Neatly packed into an all-in-one payroll and HCM solution, Paylocity has been a trusted choice for almost three decades. However, as technology evolves and businesses diversify their needs, the landscape of payroll solutions expands, fueling the rise of Paylocity alternatives, each offering a distinct set of payroll solutions.
In order to provide insight into the 2024 payroll market and explore opportunities for business optimization, this article reviews the top Paylocity competitors for 2024.
“Forward together”.
With a motto that captures the essence of progress and collaboration, Paylocity has positioned itself as a provider that embraces innovation as it helps its clients navigate the complexities of payroll. As such, it offers flexible solutions catering to small and large businesses, nationally and globally.
Checking off the essentials, Paylocity comes with functionalities that simplify time-consuming tasks through payroll automation and tax compliance.
However, beyond payroll processing and tax filing, which most providers already offer, Paylocity expands its suite of features to:
An all-around solution, Paylocity strives for accuracy, efficiency, and innovation, ensuring its payroll software meets the evolving needs of its clients.
There isn’t a one-fits-all solution when it comes to payroll.
Therefore, with an abundance of available options nowadays, including both established and newer platforms, companies are looking for one that matches their unique requirements. This involves considering factors like ease of use, scalability, compatibility, and price.
Although Paylocity is a comprehensive solution, to see how it ranks against other providers, we’ll dive into 15 of its biggest competitors and Paylocity alternatives worth considering on the market right now.
Starting with Deel, this provider focuses on global teams. Specifically, it caters to small to medium-sized companies working with international employees and contractors. To facilitate its offerings, Deel expands its services to 100+ countries, all while handling global payments, tax reporting, and even immigration and sponsor visas.
With customer success managers, dedicated points-of-contact (POC) for each country, and in-house payroll experts who oversee tax compliance, deductions, and filings, Deel ensures timely and accurate payroll across all time zones.
Beyond this, it also offers U.S. payroll for all 50 states, all while covering benefits administration and HR from one platform.
OnPay is a Paylocity alternative for small businesses looking to simplify office payroll tasks. What immediately stands out in this provider is its easy-to-use platform, where users can run automated payroll tasks, guarantee tax compliance, create custom reports, and integrate with other systems, including QuickBooks and Xero, for easier accounting.
Moreover, the provider is among the few offering transparent, all-inclusive pricing. Instead of subscription plans, OnPay charges a $40 monthly base fee and an additional $6 per employee. This price covers their complete set of payroll and HR tools, including unlimited monthly pay runs.
Remote is a global HR platform that offers payroll, among other solutions like international employment, contractor management, HRIS, etc. In fact, in 2023, the company launched its “Remote Global Payroll,” a product that simplifies payroll management for entities in several countries, providing features such as entity and team management, payroll calculation review, and streamlined document generation.
With Remote, businesses can efficiently run payroll for employees in various countries where they own entities, ensuring compliance with local regulations and accurate payroll processing. Moreover, the platform allows for easy onboarding of contractors and employees, with flexible payment schedules to accommodate different project needs.
Oyster is another Paylocity competitor that focuses on global workforces. Its software was designed to simplify international payroll, catering to the needs of startups, SMEs, agencies, and large enterprises.
To achieve this, Oyster introduces many features in its payroll, including a self-service portal, in-house payroll experts, benefits management, compensation management, 401(k) tracking, and more.
The platform also streamlines payroll for employer of record (EOR) team members in over 130 countries, contractors in over 180 countries, and direct employees in Spain, Canada, and the U.K., with more locations on the way.
Papaya Global has been a notable payroll provider since 2016. Its Payroll Plus, an AI-driven platform, ensures precision and compliance, saving companies up to 30% time and 12% costs.
Moreover, the platform’s integrated approach streamlines payroll, benefits, equity, and payments, empowering organizations to innovate their payroll journey quickly and efficiently. What really stands out in this provider is its seamless ability to pay workers in over 160+ countries while managing benefits and payroll tasks across different jurisdictions.
However, Papaya Global caters to companies with 250 employees and over, making it a more suitable Paylocity alternative for mid to large-scale businesses.
The industry’s veteran, ADP, has over 75 years of experience in payroll services, advancing from manual payroll processing to cutting-edge technology since then. Today, this provider focuses on innovation, delivering efficient payroll to businesses of all sizes.
For example, “RUN Powered by ADP” is the company’s payroll and Ben Admin solution specifically targeting small companies with no more than 50 employees. Depending on the subscription type, its features range from more basic, like tax filing, direct deposits, and reporting, to more complex ones, like legal assistance or complete management of state unemployment insurance.
ADP also offers payroll for medium to large companies, with features like flexible payment options, fully automated data synching, integrations with HR, benefits, talent, and more.
Founded in 1971, with decades of experience in the market, Paychex has mastered the complexities of payroll and tax compliance, making it a trusted option for businesses of all sizes and a noteworthy Paylocity competitor.
While the provider offers different payroll solutions, Paychex Flex is one of the more prevalent alternatives for smaller employers. Its three-tier pricing structure allows businesses to customize their plan according to their needs.
The general features include flexible payment options, automated tax management, Pay-on-Demand, employee self-service, etc. However, each of the three plans is customizable, with add-ons like job posting integrations, time and attendance tracking, employee benefits, and more.
A suitable alternative for medium-sized businesses, Netchex offers comprehensive solutions that seamlessly integrate every aspect of payroll management. Packed in a user-friendly platform, the provider delivers payroll accuracy and compliance through flexible payment options, automated tax calculations, and detailed reporting. Moreover, with features like time and attendance integrations and benefits administration, Netchex provides a complete HR solution beyond basic payroll.
Affordable and reliable, this provider is a trusted choice for businesses seeking efficient payroll software that streamlines operations and saves time.
Justworks is a Professional Employer Organization (PEO) that offers a comprehensive platform for payroll, compliance support, benefits, and HR tools.
This Paylocity competitor delivers scalable payroll solutions targeting startups and small businesses. With a base fee of $50 per month and an additional $8 per employee, its payroll plan includes off-cycle and vendor payments, multiple pay rates, contractor payment, W-2 & 1099 filings, payroll reporting, expert support, employee onboarding and offboarding, accounting software integrations, access to time tracking, and more.
These features, paired with a user-friendly interface, enhance productivity while ensuring businesses comply with regulations. That makes Justworks a fitting, albeit slightly pricier, solution for small businesses seeking to outsource payroll for easier management.
Paycom offers a feature-rich, single-database platform for payroll, talent acquisition and management, time and labor management, and HR management. As for payroll, in particular, the provider delivers a solution that empowers employees to manage their paychecks, PTO, expenses, and benefits. In fact, with Paycom’s software “Beti,” workers can also troubleshoot, verify, and approve their paychecks, reducing errors and compliance risks.
With additional features like expense management, garnishment administration, expert compliance management, or robust data security, Paycom simplifies payroll processing for businesses of all sizes and industries.
Another single-platform provider that combines HCM solutions, Criterion finds its place on this list thanks to its flexibility and scalability. Its payroll solution is better suited for the needs of midmarket companies and enterprises, featuring a user-friendly self-service platform, global multi-entity payroll, robust analytical and reporting features, and more.
Criterion’s flexible architecture is its standout feature, which allows easy integration and a quick setup in days. This functionality, powered by Criterion’s open REST API, allows seamless communication between the HCM and any other platform, including ERPs, project management tools, etc.
AllianceHCM is a Paylocity alternative with decades of experience in the industry. Starting in 1989 as Alliance Payroll Services, the company has become one of the largest HCM software providers since.
However, their focus on payroll remained, investing in features that are efficient and save time by automating many tasks. Some of AllianceHCM’s functionalities include robust payroll tax management, handling calculations, deposits, and filing to ensure compliance. Additionally, the provider offers flexible payment options, on-demand payments, garnishment services, and expense management, simplifying payroll administration and reducing the workload for HR teams.
Rippling is a complete workforce management system that goes beyond HR, offering companies IT and financial services as well. The same comprehensiveness translates into the provider’s payroll solution, as Rippling offers top-rated payroll management software along with many HR tools.
Beyond features like tax management, benefits administration, time tracking, and expense management, Rippling stands out thanks to its modern and user-friendly design, customizable features, and integration capabilities. With a pricing structure similar to other Paylocity competitors, like OnPay or Justworks, Rippling starts at a base price of $8 per monthly employee. Some of its products, including payroll, also feature a monthly base price of $35.
Advertised as an all-in-one payroll and core HR technology, APS offers tools that simplify many workforce processes. Some of those include configurable payroll processing, automatic error checking, and advanced payroll controls for setting gross wage limits, voiding payroll checks, and utilizing dual payroll release controls.
The cloud-based platform also guarantees payroll tax compliance, saving organizations hours of work by managing tax filings and payments. Additionally, APS provides industry-specific payroll management and earned wage access services, making it a versatile and efficient payroll solution for businesses across different industries.
Last but not least, isolved is a leading HCM software provider and a strong Paylocity competitor. This is due to the provider’s all-in-one robust HCM platform that supports payroll, HR, time and attendance, and benefits administration.
Looking further into its payroll functionalities, isolved simplifies this process through automated tax filing and compliance, self-service access for employees, and in-depth reporting capabilities.
Additionally, the provider leverages AI into its solutions to ensure a more accurate and error-free payroll. Overall, the platform caters to different industries, with a focus on financial services, manufacturing, and hospitality, providing tailored solutions for companies of all sizes.
The global payroll market size is estimated to grow to $136.23 billion by 2028, with a compound annual growth rate of 6.31%. Thus, as the market goes through this exponential growth, the importance of choosing the right payroll provider becomes increasingly evident.
In summary, while Paylocity offers a robust solution, by understanding the strengths of other market alternatives, including some of the biggest Paylocity competitors, businesses can make informed decisions that align with their specific requirements and aspirations.
Disclosure: Some of the products featured in this blog post may come from our partners who compensate us. This might influence the selection of products we feature and their placement and presentation on the page. However, it does not impact our evaluations; our opinions are our own. The information provided in this post is for general informational purposes only.
Content Writer at Shortlister
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