What Claude (Anthropic) with web search answered for payroll software (small businesses) on 2026-09-22

Claude (Anthropic) with web search claude-opus-5 asked 2026-09-22

Coverage: Claude (Anthropic) with web search. Other engines not included.

The question asked, verbatim: best payroll software for small businesses

Brands named, in the order the engine gave

1. Gusto recommended
   Gusto - my default first pick for most small businesses.
2. OnPay recommended
   OnPay - the better value if you want flat, predictable pricing and no upsell ladder.
3. FUTA recommended
   It also has genuinely useful industry-specific handling (restaurants with tip credits, farms with Form 943, nonprofits/churches with FUTA and FICA exemptions).
4. QuickBooks recommended
   QuickBooks Payroll - pick this if and only if you already run your books in QuickBooks Online.
5. QuickBooks Online recommended
   QuickBooks Payroll - pick this if and only if you already run your books in QuickBooks Online.
6. Online recommended
   QuickBooks Payroll - pick this if and only if you already run your books in QuickBooks Online.
7. Patriot recommended
   Patriot Software - the budget option, and a legitimately good one.
8. Square recommended
   Square Payroll - two specific cases.
9. Rippling recommended
   Rippling - only once you're past ~25-50 employees or you want payroll fused with IT provisioning (laptops, app accounts, device management).
10. ADP mentioned
    Who I'd skip: Paychex and ADP come up constantly in these rankings, but for a true small business they mean opaque quote-based pricing, per-payroll-run fees, and contracts.

Sources the engine cited

The answer, as recorded

Here's what I'd actually recommend, roughly in the order I'd suggest trying them (assuming a US business): **1. Gusto** - my default first pick for most small businesses. Full-service payroll (it files and pays federal/state/local taxes for you), plus onboarding, benefits administration, and contractor payments in one place. Around $49/month base plus ~$6-8 per person. The main catch: the entry "Simple" plan is single-state only - if you have employees in multiple states you need the Plus tier. **2. OnPay** - the better value if you want flat, predictable pricing and no upsell ladder. Roughly $40/month base plus per-person, and critically it includes **multi-state payroll at no extra cost**, which is where Gusto charges you more. It also has genuinely useful industry-specific handling (restaurants with tip credits, farms with Form 943, nonprofits/churches with FUTA and FICA exemptions). If you're a restaurant or nonprofit, I'd start here rather than Gusto. **3. QuickBooks Payroll** - pick this if and only if you already run your books in QuickBooks Online. The integration means your pay runs and your ledger stay in sync with no journal entries to reconcile, which saves real time at tax season. Outside that, it's generally pricier and less flexible than Gusto or OnPay, so I wouldn't move to QuickBooks *for* the payroll. **4. Patriot Software** - the budget option, and a legitimately good one. Basic Payroll is $17/month + $4/employee (you file your own taxes); Full Service is $37/month + $5/worker. Under ~10 employees with simple needs, this is often half the cost of Gusto. Fewer HR bells and whistles, but users consistently rate the onboarding and support well. **5. Square Payroll** - two specific cases. If you already use Square for POS, the timecard-to-payroll flow is seamless. And if you *only* pay 1099 contractors, its contractor-only plan is $6/person/month with no base fee, which nothing else beats. **6. Rippling** - only once you're past ~25-50 employees or you want payroll fused with IT provisioning (laptops, app accounts, device management). The automation is genuinely best-in-class, but the pricing model punishes small headcounts - a 15-person company lands around $265/month (~$18/employee) because of the flat platform fee, plus $1,000-5,000 implementation. Skip it if you're under 20 people. **Who I'd skip:** Paychex and ADP come up constantly in these rankings, but for a true small business they mean opaque quote-based pricing, per-payroll-run fees, and contracts. They make sense when you need a dedicated rep or PEO services, not before. Two caveats worth knowing: pricing on all of these moves and is frequently discounted for the first few months, so confirm current rates directly. And a lot of the "best payroll software" listicles that rank highly are published by the vendors themselves (Gusto, OnPay, and Patriot all publish one) - I've weighted those accordingly, but treat any single ranking with skepticism. Sources: - [Forbes Advisor - Best Payroll Software for Small Business](https://www.forbes.com/advisor/business/software/best-payroll-services/) - [OnPay - Best payroll software: 9 top picks](https://onpay.com/insights/best-small-business-payroll-software-picks/) - [BeltStack - Gusto vs OnPay (2026)](https://www.beltstack.com/payroll/compare/gusto-vs-onpay) - [BeltStack - Gusto vs QuickBooks Payroll (2026)](https://www.beltstack.com/payroll/compare/gusto-vs-quickbooks-payroll) - [Patriot Software - Pricing](https://www.patriotsoftware.com/pricing/) - [Capterra - Square Payroll pricing](https://www.capterra.com/p/170266/Square-Payroll/) - [Forbes Advisor - Rippling Pricing (2026)](https://www.forbes.com/advisor/business/software/rippling-pricing/) - [Business.com - Rippling Payroll Review](https://www.business.com/payroll/rippling-review/) - [NerdWallet - Paychex Payroll Review](https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/small-business/paychex-payroll-review)

Markdown edition · the question page, with every recording · Answer Watch · AEO Watch

Answer Watch records what one AI answer engine said on one date, nothing more. Each page names the engine and the model, carries the date the question was asked, and lists the brands that appeared in the answer in the order the engine gave them, with the sources it cited. It is a measurement, not a ranking, not a recommendation and not a claim about the world. Brands that did not appear in an answer are not named on any public page. Coverage: Claude (Anthropic) with web search. Other engines not included.