Don’t let flashy marketing get in the way of selecting the right payroll software. Bells and whistles are tempting, but what actually matters is rock-solid execution of the basics—automated federal, state, and local tax filing and payments, simplified compliance that keeps you out of trouble, dependable direct deposit, and an interface that never gets in your way.
Some people will tell you it has to be more complicated than that. Not true. If you go with one of my suggestions, you’ll have everything you need now and as you grow—without babysitting payroll or learning a new system every year. It really is that simple.
The Best Payroll Solutions in 2025
Whether you’re brand new to the world of payroll, just hired your first employee, or are running an established business with fewer than 100 employees, Gusto is our “go to” recommendation for all these scenarios. Managing payroll for more than 100 employees or need strong employee analytics and reports? Rippling is what we recommend.
Gusto and Rippling offer the most reliable, elegant, and straightforward solutions in the payroll space today. They both work straight out of the box, don’t require a ton of ramp up time to learn, and offer simplified interfaces that never get in your way. You get the time-saving automation you need without the bloat you don’t.
Sure, there are other solutions promising the same outcomes. But in our experience, Gusto and Rippling stand head and shoulders above the rest for small and midsize teams. Nothing else is really worth your attention unless you have highly unique needs.
If you’re paying household employees, SurePayroll is a solid option for “nanny tax” compliance and household employer filings. Managing an international team? Things can get complicated fast—entity setup, employer of record, and country-specific tax rules add a lot of overhead. If you can’t avoid it, check out our deep dive review of the Best International Payroll Services for vetted options.
Wondering Why You Should Trust Us?
We could just be another voice on the internet, so what makes us someone you should listen to about payroll software and services? We walk the talk.
We’ve hired hundreds of employees and freelancers over the years and managed payroll myself for most of them. During that time, we’ve tried almost every payroll service out there. We’ve also taught non-HR folks how to run payroll correctly, close out quarters, and prepare W-2/1099 forms.
We also run a blog dedicated 100 percent to HR topics, including payroll. It’s not a revenue-generating website—more of a passion project. The goal is to cut through the noise and help people get clear, actionable answers fast.
To stay on top of things, our team has read countless HR textbooks and practitioner guides over the past 12 months. We’ve dived headfirst into every topic we didn’t already know from building successful companies and teams in decades-long professional careers.
And while we do make money on this website, neither Gusto nor Rippling are recommended here because of how much they pay us. We recommend them because, after hands-on use and years of comparison, we truly believe they are the best payroll management options for most small and midsize businesses.
Gusto Is the Best Payroll Software for Fewer than 100 Employees
We don’t just recommend Gusto—we use it to pay full-time employees and contractors. It has been our payroll service of choice for many years. Why? We never have issues and don’t spend more than a few minutes processing payroll each cycle. That combination of reliability and speed is exactly what you want.
Once you connect Gusto with the proper tax agencies in the states where you have employees and contractors, you really don’t have to do much more. New-hire reporting and tax withholding, remittance, and filing all happen automatically. Gusto works in all 50 states, so you never have to worry about location when you’re onboarding someone new or adding a contractor in a different state.
Speaking of onboarding employees, that process couldn’t be easier with Gusto. It’s almost fully automated. You enter the new hire’s name and email; Gusto guides them through the rest—direct deposit, tax forms, and required acknowledgments. There are even onboarding checklists so new hires (and you) can stay on track.
Employee management is also a breeze. Everything you and your employees need—now and down the road—is a few clicks away, including:
- Paid Time Off (PTO)
- Holidays
- Leave policies
- Time tracking
- Tip management
- Automated W-2s
- 1099 creation and distribution
- Benefits administration
- Retirement account management
There’s even an employee self-service portal where employees can access pay stubs, request time off, and manage things like address changes. Your HR team doesn’t have to update records for routine changes. And the employee self-service portal provides lifetime access, even after someone leaves the company—no more scrambling for old pay stubs at tax time.
Running payroll for salaried employees is essentially set-and-forget once a new employee is set up. It literally takes our HR manager less than five minutes each payroll cycle to approve and issue payroll. Contractor payments are just as painless—it takes a few clicks to approve invoices and send payments.
Health insurance administration can be a headache for any business—especially with employees scattered around the U.S. We had a few hiccups when we first set up health insurance through Gusto, but their support team resolved them quickly. As a 100% remote company, our setup was more complex than average; once configured, it’s been smooth.
Now that our health insurance program is set up, everything runs seamlessly. New enrollments, major life-event updates, and plan changes are straightforward. Best of all, we know our team has strong insurance options, no matter where they live.
Gusto also shines when you need hands-on HR guidance. You can speak with a human to talk through nuanced issues and get clear next steps. Like most providers post-Covid, we’ve noticed response quality can vary, but we’ve always gotten to a useful resolution.
There are a few extras we don’t lean on in Gusto—like performance reviews, e-cards, and applicant-tracking integrations—but we have no reason to believe those tools aren’t up to the same standard as payroll and benefits.
When it comes to price, Gusto is great value for money. Is it the cheapest option? No. But the headaches, time, and risk you avoid with a dependable, compliant system more than justify the cost.
If you’re at the point of paying people, you shouldn’t be worried about saving a few dollars a month on this essential service. Our team spends less than five minutes per payroll run, and none of them are payroll or HR experts. That’s money well spent.
More than 100 Employees? Go with Rippling Instead
When your business scales past the 100-employee mark, Rippling is a great option to grow into. It’s on our radar as the payroll solution we’ll move to when our company gets to that point. We’re not quite there yet.
Rippling does everything as well as Gusto—plus a lot more. It centralizes IT, HR, and finance data in one place so reporting and audits aren’t a scavenger hunt. Rippling is also modular, meaning you can start with the basics and add on as your needs grow.
All of this functionality is built on top of a powerful automation and analytics platform. It brings data together in an elegant, easy-to-use way—dashboards, workflows, and policies you can actually manage at scale.
So what is the value of all this data? A lot.
- Stronger performance and learning management
- More accurate headcount and compensation planning
- Streamlined recruiting
- Global EOR and payroll in select countries
- Inventory and device management
- Corporate credit card issuance and monitoring
- Plus many additional features you will appreciate when managing a larger team
Rippling is a very robust payroll and employee management system. That depth is also the trade-off—there’s a lot going on, and it can take a bit to learn the system and tailor it to your needs.
But just because Rippling can do a lot doesn’t mean you have to jump in feet first on day one. A big reason we recommend Rippling is because you can use what you need now and graduate into advanced functionality later. Find that balance and you’re golden.
One thing Rippling struggles with is something most payroll providers face these days—a general drop in customer service responsiveness. It can take longer than you’d like to reach someone. That appears to be an industry-wide issue, not unique to Rippling.
The Two Payroll Providers We’d Never Recommend to Anyone
The whole point of partnering with a payroll provider is to save time and automate compliance. Any provider that makes you calculate, pay, and file taxes yourself—like Wave Payroll and Payroll4Free—is one to avoid. There are probably others, too. Don’t waste cycles considering them.
Yes, they’re inexpensive (or free), but the extra work you take on isn’t worth the few dollars you save. Do you really want to track multi-state regulations, figure out which forms to file and when, and handle every remittance manually?
Probably not. As a business owner with employees to pay, your time is better spent elsewhere—like marketing your services or improving your product. And the risk of getting something wrong with the tax authorities far outweighs any subscription savings.
But wait, you say. Wave Payroll offers a version of full-service payroll in select states. True—but Wave Payroll costs about the same as Gusto and doesn’t offer nearly as much. Our advice: choose Gusto and enjoy the confidence of hiring in any U.S. state, along with a deeper toolset you’ll actually use.
What Really Matters When Choosing a Payroll Platform
Sales reps would like you to believe that everything matters. The truth: with payroll software, execution beats feature lists. You need accurate calculations, on-time filings, dependable direct deposit, and a workflow that anyone on your team can run without stress.
Many services check similar boxes on paper. The difference is how they work. Gusto and Rippling execute as close to flawlessly as you can get—and that’s what matters most.
Beyond execution, look for filing and remitting taxes on your behalf, streamlined onboarding, and smooth handling of the essentials that come with payroll, like PTO, benefits, and time tracking. When you need help, you’ll also want to reach a knowledgeable human.
Both Gusto and Rippling have these pieces dialed in. With either one, you get a payroll system you won’t have to worry about—or even think about—very often. And that’s the ultimate goal.