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10 Best HR Software for Payroll in 2023

The Best HR Software for Payroll Shortlist

Here are my top recommendations for HR tools for managing payroll and a summary of what each does best:

  1. 1. Deel — Best for global HR teams
  2. 2. Oyster HR — Best HR and payroll service for international, remote-first businesses
  3. 3. Papaya Global — Best for cutting out third party payment integrators
  4. 4. Rippling — Best for mid-market businesses with an established HR department
  5. 5. Paycor — Best for automating payroll tasks
  6. 6. PrimePay — Best for small to medium businesses
  7. 7. Paychex Flex — Best for midsize to enterprise companies
  8. 8. Trinet — Best payroll and HR platform and services
  9. 9. ADP Workforce Now — Best for startups and scaling businesses
  10. 10. Insperity — Best integrated payroll solution

It's becoming increasingly common to use a software to run payroll through your own HR department rather than contracting a third party payroll service to administer payroll for you.

I've written a guide complete with a range of the best options, selection criteria, and some answers to frequently asked questions to help you find the right payroll software for your business and use case.

What Is HR Software For Payroll?

HR software for payroll refers to any type of HR management system that manages your core HR data as well as your payroll processes. This is a broad category, with many different sub-types of HR software solutions that fit the bill. For example, there are many payroll systems in this list that also offer additional employer of record (EOR) or professional employer organization (PEO) services as well.

You'll also find a combination of other types of HR software within this space, including human resources information systems (HRIS), human capital management (HCM) systems, and human resources management systems (HRMS), all with built-in payroll processing functionalities.

Overviews of the 10 Best HR Software for Payroll

Below, you'll find my evaluation of the best HR software for payroll on the market today, with a summary of each solution's key features, an explanation of why I included them in this list, screenshots, and information about trials and pricing summarized in a comparison chart.

Here’s my take on each of the best HR software with payroll:

1

Deel

Best for global HR teams

Deel is an HR and global payroll platform that enables hiring in over 150 countries. It allows you to hire anyone as a contractor or employee without worrying about local laws, complicated tax systems, or international payroll, which is why I think it's one of the best tools for global HR teams.

Why I picked Deel: Deel offers features for expense reimbursements, managing contractor and employee contract and pay data, doing payroll, and handling off-cycle adjustments. Local country experts provide consultation for each location you hire from, ensuring your contracts are properly worded, while helping you avoid contractor misclassification. Employees and contractors can also self-manage their pay and personal data, which reduces admin load.

An advantage of going with Deel is that it's one of the largest international payroll solutions—it's a reputable company with 24/7 online support and dedicated account managers. It also complies with SOC2 and ISO 27001 security standards.

Deel Standout Features & Integrations:

Features that make Deel especially great for global payroll include international payroll, local compliance monitoring, global mobility support, and dedicated account managers to help you navigate any complexities in managing a global workforce. You can also compare different country costs and see what benefits and withholdings are required.

Integrations are available with popular accounting platforms, including NetSuite, Quickbooks, and Xero. Deel also uses major payment providers like Wise, PayPal, Payoneer, and Revolut to offer flexible withdrawal options and reduce unnecessary international transfer fees.

This is an aggregated rating for this tool including ratings from Crozdesk users and ratings from other sites.
4.6 698

Free demo available

Flat rate user pricing, with a free version for businesses with up to 200 people

Pros

  • You can access Deal-owned EOR entities to hire internationally
  • Handles contractor and employee payments
  • Great for international payroll

Cons

  • More expensive than most basic payroll software
  • Not much selection in available employee healthcare plans
2

Oyster HR

Best HR and payroll service for international, remote-first businesses

Oyster’s HR platform and payroll solution includes fully-compliant international payroll services with automatic local deductions, taxes, and contributions, no matter where your team is located, making them a great choice for remote-first businesses.

Why I picked Oyster: Their payroll software is used successfully in over 180 countries to recruit and hire staff globally, with built-in tools to manage international payroll taxes and employment law. They also have carefully crafted compliance guardrails in place for local labor laws to ensure your company receives the legal protection you’ll need when operating in a new territory.

Oyster’s payroll solution has a clean interface that’s easy to navigate and includes applicant tracking and employee onboarding features. You can also use Oyster to pay international employees or independent contractors in their local currency, reimburse them for out-of-pocket expenses, or offer them localized employee benefits.

Oyster’s system also includes a helpful employment cost calculator that can determine the cost of hiring a new employee in any country, including their required taxes and government contributions, plus the Oyster flat-fee, which varies depending on the country you’re hiring in.

Oyster Standout Features & Integrations:

Features of note are the fully-compliant international payroll (coupled with international hiring and benefits administration features), plus contractor management features for completing paperwork, onboarding, and paying global contractors.

Integrations are available with several popular applicant tracking systems, including BambooHR, Bob, and Greenhouse, plus accounting programs like QuickBooks, and Xero, with more integrations in the works.

Freemium plan + free demo available

From $499/employee/month or $29/contractor/month

3

Papaya Global

Best for cutting out third party payment integrators

Papaya Global is an HR and payroll software platform that offers end-to-end global workforce management solutions and cross-border payments in 160+ countries. The platform supports all employee options (payroll, EoR, and contractors), and supports payroll payment as well as payments to vendors and authorities.

Why I picked Papaya Global: Even though they have some standard HR features, this platform really focuses on being the best-in-class in workforce payments, and as such, they've built some of the best payment tech, built on their own regulated payments network backed by JP Morgan. This allows them to guarantee a 72-hour delivery of payments (they take liability if it doesn't), and it enables their uses to cut out the cost and hassle of third party payment integrators.

Papaya Global Standout Features & Integrations:

Features that differentiate Papaya from its competitors include AI-driven account funding that can simulate your payments in advance so you know how much to fund and what your FX fees will be. But the main advantage is its proprietary payment network—Papaya's payment tech gives you control over when payments arrive (not just when payments should send), and since it's not going through a separate third party, you're able to make full value transfers with no hidden fees, unlike when you pay through a third party.

Integrations are available with BambooHR, Expensify, Microsoft Dynamics 365, Namely, NetSuite, Priority Software, SAP Business One, SAP Concur, and SAP SuccessFactors. They can also create additional custom integrations for your existing HR software upon request.

This is an aggregated rating for this tool including ratings from Crozdesk users and ratings from other sites.
4.3 5

Free trial available

EOR from $770/employee/month or $25/contractor/month; Global payroll from $3 to $12/employee/month

Pros

  • Can handle international vendor payments in addition to contractors and employees
  • Proprietary payment network that guarantees timing of payment delivery
  • Advanced forecasting features to predict costs

Cons

  • Isn't available in a few countries, especially in the Middle East
  • User interface takes a while to learn to navigate
4

Rippling

Best for mid-market businesses with an established HR department

Rippling is a popular, modern workforce operations platform that offers an entire HR suite. It offers payroll management, in addition to a lot of other things—operational workflows, applicant tracking, and even some IT features like device and IT inventory management.

Why I picked Rippling: For our purposes here, I focused on Rippling's payroll features—which, to be totally honest, are comprehensive but also pretty standard. It's definitely good for payroll management, but I think the real value of Rippling comes into play when factoring in all of the other workforce management features it offers in addition to payroll. That's why this is a great tool for larger workplaces with an established HR department that can take advantage of all the advanced functions of the tool.

Rippling Standout Features & Integrations:

Standout features for managing payroll in Rippling include their automatic tax filing (it calculates and files your federal/provincial taxes, factoring in when employees move) and robust features that are helpful for pay compliance in a large workforce, such as automatic minimum wage enforcement, overtime enforcement, and leave enforcement.

Integrations are available with Google Workspace, Typeform, Databricks, BrightHire, Atlassian, Google Workspace, Slack, Checkr, Zoom, GitHub, Asana, 1Password, Zendesk, Dropbox, Sage Intacct, Netsuite, Microsoft 365, QuickBooks, DocuSign, Upwork, LinkedIn, and dozens more.

This is an aggregated rating for this tool including ratings from Crozdesk users and ratings from other sites.
4.8 1133

Free demo available

From $8/user/month (EOR pricing upon request)

Pros

  • Robust, enterprise grade tool with additional IT and Finance modules available
  • Has much more advanced HR workflow management than most other tools
  • Advanced and comprehensive HR features

Cons

  • Built-in time tracking system is not very customizable
  • Complex feature set creates a steeper learning curve for employees learning to use it
5

Paycor

Best for automating payroll tasks

Paycor is a human capital management solution that modernizes every aspect of people management, from HR and payroll to recruiting, onboarding, talent management, career development, and employee retention. More than 40,000 business owners trust Paycor to help them solve problems and achieve their goals.

Why I picked Paycor: They are well-suited for small to medium-sized businesses with salaried employees, since you can take advantage of their ability to automatically run payroll when salaries are known. For any salary changes, Paycor includes proactive alerts to help you catch any potential errors before they become problematic. Their OnDemand Pay feature also allows employees to access their wages in advance of their next pay day, if they need it.

Paycor Standout Features & Integrations:

Features include easy-to-use yet powerful payroll tools, flexible payment options, auto-run capabilities, notifications & alerts, powerful real-time reporting, and engaging employee self-service. Paycor also integrates with tools for wage and salary verification, expense management, employee wellness, certified payroll, and FMLA to cover all your business needs.

Integrations are available with over 200 applications through Paycor's Marketplace, including Emburse Certify, Equifax, GoCo, GoodHire, HireTech, Ignite, Instant Pay, My Enroll360, Payfactors, Sterling, Tapcheck, WorkforceHub, Zillion, and other systems.

This is an aggregated rating for this tool including ratings from Crozdesk users and ratings from other sites.
4.1 562

90-day free trial + free demo available

From $5/employee/month + $99/month base fee

6

PrimePay

Best for small to medium businesses

PrimePay is a long-standing HR and payroll tool that's been around for decades. They have plans for essentially any business size, but I think this product is really the best for small to mid-sized businesses with 10 to 50 employees.

Why I picked PrimePay: At it's core, it offers all the essentials for HR and payroll: payroll processing, tax compliance (local, state, and federal), payroll tax filing, pay reporting, and employee onboarding. The online payroll management system supports some standard payment options like direct deposit, pay cards, and other payroll delivery options.

You can opt in to bigger plans that offer HR-related functions like time tracking and labor compliance, but at it's core, I think this tool is a great fit for small, growing businesses who want something simple and easy-to-learn to automate and handle payroll without having to adopt a massive employee management system for everything under the sun.

PrimePay Standout Features & Integrations:

Features are in all honesty pretty standard for a payroll tool: an employee self-service module (employees can modify their info, download pay statements, etc), employee onboarding workflows, tax documentation for compliance. But one of the things I'd like to highlight is their free data recovery and backup, which is in place to mitigate potential viruses, malware, and hacker attacks.

The software also offers comprehensive monitoring and detection covering all payroll services, which is significant for small businesses and startups with limited resources.

Integrations are available with third-party benefits providers, though specific vendors are not specified.

This is an aggregated rating for this tool including ratings from Crozdesk users and ratings from other sites.
4.6 32

Up to 6 months free

From $59/month + $6/employee/month

Pros

  • Easy to set up
  • Responsive customer and tech support
  • Fairly simple and easy to learn

Cons

  • Pretty basic feature set (more of a set-it-and-forget-it tool)
  • Overall the features are not very customizable
7

Paychex Flex

Best for midsize to enterprise companies

Paychex Flex is an HR software platform offering a larger set of features for time tracking, payroll processing, and benefits administration. They have many different plans, but because they offer more advanced features that go simple payroll administration, I think this is best for midsize to enterprise companies who can take advantage of those features.

Why I picked Paychex Flex: Beyond offering your standard payroll management features, Paychex Flex is great for midsize companies in that it helps you manage 401(k)s, health insurance plans, retirement savings accounts, and other benefits options in one centralized system. It tracks contributions and eligibility requirements while automating enrollment processes and simplifying benefit administration tasks such as invoicing providers or managing FSA claims. It's a great tool for companies doing a lot of hiring; it automates collecting required documentation from new hires and manages the process of new hire reporting to government agencies.

Paychex Flex Standout Features & Integrations:

Standout features include online payroll processing (with multiple payment options ranging from direct deposit to paycards and paper checks), as well as a very customizable employee-facing portal (you can customize employee access rights based on job roles). It also has really good tools for budgeting and forecasting and comprehensive reporting capabilities for quick analysis of financial data. It's got a great feature for businesses with hourly employees: mobile time cards, which lets employees clock in and out from their phones.

Integrations are available with major business tools such as ApplicantStack, AxisCare, BambooHR, Buddy Punch, Built for Teams, Time Tracker, Xero, and Quickbooks Online.

This is an aggregated rating for this tool including ratings from Crozdesk users and ratings from other sites.
4.2 1339

Free demo available

From $39/month + $5/employee/month

Pros

  • Offers mobile time cards to clock in and out via mobile phone
  • Detailed and customizable employee portal
  • Comprehensive set of HR features (employee health, retirement, etc)

Cons

  • More complex platform and feature set; steeper learning curve
  • Relatively more expensive than some payroll tools (better suited to larger businesses)
8

Trinet

Best payroll and HR platform and services

TriNet is an HR and global payroll service provider with a software platform to help businesses manage their HR processes, employee benefits, and compliance requirements. Businesses operating on a global scale can manage their payroll and other HR processes through the system.

Why I picked TriNet: The software's integrated payroll system can handle complex payroll regulations in various countries, making it a suitable choice for businesses that operate in several different locations. It can manage tax withholdings and can also be used to administer employee benefits. Compensation benchmarking can be performed in the software, giving you reliable, accurate data to inform your compensation structure and pay ranges.

In addition to its payroll management capabilities, the platform can support various other HR tasks like employee onboarding, time tracking, and workforce analytics, bringing various aspects of your people operations into a single hub. It also has document management features to keep all of your HR documents organized and accounted for.

TriNet Standout Features & Integrations:

Features include an employee perks program, global payroll solution, compliance with local tax laws and regulations, custom rewards, a variety of payment options, and employee recognition programs.

Integrations include QuickBooks, Oracle NetSuite, Sage Intacct, BambooHR, Lattice, Greenhouse Software, Carta, and Xero.

Free demo available

Pricing upon request

Pros

  • Global payroll management for multi-national businesses
  • Company provides HR services as well as software
  • Centralizes all of your HR processes in one platform

Cons

  • Full functionality may not be needed
  • Robust system, comes with a learning curve
9

ADP Workforce Now

Best for startups and scaling businesses

ADP is a well-known and trusted HR software company with over 70 years in the workforce management field. Their cloud-based ADP Workforce Now product is a modern HCM solution that combines core HR functions with payroll processing, time and attendance tracking, talent management, benefits management, performance management, a recruiting system, and hiring and onboarding tools.

Why I picked ADP Workforce Now: This solution is particularly good for scaling businesses or startups undergoing rapid growth. You can start with the basic payroll administration features, and you can scale up, adding on modules as your employee count grows. For example, the company I've worked at used it for payroll at first, and as we grew, we started using it for managing performance reviews, too.

It's also an industry-standard solution available in 140 countries, and fully accessible on all web devices.

ADP Workforce Now Standout Features & Integrations:

Standout features that differentiate ADP Workforce Now from their competitors lie in their above average employee-facing reporting tools. These include a cool pay history tool that automatically detects differences in pay checks and helps compare pay periods side-by-side, a payroll deductions calculator to help employees better predict their income after calculations, and a YTD pay summary. These make it easy for employees to answer their own questions about payroll without asking someone from HR to look it up.

Integrations are better than many other tools, as ADP has been around for a while. These include Absorb LMS, Avionte, ClearCompany, Clockshark, Deputy, Dolce, FinancialForce, Infor, JazzHR, Oracle, PayActiv, PlanSource, QuickBooks, Replicon, Sage Intacct, SAP SuccessFactors, Sapling, TempWorks, Wave, When I Work, Workday, Xero, ZipRecruiter, 7shifts Restaurant Scheduling, and many more.

This is an aggregated rating for this tool including ratings from Crozdesk users and ratings from other sites.
4.1 3113

30-day free trial

From $160/month for up to 49 employees

Pros

  • Reputable and secure provider with many years in the industry
  • Features are separated into modules you can opt to pay for (or not)
  • Extensive custom functionality

Cons

  • Legacy system could use some UI modernization
  • Navigation between modules is not very intuitive
10

Insperity

Best integrated payroll solution

Insperity is an all-in-one HR software solution that offers a range of features including payroll management.

Why I picked Insperity: In addition to features such as self-service, federal, state and local tax filings, online paystubs and direct deposit, and general ledger interface, what makes Insperity stand out is access to experienced payroll professionals with local knowledge who'll help guide you through the payroll process. This makes it a great option for less experienced payroll teams.

Insperity Standout Features and Integrations:

Insperity's payroll software solution integrates benefits administration, time and attendance tracking, and HR advisor support. This service comes with on-hand advice from HR experts and resources that can help you navigate complex HR issues and stay compliant with local and federal regulations.

Insperity integrates with TurboTax, GoodJob, Indeed, Zoom, Microsoft Teams, GoToMeeting, Adzuna, QuickBooks, Sage Intacct, NetSuite, BambooHR, Salesforce, Taleo, Workday, Zenefits.

Pricing upon request

Pros

  • Their automated onboarding wizard helps new employees get up-to-speed and added to payroll quickly
  • Includes access to experienced payroll professionals
  • Integrates payroll with other HR functions

Cons

  • Only available for US-based organizations
  • Not a specialized payroll software product so new features might take a while to develop

Need Expert Help Selecting The Right Payroll Management Software?

We’ve joined up with Crozdesk.com to give all our readers (yes, you!) access to Crozdesk’s software advisors. Just use the form below to share your needs, and they will contact you at no cost or commitment. You will then be matched and connected to a shortlist of vendors that best fit your company, and you can access exclusive software discounts!

The 10 Best HR Software for Payroll Comparison Chart

This comparison chart summarizes basic details about each of my top HR software for payroll selections. You can view pricing details and the availability of free trials or demos side-by-side to help you find the best payroll software for your budget.

Tool Free Option Price
1
Deel

Best for global HR teams

Free demo available

Flat rate user pricing, with a free version for businesses with up to 200 people Visit Website
2
Oyster HR

Best HR and payroll service for international, remote-first businesses

Freemium plan + free demo available

From $499/employee/month or $29/contractor/month Visit Website
3
Papaya Global

Best for cutting out third party payment integrators

Free trial available

EOR from $770/employee/month or $25/contractor/month; Global payroll from $3 to $12/employee/month Visit Website
4
Rippling

Best for mid-market businesses with an established HR department

Free demo available

From $8/user/month (EOR pricing upon request) Visit Website
5
Paycor

Best for automating payroll tasks

90-day free trial + free demo available

From $5/employee/month + $99/month base fee Visit Website
6
PrimePay

Best for small to medium businesses

Up to 6 months free

From $59/month + $6/employee/month Visit Website
7
Paychex Flex

Best for midsize to enterprise companies

Free demo available

From $39/month + $5/employee/month Visit Website
8
Trinet

Best payroll and HR platform and services

Free demo available

Pricing upon request Visit Website
9
ADP Workforce Now

Best for startups and scaling businesses

30-day free trial

From $160/month for up to 49 employees Visit Website
10
Insperity

Best integrated payroll solution

Not available

Pricing upon request Visit Website

Other HR Software Options For Running Payroll

I shortlisted a few more tools during my research—they're not in my top 10 for HR software for doing payroll, but still worth checking out:

  1. Justworks

    Best for managing both hourly & salaried timesheets

  2. OnPay

    Best for small businesses in the US

  3. Patriot Software

    Best for small-to-midsize US companies

  4. Gusto

    Best budget-friendly option for beginners

  5. NetSuite SuitePeople

    Best for tracking employee goals

  6. Push

    Best for restaurants and hospitality businesses

  7. Natural HR

    Best for advanced analytics and reporting

  8. Humi

    Best for Canadian companies

  9. Remote

    Best for high-growth companies with international contractors

  10. BambooHR

    Best for employee payroll in large, US-based enterprises

Selection Criteria For HR Software With Payroll

Wondering how I selected the best HR software for payroll? I drew on my years of previous experience managing employee data in support of payroll processes to add more expertise to my assessment. In the past, I spent a lot of time updating and checking HR data prior to running payroll. Way too much time, in fact!

Here's what I evaluated:

Core Functionality

First, I evaluated and compared a wide range of popular payroll software systems that also include core HR functionalities. Here are the basic functionalities the products have to provide in order to make it onto my list:

  • Enable you to pay employees via direct deposit
  • Allow you to administer your employees' financial records, including salaries, bonuses, incentives, pay stubs, and expense reimbursements
  • Allow you to manage employee data related to time off and overtime

Key Features

To deliver the core functionality I outlined above, here are some features I think are key in an HR system for managing payroll:

  • Payroll processing and management: This feature allows your HR department to administer your employees' financial records, including salaries, bonuses, incentives, pay stubs, expense reimbursements, and more.
  • Time and attendance tracking: It's difficult to handle payments without tracking your employees' activity and attendance. The best HR software for payroll keeps track of your team's paid time-off (PTO), unpaid time off, and overtime.
  • Direct deposit: It almost goes without saying, but every payroll system in this list allows you to deposit pay directly into your employees' bank accounts. Some offer additional payment options, such as pay cards or early earned wage access as well.
  • Reporting: There's no use in collecting data if you can't interpret it. The HR solution should help your HR department create customizable reports so you can present them to your management team.
  • Tax filing: To help you with your corporate tax obligations, HR and payroll software also includes tools to prepare annual tax documents such as T4's, W-2's and 1099 forms.
  • Workforce management: The software should collect and interpret employee data, such as employee lifecycle states, employee benefits enrolment, employee engagement, and churn rates, so your talent management team can plan for the future.

You can find more detail in this article that does in to more depth about payroll system features.

Usability

I prioritized tools that created a positive user experience and appeared easy to implement and use. While there's always a learning curve with new software, your HR team shouldn’t waste weeks learning how to use the payroll system or HR features.

I chose solutions with clean and simple interfaces that are easy to use with neatly organized menus. Your payroll and HR professionals should be able to find the right functionalities without difficulty.

Integrations

I selected solutions that integrate with other tools, such as time and attendance tracking platforms and popular core HR software solutions. To save you time, I've noted key integrations for each system.

Value for Money

A lot of HR systems that offer payroll processing operate on a model that charges a base monthly cost, with additional monthly fees per employee. For basic payroll and HR systems, you can expect to pay a monthly base fee plus an additional charge per employee.

The base monthly cost various, but for most products it's less than $100. The typical range for base fees is between $15 to $99 per month.

In addition to the base fee, expect to pay around $5 to $30 per month per employee.

For a business with 50 employees, a good average cost for using the basic features for simply calculating and paying out payroll is ~$350/month, and using peripheral features like time tracking, employee onboarding, cost reporting would bring it closer to the $1000/month range.

People Also Ask

Still trying to wrap your head around how HR software for payroll can amp up your in-house HR processes? Here are some answers to frequently asked questions that should help:

Other Payroll Software Reviews

If you're looking for a different type of payroll software, here are some other reviews from experts at People Managing People:

Summary

HR solutions are transforming People Operations through technology. Especially as more companies are hiring remotely, in 2023 there are more companies developing global payroll solutions and offering full-service EOR and payroll platforms that help you pay an international workforce that's made up of both employees and contractors.

Using a payroll processing system with incorporated HR functionalities can really help a lot. You'll gain a central location for all your employee records and documents. You'll also be able to track your employees' work hours accurately and ensure they're always paid correctly. On top of that, your tax and compliance requirements will be tracked and managed for you.

I hope my detailed breakdown of the top payroll software helped you find the right fit!

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By Kim Behnke

Kim Behnke is an HR Tool Expert & Writer for People Managing People. She draws on her 9 years of human resources experience and her keen eye for systematic processes to support her analyses of the top HR tools on the market. She is passionate about maximizing efficiencies and streamlining workflows to ensure internal systems run smoothly. Kim's HR experience includes recruitment, onboarding, performance management, training and development, policy development and enforcement, and HR analytics. She also has degrees in psychology, writing, publishing, and technical communication. When away from her desk, she can usually be found outside tending to her ever-expanding garden.