Paychex Flex Alternatives 2026: 7 Options, 2 Free
Paychex Flex alternatives: OnPay, Patriot Payroll, Square Payroll, Gusto and 3 more. Prices and licenses checked October 22, 2026.
•4 min read•Payroll, HR & Hiring
Verdict:Paychex publishes no payroll prices. Its site says pricing depends on employee count and business needs and sends you to sales for a quote, with setup, delivery, 401(k) and time and attendance fees billed separately. That makes it hard to compare until you have a quote in hand. The alternatives here mostly publish a base fee plus a per-person fee, so you can calculate your own cost for 8 or 40 workers in a minute: Patriot at $17 plus $4, Square Payroll at $35 plus $6, OnPay and Gusto at $49 plus $6. Nothing in this list is free payroll with tax filing. Homebase is free for scheduling and time tracking for up to 10 employees, and Frappe HR is free if you host it, but in both cases the filing and payment duties are either an add-on or yours. The honest trade-off is service: Paychex sells a human-supported full-service model, and the cheaper options are self-serve. If your payroll is one state, W-2 staff and a handful of contractors, a published-price tool will likely cost less. If you have multi-state staff, garnishments or a retirement plan tied to payroll, get the Paychex quote and compare it line by line before moving.
Quick comparison
| Tool | Price | Platforms | Best for | Tested |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OnPay | Paid from $49 per month plus $6 per worker | Web | Small employers who want a published price | Docs only |
| Patriot Payroll | Paid from $17 per month plus $4 per worker paid (Basic Payroll, regular price) | Web | Very small employers with simple payroll | Docs only |
| Square Payroll | Paid from $35 per month plus $6 per person paid | Web | Contractor-heavy small businesses | Docs only |
| Gusto | Paid from $49 per month plus $6 per person (Simple) | Web | Teams that want tiered, published plans | Docs only |
| Homebase | Free (Basic plan at $0: up to 10 employees at one location, 90 days of timesheet storage); paid from $30 per location/month (Essentials) | Web | Hourly teams at one location | Docs only |
| Frappe HR | Free (Free to self-host; Frappe Cloud hosting starts at $5 per month for Sites) | Web, Self-hosted | Technical teams who can host their own payroll | Docs only |
| Rippling | Paid from $8 per employee/month, plus a monthly base fee | Web | Growing companies that want HR and IT bundled | Docs only |
| ADP | See pricing page | Web | Payroll and HR | Docs only |
Independent comparison. Paid placements are labelled separately; editorial links earn no affiliate commissions. Learn more.
Good fit if
- You want a payroll price you can read without calling sales (OnPay is the pick)
- You have a handful of workers and the lowest base fee (Patriot Payroll is the pick)
- You pay mostly contractors (Square Payroll is the pick)
- You run hourly shifts at one location (Homebase is the pick)
- You can host software and handle tax filings yourself (Frappe HR is the pick)
Not ideal if
- You rely on Paychex Flex features or integrations that these tools do not replicate
Paychex Flex today: See pricing page (Paychex Flex pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Why people look for Paychex Flex alternatives
Paychex publishes no prices: the payroll page sends visitors to a quote, and plan names, contract terms and fees billed separately all depend on it. Setup, NSF, delivery, 401(k) and time and attendance fees are charged on top. The current promotion of up to six free months for companies with 1 to 250 employees requires a qualifying bundle and a one-year service agreement, and does not cover those other fees. Payroll is designed primarily for US-based employees and contractors.
OnPay
Compared with Paychex Flex: OnPay lists $49 a month plus $6 per worker, with federal, state and local filings, W-2s and 1099s included. Paychex publishes no price and sends you to sales, so OnPay's advantage is a number you can check before talking to anyone.
Price: Paid from $49 per month plus $6 per worker (OnPay pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Web. Proprietary SaaS.
Best for: Small employers who want a published price.
Worth knowing: All plans include W-2s, 1099s, year-end filings, unlimited pay runs and federal, state and local tax filings. Time tracking, HR and benefits are add-ons.
Patriot Payroll
Compared with Paychex Flex: Patriot Basic Payroll lists $17 a month plus $4 per worker, with a 30-day trial. Against a quote-only Paychex you can budget in advance, but you give up a dedicated payroll rep and the large-company service that Paychex sells.
Price: Paid from $17 per month plus $4 per worker paid (Basic Payroll, regular price) (Patriot Payroll pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Web. Proprietary SaaS.
Best for: Very small employers with simple payroll.
Worth knowing: Full Service Payroll is $37 plus $5 per worker. Promo prices are half for 3 months after a 30-day free trial.
Square Payroll
Compared with Paychex Flex: Square Payroll lists $35 a month plus $6 per person paid, or $6 per person with no base fee for contractor-only payroll. It is easy to price against a Paychex quote, though it offers less than Paychex's retirement and HR service range.
Price: Paid from $35 per month plus $6 per person paid (Square Payroll pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Web. Proprietary SaaS.
Best for: Contractor-heavy small businesses.
Gusto
Compared with Paychex Flex: Gusto Simple is quoted at $49 plus $6 per person, with free setup. Paychex gives no figure up front, while Gusto shows plan prices, so confirm the figures on Gusto's pricing page.
Price: Paid from $49 per month plus $6 per person (Simple) (Gusto pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Web. Proprietary SaaS.
Best for: Teams that want tiered, published plans.
Homebase
Compared with Paychex Flex: Homebase Basic is $0 for up to 10 employees at one location, and its payroll add-on is free for 6 months, then $49 plus $6 per employee paid. It replaces Paychex time tracking for hourly teams better than it replaces a full payroll service.
Price: Free (Basic plan at $0: up to 10 employees at one location, 90 days of timesheet storage); paid from $30 per location/month (Essentials) (Homebase pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Web. Proprietary SaaS.
Best for: Hourly teams at one location.
Worth knowing: Plus is $70 and All-in-One $120 per location per month. Payroll is an add-on at $49 per month plus $6 per employee paid after a 6-month free period.
Frappe HR
Compared with Paychex Flex: Frappe HR is GPL-3.0 with payroll, leave and attendance and no per-person fee. Paychex files taxes for you; here you host the software and own tax tables and filings, and its docs do not describe US tax filing support.
Price: Free (Free to self-host; Frappe Cloud hosting starts at $5 per month for Sites) (Frappe HR pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Web, Self-hosted. GPL-3.0 (open source).
Project activity: 9k GitHub stars · latest release v16.52.0 (Oct 22, 2026) · last commit Oct 27, 2026
Best for: Technical teams who can host their own payroll.
Worth knowing: Covers payroll (salary structures, income tax slabs, payroll runs), leave and attendance. Check that payroll and tax rules fit your country before relying on it.
Rippling
Compared with Paychex Flex: Rippling starts at $8 per employee per month plus a base fee, with HR and IT in one system. Paychex also sells quote-based bundles, but Rippling publishes a starting figure; it lists no free trial.
Price: Paid from $8 per employee/month, plus a monthly base fee (Rippling pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Web. Proprietary SaaS.
Best for: Growing companies that want HR and IT bundled.
Worth knowing: Global Payroll and Global Contractors are quote-based. A startup program gives eligible US VC-backed startups six months free access.
Other popular options (paid)
ADP
Compared with Paychex Flex: Small-business plans (Essential, Enhanced, Complete) and 50+ employee plans (Select, Plus, Premium) are priced by quote, as with Paychex. It also advertises up to six free months for small-business payroll sign-ups.
Price: See pricing page (ADP pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Which one to pick
- You want a payroll price you can read without calling sales: OnPay
- You have a handful of workers and the lowest base fee: Patriot Payroll
- You pay mostly contractors: Square Payroll
- You run hourly shifts at one location: Homebase
- You can host software and handle tax filings yourself: Frappe HR
Limits of this review
Docs-only for OnPay, Patriot Payroll, Square Payroll, Gusto, Homebase, Frappe HR, Rippling: we did not install or run them, so feature claims come from vendor pages and we did not test import from Paychex Flex. Vendor prices and free limits change; confirm on the linked pricing page before you buy or migrate.
More in Payroll, HR & Hiring
All Payroll, HR & Hiring alternatives →Sources
Kevin Fan
Kevin Fan is a SaaS founder. He runs Free Instead Of, which tracks free and open-source alternatives to paid software and checks each price and free-plan limit against the vendor's own pages.
Methodology
Based on official pricing and product pages checked 2026-10-22: Paychex Flex, OnPay, Patriot Payroll, Square Payroll, Gusto, Homebase, Frappe HR, Rippling, ADP. Prices, free limits and licenses are the figures shown on those pages on those dates. No tool on this page was installed or run. No accounts were created.