Cheapest Patriot Software payroll plan in 2026
Patriot Basic at $17 base plus $4 per employee is the lowest sticker price in US small-business payroll. The honest version of that headline includes the $30 monthly tax-filing add-on and per-form year-end W-2 charges, which together decide whether Basic actually saves you money.
True monthly cost on every Patriot path
Source: the Patriot pricing page as of April 2026. The Year-End column adds $25 per W-2 form set divided over 12 months to show the all-in monthly equivalent.
| Employees | Basic / mo | Basic + Tax / mo | Full Service / mo | Year-End (W-2) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $21 | $51 | $41 | $25 |
| 3 | $29 | $59 | $49 | $75 |
| 5 | $37 | $67 | $57 | $125 |
| 10 | $57 | $87 | $77 | $250 |
| 15 | $77 | $107 | $97 | $375 |
What you actually have to do on Basic without the tax add-on
Patriot Basic without the Tax Filing Service costs $17 base plus $4 per employee, full stop. That is the cheapest legitimate payroll price in the US market by a meaningful margin. The tradeoff is that Patriot calculates the taxes owed for each pay run, hands you the numbers, and you are responsible for filing and paying federal Form 941 (quarterly), Form 940 (annual federal unemployment), and the matching state unemployment plus state income withholding.
For a one-person S-corp paying the owner a regular paycheck, this is genuinely manageable. Federal 941 is four deposits and four filings a year. The state unemployment filing is one page. The amounts due are small. Set a calendar reminder for the 15th of the month after each quarter ends and pay through the IRS Electronic Federal Tax Payment System.
For a three-person LLC with employees in two states, this stops being manageable. You now have federal 941, federal 940, state unemployment in two states, state income withholding in two states, and new-hire reporting in two states. You will spend several hours per quarter on filings and the marginal cost of a missed deadline is the IRS late-deposit penalty, which starts at 2 percent for 1 to 5 days late and climbs to 15 percent for over 10 days. Pay the $30 add-on or upgrade to Full Service.
The headcount where Basic + Tax beats Full Service
Patriot Basic plus the Tax Filing Service is $47 + $4 per employee. Patriot Full Service is $37 + $4 per employee. Full Service is $10 a month cheaper on base, with identical per-employee cost. The two plans deliver substantially the same tax-filing outcome.
So at any positive employee count, Patriot Full Service is the better deal than Basic plus the $30 add-on. The only scenario where Basic plus the add-on makes sense is short-term, where you bought Basic before realising you needed tax filing and you have not yet been routed through a plan change. As soon as you have the chance, switch the subscription to Full Service and save the $10 a month.
The genuinely cheap Patriot path is Basic without the add-on, with you doing the filings, for a tiny single-state business. Everything else points at Full Service.
The Patriot inclusion list, plain language
Patriot's pricing page lists features as feature names. Here is what they translate to.
- Free direct deposit. Standard 4-day timing. No per-deposit fee. Same across Basic and Full Service.
- Unlimited payroll runs. Off-cycle bonuses and corrections cost nothing extra.
- Free 2-day direct deposit (qualifying customers). Faster deposit window if you pass underwriting, no upcharge.
- Multi-state included. Unlike Gusto Simple, multi-state is supported on both Basic and Full Service at no extra cost.
- Employee portal. Self-service pay-stub and W-2 access.
- Free setup and support. Patriot does the initial data import and configuration at no charge.
- Workers comp pay-as-you-go. Integration with NEXT Insurance, billed separately by the carrier.
- Contractor payments. Pay 1099 contractors on the same per-head pricing.
The year-end W-2 charge is the line Patriot does not headline
Patriot charges $25 per W-2 form set at year-end. This is the "set" of W-2 actions: filing the W-2 with the Social Security Administration, sending a copy to the employee, and submitting the matching state filing if your state requires it. The same $25 fee applies whether you are on Basic or Full Service.
At three employees that is $75. At five it is $125. At ten it is $250. The fee shows up in late January or early February as a separate line on your bill. It is one of the most common "surprise" bills Patriot customers report, because it is not part of the published monthly sticker.
For year-end-only honesty across providers, see the payroll year-end fees by provider side-by-side. Patriot is not the worst, but it is more than Gusto, OnPay, and Square, all of which include W-2s in the monthly fee.
The cohorts where Patriot is genuinely the cheapest answer
Patriot Full Service is the cheapest done-for-you-tax payroll in the US market at any headcount from 1 to 25 employees in a single state. At 5 employees it is $57 monthly versus Gusto Simple at $70 monthly. At 10 employees it is $77 versus Gusto $100 and OnPay $100. The savings are $13 to $23 a month, which compounds to $156 to $276 a year.
The cost of those savings is rougher UX than Gusto, fewer benefits integrations, and the $25 per W-2 fee at year-end. For a finance-led owner who values the dollar savings over the polish, Patriot is the rational choice. For an HR-led owner who values the employee experience and the benefits broker integrations, the $13 to $23 a month gap is worth paying.
Patriot Basic without the tax add-on is the cheapest legitimate payroll in the US market for single-state one-employee or two-employee businesses where the owner is comfortable filing federal 941 and state unemployment themselves. At one employee it is $21 a month. At two it is $25. Nothing else gets that low.
Other vendor cheapest-tier pages
Cheapest Gusto plan
Simple at $40 + $6, the multi-state trap
Cheapest OnPay plan
Flat $40 + $6, multi-state included
Cheapest Wave Payroll plan
Self-service $20, the 14-state map
Cheapest SurePayroll plan
Self-service tier $19.99 + $4
Year-end W-2 fees by provider
Side-by-side year-end-only cost
Hidden fees
Eight charges providers bury
Common questions
What is the cheapest Patriot Software plan?
Patriot Basic at $17 per month plus $4 per employee is the cheapest published Patriot plan as of 2026. Tax filing is a separate $30 per month add-on. Without the add-on, you file federal and state payroll taxes yourself.
Does Patriot Basic include tax filing?
No. Basic is self-service. Adding the Tax Filing Service costs $30 per month and brings the total to $47 + $4 per employee, which is comparable to Patriot Full Service at $37 + $4 with tax filing built in.
What is the difference between Patriot Basic and Patriot Full Service?
Basic does not file payroll taxes. Full Service does. Basic is $17 + $4. Full Service is $37 + $4. The $20 difference is essentially the price of having Patriot handle federal 941, 940, and state filings instead of you doing them.
How much does Patriot cost per W-2 form?
$25 per W-2 form set at year-end. The set includes filing the W-2 with the SSA, sending a copy to the employee, and the matching state filing if applicable. The fee applies to both Basic and Full Service.
How much does Patriot Basic cost for 3 employees?
Patriot Basic at 3 employees is $17 + (3 x $4) = $29 per month without tax filing, or $59 per month with the $30 tax-filing add-on. Add $75 at year-end for three W-2 form sets.
Is Patriot good for multi-state payroll?
Patriot Full Service supports multi-state. Basic technically supports multi-state too if you handle the filings yourself in each state. Multi-state is included at no extra per-state charge, which is rare among cheap providers.