QuickBooks Workforce alternatives

What the payroll services that publish prices charge for 1, 5, 10 and 25 employees with every must-have of QuickBooks' Workforce Payroll (formerly Payroll Core) plan, in one state and in two, worked out by our calculator from the list prices on their own websites.

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Prices re-confirmed on each provider's own page for 4 services: October 25, 2026 · last checked by hand for 1 service: October 22, 2026

Each price is for a service's cheapest published plan with all the must-haves listed below, at standard monthly list prices. We call a service cheaper only when it costs at least $5 and 5% less; closer than that is a near tie.

For 1, 5, 10 and 25 employees in one state, QuickBooks costs $57, $85, $120 and $225 a month respectively on its Workforce Payroll plan, and no service with the same must-haves costs less at any of these sizes (among the 3 of the 13 US payroll services we track that publish prices and have a plan that fits; list prices only; checked between October 22, 2026 and October 25, 2026; QuickBooks lists its Workforce plans' extra-state fee and some contractor fees only in its offer terms, and our prices include them).
With employees in two states, QuickBooks costs $132 a month for 10 employees on its Workforce Payroll plan ($120 in one state), and no service with the same must-haves costs less (among the 3 of the 13 US payroll services we track that publish prices and have a plan that fits; list prices only; checked between October 22, 2026 and October 25, 2026; QuickBooks lists its Workforce plans' extra-state fee and some contractor fees only in its offer terms, and our prices include them).

With tax filing done for you as the only must-have, 8 services that publish prices are cheaper than QuickBooks for 5 employees in one state (among the 13 US payroll services we track that publish prices; list prices only; checked between October 22, 2026 and October 25, 2026; QuickBooks lists its Workforce plans' extra-state fee and some contractor fees only in its offer terms, and our prices include them). See them on QuickBooks' pricing page.

Only the services that publish prices are counted: ADP RUN and Rippling don't publish list prices; SurePayroll is left out because its own pages showed different prices.

The must-haves we matched

QuickBooks' cheapest plan that files payroll taxes for you is its Workforce Payroll plan, at $50 a month plus $7 per employee, plus $12 a month for each state after the first, as of October 25, 2026 (QuickBooks lists its Workforce plans' extra-state fee and some contractor fees only in its offer terms, and our prices include them). Of the must-haves you can pick in our calculator, it includes the ones below, so every service on this page is priced on its cheapest plan that has all of them, included or as a paid add-on (whose price we count).

Files and pays payroll taxes for you
Next-day direct deposit
Health benefits administration (insurance premiums extra, not in our prices)
Pay-as-you-go workers' comp (premiums extra, not in our prices)
Employee self-service portal or app
Phone support

Compare prices for your team with these must-haves

Monthly price with the same must-haves, one state

Each service's cheapest published plan with every must-have above, for 1, 5, 10 and 25 employees in one state. QuickBooks is in bold.

"—" = no published plan fits.
Service	1 employee	5 employees	10 employees	25 employees
QuickBooks	$57	$85	$120	$225
Gusto	$73	$109	$154	$289
Homebase	$85	$109	$139	$229

Caveats our data records about some of these prices (each service's page gives them in full):

QuickBooks: QuickBooks lists its Workforce plans' extra-state fee and some contractor fees only in its offer terms, and our prices include them.
Homebase: Homebase's prices are for one location, its plan fees are charged per location, and it doesn't say whether remote staff in another state need a location of their own.

On each provider's own website: QuickBooks · Gusto · Homebase

Employees in two states

Some services need a higher plan or charge a fee for each extra state. Each service's cheapest published plan with every must-have above, for 1, 5, 10 and 25 employees in two states; QuickBooks is in bold:

Second line: what the second state adds to the same service's price in one state ("no extra listed": none in its published prices, but see its caveat below about states or locations). "—" = no published plan fits.
Service	1 employee	5 employees	10 employees	25 employees
QuickBooks	$69 +$12	$97 +$12	$132 +$12	$237 +$12
Homebase	$85 no extra listed	$109 no extra listed	$139 no extra listed	$229 no extra listed
Gusto	$92 +$19	$140 +$31	$200 +$46	$380 +$91

Caveats our data records about some of these prices (in full where they're about states or locations):

QuickBooks: QuickBooks now sells its payroll plans as "QuickBooks Workforce". Its fee of $12 a month for each state after the first (Workforce Payroll and Workforce Premium) and its contractor fees for Workforce Premium and Elite appear in its offer terms, not on its plan cards. Our prices include them.
Homebase: Each price includes the Homebase scheduling plan it requires. Homebase plan fees are charged per location, so add one plan fee for each extra location. Homebase defines a location as "a physical address that is your place of business", but it doesn't say whether an employee who works in another state, away from your business addresses, needs a location of their own. If your team works in more than one state, ask Homebase before you rely on this price.

Not in these prices, because the provider doesn't publish the amount: On Gusto's Plus plan, state tax registration in a new state is an add-on whose price Gusto doesn't publish: it says pricing varies by state.

Every service that publishes prices, in one, two or three states, with tax filing as the only must-have, and what each charges for more states: what multi-state payroll costs.

Cheaper without one of these must-haves

These services don't list one of the must-haves above on any plan we could verify. Priced with all the others, they cost clearly less than QuickBooks with all of them for at least one of 1, 5, 10 and 25 employees, in one state:

How much less each service costs a month than QuickBooks, and the must-have it doesn't list. "near tie" = less, but by under $5 or under 5%; "—" = not less.
Service	1 employee	5 employees	10 employees	25 employees
Patriot Not listed: Next-day deposit	$15 less	$23 less	$33 less	$63 less
OnPay Not listed: Next-day deposit	near tie	$6 less	$11 less	$26 less

On each provider's own website: Patriot · OnPay

More on QuickBooks: QuickBooks pricing · Gusto vs QuickBooks · OnPay vs QuickBooks · Square Payroll vs QuickBooks · Patriot vs QuickBooks. Only contractors, no employees? What each service charges to pay 1099 contractors. Tax filing as the only must-have: payroll prices by team size.

Prices on this page checked October 22, 2026 – October 25, 2026. How we check prices · Price change log