Prices verified from vendor pricing pages on September 3, 2026.

How much does payroll cost a small business?

A 10-person US business pays about $80 to $110 a month for full-service payroll with tax filing included, or roughly $1,000 to $1,300 a year. Across team sizes the realistic range is $40 to $300 a month: base fees run $17 to $49, and every person you add costs another $4 to $6.

Those numbers come from the published pricing pages of six vendors, checked on September 3, 2026, with each source listed below. ADP and Paychex don't publish prices, which is itself useful information: quotes for their small-business products tend to run above the self-serve vendors.

ADP RUN is excluded from the sort because it requires a sales quote. Third-party reviews place typical small-business quotes around $79/mo plus $6 per person — verify by phone. Source: adp.com (no public pricing).

Which companies charge the most for payroll?

Quote-only vendors sit at the top of the range. Third-party reviews put ADP RUN for a small team around $79 a month plus $6 per person, which is $15 to $30 a month more than Gusto or OnPay at the same headcount. You are paying for 24/7 phone support and a deep compliance bench, which some businesses genuinely need. If you have one state and a handful of employees, you don't.

At the cheap end, Patriot Basic at $17 plus $4 is the floor for real software. The catch matters: Patriot calculates and withholds the taxes, but you file and deposit them yourself. That is two or three federal deposits plus a state filing every quarter, on your desk, with penalty exposure if you miss a date. It is the right call for a detail person with one or two employees. It is the wrong call if you already lose sleep over deadlines.

What's actually in the price

Base plus per-person fee covers wage math, direct deposit, tax calculation, and on full-service plans the filings. It does not cover the add-ons most owners eventually pay for:

• Off-cycle or bonus runs: $0 to $75 per run depending on the vendor.
• Year-end W-2 and 1099 forms: $0 to $20 per form at some vendors; free at Gusto, OnPay, and Square.
• Multi-state filing: included at OnPay and on Gusto's Plus plan, an add-on or higher tier elsewhere.
• Benefits administration: $5 to $15 per person per month where it is charged separately.
• Priority support: for example, Gusto's Priority add-on is $30 a month plus $3 per person.

Payroll cost calculator

What a 12-person team actually paid: a worked example

A 12-person shop, biweekly pay, one state, no garnishments, one quarterly bonus run. On Gusto Simple: $49 + (12 × $6) = $121 a month, $1,452 a year. Add a $30 Priority Support add-on and four $75 off-cycle bonus runs, and the year costs $1,452 + $360 + $300 = $2,112. The add-ons added 45% to the bill. The base plan is never the whole invoice.

The same 12 people on Patriot Full Service: $37 + (12 × $5) = $97 a month, $1,164 a year. OnPay does identical math to Gusto at $121. Square Payroll lands at $35 + $72 = $107. These are arithmetic examples from published prices, not quotes — your invoice shifts if your pay schedule, states, or add-ons change.

Wages and employer taxes: the bigger number behind the service fee

The service fee is the small number. On top of gross wages, an employer owes the employer share of FICA: 6.2% for Social Security on wages up to $184,500 per person in 2026, and 1.45% for Medicare with no cap. Call it 7.65% of gross wages before any state unemployment tax, which typically adds 0.5% to 6% more depending on your state and claims history. A team with $50,000 in monthly gross wages therefore owes about $3,825 in employer FICA each month, on top of any service fee. That 7.65% is the number that surprises first-time employers.

When is payroll not worth paying for?

If you pay one or two people in one state, never miss a deadline, and enjoy tax paperwork, Patriot Basic at $21 a month total for one employee is a fair deal, and a spreadsheet costs $0. The moment you add a second state, garnishments, or contractors, the DIY math flips. Late federal deposits carry penalties that scale with how late they are, and one mistake can wipe out years of savings from skipping a service. My rule: once payroll takes you more than an hour a month, buy the software.

Frequently asked questions

How much should a small business pay for payroll?

Plan on a base fee of $17 to $49 per month plus $4 to $6 per person paid. A 10-person team on a full-service plan lands near $80 to $110 a month. Quote-only vendors like ADP and Paychex usually come in higher.

Is it cheaper to do payroll yourself?

Running payroll by hand costs nothing in service fees, but it is easy to get wrong. Federal deposit mistakes carry penalties from 2% to 10% depending on how late the deposit is, and most owners who price their own time find a $40-a-month service is cheaper than four hours a month of tax paperwork.

Why do payroll companies charge a base fee plus a per-person fee?

The base fee covers the account, support, and compliance infrastructure regardless of size. The per-person fee covers the per-employee work: wage calculation, pay stubs, and tax forms. It is the standard model at Gusto, OnPay, Square, Patriot, and QuickBooks.

How much does ADP cost for a small business?

ADP does not publish prices. Third-party reviews place small-business RUN quotes near $79 a month plus $6 per employee. Get a quote by phone and compare it against the published prices in the table above.