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Square Payroll Review
Square's payroll for businesses already on Square: $35/mo plus $6 per person paid, or $6 per contractor with no base fee
Quick verdict
Who Square Payroll suits: Trade businesses already taking payments on Square, and 1099-only crews that want low-cost contractor payments without a base fee. Pricing: $35/mo + $6/person paid (full-service payroll with tax filings); contractor-only $6/person paid with no base fee but no tax filings or multistate payroll; mailed paper W-2s or 1099s $3 per person per year. Much of its value depends on already using Square, the contractor-only plan leaves out tax filings and multistate payroll, workers' comp is an add-on, and few integrations outside Square are named.
About Square Payroll
Square Payroll is the payroll service of Square, part of Block, Inc. Block says it started the Square ecosystem in February 2009 to let businesses accept card payments. The company uses a distributed work model and says it has no formal headquarters; its SEC filings list an Oakland, California address as its principal executive office. Block's 2025 annual report names Square Payroll and Square Team Management among the operational tools it offers sellers.
Full-service payroll costs $35/mo plus $6 per person paid. Square says it includes automated federal and state tax payments and filings (quarterly and annual), year-end W-2 and 1099-NEC filings, unlimited pay runs, auto payroll, off-cycle payments, multistate payroll, multiple pay rates, and two-day, four-day or next-day direct deposit; Instant Payments can pay the team the same day from Square account funds. Contractor-only payroll is $6 per person paid with no base fee, but it leaves out automated tax payments and filings, auto payroll and multistate payroll. There are no long-term contracts. If you want paper W-2s or 1099s mailed, Square charges $3 per person per year.
The payroll connects to the rest of Square: time tracked with Square POS and Square's team tools feeds payroll, and the full-service plan adds direct-tip tracking and importing, overtime calculations and labor-cost reporting. Square says payroll can sync to QuickBooks Online. Health insurance, 401(k) plans and workers' comp are available, with workers' comp listed as an add-on on both plans.
The trade-off: much of the value comes from already running your business on Square. Square's payroll pages name QuickBooks Online and Square's own tools, not field-service apps such as Jobber or Housecall Pro. The contractor-only plan is inexpensive because it skips tax filings and multistate support.
How it works
Sign up from an existing Square account or a new one and add employees and contractors. Hours tracked through Square POS or Square's team tools flow into payroll, where Square calculates pay and taxes. On full-service payroll, Square pays and files federal and state payroll taxes and files W-2s and 1099-NECs at year end; you choose two-day, four-day or next-day direct deposit, or Instant Payments from Square funds. Contractor-only payroll pays 1099 workers and delivers forms digitally but does not include automated tax payments and filings. Payroll can sync to QuickBooks Online.
Pros & cons
What works
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Works with the rest of Square
Hours tracked with Square POS and Square's team tools feed payroll, and the full-service plan adds direct-tip tracking and importing, overtime calculations and labor-cost reporting.
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Contractor-only payroll with no base fee
1099-only businesses pay $6 per contractor paid with no monthly base fee. Gusto's Contractor Only plan, by comparison, is $35/mo + $6 per contractor.
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Lower base fee for full-service payroll
Full-service payroll with federal and state tax filings and multistate support is $35/mo + $6 per person, a $14/mo lower base fee than Gusto Simple or OnPay ($49/mo + $6/person).
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Several pay-speed options
Full-service payroll offers two-day, four-day and next-day direct deposit, and Instant Payments can pay the team the same day from Square account funds.
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No long-term contract
Square says there are no long-term contracts, and full-service payroll includes unlimited pay runs.
What doesn't
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Much of the value depends on Square
The time-tracking, tip and labor-cost features are built around Square POS and Square's team tools; a shop that doesn't use Square gets less from them.
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Contractor-only skips tax filings
The $6-per-contractor plan does not include automated tax payments and filings, auto payroll or multistate payroll.
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Workers' comp is an add-on
Square lists workers' compensation as an add-on on both plans, priced separately.
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Few integrations outside Square
Square's payroll pages name QuickBooks Online and Square's own tools, not field-service apps such as Jobber or Housecall Pro.
Pricing
$35/mo + $6/person paid (full-service payroll with tax filings); contractor-only $6/person paid with no base fee but no tax filings or multistate payroll; mailed paper W-2s or 1099s $3 per person per year.
Starting base: $35/mo + $6/employee
Affiliate disclosure: The link to Square Payroll on this page goes to its own site and is not an affiliate link.
Integrations
Reviews and complaints at the source
We do not copy third-party review scores onto this page: they change often and we could not verify them. Read Square Payroll's current reviews at the source.
Frequently asked
Should I use Square Payroll if I'm not on Square POS?
It can still run full-service payroll with federal and state tax filings and multistate support at $35/mo + $6 per person paid, a lower base fee than Gusto Simple or OnPay ($49/mo + $6/person). Its time-tracking, tip and labor-cost features are built around Square's own tools, so weigh how much of those you would use.
What about 1099-only payroll?
Square's contractor-only plan is $6 per person paid with no base fee. It pays contractors and delivers forms digitally but leaves out automated tax payments and filings, auto payroll and multistate payroll. Gusto's Contractor Only plan is $35/mo + $6 per contractor.
Other payroll services
Gusto
Tier SOnline payroll with automatic federal, state and local tax filing, contractor payments and published prices for every plan
OnPay
Tier SOne-plan online payroll at $49/mo plus $6 per person, with QuickBooks and Xero sync and optional pay-as-you-go workers' comp
Patriot Payroll
Tier SLow-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
Hourly.io
Tier SPayroll plus pay-as-you-go workers' comp in one app, with GPS time tracking and job costing on every plan
QuickBooks Payroll (plans branded QuickBooks Workforce)
Tier AIntuit's own payroll, now sold as QuickBooks Workforce: runs inside QuickBooks Online, from $50/mo plus $7 per employee payroll-only
Rippling
Tier AHR, IT and finance platform with payroll, sold by custom quote