Paychex Review | Pricing | Plans | Features (2024)

Payroll and HR can often be the trickier business functions to manage since it requires a great deal of organization and lots of moving parts to handle.

In this article, we’ll explore Paychex payroll company, including Paychex pricing and how Paychex works, to help you decide if it’s the best solution for you. We'll also explore the Wise Business account as a great option for international and small business payroll.

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Table of Contents
Paychex Reviews Paychex Plans and Features Paychex Pricing: How much does Paychex cost? Paychex Pros and Cons Paychex Competitors and Alternatives Paychex vs. QuickBooks Paychex vs. ADP Paychex vs. Rippling Paychex vs. Paylocity Wise Business: Paychex Alternative for International Business

Paychex Reviews

Paychex includes solutions such s Payrolls by Paychex and has been one of the more popular choices for payroll and HR solutions. Paychex primarily caters to small and mid-size businesses with a wide-ranging customer base. However, Paychex has gotten mixed reviews on platforms such as Trustpilot, with a score of 1.2. ²

While Paychex payroll solutions can be comprehensive and efficient solutions for smaller businesses, Paychex may not necessarily be a solution that can scale as the business grows. While Paychex is one option for payroll solutions, there are other platforms out there that may be worth considering.

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Paychex Plans and Features

Paychex offers a variety of robust plans tailored to different business sizes. The Paychex system includes the Paychex Flex platform, which is an all-in-one payroll and HR solution designed for versatility.

The Paychex Flex platform includes features such as automatic payroll, employee time management, new hire reporting, benefits, and many more features.³ Within the Paychex Flex plan, multiple options are available, from just the essential services to a more comprehensive plan depending on business needs.

With Paychex Flex, businesses can manage processes in one streamlined solution, including time and attendance, benefits administration, hiring and onboarding, and other features as needed.

With multiple plan options available, Paychex Flex is scalable and can be an excellent solution for small and medium businesses experiencing fast growth.⁴ Paychex also includes dedicated customer support and desktop and mobile phone functionality so that processes can be accessed from anywhere and while on the go.

Paychex plans include flexible options for payroll, such as multiple delivery options, including direct deposit, pay cards, online tip sharing, and on-demand access to earned wages. With Paychex Flex solutions, small businesses can pay both exempt and non-exempt employees and contractors, manage payroll tax administration and gain reporting and analytics into payroll and HR data.

Paychex also included employee self-service options to allow employees to access their data and streamline recruitment, hiring, and onboarding processes. With the employee self-service option, employees can enroll and manage benefits such as retirement and insurance services since Paychex Flex also offers 401(k) recordkeeping and other key employee data.

Paychex also offers plans for medium-sized to Enterprise businesses, including more robust features and automation.⁵  Within the plan, Paychex's online payroll process is available with multiple deposit options as well as benefits administration. Plus, businesses gain HR support, financial wellness programs, employee retention tax credit options, and more to support businesses expanding operations.

Paychex Pricing: How much does Paychex cost?

Paychex pricing is flexible and will vary depending on which plan you opt for and the business size. While Paychex does not disclose its specific price plans for options such as Paychex Flex, introductory offers are sometimes available for businesses looking to try the solution. However, companies can contact Paychex for a free, personalized quote based on business needs and size.

Paychex Pros and Cons

When considering whether Paychex is the right solution for your business, weighing the pros and cons based on your business's requirements is crucial. When evaluating providers like Paychex, it is equally important to look at other data sources around Paychex, such as Paychex reviews, to ensure it will fulfill business requirements.

When it comes to Paychex pros, there are quite a few. Paychex is a comprehensive, streamlined solution offering various features for payroll and HR. Using Paychex, including options such as Paychex payroll and other Paychex solution options, negates the need for multiple HR systems. Instead of having a few different systems where employee data and payroll is managed and tracked, you can consolidate and use a straightforward platform. Paychex also includes ancillary services such as tax filing options, benefits administration, and HR support, so it’s easy to manage everything in one place.

Paychex also has a strong customer support function, so there is recourse if something does not go right or if there are any errors in processing. The customer support function can be a major pro, as you know you’ll always be able to contact someone.

However, there are certain drawbacks to Paychex. Its pricing structure is not transparent or clear, which can make it difficult to fully evaluate Paychex against other providers. Psychex may be a costly solution for very small businesses and independent contractors because the pricing is tailored to business size and needs.

Additionally, while Paychex offers multiple services in one platform, it can also end up being a drawback as it can overcomplicate processes. Your business may not require all these different services, which can make it challenging to navigate the platform and could mean that you are essentially paying for services you do not need.

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Paychex Competitors and Alternatives

When evaluating options like Paychex, it is vital to look at Paychex competitors and alternatives to see if there is another solution that could be better for you. Paychex faces competition from several reputable providers, each offering its unique blend of features and services. Some Paychex competitors include more prominent payroll providers such as Quickbooks, ADP, Rippling, and Paylocity, among others.

While Paychex stands out for its comprehensive features and excellent support, these competitors offer viable alternatives, each with its strengths, making the choice dependent on the specific needs and budget of the business.

Paychex vs. QuickBooks

Both Paychex and QuickBooks offer payroll and HR solutions, but their primary customer base and service packages differ quite a bit. Paychex is an all-encompassing payroll and HR solution that can be suitable for small and medium-sized businesses. On the other hand, Quickbooks is an accounting software with a payroll add-on in the form of QuickBooks Payroll.

QuickBooks Payroll includes a Standard Payroll and an Advanced Payroll solution depending on the business size, similar to Paychex Flex options.⁶ The Standard Payroll is best for contractors and self-employment and can also be used to administer payroll for smaller teams. The Advanced Payroll solution includes payroll administration and HR benefits and is best suited for larger businesses looking to streamline operations.

Paychex vs. ADP

ADP is one of the largest payroll administration platforms currently available, with a vast array of options for businesses across different size. ADP is well known for serving a wide range of small to enterprise-level businesses. It offers features like talent management and business outsourcing solutions, in addition to payroll and HR.

While also catering to businesses of all sizes, Paychex has some HR functionalities built in, but compared to ADP Paychex might still be limited depending on business needs. However, ADP has built itself a strong reputation in this space for offering high-quality solutions, which helps it stand out from others.

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Paychex vs. Rippling

Another option to consider when evaluating a payroll company such as Paychex is to explore alternative solutions such as Rippling (compare with alternatives).

Both Rippling and Paychex are similar in that they offer a blend of payroll and HR solutions to enable businesses to streamline functions better. However, Rippling and Paychex tend to be better fit for different market segments.

Paychex is more geared towards businesses of all sizes as it offers a comprehensive suite of services that combine payroll and HR. However, Rippling stands out with its focus on integrating HR and IT management, making it a unique choice for businesses seeking IT solutions alongside HR and payroll to bring together operations. Rippling might be the right fit for businesses looking to bring several functions into one place. But for businesses seeking more standard payroll and HR solutions, then Paychex may be the better fit comparatively.

Paychex vs. Paylocity

Paylocity is another solution that is worth exploring as a Paychez alternative when looking at solutions. Paychex and Paylocity provide comprehensive HR and payroll solutions, but each solution has distinct advantages.

Paychex offers extensive customer support with a dedicated specialist and a wider range of services, such as benefits and insurance management, besides a standard payroll system, and has been a longstanding solution in the industry.

Paylocity, on the other hand, differentiates itself with a highly intuitive and user-friendly platform that's well-liked by its users. Paylocity also offers a range of HR and payroll services for businesses, making it a closer comparison to Paychex. Paylocity offers additional payroll features such as expense reimbursement, tax services, on-demand payments, garnished wages management system, and global payroll solutions.⁷

Wise Business: Paychex Alternative for International Business

Wise Business is another solution to explore for those seeking flexible payroll administration and financial management. Wise Business is another alternative to Paychex and can be an excellent fit for businesses of all sizes. In particular, Wise Business is beneficial for businesses operating across international borders as it offers a wide range of solutions to make it easy to manage a global business.

Wise Business also includes features such as batch payments to make it easier to administer payroll and manage multiple employee and supplier account details in one place. Wise provides batch payments, enabling businesses to pay many invoices in one go, which is ideal for employers and small businesses looking to manage and operate global payroll operations.

Wise Business can be a cost-effective and efficient solution for managing and administering payroll. Plus, Wise Business also offers a variety of financial management tools to help businesses monitor their spending, cash flow, and other key financial metrics. Wise Business could be the right choice for businesses seeking to streamline international financial transactions and payroll administration.

Other Great Wise Business Account Features:

Mid-market rate: Get the rate you deserve with not hidden fees on transfers Global Account: Send money in 70+ currencies and hold balances in 40+ Batch payments: Send 1000 invoices in one click Wise Business API: Recurring payments and automatic payouts Permissions: Give give different permissions to your team Auto-conversions: Don't like the current currency exchange rate? Set your rate, and Wise sends the transfer at the perfect moment No minimum balance requirements and monthly fees: Learn more about fees here

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Sources:

1. https://www.trustpilot.com/review/wise.com
2. https://www.trustpilot.com/review/paychex.com
3. https://www.paychex.com/login
4. https://www.paychex.com/payroll/small-business-payroll
5. https://www.paychex.com/payroll/enterprise-payroll
6. https://quickbooks.intuit.com/payroll/
7. https://www.paylocity.com/our-products/payroll/