team. Change that default only when your books, budget, or states clearly point somewhere else.
- Default pick: Gusto when you want payroll-first onboarding, tax filings for a supported single state, direct deposit, and a clear path for mixing employees and contractors.
- If you already live in QuickBooks Online: QuickBooks Workforce Payroll, so wages and liabilities stay closer to the ledger your accountant already reviews. You can also buy Workforce without QuickBooks Online if you only want payroll.
- If published price is the main constraint: Patriot Full Service, which lists at $37 per month plus $5 per worker paid and includes federal, state, and local filings plus year-end forms.
- If you need more than one state at the entry price: OnPay Payroll Essentials, which lists at the same $49 plus $6 as Gusto Simple and includes multi-state payroll in the base plan. See our OnPay pricing breakdown.
- Skip for now: Enterprise HR suites and quote-heavy platforms built for problems a five-person shop does not have yet.
Side-by-side product detail for the two most common stacks belongs in Gusto vs QuickBooks Payroll. This page is the buyer map for micro teams: what you need, how the main options fit, and how to read list prices for one and five people.
What a micro team actually needs from payroll software
Takeaway: A one-to-five-person business needs a short, defensible payday routine, not a feature tournament.
You need to enter accurate hours or salary, preview the run, fund the bank pull, pay people on time, and keep deposits and filings on calendars you can explain. Tiny errors still get expensive: missed deposits, wrong worker classification, or late W-2s. Software helps, but it does not remove your duty as the employer.
Most micro teams should insist on full-service federal and state tax calculation, deposit, and filing; support for your state and any locality that applies; unlimited or clearly priced payroll runs; direct deposit with a cutoff you can live with; and employee self-service for stubs and forms. Time tracking, benefits administration, and HR libraries are useful only when you will open them every pay cycle.
If you are hiring your first W-2 employee, walk the setup sequence first in how to run payroll for your first employee and the new hire payroll checklist. Software is the last layer, not the first.
What payroll software costs for 1 and 5 employees
Takeaway: Model regular monthly list prices for your exact headcount and states. Introductory discounts expire, and Intuit’s 50% offer does not apply to per-employee fees.
Almost every serious small-business payroll product uses a monthly base fee plus a per-person charge. The useful comparison is the total for your headcount, not the headline base alone. The table below uses regular list prices checked on November 13, 2026, and excludes health premiums, workers’ compensation, and 401(k) fees.
| Plan (list price) | 1 employee | 5 employees | What that price usually includes | Watch for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gusto Simple ($49 + $6/person) | $55 | $79 | Single-state full-service payroll, unlimited runs, tax filings and payments | A second state needs Plus ($80 + $12) |
| OnPay Payroll Essentials ($49 + $6/worker) | $55 | $79 | Full-service payroll, multi-state, year-end W-2 and 1099 forms | Time tracking and fuller HR are add-ons |
| QuickBooks Workforce Payroll ($50 + $7/employee) | $57 | $85 | Full-service payroll and next-day direct deposit, with or without QuickBooks Online | Add QuickBooks Online if you also need the ledger; some local taxes are limited on this tier |
| Workforce Payroll + QuickBooks Online Simple Start ($38) | $95 | $123 | Payroll plus the entry QuickBooks Online subscription | Only add this row if you do not already pay for QuickBooks Online |
| Patriot Full Service ($37 + $5/worker paid) | $42 | $62 | Full-service federal, state, and local filings and deposits; year-end forms included | Each additional state is $12 per month |
| Patriot Basic Payroll ($17 + $4/worker paid) | $21 | $37 | Calculations, direct deposit, and an employee portal | You file and deposit the taxes yourself |
Gusto Plus is $80 plus $12 per person ($140 for five) when you need multi-state payroll, included time tracking, or unlimited next-day pay. Workforce Premium is $88 plus $13, and Elite is $134 plus $17. Those tiers are easy to overbuy at five people. For a one-person walk-through, see cheapest payroll for one employee.
Gusto: the payroll-first default for many micro teams
Takeaway: Gusto Simple is enough for many one-state shops. Plus is the upgrade when you add a second state, time tracking, or next-day pay.
Gusto is built around payday, tax filing, and employee self-service, with benefits and HR tools you can add later. On the official pricing page, Simple is $49 per month plus $6 per person for basic payroll in one state, including unlimited payrolls and tax filings and payments. Plus is $80 plus $12 and adds multi-state payroll, time tracking, contractor invoice management, and unlimited next-day pay. Premium is $180 plus $22, with a named support partner and unlimited same-day and instant pay (subject to eligibility).
Gusto is month-to-month. U.S. contractors are billed at the plan’s per-person rate only in months you pay them. Gusto no longer lists a Contractor Only plan; its help center says that plan closed on October 1, 2026. If contractors are a big part of your mix, read how to pay contractors with Gusto.
The main watch-out at Simple is the single-state limit. If even one teammate works in a second state, price Plus, not Simple. Confirm current add-on prices on Gusto’s pricing page.
QuickBooks Workforce: best when your books already live in QBO
Takeaway: Choose Workforce when the ledger already lives in QuickBooks, or when you want payroll and books in one Intuit login. Do not assume you must buy QuickBooks Online, and do not forget its price if you do.
Intuit now markets the product as QuickBooks Workforce. On Intuit’s products and payroll pages, Workforce Payroll is $50 per month plus $7 per employee and includes full-service tax filing plus next-day direct deposit. Workforce Premium is $88 plus $13 and adds time tracking and more HR tools, with same-day direct deposit. Workforce Elite is $134 plus $17, with expert setup and tax penalty protection (terms apply). New customers can get 50% off the monthly base for three months; the discount does not apply to per-employee fees.
This is the biggest change since this page was last updated in October 2026. The per-employee fee on the entry plan is now $7, not the $6.50 figure many older roundups still cite. Intuit’s payroll software FAQ also states that users can get QuickBooks Workforce on its own or with QuickBooks Online. If you already pay for QuickBooks Online, compare Workforce’s $57 and $85 totals directly with Gusto Simple. If you still need a ledger, add the QuickBooks Online plan you actually use (Simple Start lists at $38 per month).
Two practical caveats: certain local taxes are available in Workforce Premium and Elite only, according to Intuit’s current feature notes, and same-day direct deposit is also limited to those higher tiers. If you have a local tax or a tight payday cutoff, confirm coverage on Intuit’s pages before you treat Workforce Payroll as a complete substitute for Gusto Plus or Premium. For a deeper side-by-side, use Gusto vs QuickBooks Payroll.
OnPay, Patriot, and other options in brief
Takeaway: OnPay matches Gusto Simple’s $49 plus $6 list price and includes multi-state in the base plan. Patriot Full Service is the cheaper published full-service stack. ADP and Paychex need a like-for-like quote.
OnPay’s Payroll Essentials plan lists at $49 per month plus $6 per worker, with multi-state payroll, automatic tax filings, and year-end W-2 and 1099 forms included. That is the same math as Gusto Simple for a one-state team ($55 / $79) and a lower listed price than Gusto Plus if you already cross state lines. Time tracking and a broader HR add-on are optional. OnPay is a fair comparison when Gusto’s single-state limit is the only reason you would jump to Plus.
Patriot Software publishes two payroll lanes. Basic Payroll is $17 plus $4 per worker paid, but you handle tax deposits and filings. Full Service Payroll is $37 plus $5 per worker paid and includes federal, state, and local filings and deposits, plus year-end forms at no extra form fee. Patriot’s own examples are $42 for one worker and $62 for five on Full Service. Each additional state is $12 per month. Patriot is the option to model when the ongoing full-service total matters more than a polished HR layer.
SurePayroll is another published-price alternative; fee caveats are in Gusto vs SurePayroll. Mid-market platforms such as Paylocity are usually quote-based; see Gusto vs Paylocity if that is already on your shortlist.
ADP, Paychex, and other service-heavy brands can be a fit when you want a named specialist or deeper benefits administration and are willing to compare a written quote. Ask for the same headcount, states, filing scope, year-end forms, and contract term before you treat a sales number as cheaper than a published list price.
Match the tool to your business structure
Takeaway: Classification comes first. W-2 payroll is not the same job as paying 1099 contractors, and an S corp owner’s pay has extra rules.
If you have even one W-2 employee, including yourself as an S corporation employee, you need withholdings, deposits, filings, and year-end W-2s. An LLC with no employees may not need payroll software at all; start with do I need payroll for my LLC.
S corporation owners who work in the business generally need reasonable W-2 compensation. That is a tax-position issue, not a software feature. Payroll software for an S corp and S corp reasonable compensation cover the decision; the IRS rules still sit with you and your tax professional.
Employees and independent contractors are different legal categories. A tool that can issue a 1099 does not make someone a contractor. Use W-2 vs 1099 when a role is fuzzy, and use ways to pay 1099 contractors when the person is truly a contractor and you do not want to run them through a payroll product.
Tax filings, deposits, and state support
Takeaway: Confirm which states the plan covers at the price you modeled, and who files federal, state, and local forms.
Full-service payroll should calculate, deposit, and file federal and state payroll taxes, then prepare W-2s and, where included, 1099s. Gusto’s pricing FAQ says it files federal, state, and local forms (including W-2, 1099, 940, and 941) on the company’s behalf. Patriot Full Service advertises the same filing scope, with a $12 monthly fee for each additional state. OnPay includes multi-state filings in Payroll Essentials. QuickBooks Workforce offers full-service federal and state filings on all plans, with a current note that certain local taxes are available in Premium and Elite only.
State new-hire reporting, unemployment accounts, and local withholding can still require setup work from you even when the vendor files the returns. If you are bringing on your first employee, read payroll taxes for your first employee and use IRS Publication 15 as the federal reference. Related guides also sit in the tax compliance hub.
Decision checklist
Takeaway: Preview a payroll, fund the bank pull, and verify tax setup before the first live payday.
- Count W-2 employees and 1099 contractors you will actually pay in a typical month, and list every work state.
- Write down whether books already live in QuickBooks Online. If they do, Workforce starts with an advantage. If they do not, decide whether you want a standalone payroll tool or a combined ledger.
- Model regular list totals for one month and for 12 months, then look at any introductory discount as a separate line.
- Confirm who files federal, state, and local taxes, and whether year-end W-2 and 1099 filing is included.
- Check direct-deposit cutoff times. Next-day and same-day options are often limited by plan.
- Gather your EIN, state tax and unemployment accounts, employee W-4 and I-9 materials, pay rates, and the intended pay schedule.
- Run a preview payroll, confirm the bank pull, and only then go live.
Common mistakes when buying payroll software
Takeaway: The expensive mistakes are overbuying features, undercounting states, and comparing a discounted first quarter with someone else’s regular list price.
- Buying an enterprise HR suite because the demo looked complete. At five people, unused modules still bill every month.
- Choosing a self-file plan such as Patriot Basic to save $20, then missing a deposit calendar.
- Comparing Gusto Simple with Workforce plus a new QuickBooks Online subscription, or comparing a 50% promotional base fee with a regular list price.
- Ignoring a second work state until the first mid-year move, then discovering the entry plan is single-state only.
- Treating 1099 contractors as W-2 employees, or the reverse, because the software can pay both.
- Going live without state unemployment and withholding accounts, or without a preview run.
FAQ
What is the best payroll software for 1 to 5 employees in 2026?
For most single-state, payroll-first micro teams, Gusto Simple is the default pick at $49 per month plus $6 per person. Choose QuickBooks Workforce Payroll if you already keep books in QuickBooks Online, OnPay if you need multi-state coverage at that same $49 plus $6 list price, or Patriot Full Service if the published full-service total has to stay lower ($42 for one employee, $62 for five, on November 13, 2026 list prices).
Is Gusto or QuickBooks Payroll better for a tiny team?
Gusto is usually simpler when payroll is the problem you are trying to solve and you are not already inside QuickBooks. QuickBooks Workforce is usually better when your accountant already reviews QuickBooks Online and you want wages posted close to the ledger. List prices for the entry plans are close: $55 vs $57 for one employee, and $79 vs $85 for five, before any QuickBooks Online subscription.
Do I need payroll software for one employee?
If that person is a W-2 employee, including an S corp owner who must take a salary, you still need withholdings, deposits, filings, and a W-2. Software is the practical way to keep that calendar. A sole owner who is not a W-2 employee may not need payroll software; start with the LLC and first-employee guides linked above.
How much does payroll software cost for five employees?
On November 13, 2026 regular list prices, five employees cost $79 on Gusto Simple or OnPay Payroll Essentials, $85 on QuickBooks Workforce Payroll, and $62 on Patriot Full Service. Gusto Plus is $140 for five people. Add a QuickBooks Online subscription only if you do not already have one; Simple Start plus Workforce Payroll is $123 at list for five employees.
Does QuickBooks Workforce require QuickBooks Online?
No. Intuit’s payroll software FAQ says users can get QuickBooks Workforce on its own or with QuickBooks Online. Buy it alone if you only need payroll. Add the ledger cost when you also need QuickBooks Online, or when you are starting both from zero.
Can the same tool pay employees and contractors?
Yes, Gusto, Workforce, OnPay, and Patriot can all pay W-2 employees and 1099 contractors. That does not decide classification. Collect the right form, keep the relationship honest, and expect contractor fees to follow each vendor’s per-person or per-pay rules.
What should I set up before the first payday?
Your EIN, required state withholding and unemployment accounts, W-4 and I-9 materials, pay rates and schedule, and a bank account that can fund the payroll pull. Preview the first run. The first-employee and new-hire guides walk through the sequence.
Should a five-person company buy ADP or Paychex?
Sometimes, especially if you want deeper HR or benefits administration and are willing to compare a written quote. Many five-person teams are better served by a published-price, payroll-first product until that complexity actually shows up. Get quotes with the same headcount, states, filing scope, and contract term so you are comparing like with like.
Related reading
If you are still weighing stacks, start with Gusto vs QuickBooks Payroll, the payroll hub, and the comparisons hub. Related guides: how to run payroll for your first employee, the new hire payroll checklist, payroll taxes for your first employee, do I need payroll for my LLC, cheapest payroll for one employee, and OnPay pricing.
Try Gusto for micro-team payroll
If Gusto matches a payroll-first workflow for your one-to-five-person team, compare current plans and state coverage, then run a preview before the first live payday. Gather your EIN, state accounts, employee forms, pay details, and intended schedule first. For the next step on setup, use how to run payroll for your first employee.
Try Gusto (partner link). We may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Confirm pricing, tax filing services, and state coverage on Gusto’s official pages before you enroll.
This article is educational only. It is not tax or legal advice. Verify IRS Publication 15, state agency rules, and each vendor’s current terms for your facts.