The Best Payroll Apps for 2024: Features and Pricing Compared

Discover the best payroll app of 2024, designed to streamline your payroll process effortlessly.

Explore top-rated apps that simplify payroll management, ensure accuracy, and save time. From automatic tax calculations to employee self-service, these apps offer comprehensive solutions for businesses of all sizes.

Table of Contents Table of Contents

1. The Best Payroll Apps 
2. The Best Payroll Apps Reviewed
3. The Best Payroll Apps Compared
4. How Do Payroll Apps Work?
5. How to Choose the Best Payroll Software
6. FAQs

Show Full Guide

Table of Contents

1. The Best Payroll Apps 
2. The Best Payroll Apps Reviewed
3. The Best Payroll Apps Compared
Show Full Guide
4. How Do Payroll Apps Work?
5. How to Choose the Best Payroll Software
6. FAQs

The Best Payroll Apps Reviewed

To come up with our ranking, we analyzed a list of payroll apps and narrowed them down to a best of seven. The shortlist criteria were the range of features, ease of use, customer support, pricing, user reviews, plus what our own experts had to say.

We assigned weightings to each one; with pricing, features, and ease of use accounting for 60% of the total. When the maths were done, these seven payroll apps prevailed. Here’s how we ranked them.

1. Paychex – Best Payroll App for Freelancers

Paychex mixes user-friendliness with convenient payroll automation to make life easier for small businesses, freelancers, and solopreneurs.

Even better, while payroll providers like Gusto have one mobile app for managers and another one for staff — or an app for employees only — Paychex gives you both in one. Its highly rated iOS and Android ‘Paychex Flex’ apps deliver the goods for both.

Employees can use Paychex Flex to track time, clock in and out, access pay stubs, and manage their personal details. Managers can use it to view, approve, and execute payroll runs. That’s even more beneficial for self-employed individuals who are both owner and employee.

Lack of transparent pricing does put Paychex on the back foot against its peer competitors. Even at the self-employed tier you have to go through the firm’s qualifying process and request a quote.

Read the full Paychex review.

Paychex Price Plans

While Paychex has four distinct payroll plans for businesses of different sizes, to see the price you have to request a quote. To get things started we’ve included a quick summary of each plan to make comparison with other solutions easier.

• Self-Employed — Solutions for self-employed solopreneurs who want to pay themselves a salary. Also includes retirement savings options.
• 1-19 Employees — Simplifies payroll management for small businesses and includes basic compliance tools (US)
• 20-49 Employees — Payroll for growing small businesses and includes more advanced regulatory tracking (US)
• 50-1,000 Employees — A blend of payroll automation and personal consulting for large organizations

2. Rippling – Best Time Tracking for International Employees

Rippling is another solution that aims to take the complexity out of paying international workers. Employees in far-flung jurisdictions can use the Rippling app to see schedules, access pay stubs, request time off, and connect with colleagues. Managers back at HQ can use it to view reports, execute payroll runs, manage expense reimbursement, and approve PTO requests.

A dedicated time-tracking app makes it easy for employees abroad to clock in and out, or use a built-in timer for more granular task measurements. One unique feature of the Rippling app is its ability to blend into existing workflow by acting as a single sign-on for solutions like Salesforce or Slack. This is a great feature that not all payroll apps offer.

We rate Rippling higher than Remote thanks to its app being suitable for both employees and employers, as well as being easier to use. However, it’s beaten by Papaya and ADP on price and overall offering.

Read our full Rippling review.

Rippling Price Plans

Rippling bills itself as a full workforce management platform with different service packages under its ‘HR Cloud’ solution suite. Global Full-Service Payroll is a standalone module with rich a set of features, however, all Rippling pricing is quote-based.

3. ADP – Best All-in-One Payroll App

For businesses that want an established partner to manage their pay runs, ADP has long been a safe choice. Today it’s one of the best SaaS payroll platforms on the market.

The smartphone app functions like a portal to ADP’s family of branded payroll services. Whether you’re a larger firm that outsources payroll to ADP or a smaller business managing payroll in-house, the app enables you to see team calendars, approve time off requests and receive summary reports. Plus adjacent features like tax filing, W-2s and 1099s, secure e-signatures and multi-jurisdiction (e.g. multiple US states) payroll delivery are available.

Employees and contractors can use the app to clock in and out, submit PTO requests, contact co-workers, and access pay stubs.

ADP caters to businesses from small to large to very large, so smaller firms should be able to sign up for a lower-priced plan and upgrade as revenues and headcounts expand. ADP’s custom pricing, however, makes that possibility harder to assess. Other solutions like Gusto or Papaya make pricing transparent from the get-go. What you do get with ADP is trust, reputation, accountability, and a host of practical features — some of them unique.

ADP’s Wisely Direct Debit card is one innovation that a competitor like Papaya or Rippling doesn’t offer. Included in every plan it enables companies to offer ‘paperless pay’ to employees, with paycheques deposited directly onto the card.

Read our full ADP review.

ADP Price Plans

ADP’s pricing is customized to each business, so you’ll have to request a quote to see which plan offers the best value. To get things started we’ve included a quick summary of each plan to make comparison with other solutions easier.

• Essential Payroll — For small to mid-sized companies with basic payroll needs
• Enhanced Payroll — Everything in Essential plus recruitment services, State Unemployment Insurance, and new hire background checks
• Complete — Everything in Enhanced plus basic HR services
• HR Pro — Everything included in Complete plus enhanced HR support

4. Gusto – Best Mobile Responsive Web Version

Gusto is an award-winning SaaS solution that helps managers get to grips with payroll by automating the manual processes around tax filings, (US) retirement benefits, and pay runs.

While it doesn’t offer a locally installed mobile app for employers, there is one for employees. Gusto’s mobile web presence is so perfectly optimized for mobile web that it looks, feels, and operates like a native app. So long as you have a fast connection, you can manage payroll on the move.

Payroll apps like Gusto offer an autopilot feature helps set it apart from solutions like ADP or Rippling by enabling managers to schedule payroll runs in advance. Employees can use the Gusto Wallet app available in the iOS Store and Google Play to self-manage payroll tasks through their personal Gusto portal. Along with accessing pay stubs and tax documents, it doubles as a time-tracking app and allows staff to request early payment up to two days in advance.

Read our full Gusto review.

Gusto Price Plans

Gusto is one of the payroll apps that offers a simple three-tier plan with transparent pricing and clear lists of included features.

• Simple — $40 per month plus $6/month/employee
• Plus — $80 per month plus $12/month/employee
• Premium — Custom pricing by quote

5. Papaya Global – Best for Managing International Teams

Papaya Global’s professional employer organization (PEO) solution is aimed at small and medium-sized businesses that need to pay international workers and contractors.

Employees get a native iOS or Android app for time tracking and payslip access, while managers can access Papaya’s mobile web app on their smartphone browser. The native app for employees doubles as a communication tool. Staff working abroad can receive company alerts in-app, upload and view tax documents, and get chat support from Papaya customer service.

Overall the app is similar to Gusto and Paychex in the sense that employees have access to their payslips and time tracking, but during our testing, we found both the competitors’ apps easier to navigate which is why they were rated higher than Papaya. However, for companies with a majority of international employees, Papaya should definitely still be a contender thanks to its lower price point.

Read our full Papaya Global review.

Papaya Global Price Plans

• Grow Global — Starting from $25/month/employee
• Scale Global — Starting from $20/month/employee
• Enterprise Global — Starting from $15/month/employee
• Contractor — Starting from $30/month/contractor

6. Remote – Best EOR Payroll App

Remote is an employer of record (EOR) solution that simplifies the legal and practical headaches around hiring, employing, and paying international employees. That makes Papaya Global, which has an EOR solution of its own, the nearest competitor on our payroll top 7 list.

What sets Remote’s payroll offer and app apart is its end-to-end service package, which wraps together payroll processing and reporting, direct deposit, employee onboarding, local regulatory compliance, and time tracking for more than 50 countries and currencies.

However, only employees and contractors get a native app. Managers can access Remote’s mobile web-optimized solution using their smartphone browser.

Read our full Remote review.

Remote Price Plans

• HRIS — Free (time tracking but not payment)
• Contractor Management — $29 per contractor per month
• Employer of Record (EOR) — Starting at $599 per month
• Global Payroll — Starting $50 per employee per month

7. Roll by ADP – Best for Innovation

ADP’s Roll solution gets the nod for innovation. It’s the only chat-based payroll app and uses GenAI (the tech that powers ChatGPT) to handle payroll tasks with simple text commands.

While the idea of chat-based software may be a bit jarring at first, Roll by ADP operates like any chatbot and mimics the live human interactions you’d get on any mainstream messaging app. Roll by ADP’s smart assistant executes commands, answers questions, anticipates issues, and guides you through features and functions. It also sends notifications and alerts proactive alerts.

While you can expect almost every payroll provider to add AI to its solution this year, with Roll, ADP is first out of the chute.

Roll by ADP Price Plans

Roll by ADP is keen to have people try its novel new tech, so it currently starts everyone on a free three-month trial. After that, there’s just one price tier: an affordable $29 per month plus $5 per paid employee.

The Best Payroll Apps Compared

How Do Payroll Apps Work?

Payroll apps automate the process of calculating employee wages, taxes, and deductions. They typically integrate with time-tracking systems to accurately record hours worked.

These apps allow employers to input employee information, including pay rates and benefits, and generate payroll reports effortlessly. Many payroll apps also handle tax filings and compliance, ensuring accuracy and reducing the risk of errors or penalties.

Employee self-service features enable staff to view pay stubs, update personal information, and request time off conveniently.

Overall, payroll apps streamline administrative tasks, improve efficiency, and provide a centralized platform for managing payroll-related tasks in organizations of varying sizes.

How to Choose the Best Payroll Software

The choice of payroll app can make the difference between time-saving convenience and cumbersome nuisance.

If you’re thinking of trialing a new app or investing in a new payroll solution for the first time, here are some key considerations:

FAQs