Cheapest payroll for nannies and household employers in 2026
Household employers paying nannies, eldercare workers, or housekeepers more than $2,800 a year in 2026 must file IRS Schedule H. The cheapest legitimate payroll for this case is $20 to $40 per month and is sold by household-specialist providers, not general SMB payroll software. This page is the honest breakdown.
Household payroll providers compared
| Provider | Monthly | Schedule H | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Poppins | $39 | Filed for you | Cheapest full-service household payroll. Schedule H, state quarterly, W-2 all included. |
| SurePayroll Household | $49.99 | Filed for you | Paychex-owned, recognisable brand. Phone support available. |
| GTM Payroll Services | $65 | Filed for you | Concierge service. Workers comp brokering included. |
| HomePay (Care.com) | $75 | Filed for you | Most polished UX. Integrated with Care.com hiring platform. |
| DIY Schedule H | $0 | You file | Free if you handle 8-12 hours of quarterly state filing + annual Schedule H + W-2 yourself. |
| Gusto Simple | $40 | Not supported | Built for businesses, not household. Wrong tool. |
| Patriot Full Service | $41 | Not supported | Same: built for businesses, not Schedule H household. |
What being a household employer actually means in 2026
You are a household employer the moment you pay any single individual more than $2,800 in a calendar year (the 2026 IRS threshold) to perform work in or around your home. This covers nannies, babysitters who work regular schedules, eldercare workers, housekeepers, gardeners with a regular cadence, and personal assistants. The threshold is per worker, not per household.
The non-obvious cases: a regular weekly babysitter at $50 per hour for 12 hours a month hits $7,200 a year and is a household employee. A house cleaner you pay $200 a week hits $10,400 a year and is a household employee. An eldercare worker for an aging parent (where you, not the parent, pay the worker) is your household employee. The test is whether they are scheduled regular hours under your direction, not how you describe the relationship.
The IRS rule that catches most household employers off guard is that even if the worker considers themselves an independent contractor, the IRS may classify them as your employee based on the control test (who sets hours, who provides equipment, who directs the work). For regular nannies, eldercare workers, and housekeepers, the IRS almost always treats them as employees. Read the IRS Publication 926 Household Employer's Tax Guide for the full classification rules.
What Schedule H actually requires you to file
Schedule H is a single form filed annually with your personal Form 1040 by April 15. It reports the total wages paid to all household employees during the year and calculates the federal taxes owed: Social Security (6.2 percent employer share + 6.2 percent employee share withheld), Medicare (1.45 percent employer share + 1.45 percent employee share withheld), and federal unemployment (FUTA, 6 percent on the first $7,000 per employee, often reduced to 0.6 percent net after state unemployment credit).
On top of Schedule H, you owe state unemployment insurance, filed quarterly in most states. You owe state income tax withholding if your state has income tax. And you must issue the worker a W-2 by January 31 of the year after wages were paid.
For a single nanny at $35,000 a year, the typical annual employer tax cost is roughly $2,800 to $3,500 (combined employer FICA + FUTA + state unemployment). That is on top of the wages. The payroll provider handles the calculation and the filings; you sign the Schedule H and pay the tax.
Poppins household payroll at $39 per month, what you actually get
Poppins is the cheapest household-specialist payroll in the US market as of 2026 at $39 per month for one nanny. The plan includes Schedule H filing, state quarterly filings in all states with income tax, state unemployment filings, year-end W-2, direct deposit, and a phone support line.
The Poppins trade-off versus the more expensive options is depth of concierge service. HomePay and GTM include things like new-hire paperwork advice, workers compensation brokering, and dispute mediation. Poppins focuses on the tax-filing core and lets you handle the rest. For households that just need someone to handle the legal compliance, Poppins is the right cheap answer.
SurePayroll Household at $49.99 is the better choice if you want a brand most CPAs and employment lawyers recognise, with Paychex's enterprise support infrastructure backing it. The $10 a month premium is the price of brand familiarity, which can matter if you need your CPA to talk to the payroll provider during tax season.
The state-specific costs household employers often miss
California requires household employers to register with the EDD and pay state unemployment plus the Employment Training Tax. New York requires registration with the Department of Labor and the Department of Taxation and Finance. Massachusetts has a Paid Family and Medical Leave deduction. Washington has a Long-Term Care payroll deduction. New Jersey has a Family Leave Insurance contribution.
Each of these adds a small ongoing cost on top of the federal Schedule H. The specialist payroll providers handle the state registrations for you and calculate the ongoing deductions correctly. The DIY path here is meaningfully harder than the federal Schedule H, because every state's portal and process is different.
For high-tax-state households (CA, NY, NJ, MA, WA), the specialist payroll services are worth the $39 to $75 per month for the state-specific compliance alone, separate from the federal Schedule H value.
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Common questions
What is the cheapest payroll for a household nanny?
Poppins at $39 per month for full Schedule H service. HomePay (by Care.com) at $75 per month with deeper concierge support. SurePayroll Household at $49.99 per month. DIY filing of Schedule H costs nothing in software but takes 8 to 12 hours per year.
Do I need to do payroll for a babysitter or part-time nanny?
If you pay any single household worker more than $2,800 in a calendar year in 2026, you are a household employer and you owe Schedule H taxes. This includes part-time nannies, regular babysitters, eldercare workers, and housekeepers. The threshold is per worker, not total household spend.
What is Schedule H?
Schedule H is the IRS form household employers file annually with their personal Form 1040 to report and pay household employment taxes: Social Security, Medicare, and federal unemployment. It is filed once per year, not quarterly. Household employers do not file Form 941.
Why not just use Gusto or Patriot for a nanny?
Most general payroll providers are built for businesses filing Form 941 quarterly. Household employers file Schedule H annually with their personal return. The forms, deposit schedules, and state registrations are different. Specialist providers like Poppins and HomePay handle Schedule H natively. Gusto and Patriot do not.
Does SurePayroll Household actually handle Schedule H?
Yes. SurePayroll has a dedicated Household plan at $49.99 per month that handles Schedule H, state quarterly filings, and year-end W-2 for the nanny. It is the lowest-cost option from a brand most household employers will recognise.
Should I pay my nanny under the table to skip all this?
No. Paying a household worker off-the-books is illegal, and the IRS routinely catches it through nanny-tax audits (often triggered by the worker filing for unemployment when the job ends). Back taxes, interest, and penalties typically run 50 to 100 percent of unpaid taxes. Pay legally; the cheap payroll services exist for exactly this reason.