20 Best Payroll Companies of 2024: Reviewed & Compared

Deel is a global payroll platform that allows you to hire anyone as a contractor or employee without worrying about local laws, complicated tax systems, or international payroll. Deel’s intuitive platform gives you end-to-end workforce management, including contract adjustments, expense reimbursements, and off-cycle adjustments. Local country experts provide consultative approaches for each location you hire from, ensuring compliance with local pay standards.

Why I picked Deel: Deel offers 10+ payment options for clients, ranging from bank transfers to cryptocurrency pay-ins. You can schedule payments in advance and run off-cycle payroll whenever needed. Employees and contractors on Deel can self-manage their pay and personal data and use providers like Wise, PayPal, Payoneer, and Revolut for easy international withdrawals. The company offers 24/7 online support and dedicated account managers for specific requests.

In addition to their global payroll services run by local experts, Deel has launched several new offerings over the past year, including global mobility support, integrated Slack tools, and advanced integrations. The global mobility service helps companies with visa sponsorship, allowing them to bring in candidates from abroad.

Integrations are available with NetSuite, HiBob, Xero, Ashby, and Greenhouse.

Papaya Global is an online payroll software that helps companies remove barriers to global hiring. Papaya’s automated, SaaS platform provides an end-to-end global workforce management solution—everything from onboarding to cross-border payments in 160+ countries.

Why I picked Papaya Global: Their platform supports all employee options (payroll, EoR, contractors), integrates with all management tools, and uses smart technology to ensure compliance and eliminate errors. It creates a highly visible system for tracking payroll spending and real-time business intelligence (BI). Papaya Global can help any company simplify global people management. Enterprises can access Papaya’s state-of-the-art automation, security, and BI without replacing their existing payroll system.

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.

Rippling is a workforce management system that integrates HR, IT, and finance functionalities into a single platform. It automates various aspects of employee management, including payroll, benefits, recruiting, and compliance, and provides tools for remotely securing and configuring company IT, as well as controlling and reporting on spend. 

Why I picked Rippling: The platform allows businesses to automate the entire payroll process, ensuring accuracy and compliance with various regulations. Rippling's payroll system is highly customizable, accommodating different pay schedules, tax jurisdictions, and benefits deductions, which is particularly beneficial for businesses with diverse workforce needs. Additionally, the real-time synchronization of employee data across HR, IT, and finance modules eliminates redundant data entry, reducing errors and saving time.

For companies with international operations, Rippling simplifies the complexities of managing payroll across multiple countries. It supports payments in various currencies and ensures compliance with local labor laws and tax regulations. Furthermore, Rippling's intuitive user interface and robust reporting tools provide users with clear insights into payroll expenses and workforce trends. 

Integrations include Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, Brex, Checkr, Jira, Carta, Slack, Zoom, PayPal, Salesforce, QuickBooks, and more.

RUN by ADP is a comprehensive payroll and HR platform designed to assist small businesses with fewer than 50 employees. The tool offers features such as automatic payroll tax calculation and filing, benefits and retirement deductions, and customizable HR support. 

Why I picked RUN by ADP: The platform automatically calculates, deducts, pays, and files payroll and employee income taxes, which significantly reduces the administrative burden on business owners. This automation extends to benefits and retirement deductions, ensuring compliance with the latest state and federal tax laws and HR regulations. 

The system also includes AI-powered error detection that learns from your payroll data to flag potential errors before they occur, helping to avoid costly mistakes. This level of automation and error detection not only saves time but also provides peace of mind, knowing that payroll and tax filings are handled accurately.

Integrations include Quickbooks, Wave, Xero, ClockShark, Points North, Compy, Wex, Synerion, JazzHR, 7Shifts, Snappy Gifts, Absorb LMS, SmartRecruiters, and hundreds more.

Paycor’s human capital management (HCM) software brings many HR functions together, including payroll processing, workforce management, talent management, employee experience features, and benefits administration.

Why I picked Paycor: Their automated payroll feature is perfect for salaried workforces since the system can run independently once you’ve onboarded your employees. Paycor also takes care of calculating employee and corporate tax filings, processing W-2 and 1099 tax forms, and submitting workers’ compensation premiums and reports on your behalf.

In terms of Paycor’s advanced features, their employee self-service capabilities are very strong. Employees can easily access their pay information via their mobile app, and even access earned wages early using their OnDemand Pay app. This feature alone eliminates the need to worry about issuing staff advances or manual payroll runs, which is often a stressful situation for both employees and payroll administrators alike.

In addition, Paycor also has several useful expense-tracking tools within their HCM software, including mobile-friendly receipt management tools and a function to track trip mileage for reimbursement.

Integrations are available with 140+ software applications through their Paycor Marketplace, including Center Expense Management, Certify by Emburse, CloudPay, HIRETech, Instant Pay, Rapid Disbursements, Payfactors, Netspend, and many others.

Remofirst is a payroll software that streamlines and automates the process of paying employees, eliminating the potential for human error while improving your payroll accuracy. It features an intelligent calculation engine that automatically calculates employee hours, overtime hours, paid time-off (PTO), and other deductions such as taxes and insurance withholdings. Employees can view and update their personal information, pay stubs, and tax information through the self-service feature, allowing them to take a proactive role in managing their payroll information to reduce errors and inaccuracies.

The software makes it easy to manage an international workforce, with features designed to help keep track of employee visas and work permits. Its dashboards and analytics make it easy to see all employee data in one place. Platform admins can see each employee's hours worked, pay rate, and taxes withheld. The interactive charts and graphs enable users to spot trends and identify potential problems with employee engagement and finances.

Remofirst offers tools to help businesses comply with local regulations, including contract templates and onboarding features. It also conducts compliance audits to help identify any risks in current practices. The software is user-friendly and intuitive, and because it's hosted in the cloud, there are no installation or maintenance fees, making it accessible anytime.

Remofirst can help conduct international payroll in 170+ countries.

myHR Partner is a comprehensive HR outsourcing company that provides a wide range of HR services to small to mid-size businesses as well as non-profits and private foundations. The company specializes in areas such as payroll administration, compliance management, benefits administration, and employee relations.

Why I picked myHR Partner:  They handle all aspects of payroll processing, ensuring that employees are paid accurately and on time. By staying up-to-date with local, state, and federal regulations, myHR Partner helps businesses remain compliant and avoid costly penalties. This attention to detail and commitment to accuracy make myHR Partner a reliable choice for businesses looking to outsource their payroll administration.

Another reason myHR Partner stands out is its focus on personalized service and support. They provide dedicated payroll experts who work closely with businesses to address their specific needs and challenges. This personalized approach includes detailed reporting and ongoing employee assistance, allowing businesses to confidently know their payroll is taken care of.

Integrations: myHR Partner can work with your existing payroll system. With expertise in over a dozen platforms, they often use ADP Workforce Now, Paylocity, UKG, Paycor, Paychex, and more.

FreshBooks is a digital accounting solution that provides invoicing, time tracking, and financial management features for businesses and freelancers. Their payroll service - FreshBooks Payroll - is a full-service payroll add-on that's designed to help US-based businesses automate payroll processing, including payroll tax deductions and compliance with federal and state payroll tax laws.

Why I picked FreshBooks: I included FreshBooks in this list because of the wide range of financial capabilities their software offers. In addition to their full-service payroll offering, FreshBooks can also help small businesses easily manage invoicing, employee expenses, and other common accounting tasks, all within one platform. Their payroll services include unlimited payroll runs, automatic payroll tax filings, direct deposit, and W-2 preparation.

Their online accounting solutions are tailored for small businesses, with capabilities that include creating professional invoices, tracking time automatically, and managing receipts and expenses. They also offer a range of educational resources and tools, such as a learning blog, a comprehensive glossary, and a library of reports, alongside practical tools like a free invoice generator and accounting templates.

Integrations include Google Drive, PayPal, Slack, Trello, Mailchimp, Gusto, and Salesforce Sales Cloud.

OnPay’s comprehensive HRIS platform helps entrepreneurs manage payroll, HR functions, and benefits all in one place.

Why I picked OnPay: Their software includes a full suite of payroll services and compliance settings for all 50 states. For no additional cost, they also offer special payroll services for certain industries like restaurants, farms and agriculture, churches and clergy, and nonprofits. As well, OnPay makes it easy to access pandemic-related tax credits and forgiveness applications through their COVID-19 dashboard.

Their team of licensed in-house insurance brokers can help you set up health, dental and vision plans with top providers such as Humana, Cigna, Blue Cross / Blue Shield, Aetna and UnitedHealthcare. Once in place, benefit costs are synced with payroll, which means you won’t have to worry about capturing any cost fluctuations yourself. Another interesting feature is their 401k integration which automatically supports employer matching and profit-sharing options.

Integrations are available with QuickBooks, Xero, When I Work, Deputy, Magnify, Mineral, PosterElite, and with the 401k retirement platforms Guideline, America’s Best 401k, and Vestwell.

Paychex Flex is an all-in-one HR, benefits and payroll management system with configuration options for businesses of any size, from self-employed solo entrepreneurs to small businesses, all the way up to organizations with 1,000+ employees.

Why I picked Paychex Flex: Their online payroll system calculates, files, and submits payroll taxes on your behalf, and integrates HR and benefits deduction costs directly with payroll to reduce the need for manual data entry. To further improve productivity, Paychex also includes a time & attendance tracking system that automatically links tracked hours to payroll too.

To help businesses stay compliant at all times, Paychex has a roster of 200+ compliance experts who are constantly monitoring any changes to US-based tax laws and regulations. Their software also supports multiple payment options, including direct deposit, paper checks, a Pay-on-Demand feature where funds can be accessed prior to your next payroll date, or payment via pay cards that are fully compliant with US federal laws.

Their customer support services are also quite deep, and include an online chat feature, articles, how-to guides, and 24/7 live coverage for US-based customers.

Integrations are available with 300+ commonly used applications, including BambooHR, Epicor, Infor, JazzHR, Microsoft Azure, Microsoft Dynamics, Sage, SAP, and many others. Plus, Paychex Flex has an API to support any custom software integrations you may need.