Cheapest payroll for 6 to 10 employees in 2026
At 6 to 10 employees, the cheap payroll bracket runs $60 to $105 per month. Patriot Full Service's $4 per-employee fee compounds into a meaningful gap over the $6 per-employee competitors. Square wins for hourly teams. The 8-employee mark is where the cheapest provider stays the same but the savings annualise to over $200.
Cheap payroll providers at 6, 8, and 10 employees, ranked
| Provider | 6 EE / mo | 8 EE / mo | 10 EE / mo | Annual at 10 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Patriot Basic (self-tax) | $41 | $49 | $57 | $684 |
| Wave (self-service state) | $56 | $68 | $80 | $960 |
| Patriot Full Service | $61 | $69 | $77 | $924 |
| Roll by ADP | $59 | $69 | $79 | $948 |
| Square Payroll | $71 | $83 | $95 | $1,140 |
| Paychex Flex Essentials | $69 | $79 | $89 | $1,068 |
| Wave (tax-service state) | $76 | $88 | $100 | $1,200 |
| OnPay | $76 | $88 | $100 | $1,200 |
| Gusto Simple | $76 | $88 | $100 | $1,200 |
| QuickBooks Payroll Core | $81 | $93 | $105 | $1,260 |
| ADP Run Essential | $103 | $111 | $119 | $1,428 |
| Gusto Plus | $152 | $176 | $200 | $2,400 |
Why Patriot's per-employee fee matters more at 10 than at 5
Patriot Full Service charges $4 per employee per month. Every other cheap done-for-you-tax provider charges $6 per employee. At 1 employee that is a $2 gap. At 5 employees it is $10. At 10 employees it is $20. At 25 employees it is $50.
The compounding is mostly invisible to first-year customers because all providers price small. By year three, the customer on Gusto Simple at 10 employees has paid $14,400. The same business on Patriot Full Service has paid $11,124. The $3,276 difference is real, and it grows.
That is the structural reason Patriot Full Service consistently wins cheapest-payroll comparisons at this headcount and above. Patriot's UX is rougher than Gusto's and the employee app is plainer. For finance-led owners who value the dollar savings, those trade-offs are worth the $276 a year saved at 10 employees. For HR-led owners, the polish premium is worth it.
Square Payroll is meaningfully cheaper than Patriot for hourly 6-10 person teams
Patriot Full Service is the cheapest sticker, but Patriot does not include time tracking. Patriot's time-and-attendance add-on is $6 per employee per month. For a 10-employee hourly team that adds $60 a month, taking the all-in cost from $77 to $137.
Square Payroll includes Square Team time tracking free. The all-in cost for a 10-employee hourly team is $95. That is $42 a month cheaper than Patriot + time-tracking, or $504 a year. Square also includes same-day direct deposit, which Patriot does not.
For salaried-only teams, the time-tracking question does not apply and Patriot is still cheapest. For hourly teams, Square is the unambiguous cheap winner at 6 to 10 employees. The same logic applies to Homebase Payroll, which is $5 to $10 a month more than Square but with stronger scheduling features for shift-heavy operations.
See cheapest payroll for restaurants for the Square versus Homebase head-to-head at restaurant headcounts.
The two ways your cheap payroll plan stops being cheap at 6-10 employees
First, the Gusto Plus multi-state forced upgrade. Gusto Simple is single-state only. Hiring one employee in a second state forces Gusto Plus at $80 + $12 per employee. At 6 employees that is $152. At 10 employees it is $200. Gusto Plus is double the price of Gusto Simple at the same headcount. This is the single most common reason small businesses overspend on Gusto, and at 6 to 10 employees, the bill jump is more noticeable than at 1 to 3 employees.
Second, the QuickBooks Premium tier upgrade for HR support. QuickBooks Payroll Core at 10 employees is $105. QuickBooks Premium at $80 + $8 per employee is $160. The Premium features (HR advisory, workers comp admin, time tracking included) are tempting at this headcount because the business is hitting first-manager-hire complexity. The $55 a month upgrade is sometimes the right call but should be a conscious decision, not a sales-rep nudge.
For both, the cheap-payroll discipline is to know what is forcing the upgrade and to decide whether the forcing feature is worth the price. Most of the time it is not.
What annual cost actually looks like at 8 employees
Monthly stickers do not include year-end W-2 fees. At 8 employees, the year-end W-2 cost is real money on plans that charge per form.
Patriot Full Service at $69 per month plus $25 per W-2 form set is $828 annual base plus $200 W-2 = $1,028 all-in.
Paychex Flex Essentials at $79 per month plus $7 per W-2 typical fee is $948 annual base plus $56 W-2 = $1,004 all-in. Paychex's per-W-2 fee is meaningfully lower than Patriot's and the all-in cost is competitive.
Gusto Simple at $88 per month with W-2 included is $1,056 all-in. The Gusto premium over Patriot at this headcount on the all-in number is $28 a year, not $200 a year as the monthly sticker comparison suggests. The Patriot per-W-2 fee closes most of the gap.
OnPay at $88 per month with W-2 included is $1,056 all-in, the same as Gusto.
See payroll year-end fees by provider for the complete year-end-only comparison.
Other headcount pages
Common questions
What is the cheapest payroll service for 6 employees?
Patriot Full Service at $37 + $4 per employee = $61 per month. Patriot Basic without tax filing is $41. Square Payroll is $71. Gusto, OnPay, and Wave (tax-service state) all sit at $76. QuickBooks Payroll Core is $81.
What is the cheapest payroll service for 10 employees?
Patriot Full Service at $77 per month. Square Payroll at $95 includes time tracking. Gusto Simple, OnPay, and Wave (tax-service state) all $100. QuickBooks Payroll Core is $105. ADP Run Essential typically quotes $119.
How much does Gusto cost for 10 employees?
Gusto Simple at 10 employees is $40 + (10 x $6) = $100 per month, or $1,200 per year. Gusto Plus is $80 + (10 x $12) = $200 per month if you need multi-state, time tracking, or next-day deposit.
Is Patriot Full Service worth it at 10 employees over Gusto?
Patriot Full Service at 10 employees is $77 versus Gusto Simple at $100. The $23 a month gap is $276 a year. Patriot's lower per-employee fee is what drives the gap. If you value Gusto's UX, benefits brokerage, and same-day deposit, the $276 is worth it. Otherwise Patriot wins.
What about the time-tracking cost at 6 to 10 employees?
Square Payroll includes free time tracking. Every other cheap provider either does not include it or upgrades you to a higher tier. For 10 hourly employees, Square at $95 versus Patriot + $6/EE time tracking at $137 is a $42 a month gap.
Should I be considering Gusto Plus at this headcount?
Only if you need multi-state payroll, next-day or same-day direct deposit, or built-in time tracking. Otherwise Gusto Simple at $100 is cheaper than Gusto Plus at $200 for the same 10 employees. The Plus upgrade is feature-driven, not headcount-driven.