Paylocity is a cloud-based payroll and human resource management provider for businesses of all sizes. Founded in 1997, the software covers a wide range of features and tools that can streamline and automate payroll tasks, HR processes and benefits administration for businesses in the U.S. and over 100 international locations.

Some of the features businesses can explore on Paylocity include automated payroll processing, time and attendance tracking, benefits administration, talent management and reporting and analytics. These features help businesses save time and reduce errors by automating many of the manual payroll and HR management processes.

SEE: Learn how to choose the best payroll software for your business with this guide from TechRepublic Premium.

Although Paylocity is a popular choice among companies, growing competition in the payroll and HR software market has birthed many alternative solutions for businesses to explore. Here is a review of the top Paylocity competitors for 2023, including their key features, pricing and use cases.

Jump to:

Top Paylocity competitors and alternatives: Comparison table

Top Paylocity competitors

There are excellent Paylocity competitors and alternatives available for companies to explore. Although these alternative solutions offer services similar to Paylocity, there are defining differences in pricing, industry focus, types and sizes of businesses covered, as well as customer support.

ADP: Best overall Paylocity competitor

If you are looking for a worthy alternative to Paylocity, ADP is a great option. The software offers a broad range of services for small, medium and large businesses.

ADP provides key payroll features, such as automatic tax calculation and filing, federal, state and local tax compliance support, time tracking and flexible employee payment options (Figure A). ADP’s HR capabilities cover employee hiring, benefits, compensation and talent management. In addition to the above features, the platform offers 24/7 customer support to its users and integrates with other leading business software like Xero, Intuit QuickBooks, Wave, Sage and Docufree.

Figure A

Key features

• Automated payroll management.
• Flexible payment options that include pay cards, checks and direct deposit.
• Covers employee benefits, business insurance and retirement plans.
• Supports full-service payroll for U.S. employees and international contractors.

Use cases

• Payroll: Supports payroll automation and flexible payment options.
• Tax and compliance: Can automatically calculate your tax liability and pay your tax to the right tax authorities.
• Time and attendance: Supports time and attendance for easy workforce management and labor budgeting.
• Benefits and insurance: Enables different benefits and insurance such as 401(k), SIMPLE IRA, business insurance and group health insurance.
• Integrations: Supports seamless connection with popular accounting, HR and ERP software, such as FinancialForce, Sage, Xero and Intuit QuickBooks.

Check out our full review of ADP’s software, or read our in-depth comparison of Paylocity and ADP.

Gusto: Best alternative for small businesses

Gusto is a payroll and HR management software suitable for small to medium-sized businesses. Companies can use Gusto to automate payroll processing, manage employee benefits and handle HR tasks such as employee onboarding and compliance management. Gusto offers a user-friendly interface, unlimited payruns and automatically syncs employees’ hours on the job to payroll, removing the need for manual calculations.

Gusto’s hiring and onboarding tools make it easy for companies to post jobs, track applications, generate and customize offer letters and onboard new employees (Figure B).

Figure B

Key features

• Insights and reporting option.
• International contractor-payment plan.
• Employee hiring, tracking and onboarding.
• Multi-state payroll, including W-2s and 1099s.

Use cases

• Payroll services: Offers automatic tax filing and unlimited pay runs.
• Contractor-only payments: Provides an option for international contractor payments.
• Time and attendance: Automatically calculates and syncs your employees’ hours to payroll.

Check out our full review of Gusto’s software.

Rippling: Best for global payroll management

Rippling is another top alternative to Paylocity. The software offers a unified system that enables companies to handle Payroll and HR tasks, including hiring, payment and tax administration, regardless of whether your team is in the U.S. or global.

The platform allows businesses to onboard employees and contractors in minutes and pay international employees in local currencies (Figure C). Rippling can also merge and manage employees’ apps, devices, data and security in one single system, making it easy to set up devices, provision applications such as Zoom and Slack, facilitate single sign-on and implement security policies.

Figure C

Key features

• Global workforce management that supports payroll for U.S. employees and global contractors.
• Handles HR, finance and IT processes in a single system.
• Supports automated and unlimited payroll run.

Use cases

• Tax management: Calculates and files payroll taxes for employees worldwide.
• Payroll management: Supports multiple payment options for payroll processing.
• Employee benefits: Supports employee benefits packages, such as 401(k) plans, HSAs and the financial wellness tool.
• Customer support: All plans include 24/7 multi-channel support.
• Time and attendance: Offers customizable time and attendance tool.

Check out our full review of Rippling’s software.

Paychex: Best for customer support

Paychex is an old name in the payroll and HR solution industry. With services ranging from payroll, HR, payment processing, employee benefits services, time and attendance and business insurance services, we can consider Paychex a worthy alternative to Paylocity.

Paychex services cover all 50 U.S. states and is suitable for self-employed, small, medium and large enterprises. With Paychex, businesses can streamline hiring, payment, tax management and benefits administration processes (Figure D).

Figure D

Key features

• Payroll and HR services.
• Business insurance with vital property and casualty coverage.
• Multiple payment options.
• Offers 24/7 customer support.

Use cases

• Payroll management: Supports payroll automation that helps to calculate, file and pay payroll taxes.
• Business insurance: Organizations can insure their business with property and casualty coverage.
• Multiple payment options: Supports several payment options, including direct deposit, pay on demand, paycards, paper checks with check signing and insertion and 24/7 real-time payments.
• Compliance support: Facilitates compliance that helps you stay up-to-date on tax laws.

Check out our full review of Paychex’s software.

Papaya Global: Best for robust payment options

As the name suggests, Papaya Global is a global workforce management software that brings payment solutions, payrolls and HR services under one roof. The platform is suitable for businesses of all sizes with international locations. It provides employee management support in areas such as salaries, pensions and employee benefits.

With Papaya Global, businesses can access payroll data and insights and integrate with other HR software like BambooHR and Oracle NetSuite (Figure E). For businesses needing to pay international employees in their local currency, Papaya Global expedites this process with its multi-currency support feature.

Figure E

Key features

• Global payroll management.
• Multi-currency payment support.
• Supports virtual wallets.
• Supports both default and customizable pricing options.

Use cases

• Payroll: Supports payroll management in over 160 countries.
• Robust payment features: You can create e-wallets and pay through a local currency.
• Compliance: Country-tailored compliance feature alerts you when there is an issue.
• Employee compensation plan: Supports several types of employee deductions, including tax and authority contributions, net payments and pensions.

Check out our full review of Papaya Global’s software.

Workday: Best for human capital management

Workday is a cloud-based human capital management software that helps companies handle several aspects of their workforce, including hiring, employee onboarding, performance monitoring and benefits administration.

Workday has been around since 2005 and integrates with other business applications. In addition to the U.S., Workday supports payroll in three other major countries: the U.K., France and Canada. The platform also works with third-party payroll providers to support businesses in over 100 countries. In addition to payroll, Workday supports features such as talent management, spend management, analytics and reporting and adaptive planning (Figure F).

Figure F

Key features

• Talent management.
• Adaptive planning.
• Spend management.
• Benefits administration.

Use cases

• Adaptive planning: Supports companies in financial, sales, workforce and operational planning.
• Employee service: Provides employee knowledge and case management system.
• Payroll management: Supports direct payroll in the U.S., U.K., France and Canada.
• Compensation and benefits: Provides flexible compensation and benefits administration that allows businesses to plan employee rewards.

Explore the Workday Enterprise Management Cloud guide located in the TechRepublic Resource Library.

Is Paylocity worth it?

Whether Paylocity is worth it for your business depends on your specific business needs and budget.

If you’re looking for a comprehensive HR and payroll solution, Paylocity offers a range of features such as time and attendance tracking, global payroll, benefits administration and compliance management. It also has an intuitive user interface and a mobile app, making it easy for employees and managers to use (Figure G).

Figure G

However, given that payroll and HR needs vary across companies and industries, Paylocity may not be the best choice for all businesses. Its pricing can be relatively high, especially for small businesses with limited budgets. It is also unsuitable for companies that need business insurance, recruitment and hiring on one system. So, these are some of the factors to keep in mind before deciding whether to go for Paylocity or one of its competitors.

Paylocity pros and cons

To further help you decide whether to go for Paylocity or one of its competitors, check out this list of pros and cons.

Paylocity pros

• Paylocity integrates well with popular accounting tools like Intuit QuickBooks, Oracle NetSuite, Sage Intact and Square.
• It offers comprehensive payroll, HR and time-tracking tools.
• The solution includes a mobile app option for easy access and use.
• Paylocity supports global payroll in over 100 countries (via Blue Marble).
• The platform offers insights and data metrics to facilitate better workforce management.

Paylocity cons

• Paylocity does not offer transparent pricing, meaning potential customers have to call for a quote.
• The customer service feature is only available Monday-Friday, which may not be enough for businesses needing urgent weekend support.
• The platform can be pricey for companies with a smaller budget.

Do you need an alternative to Paylocity?

While Paylocity is a popular HR and payroll software, it may lack some features for specific business needs. Therefore, if the features offered by Paylocity do not match your business needs, you may need to consider alternatives.

ADP, for instance, offers a comprehensive range of HR and payroll solutions, including payroll processing, tax filing and HR management and 24/7 customer support. Gusto is another popular choice, with a user-friendly interface and features suitable for small businesses. There is also Paychex if you need an alternative with great customer support. Papaya Global and Rippling are excellent choices if your business needs a global HR and payroll solution. If your business needs revolve around enhancing your employee management system, Workday could be a good option.

Review methodology

In the process of curating our list of the top Paylocity alternatives, we conducted extensive research to identify the most prominent players in the HR and payroll software market. Our research included a thorough analysis of factors we considered vital for every software solution in this category.

Some of the factors we considered are features and functionality, which helped us to determine the platform’s suitability for various functions such as payroll, benefits administration, time tracking, performance management and talent management. We also analyzed the user-friendliness, customer support and pricing structure. These factors helped us narrow down our list to the six Paylocity alternatives that feature in this article.