SurePayroll Review: What It Costs (2026)

Quick answer

As of 2026-10-06, the lowest published payroll price for a tiny business is Patriot Software's Basic Payroll at $17 a month plus $4 per employee, or $21 a month for one employee. Basic Payroll leaves tax deposits and filings to the employer. Among plans that file payroll taxes for the employer, SurePayroll is the cheapest for a single worker, at $29 a month plus $7 per worker. Gusto and OnPay have higher monthly prices for a team of a few people, QuickBooks Payroll costs considerably more, and ADP does not publish a price.

The subscription is rarely the biggest cost, though. No payroll tool can run a paycheck until the business has an EIN, which ZenBusiness can set up as part of forming the business. The costliest payroll mistakes, such as misclassifying a worker, happen outside any software plan.

What does SurePayroll cost in 2026?

As of 2026-10-06, SurePayroll, a Paychex company, publishes a starting price of $29 a month plus $7 for each worker paid. Its pricing page lists unlimited payroll runs and federal and state payroll tax filing and deposits as included at that price. The first state is included, multi-state payroll costs $9.99 a month, and SurePayroll notes a separate fee in areas with local taxes.

Year-end forms are billed on top of the monthly price. For household employers, nanny and household payroll starts at $39 a month.

Applied to small teams, the published base and per-worker fee give these monthly totals:

• One worker: $36
• Three workers: $50
• Five workers: $64
• Ten workers: $99

These totals are calculated from the published prices. They are not quotes, and they exclude the year-end form fee and add-ons.

SurePayroll pairs a low base fee with a $7 per-worker fee, higher than the $4 to $6.50 the other published prices here charge. That structure makes it inexpensive for one person and steadily less competitive as headcount grows.

Is SurePayroll the cheapest payroll software for a tiny business?

The table applies each provider's published base price and per-person fee to teams of one, three and five, as of 2026-10-06. Providers are listed alphabetically, not ranked. Year-end form fees and add-ons are not included.

The fair comparison is between plans that file payroll taxes. Patriot's pricing page lists federal, state and local tax filings and deposits as what Full Service adds over Basic Payroll, and SurePayroll's lists federal and state filing as included. On monthly price alone, SurePayroll costs less than Patriot Full Service for one to three workers, the same at four, and more from five.

The year-end fee changes that picture. Patriot's pricing page says Full Service files year-end forms at no additional fee, while SurePayroll charges for them separately.

SurePayroll's monthly price stays below Gusto Simple and OnPay up to 19 workers. Check each provider's year-end form charges before comparing annual cost.

How does each option price payroll?

The order below is alphabetical. Editorial judgments appear in the text and in each "best for" line, not in the order.

ADP

ADP does not publish payroll pricing and quotes each business after learning its headcount and pay schedule. ZenBusiness's partnership page describes ADP's small-business product, RUN Powered by ADP, as built for businesses with 1 to 49 employees. Best for: an employer who wants a large, established payroll company and will go through a quote to learn the price.

Gusto

Gusto publishes three tiers as of 2026-10-06: Simple at $49 a month plus $6 per person, Plus at $80 plus $12, and Premium at $180 plus $22. The per-person fee rises steeply on the higher tiers, so a tier change can cost more than a new hire. Best for: an employer who expects to need more than basic pay runs and would rather move up a tier than switch providers.

OnPay

OnPay publishes one price, $49 a month plus $6 per worker as of 2026-10-06, shown on its public page as a $55 starting price for one worker. That matches Gusto Simple at every team size. Best for: an employer who wants a single plan with no tier decision to make.

Patriot Software

Patriot Software offers Basic Payroll at $17 a month plus $4 per employee and Full Service at $37 a month plus $5, as of 2026-10-06. Its pricing page describes Full Service as adding federal, state and local tax filings and deposits, with year-end filings at no additional fee. Best for: an owner comfortable filing payroll taxes (Basic), or an employer that wants taxes handled at a low annual cost (Full Service).

QuickBooks Payroll

QuickBooks Payroll is sold bundled with QuickBooks accounting, with ongoing prices as of 2026-10-06 of $88 a month plus $6.50 per employee with Simple Start, $125 plus $6.50 with Essentials, and $203 plus $10 for Workforce Premium with Plus. A promotional 50% discount on the base price lasts three months and is not the ongoing rate. Best for: a business already keeping its books in QuickBooks that values payroll and accounting in one place over the lowest bill.

SurePayroll

SurePayroll is covered in detail above: from $29 a month plus $7 per worker, with federal and state tax filing included and year-end forms billed annually. Best for: a single-worker business, or a household employer paying a nanny or other domestic worker.

Wave

As of 2026-10-06, Wave's payroll starts from $25 a month. Best for: a business already using Wave that wants payroll from the same company.

ZenBusiness

ZenBusiness does not run payroll, but it handles the steps that come before it. As of 2026-10-06, its formation plans are Starter at $0, Pro at $199 and Premium at $299, with Pro and Premium renewing at those annual prices, plus a state filing fee that the state sets and that varies. It also sells a registered agent at $199 a year, Money Pro bookkeeping at $30 a month and a website at $129 a year. The EIN costs $99 on Starter and is included from Pro up.

For payroll, ZenBusiness refers customers to RUN Powered by ADP, where a ZenBusiness customer may be eligible for promotional pricing. Any offer varies, is confirmed in ADP's consultation, generally excludes state filing fees and add-ons, and is not guaranteed. Best for: someone who has not formed the business or has no EIN yet and wants formation, compliance and bookkeeping from one company, with payroll handled by a partner.

What has to be in place before the first paycheck?

The business needs an EIN before payroll can run, as ZenBusiness states directly in describing its ADP partnership. To start, the customer requests the connection from the ZenBusiness dashboard, an ADP representative follows up about employee count and pay schedule, and ADP provides the quote. In ZenBusiness’s own words, “No - ADP is a separate service with its own platform, billing, and support.” Day-to-day payroll and tax filings happen in ADP’s system, not in ZenBusiness.

The Internal Revenue Service describes the EIN as the number that identifies a business entity, and it issues EINs at no charge. ZenBusiness's $99 standalone EIN is a fee for handling the application, and the EIN is included from the Pro plan up. The U.S. Small Business Administration lists getting an EIN among the first steps in hiring and managing employees.

A bank account comes before software too, since IRS Publication 583 recommends a separate business checking account. For someone starting from scratch, the low-cost order is entity, EIN, bank account, then payroll tool. ZenBusiness covers the first two directly, which settles the steps every payroll quote depends on.

Payroll software also depends on paperwork the employer collects. The IRS says all U.S. employers must complete Form I-9 for every person they hire for employment in the United States, and it directs employers to get a signed Form W-4 from each new employee and make it effective with the first wage payment. Employers also need each employee's name and Social Security number for Form W-2.

What does payroll cost beyond the subscription?

Worker classification is the clearest cost that no software decides. The IRS weighs three categories, behavioral control, financial control and the type of relationship, and states that "There is no 'magic' or set number of factors that 'makes' the worker an employee or an independent contractor and no one factor stands alone in making this determination." A contract label does not settle the question.

Under IRS guidance, an employer who treats an employee as an independent contractor without a reasonable basis may be held liable for employment taxes for that worker. Form SS-8 asks the IRS to decide, but the IRS warns that a determination may take at least six months. That makes classification something to settle before choosing a plan.

The IRS requires an S corporation to pay a shareholder-employee reasonable compensation before making non-wage distributions, and it can reclassify distributions as wages. If you run an S corporation, your own salary goes through payroll, which adds one to the per-person count in every price above.

State law sets pay frequency, and the U.S. Department of Labor's summary of state payday requirements shows how widely it varies. California requires pay at least twice per calendar month on days set in advance, Colorado requires monthly pay, and Connecticut requires weekly pay unless the labor commissioner approves a longer interval. The DOL advises checking with the relevant state labor office for official information. SurePayroll and Patriot both include unlimited payroll runs, so a more frequent schedule costs time rather than subscription fees.

Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, the DOL requires employers to keep payroll records for three years, and the records wage calculations are based on, such as time cards and wage rate tables, for two years. Check whether a provider keeps those records accessible after cancellation, because the obligation outlasts the subscription.

State unemployment insurance rates are set by each state and differ by employer. Workers' compensation is also state law and differs sharply between states, so check your state's rules, as the SBA's hiring guidance advises.

Who should choose SurePayroll?

SurePayroll suits a business paying one worker that wants its federal and state payroll taxes filed for it. It also suits a household employer paying a nanny, since its household payroll starts at $39 a month. Its pricing is published and easy to calculate, which ADP's is not.

As a team grows, the $7 per-worker fee and the annual year-end charge add up, so compare annual totals rather than the monthly starting price. For an owner still forming the business, the more useful first step is the entity, the EIN and a business bank account, and ZenBusiness is built to handle that sequence before any payroll provider quotes.

This article is general information, not legal, tax or accounting advice, and payroll requirements vary by state and change over time.