# What Claude (Anthropic) with web search answered for payroll software (small businesses) on 2026-10-13

## In short

On 2026-10-13, Claude (Anthropic) with web search was asked "best payroll software for small businesses". It named 14 brands; the first six, in order, were Homebase, Gusto, OnPay, QuickBooks, QuickBooks Online and Square.

| Fact | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Question | best payroll software for small businesses |
| Asked on | 2026-10-13 |
| Engine | Claude (Anthropic) with web search |
| Model | claude-opus-5 |
| Brands named | 14 |
| Sources cited | 6 |
| Audience | small businesses |
| Coverage | Coverage: Claude (Anthropic) with web search. Other engines not included. |
| Last verified | 2026-10-13 |

Page: https://bikoosh.com/answers/s/payroll-software-small-businesses-2026-10-13
Coverage: Claude (Anthropic) with web search. Other engines not included.

## The answer, as recorded

Asked on 2026-10-13 through Claude (Anthropic) with web search (model claude-opus-5).

> Here's how I'd rank them, with the caveat that a lot of what surfaces on this query is vendor-authored ("best payroll software" pages written by Homebase and Gusto that happen to rank themselves first), so treat the ordering below as my read rather than theirs.
> 
> **1. Gusto** - ~$49/mo + $6/employee (Simple tier). My default recommendation for most small businesses under ~25 employees. Full-service payroll with automatic federal/state/local tax filing, benefits and 401(k) administration built in, published pricing, and month-to-month billing with no termination fee. The onboarding is genuinely self-serve, which matters when you don't have an HR person.
> 
> **2. OnPay** - ~$49/mo + $6/employee, one flat tier. The pick if you want full-service payroll without feature gating or upsells. Everything (multi-state, benefits, HR tools) is in the base price, and it handles unusual cases well - agriculture (Form 943), churches/clergy, restaurants with tip credits.
> 
> **3. QuickBooks Payroll** - ~$50/mo + $6.50/employee. Worth it specifically if you already run QuickBooks Online. The payroll-to-books sync removes real reconciliation work. If you don't use QuickBooks, there's no reason to start here

## Brands named, in the order the engine gave

| Position | Brand | How it was named |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Homebase | mentioned |
| 2 | Gusto | mentioned |
| 3 | OnPay | mentioned |
| 4 | QuickBooks | mentioned |
| 5 | QuickBooks Online | mentioned |
| 6 | Square | mentioned |
| 7 | Square Payroll | mentioned |
| 8 | Square POS | mentioned |
| 9 | ADP | mentioned |
| 10 | ADP RUN | mentioned |
| 11 | ADP Workforce Now | mentioned |
| 12 | Rippling | mentioned |
| 13 | Deel | mentioned |
| 14 | Remote | mentioned |

## Sources the engine cited

- https://www.joinhomebase.com/blog/best-payroll-software (other)
- https://gusto.com/product/compare/features/best-payroll-small-business (vendor)
- https://www.patriotsoftware.com/payroll/best-payroll-software-for-small-businesses/ (other)
- https://peoplemanagingpeople.com/tools/gusto-vs-adp-run/ (other)
- https://costbench.com/best/payroll-for-small-business/ (other)
- https://www.techradar.com/uk/in/best/best-payroll-software (review)

The question page: https://bikoosh.com/answers/q/payroll-software/small-businesses

Alerts and membership: Answer Watch Pro, 79 USD per month: https://bikoosh.com/answers. Bikoosh is monitoring assistance, not complete protection.

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.