Payroll
Best Payroll Software for Trades Contractors (2026)
Independent reviews of 25 payroll services for trades contractors, with prices taken from each vendor's published pricing where it has one. OnPay sells one plan at $49/mo plus $6 per person, Gusto starts at $49/mo plus $6 per person on its one-state Simple plan, and Patriot starts at $17/mo plus $4 per worker if you file taxes yourself. Hourly.io pairs payroll with pay-as-you-go workers' comp, and Fingercheck, eBacon, Payroll4Construction, Miter and Arcoro describe certified payroll reporting for prevailing-wage work. ADP Run, Rippling, Paylocity and Paycom sell by quote.
The headline filter: company size
For certified, union or prevailing-wage work, look at the services that describe certified payroll reporting: Fingercheck, eBacon, Payroll4Construction, Miter and Arcoro. For other payroll, use these company-size guides to compare services for your headcount:
Online payroll services and trades-specialty payroll with no reputation warning whose vendors publish a starting price, so you can compare costs before a sales call: Gusto from $49/mo plus $6 per person, OnPay at $49/mo plus $6 per person on one plan, Patriot from $17/mo plus $4 per worker if you file taxes yourself, SurePayroll at $29/mo plus $7 per worker, Roll by ADP at $39/mo plus $5 per worker, Auris (formerly Heartland Payroll) with bundles from $89/mo, Hourly.io from $80/mo plus $12 per active user with pay-as-you-go workers' comp, and Fingercheck from $79/mo plus $10 per employee with certified payroll reports. The tier does not rank them against each other.
Gusto
Online payroll with automatic federal, state and local tax filing, contractor payments and published prices for every plan
modern saas
From $49/mo + $6/person (Simple)
- Best team size
- 2-50 employees
- Free trial
- No
- Affiliate link
- No
- Verified
- 2026-09-30
Best for: Trade shops with W-2 employees, 1099 subcontractors or both that want online payroll with automatic tax filing and published prices, especially if they already use QuickBooks Online, Xero, Jobber or Housecall Pro
OnPay
One-plan online payroll at $49/mo plus $6 per person, with QuickBooks and Xero sync and optional pay-as-you-go workers' comp
modern saas
$49/mo base + $6/person
- Best team size
- 1-25 employees
- Free trial
- 30 days
- Affiliate link
- No
- Verified
- 2026-09-10
Best for: Small trade shops that want one published payroll price, QuickBooks or Xero sync and an optional pay-as-you-go workers' comp policy, and that can live without a direct field-service app integration
Patriot Payroll
Low-cost online payroll from Canton, Ohio: $37/mo plus $5 per worker with full tax filing, or $17/mo plus $4 per worker if you file taxes yourself
modern saas
From $17/mo + $4/worker (Basic, you file taxes)
- Best team size
- 1-10 employees
- Free trial
- 30 days
- Affiliate link
- No
- Verified
- 2026-09-30
Best for: Very small trade shops that want low-cost payroll with full tax filing, use QuickBooks Online or Patriot Accounting, and pay crews in one state
Hourly.io
Payroll plus pay-as-you-go workers' comp in one app, with GPS time tracking and job costing on every plan
specialty
From $80/mo + $12/active user (Gold, four-day direct deposit)
- Best team size
- 2-30 employees
- Free trial
- No
- Affiliate link
- No
- Verified
- 2026-09-30
Best for: Trade shops paying hourly field crews that want workers' comp premiums tied to each payroll run, with GPS time tracking and job costing in the same app
SurePayroll
Paychex-owned online payroll for small businesses and household employers, with published prices
modern saas
$29/mo + $7 per worker
- Best team size
- Small businesses and household employers
- Free trial
- No
- Affiliate link
- No
- Verified
- 2026-10-10
Best for: Small trades shops that want low-cost, payroll-only service with published prices and federal and state tax filing, and do not need built-in scheduling, job costing or HR tools
Roll by ADP
ADP's chat-based payroll app for small businesses: $39/month plus $5 per worker, unlimited runs
modern saas
$39/mo + $5 per employee or contractor
- Best team size
- Small businesses
- Free trial
- 90 days
- Affiliate link
- No
- Verified
- 2026-09-30
Best for: Owner-operators and small trades shops that want simple, chat-based payroll from ADP with a published price and unlimited payroll runs
Fingercheck
Payroll, time tracking and HR for deskless crews, with GPS job-code time and certified payroll reports
specialty
Payroll from $79/month + $10 per employee (360 plan)
- Best team size
- 5-200 employees
- Free trial
- No
- Affiliate link
- No
- Verified
- 2026-09-30
Best for: Construction and field-heavy trades businesses that want GPS time tracking by job code, certified payroll for prevailing-wage work, and payroll in one system
Auris (formerly Heartland Payroll)
Small and mid-sized business payroll and HR, formerly Heartland Payroll, owned by Acrisure since 2025
modern saas
Bundles from $89/mo
- Best team size
- Small and mid-sized businesses
- Free trial
- No
- Affiliate link
- No
- Verified
- 2026-09-10
Best for: Small and mid-sized trades businesses that want payroll, tax filing and optional HR bundles from an established provider with a published starting price
No reputation warning, not legacy payroll or a PEO, and outside the Tier S rule. That covers payroll built into other software (QuickBooks Payroll, Square Payroll), HR and team-management platforms with payroll (Rippling, Homebase, Paycor, Paylocity, Arcoro), construction payroll sold by quote (eBacon, Payroll4Construction, Miter), and Wagepoint, which serves Canada only and whose pricing page does not label the currency. Which one fits depends on the software you already use and the work you do.
QuickBooks Payroll (plans branded QuickBooks Workforce)
Intuit's own payroll, now sold as QuickBooks Workforce: runs inside QuickBooks Online, from $50/mo plus $7 per employee payroll-only
embedded
From $50/mo + $7/employee (Workforce Payroll, payroll only)
- Best team size
- 2-30 employees
- Free trial
- No
- Affiliate link
- No
- Verified
- 2026-09-30
Best for: Trade shops that already keep their books in QuickBooks Online and want payroll in the same Intuit account
Square Payroll
Square's payroll for businesses already on Square: $35/mo plus $6 per person paid, or $6 per contractor with no base fee
embedded
$35/mo + $6/person paid (full-service payroll with tax filings)
- Best team size
- 1-15 employees
- Free trial
- No
- Affiliate link
- No
- Verified
- 2026-09-30
Best for: Trade businesses already taking payments on Square, and 1099-only crews that want low-cost contractor payments without a base fee
Rippling
HR, IT and finance platform with payroll, sold by custom quote
all in one hr
Custom quote only
- Best team size
- 25+ employees
- Free trial
- No
- Affiliate link
- No
- Verified
- 2026-09-30
Best for: Growing trades companies with office staff, several locations or real HR and IT needs that want payroll, HR, devices and spend tools on one platform
Homebase
Scheduling, GPS time clock and team messaging for hourly crews, with a payroll add-on that runs from timesheets
all in one hr
Payroll add-on $49/month + $6 per employee paid
- Best team size
- 2-100 employees
- Free trial
- 14 days
- Affiliate link
- No
- Verified
- 2026-09-30
Best for: Trades businesses with hourly crews that need scheduling and accurate time tracking, and want payroll run from the same timesheets
Paycor (a Paychex company)
HR and payroll platform, now owned by Paychex, with published plans for businesses under 50 employees
all in one hr
From $99/month + $5 per employee
- Best team size
- 20-500 employees
- Free trial
- No
- Affiliate link
- No
- Verified
- 2026-09-30
Best for: Established, growing trades businesses that want payroll, HR, onboarding and reporting in one platform and are ready to pay for more than basic payroll
Paylocity
HR and payroll software for growing companies, with time, benefits, talent and finance tools in one platform
all in one hr
Quote-based
- Best team size
- 20-500 employees
- Free trial
- No
- Affiliate link
- No
- Verified
- 2026-09-30
Best for: Growing trades businesses with office staff, several departments and benefits to manage that want payroll, HR and time tracking in one platform
eBacon
Cloud payroll, certified-payroll and fringe-compliance software for construction contractors on prevailing-wage work
specialty
Quote-based
- Best team size
- Not published
- Free trial
- No
- Affiliate link
- No
- Verified
- 2026-09-30
Best for: Construction contractors and subcontractors on Davis-Bacon or state prevailing-wage jobs who need certified payroll, fringe handling and payroll tax filing in one system
Payroll4Construction
Full-service construction payroll from Foundation Software, covering certified, union, prevailing-wage and multi-state pay
specialty
Custom quote
- Best team size
- Small to mid-sized contractors
- Free trial
- No
- Affiliate link
- No
- Verified
- 2026-10-10
Best for: Construction contractors with certified, union, prevailing-wage or multi-state payroll who want the processing done for them, especially those using FOUNDATION accounting
Arcoro
Construction time tracking, HR and payroll platform: hiring, onboarding, certifications, certified payroll and GPS time clocks
all in one hr
Custom proposal
- Best team size
- Not published
- Free trial
- No
- Affiliate link
- No
- Verified
- 2026-10-10
Best for: Growing construction contractors that want hiring, safety training, certification tracking, GPS time tracking and payroll in one construction-focused system
Miter
Construction payroll, HR, expense and field-operations software with certified, union and prevailing-wage payroll
specialty
Custom quote
- Best team size
- Not published
- Free trial
- No
- Affiliate link
- No
- Verified
- 2026-10-10
Best for: Contractors with certified, union or prevailing-wage payroll who want payroll, HR, expenses and field time tracking in one system connected to their accounting software
Wagepoint
Simple online payroll for Canadian small businesses, with CRA remittances, T4s and ROEs handled
modern saas
Solo $20/mo + $4 per person, Unlimited $40/mo + $6 per person (Canada only)
- Best team size
- Small businesses
- Free trial
- 14 days
- Affiliate link
- No
- Verified
- 2026-09-30
Best for: Small Canadian trades businesses that want simple payroll with CRA remittances, T4s and ROEs handled and published pricing
Legacy payroll (ADP Run, priced by quote, and Paychex Flex), PEOs that co-employ your staff to bundle payroll, benefits and workers' comp (Justworks, TriNet), and services with a reputation warning (Wave Payroll, Paycom). Read the warning on each flagged card before you sign up.
ADP Run
ADP's small-business payroll for 1-49 employees, priced by quote in four packages
legacy payroll
Quote only
- Best team size
- 1-49 employees
- Free trial
- No
- Affiliate link
- No
- Verified
- 2026-09-30
Best for: Small trades shops (1-49 employees) that want job costing, add-on time tracking and workers' comp from one large payroll provider, and are willing to get a quote before seeing a price
Paychex Flex
Paychex's payroll and HR platform for small and midsize businesses, with add-on insurance, 401(k) and HR services
legacy payroll
Check Paychex for current prices
- Best team size
- Small and midsize businesses
- Free trial
- No
- Affiliate link
- No
- Verified
- 2026-09-30
Best for: Growing trades shops that want payroll, time tracking, HR help, workers' comp insurance and a 401(k) from one provider, and are comfortable buying through a sales rep
Justworks
PEO and payroll provider for small businesses: co-employment that bundles payroll, benefits, workers' comp and HR
peo
Payroll plan $50/mo base + $8/employee
- Best team size
- Small businesses
- Free trial
- No
- Affiliate link
- No
- Verified
- 2026-09-30
Best for: Small trades businesses with mostly W-2 staff and no HR person that want group health benefits, workers' comp and HR compliance bundled with payroll, and accept co-employment
Wave Payroll
Payroll add-on for Wave's accounting, with tax filing in all 50 states for a flat base fee plus $6 per person paid
embedded
$40/month + $6 per active employee or contractor paid
⚠ Reputation warning
Wave Financial's BBB profile listed 235 complaints closed in the last three years when checked on 30 September 2026.
- Best team size
- 1-15 employees
- Free trial
- 30 days
- Affiliate link
- No
- Verified
- 2026-09-30
Best for: Solo operators and small trades crews that keep their books in Wave and want basic payroll with tax filing in the same account
TriNet
PEO that co-employs your staff to bundle payroll, group benefits, HR compliance and workers' comp administration
peo
Quote-based flat fee per employee per month
- Best team size
- 10-500 employees
- Free trial
- No
- Affiliate link
- No
- Verified
- 2026-09-30
Best for: Established or growing trades businesses that want group benefits, workers' comp administration and HR compliance support through a PEO, and will pay PEO fees for it
Paycom
Publicly traded HCM suite with employee-run payroll (Beti) for organizations of 50 to 10,000+ employees
all in one hr
Custom quote
⚠ Reputation warning
In 2021 the SEC found that Paycom had billed some clients for services they were already paying for, and Paycom settled without admitting or denying the findings.
- Best team size
- 50 to 10,000+ employees
- Free trial
- No
- Affiliate link
- No
- Verified
- 2026-09-30
Best for: Larger trades companies (50+ employees) that want payroll, time, hiring and HR in one system and are comfortable buying through a sales process
Where to start
Start from what you need payroll to do. For W-2 staff and 1099 subcontractors with automatic tax filing and published prices, compare Gusto (from $49/mo plus $6 per person on Simple, which covers one state) with OnPay ($49/mo plus $6 per person on its one plan, with year-end W-2 and 1099 forms included). If you can file payroll taxes yourself, Patriot Basic is $17/mo plus $4 per worker; its Full Service plan with tax filing in one state is $37/mo plus $5 per worker. For workers' comp premiums tied to each payroll run, Hourly.io includes GPS time tracking and job costing on every plan, from $80/mo plus $12 per active user. For certified payroll on prevailing-wage jobs, see Fingercheck, eBacon, Payroll4Construction, Miter and Arcoro.
Missing from this list?
We list 25 payroll services for trades today, and we know that is not all of them. If you build one and it is not here, you can submit it for editorial review. An evaluation can end with or without a listing.
Listings are free. We do not accept payment for inclusion, for placement, for a score, or to remove a documented con. We publish the cons next to the pros, so read an existing review before you decide you want one.