Best HR and Payroll Software for Small Business (2026): 5 Compared

Gusto started as payroll and has grown into a small-business HR platform without losing its simplicity. Plus is the plan built for this job: Gusto describes it as for businesses needing advanced payroll, benefits, HR and time and attendance tracking, with multi-state payroll, next-day pay and time tracking included.

Premium is for businesses that want HR help from people, not just tools. It adds a dedicated service advisor, access to certified HR experts, performance and compensation management, custom reports, priority support and payroll migration and account setup.

Which plan to pick: Plus for most teams of 5 to 50. Premium once you want expert HR advice on call. For 20 employees, Plus is $320 a month and Premium $620.

Watch out for: add-ons. Priority support on Plus ($30 a month plus $3 per person), workers’ comp, and tax-advantaged accounts such as HSAs and FSAs are priced separately, so add up the extras you plan to use.

Rippling is built around a single employee record that drives everything else. When you hire someone, one workflow can set up their payroll, benefits enrollment, time tracking, laptop and software logins, and when they leave, it can reverse all of it. For a small business that is starting to feel the sprawl of separate HR, payroll and IT tools, that is the main attraction.

Everything is modular: you buy the core Rippling Platform and add products such as Payroll, Benefits, Time and Attendance or Device Management. Rippling says most products are billed per employee per month, and some include a monthly base fee.

Which plan to pick: get a quote for the platform with Payroll and the HR modules you need now, then add others later.

Watch out for: price creep. Because each module is priced separately, the total grows as you add products. Ask for a written quote covering the modules you expect to use over the next year.

Justworks is a professional employer organization (PEO). On its PEO plans it becomes the co-employer of your staff, handling payroll, compliance and benefits administration, which can give a small business access to group health plans from top carriers.

There are three plans. Payroll is payroll software for $50 a month plus $8 per employee. PEO Basic ($79 per employee a month, no base fee) adds compliance support, HR tools, HR consulting and 24/7 support. PEO Plus ($124 per employee a month) adds medical, dental and vision administration, HSA and FSA accounts, and mental health and fertility benefits. Payroll customers can also buy health insurance as an add-on.

Which plan to pick: PEO Plus if benefits are a real part of how you hire and keep staff. PEO Basic if you mainly want HR consulting and compliance help.

Watch out for: the total per-employee cost. PEO Plus for 20 people is $2,480 a month at list price, and PEO plans require workers’ comp through Justworks. Get a quote with your headcount and states, and compare it against Gusto Plus plus your own health plan.

BambooHR is HR software first, and it is the most HR-focused tool in this guide. Every plan includes employee records, a custom report builder, workflows and approvals, applicant tracking with job posting, onboarding tools and time-off management. Pro adds performance management with 360-degree reviews and 1:1s, an employee community and recognition tools. Elite adds compensation planning, salary benchmarking and HR benchmarks.

Payroll, benefits administration and time and attendance are add-ons. BambooHR says payroll includes direct deposit, flexible pay schedules and federal and state tax filing, with a dedicated payroll project manager during setup, and it gives 15% off when you bundle payroll and benefits administration with any plan.

Which plan to pick: Core plus the payroll add-on for most small businesses. Pro if you want structured performance reviews.

Watch out for: price at small headcounts. For 25 employees or fewer, BambooHR charges a flat rate starting at $250 a month for HR alone, and payroll is quoted separately. A 10-person business will usually pay less with Gusto or OnPay.

OnPay is the cheapest way in this guide to put payroll and basic HR tools in one place. The base plan includes unlimited pay runs, tax filings, year-end forms and payroll in all 50 states. The HR add-on costs $15 a month plus $2 per worker, and time tracking is $15 a month plus $4 per worker.

For 20 employees, payroll plus HR comes to about $224 a month, around $100 less than Gusto Plus, though Gusto Plus also includes time tracking.

Which plan to pick: the base plan with the HR add-on. Add live HR support ($65 a month) if you want to talk HR questions through with a person.

Watch out for: the add-on total. With HR, time tracking and live HR support, OnPay’s price gets closer to Gusto Plus, so compare the full bundle.