SurePayroll Review 2023

Read our SurePayroll review to find out why its effortless payroll is the perfect solution for businesses on a budget.
Most affordable payroll for small businesses
SurePayroll
SurePayroll
Starts at
$19.99/mo. + $4.00/payee
  • pro
    Two months free
  • pro
    Extended customer service hours
  • pro
    Self-service and full-service plan options
  • pro
    Workers compensation and healthcare benefits add-ons
Plan name
Starting monthly price
Get started
Self-Service$19.99 + $4.00/payee
Full-Service$29.99 + $5.00/payee

Data as of 12/23/22. Offers and availability may vary by location and are subject to change.

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The bottom line: SurePayroll is the best payroll software for businesses that want affordable payroll without sacrificing features or user-friendliness.

SurePayroll has standard payroll features like direct deposit, automatic payroll processing, and payroll tax calculation—but at $19.99, SurePayroll's pricing is ideal for businesses on a budget. It isn't necessarily right for everyone—if you care less about cost and more about comprehensive HR support, for instance, you might be better off with Paychex (SurePayroll's parent company), ADP, or another one of the best payroll software providers.

But for streamlined payroll with plenty of customer support, thorough benefits, and automated payroll runs. Keep reading: our SurePayroll review can help you decide if SurePayroll is the right payroll solution for you.

Pros
pro Two-month free trial
pro Affordable self-service and full-service plans
pro Automatic payroll runs and new hire reporting
pro Multi-state tax filing (addt'l fee)
pro Live customer service via chat, phone, and email
Cons
con Extra fees for time tracking and accounting software integration
con Only one employee pay option (direct deposit)

Our most affordable payroll solution: SurePayroll

SurePayroll is an affordable and straightforward payroll software that offers automatic payroll runs, tax filing, and exceptional customer service.


bullet
SurePayroll's savings and discounts

Most payroll companies offer (at best) a 30-day free trial. SurePayroll stands out from the crowd by offering two months free to all new customers.

SurePayroll pricing and plans

Plan name
Starting monthly base price
Starting monthly price per payee
Automatic payroll tax filing
Free trial
Get started
$19.99 $4.00
bulletNo
2 mos.
$29.99 $5.00
bulletYes
2 mos.

Data as of 12/23/22. Offers and availability may vary by location and are subject to change.

SurePayroll's key features

Comprehensive payroll

SurePayroll's plans have all the features you'd expect from any stellar online payroll program: 

  • Automatic paycheck and payroll tax calculation
  • Automatic two-day direct deposit
  • Online employee portal with paystub access
  • New-hire reporting

SurePayroll also charges you per month, not per payroll run. With unlimited payroll runs, you can run payroll as often as you need to without worrying about extra fees. (This includes off-cycle payroll runs for employee bonuses.) 

If you choose SurePayroll's full-service plan, you get the above features and a little extra: 

  • Automatic state, federal, and local tax filing
  • End-of-year tax form filing

Both plans include access to live customer support and basic HR tools, such as how-to HR guides and labor law posters.

Frankly, that's a staggering amount of features for SurePayroll's pricing.

Supremely affordable plans

At just under $20 a month, SurePayroll's self-service plan is stunningly cheap. And at slightly below $30 a month, SurePayroll's full-service plan is at the lower end of the pricing spectrum as well.

By comparison, Gusto, our favorite payroll provider, has a base fee of $40 a month with $6 per payee fee. QuickBooks Payroll's monthly starting base price is $45 a month, while ADP's is a whopping $79. 

SurePayroll also outperforms its fellow self-service payroll providers, most notably Patriot Payroll. At $17, Patriot still has a lower starting base price per month than SurePayroll, and the two payroll companies have the same $4 per-payee price. However, SurePayroll gives you workers comp, 401(k), and healthcare benefits options—Patriot only offers workers comp integration. 

And SurePayroll's other HR offerings outperform Patriot's as well. Both the self-service and full-service SurePayroll plans come with built-in support from an HR expert. With Patriot, you have to pay an additional per-payee fee for HR integration.

Honestly, the meager services you get with Patriot HR aren't worth the extra cost.

Extended customer service hours and live support

One of SurePayroll’s biggest perks is its US-based customer service, which runs six days a week with extended evening hours. You can reach SurePayroll customer service Monday through Friday, from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. central time, or Saturdays, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. central time.

SurePayroll also has an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau (BBB) and fewer than 150 BBB-registered customer complaints—which is pretty good for a business as big as SurePayroll.1

Customer service is an area where a lot of payroll companies struggle—perhaps most famously QuickBooks and ADP. So if fast, helpful, US-based customer service is important to you, you might want to give SurePayroll’s small-business payroll team some extra consideration.

HR features and benefits add-ons

SurePayroll doesn't offer as many employee benefits as Gusto or OnPay. And while its full-service plan includes help from an HR expert, SurePayroll doesn't have the in-depth HR resource libraries of ADP or Paychex.

But the smallest of small businesses—SurePayroll’s target audience—don’t usually need the sheer amount of perks other providers offer. Instead, they need the straightforward basics at an affordable price, which is exactly what SurePayroll offers:

  • Workers compensation coverage
  • 401(k) retirement plans
  • Health insurance coverage

Employers can also take advantage of HR-adjacent features like pre-employment screening and automatic new hire reporting.

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How does SurePayroll compare?

Apart from Patriot Payroll, SurePayroll's self-service plan is the cheapest payroll option of almost any provider. (You can find some free payroll options, but they don't have as many features as paid providers like SurePayroll.)

In our SurePayroll review, we also found it offers the best value for its price. With more HR features than Patriot, the extra $2 you'll pay a month if you choose SurePayroll over Patriot are absolutely worth it.

However, if you're looking for more scalable plans with wider HR support, a payroll competitor like Gusto, ADP, or Paychex might be a better fit for you than SurePayroll. Unlike those three providers, SurePayroll has just one full-service plan. It doesn't offer plans with additional payroll processing features that support your business as it grows.

And while SurePayroll's basic HR offerings are just right for the smallest of small businesses, companies with more employees will likely want more expansive HR support and benefit options.

SurePayroll vs. top competitors

Brand name
Starting monthly base price
Starting monthly price per payee
Automatic payroll tax administration
Health benefits administration
Get started
$19.99$4.00
bulletYes (full-service)
bulletYes
$40.00$6.00
bulletYes
bulletYes
$17.00$4.00
bulletYes (full-service)
bulletNo
$20.00$6.00
bulletYes (full-service)
bulletNo
$40.00$6.00
bulletYes
bulletYes

Data as of 12/23/22. Offers and availability may vary by location and are subject to change.

SurePayroll's key drawbacks

Additional integration fees

SurePayroll integrates with all the most popular accounting software options, including QuickBooks Online. Unfortunately, that integration costs an additional monthly fee, as does integrating SurePayroll with time-tracking software. 

For the record, most payroll programs don't include free accounting software integration—Paychex, for instance, only includes accounting software integration with its most expensive plan. But if free accounting software integration is a must for you, Gusto, OnPay, and QuickBooks Payroll (if you use QuickBooks Online) are better choices.

Customer service complaints

While SurePayroll has a better BBB score and record of complaint resolution than, say, QuickBooks, its customers still have some key complaints.

On the review site TrustRadius, SurePayroll scores 4.3 out of 10 from nearly 40 total reviews.2 On Trustpilot, the company rates a much higher 4.4 out of 5 from almost 300 reviews.3

The most common complaint shared by SurePayroll reviews across both sites? Poor customer service. Multiple users complain of not reaching a customer service rep for days after filing a complaint. Some of these SurePayroll complaints come from customers who have used the service with no problems for years—indicating SurePayroll's customer service has declined recently.

Along with poor customer service, SurePayroll reviews mention difficulty canceling  their accounts (yikes) and issues verifying correct payroll tax filing (double yikes).

We do want to point out that these types of reviews and ratings are unfortunately very common in the payroll industry. Intuit, QuickBooks Payroll's parent company, rates 1.2 out of 5 on Trustpilot.4 We also want to remind you that usually, only users with extremely good or extremely bad experiences leave online reviews. Just because others had a bad experience with SurePayroll customer service doesn't mean you will. 

SurePayroll’s additional features

SurePayroll has an autopilot feature—which is particularly notable since most self-service plans (and even some full-service plans) require you to run payroll by hand. Missing a payroll deadline can have major consequences for your employees, and we like that SurePayroll's auto payroll option helps minimize chances of a scheduling-based payroll error. 

SurePayroll has other unique perks that also help business owners save time and minimize processing problems. Most importantly, it includes state and local tax filing (many payroll providers leave off the local part). 

You can also use SurePayroll's online payroll service to file taxes in multiple states, though you'll pay an additional fee of $9.99. Crucially, that fee isn't per state but is instead a flat rate—most other providers charge you per state. 

SurePayroll's nanny payroll

Along with its small-business payroll software, SurePayroll offers another crucial payroll service: nanny payroll for household employers. 

In fact, SurePayroll is our favorite nanny payroll provider. Its household worker payroll has the same benefits that set its small-business payroll apart, most notably its below-average pricing. At just under $50 a month with no additional tax-filing fees, SurePayroll is easily one of the most affordable nanny payroll services on the market (unless you want a DIY payroll solution like NannyPay).

Looking for more payroll options?

If you're not sold on SurePayroll, don't give up—there's a perfect payroll solution out there for you somewhere! Enter some basic details about your business, and we'll send you up to five free personalized quotes for providers that could meet your needs.

The takeaway

If you have fewer than 100 employees and need simple, streamlined small-business payroll software with a few key benefit add-ons, SurePayroll might just be made for you.

On the other hand, if you want more expansive payroll features (such as wage garnishment) or in-depth benefit options, a more fully featured payroll provider like Gusto or ADP could be better for you.

Not convinced SurePayroll is the right payroll provider for your small business? Our best payroll software article reviews nine additional options that could match your payroll expectations.

SurePayroll FAQ

Yes, SurePayroll is a legitimate payroll company. It offers payroll services for household employers and small businesses. The company was founded in 2000 and has been providing payroll services for more than two decades. Paychex, another one of the best payroll companies for small businesses, acquired SurePayroll in 2011. 

No, SurePayroll is not a PEO.  A professional employer organization (PEO) is a company that shares ownership of your business and takes over most aspects of HR, including payroll. In contrast, SurePayroll is an online payroll software company. Businesses can use SurePayroll's software to process payroll, and SurePayroll promises to correctly calculate and file taxes on your company's behalf—but it isn't a PEO.

While SurePayroll isn't a PEO, its parent company, Paychex, does offer PEO services. (Paychex also offers full-service payroll software and several other products beyond its PEO offerings.) 

Does SurePayroll pay taxes for you?

Yes, if you sign up for SurePayroll's full-service plan, SurePayroll calculates your payroll taxes and files them with the correct federal, state, or local tax agency. If you use the self-service plan, SurePayroll will calculate payroll tax amounts for you, but you'll be responsible for remitting those taxes to the appropriate government agency.

Can accountants use SurePayroll?

SurePayroll was built for small businesses—and those include accounting, bookkeeping, and human resources firms that work on payroll for other companies. Additionally, SurePayroll partners with accountants to resell its software.

If you’re an accountant, bookkeeper, or HR expert who provides outsourced payroll services to small businesses, you can reach out to SurePayroll’s accountants to get details on SurePayroll accountant pricing.

Does SurePayroll have a payroll calculator?

Yes. Even if you don’t have a SurePayroll account, you can use SurePayroll’s calculator to calculate net wages for your hourly employees. (And if you want a second calculator option, we’ve got a paycheck calculator too.)

Does SurePayroll offer nanny payroll?

Yes, SurePayroll offers a nanny payroll plan for household employers. In fact, SurePayroll's household employer payroll is our favorite nanny payroll service. At $49.99 a month (below average for full-service nanny payroll), SurePayroll's software files new-hire paperwork with the state and local governments, automatically calculates and withholds your nanny's payroll taxes, and submits year-end tax forms.

Do I need to wait until the next fiscal year to switch to SurePayroll?

No. You can change payroll service providers any time of the year.

Methodology

To evaluate SurePayroll and assign it a star rating, we looked at several key factors: 

  • Payroll and HR features
  • Number of plans
  • Starting price
  • User-friendliness and accessibility, including mobile app access
  • Customer service hours
  • Customer service reputation

We also considered our accounting and payroll expert's opinion when creating our star rating.

Star ratings are reviewed frequently and subject to change.

Disclaimer

At Business.org, our research is meant to offer general product and service recommendations. We don't guarantee that our suggestions will work best for each individual or business, so consider your unique needs when choosing products and services.

Sources
1. Better Business Bureau, "SurePayroll." Accessed December 23, 2022.
2. TrustRadius, "SurePayroll." Accessed December 23, 2022.
3. Trustpilot, "SurePayroll." Accessed December 23, 2022.
4. Trustpilot, "Intuit." Accessed December 23, 2022.

Kylie McQuarrie
Written by
Kylie McQuarrie
Former Business.org staff writer Kylie McQuarrie has been writing for and about small businesses since 2014. Her work has been featured on SCORE.org, G2, and Fairygodboss, among others. She's worked closely with small-business owners in every industry—from freelance writing to real-estate startups—which has given her a front-row look at small-business owners' struggles, frustrations, and successes.
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