What Claude (Anthropic) with web search answered for payroll software (small businesses) on 2026-10-28

Claude (Anthropic) with web search claude-opus-5 asked 2026-10-28

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 - the default recommendation for most small businesses.
2. OnPay mentioned
   OnPay - the best value if you want full features without the upsell ladder.
3. QuickBooks mentioned
   QuickBooks Payroll - only if you're already on QuickBooks Online.
4. QuickBooks Online mentioned
   QuickBooks Payroll - only if you're already on QuickBooks Online.
5. Homebase mentioned
   Homebase - if your team is hourly and shift-based.
6. ADP RUN mentioned
   ADP RUN or Paychex Flex - if you expect to cross ~50 employees soon.
7. Paychex mentioned
   ADP RUN or Paychex Flex - if you expect to cross ~50 employees soon.
8. Paychex Flex mentioned
   ADP RUN or Paychex Flex - if you expect to cross ~50 employees soon.

Sources the engine cited

Is one of these your site? Its page lists every recorded answer that cited it, with the questions, the pages and the dates, and carries the alert for the next citation.

The answer, as recorded

Here's who I'd actually point you to, roughly in the order I'd name them: **1. Gusto - the default recommendation for most small businesses.** $49/mo + $6/employee. Easiest onboarding of the bunch, genuinely pleasant interface, and it handles the things that bite small employers: automatic federal/state/local tax filing, multi-state payroll, contractor (1099) payments alongside W-2s, and built-in benefits administration if you ever add health insurance or a 401(k). If you have no strong reason to pick something else, pick this. **2. OnPay - the best value if you want full features without the upsell ladder.** $49/mo + $6/employee for *everything* - no tiered plans where tax filing or HR tools are locked behind a higher price. It's also the strongest of the cheap options for odd payroll situations: farms (Form 943), churches/clergy, restaurants with tip credits, nonprofits. Less slick than Gusto, more complete per dollar. **3. QuickBooks Payroll - only if you're already on QuickBooks Online.** $50/mo + $6.50/employee. The accounting integration is the entire reason to choose it; payroll data lands in your books with no reconciliation work. If you're *not* a QuickBooks user, there's no argument for it over Gusto or OnPay. **4. Patriot Software - the budget pick.** $17/mo + $4/employee (tax filing is the higher "Full Service" tier). Roughly a third the cost of the others and it consistently gets the best customer-support marks on review sites. The trade-off is a dated interface and thin HR/benefits features - fine if you just need to pay 3-10 people correctly and cheaply. **5. Homebase - if your team is hourly and shift-based.** $39/mo + $6/employee. Scheduling, time clock, and payroll in one system, so hours flow straight into the pay run. For a café, salon, or retail shop this removes more work than a better payroll engine would. **6. ADP RUN or Paychex Flex - if you expect to cross ~50 employees soon.** Custom pricing, and more expensive with pushier sales. But you get a dedicated rep, serious compliance coverage, and a migration path to enterprise HR you won't outgrow. Choose these for where you're going, not where you are. One note: ignore headline price as the deciding factor. The costs that actually hurt are a botched state tax registration or a missed filing deadline, so weight tax-filing reliability and support responsiveness above the $10/mo differences. Sources: - [NerdWallet - Best Payroll Software for Small Businesses](https://www.nerdwallet.com/business/software/best/payroll) - [Gusto - Best Cheap Payroll Services](https://gusto.com/resources/guides/best-cheap-payroll-services) - [Patriot Software - Best Payroll Software for Small Businesses 2026](https://www.patriotsoftware.com/payroll/best-payroll-software-for-small-businesses/) - [Homebase - Best Payroll Software for Small Business](https://www.joinhomebase.com/blog/best-payroll-software) - [People Managing People - Gusto vs. OnPay](https://peoplemanagingpeople.com/tools/gusto-vs-onpay/) - [TechRepublic - Patriot Competitors and Alternatives](https://www.techrepublic.com/article/patriot-payroll-alternatives/) - [Paycom - Best payroll software for small businesses in 2026](https://www.paycom.com/blog/best-payroll-software-for-small-businesses-in-2026/)

Near this answer

The same question, recorded on other dates: 2026-10-25, 2026-10-23, 2026-10-21, 2026-10-18, 2026-10-15, 2026-10-13, 2026-10-10, 2026-10-08, 2026-10-06, 2026-10-05, 2026-10-03.

payroll software, asked for other audiences: freelancers (asked 2026-10-28), nonprofits (asked 2026-10-28).

Other categories with a recorded answer: accounting software, accounts payable automation, audit management software, bookkeeping services.

Play this answer: which brand was named first?

Markdown edition · JSON record · 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.