Payroll · Recommended
Patriot Payroll Review
Ultra-affordable payroll for 1-3 employee shops — cheapest tax-filing payroll in the market
Quick verdict
Patriot Payroll is best for Very-small trades shops (1-5 employees) who want tax-filing payroll automation at the lowest possible price and don't need extensive FSM integration or benefits administration. Pricing: $17/mo Basic Payroll (no tax filing) + $4/employee, or $37/mo Full Service with tax filing + $4/employee. Dated UX, minimal FSM integration, basic reporting, limited benefits — but the price + clean tax-filing track record + strong support is structurally right for very-small shops.
About Patriot Payroll
Patriot Payroll is the ultra-affordable payroll platform that serves the very-small-shop segment (1-5 employees) where Gusto's $40 base feels expensive relative to revenue. At $17/mo Basic (you handle tax filing) or $37/mo Full Service (Patriot files taxes), Patriot is the cheapest tax-filing payroll service in the US market. For solo operators with one assistant or a 3-person crew where every dollar of overhead counts, Patriot's pricing is structurally aligned with the business reality.
The trade-offs are real and worth flagging clearly. Patriot's product is functional but the UX is less polished than Gusto or OnPay — the interface feels like 2015-era software, the mobile experience is weaker, and the integration breadth is narrow. Patriot integrates with QuickBooks Desktop better than most competitors (legacy ProAdvisor partnership) and adequately with QuickBooks Online and Xero, but native FSM-platform integrations are essentially absent. Reports are basic; payroll reminders are functional but not contextually smart.
What Patriot does have: a strong tax-filing track record over 20+ years, US-based customer support that responds quickly, an honest customer-service culture (forum sentiment consistently positive on support quality), and a price point that lets very-small shops afford payroll automation without overspending on features they don't need.
The affiliate program is direct with smaller per-signup payouts than Gusto. Editorial recommendation is structurally strong for the price-conscious very-small-shop segment — Patriot is the right choice for the 1-3-employee operations that Gusto's pricing structure squeezes.
How it works
Sign up on Patriot's website (30-day free trial, no credit card required). Enter business and employee info. Choose Basic (you file taxes) or Full Service (Patriot files). Run payroll: enter hours, approve, employees get paid via direct deposit. Tax filings happen automatically on Full Service tier. Year-end W-2 and 1099 generation included.
Pros & cons
What works
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Cheapest tax-filing payroll in the US market
$37/mo Full Service + $4/employee is structurally the lowest-cost tax-filing payroll available. For a 2-employee shop, total monthly cost is $45 vs Gusto's $52 or OnPay's $52. The price advantage compounds over 12 months.
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30-day free trial without credit card
Genuinely free trial — no credit card required, no automatic conversion. For very-small shops evaluating payroll automation for the first time, the no-risk trial structure is structurally helpful.
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20-year operational history with clean tax-filing track record
Founded 2002. Patriot has been processing payroll for two decades with no major tax-filing-failure incidents. The compliance infrastructure is mature.
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US-based support with strong reputation
Customer support is US-based and consistently described in forum sentiment as responsive and knowledgeable. The smaller customer base means support relationships feel personal in a way that Gusto/ADP can't match.
What doesn't
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Less polished UX than modern competitors
The interface feels dated relative to Gusto. Mobile experience is weaker. For contractors who care about the look-and-feel of software, Patriot won't impress.
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Minimal FSM integration depth
QuickBooks Desktop integration is strong (legacy ProAdvisor partnership), QuickBooks Online and Xero are adequate, but native FSM-platform integrations (Jobber, Housecall Pro, ServiceTitan) are essentially absent. For FSM-integration-dependent contractors, this is disqualifying.
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Basic reporting and analytics
Payroll reports cover the essentials but the analytics layer is minimal. For shops that want deeper labor-cost analysis, multi-job allocation, or job-costing integration, Patriot's reports are limiting.
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Limited benefits administration
Health insurance and 401(k) bolt-ons are minimal. For shops adding employee benefits, Patriot won't be the integration hub the way Gusto Plus is.
Pricing
$17/mo Basic Payroll (no tax filing) + $4/employee, or $37/mo Full Service with tax filing + $4/employee
Starting base: $17/mo + $4/employee
Affiliate disclosure: Direct affiliate program with smaller per-signup payouts than Gusto.
Integrations
Frequently asked
Is Patriot really that much cheaper than Gusto?
Yes for very-small shops. At 2 employees: Patriot Full Service = $45/mo, Gusto Simple = $52/mo. At 5 employees: Patriot = $57/mo, Gusto = $70/mo. The savings are real but the trade-off in UX, integration depth, and benefits tooling is also real.
Should I pick Basic or Full Service?
Full Service for almost every contractor — the $20/mo difference covers tax-filing automation which is worth far more than $20 in time savings + risk reduction. Basic only makes sense if you have specific reasons to file taxes yourself (CPA already does it as part of their package, multi-state complexity that Patriot can't handle, etc.).
Other payroll services
Gusto
Tier SThe modern SMB payroll favorite — best affiliate economics in the entire WrenchStack universe ($300-$1,000+ per signup via PartnerStack)
OnPay
Tier SLean SMB payroll with flat pricing — favorite of small trades shops who don't need Gusto's bolt-ons
Hourly.io
Tier SPayroll + pay-as-you-go workers comp combined — the only payroll service with WC built in, structurally relevant for trades
QuickBooks Payroll
Tier APayroll embedded in QuickBooks Online — convenient for QBO users, mediocre as standalone product
Square Payroll
Tier APayroll embedded in Square ecosystem — convenient for Square-POS users, narrow fit outside that context
Rippling
Tier AAll-in-one HR + IT + payroll platform — comprehensive but overkill for most trades shops