Frequently asked questions

Yes, it is free, and no. There is no account, no email gate and nothing to download. Results appear on the page as soon as you enter your numbers.

From each vendor's own pricing page. Every figure on this site records the URL it was read from, the date it was verified and the exact wording on that page. We never copy prices from other comparison sites and never estimate a price a vendor has not published.

Because they do not publish one. Several well-known payroll companies only quote after a sales call. We list them with the features they offer so you can decide whether to ask for a quote, but we will not guess what they charge.

By estimated annual cost for your business, lowest first, among plans that meet your requirements. Promotions, introductory discounts and affiliate payments never affect the order. Providers without a published price are listed separately, not ranked.

Because the cheaper plan cannot do something you need, such as paying employees in a second state or paying contractors. Each result says which requirement ruled out the lower tier. Sometimes a higher tier is also simply cheaper once a required add-on is priced in, and the result says that too.

How complete and current the figures behind a total are. High means every line is a published price verified recently. Medium and low mean a "starting at" price, an older verification or an unpublished fee is involved, and the result lists exactly which.

Some links to providers are affiliate links, and we may earn a commission if you sign up through one. Those links are added after the ranking is computed and cannot change it. See the affiliate disclosure for details.

No. The calculation runs in your browser. Your headcount and choices are never sent to our servers.