Pricing verified on squareup.com on September 3, 2026.

Square Payroll review

Square Payroll is $35 a month plus $6 per person, files federal and state taxes automatically, and pulls hours straight from Square POS. For a cafe, barbershop, or retail counter already running Square, it is the obvious payroll. For a business with no Square hardware, it is a decent mid-priced option with a couple of missing features.

What Square Payroll costs

• Full-service: $35/mo + $6/person paid. Unlimited runs, automated federal and state filings, multistate payroll, W-2s/1099s delivered digitally.
• Contractor-only: $6/person paid, no base fee. Auto payroll and off-cycle payments are not included on this plan.
• Paper forms: $3 per mailed W-2 or 1099 if you opt into mailing.

All from Square's pricing page. No long-term contract, and Square waives fees during seasonal inactivity — genuinely useful for a beach-town ice cream stand that closes in January.

Where Square wins

The POS integration is the whole pitch: timecards flow from the Square Team App into payroll without re-keying hours, tips import automatically, and employees can get paid instantly to Cash App. At $35 base it undercuts Gusto by $14 a month, and the contractor-only plan at $6 a head with no base is the cheapest way to legitimately pay a small crew of 1099s.

Where it doesn't

Health insurance is an add-on rather than a built-in benefits suite. There is no scheduling on the contractor plan, and benefits deductions are absent there too. Support runs M to F, 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Pacific. If your business doesn't touch Square anywhere else, the time-saving case weakens — you'd be buying a payroll tool, not a workflow.

Bottom line

Square shops: sign up, don't overthink it. Everyone else: compare against Patriot on price or Gusto on features. The verified cost table and best payroll software ranking put it in context.

Frequently asked questions

How much does Square Payroll cost?

Full-service payroll is $35 a month plus $6 per person paid, with automated federal and state tax filings included. Contractor-only payroll is $6 per person with no monthly base. Mailing paper W-2s or 1099s costs $3 per form.

Does Square Payroll file taxes for you?

Yes, on the full-service plan: automated federal and state tax payments and filings, plus digital W-2 and 1099 delivery. The contractor-only plan does not include tax filing.

Is Square Payroll good without a Square POS?

It works standalone, but its best features — timecard import, tip tracking, the Team App — assume Square hardware or software. If nothing else in your business touches Square, Gusto or OnPay give you more for a modestly higher base fee.