Paychex

Paychex has been in the payroll business since 1971, when Tom Golisano started the company with $3,000. It's now a publicly traded company (NASDAQ: PAYX) with $5.5+ billion in annual revenue and roughly 800,000 payroll clients. The company acquired Paycor in 2025, pushing its workforce to about 19,000 employees.

The product lineup is built around Paychex Flex, which comes in three tiers: Essentials (basic payroll), Select (adds HR and onboarding), and Pro (adds time tracking, performance management, and compliance). Beyond that, Paychex operates one of the larger PEO services in the US, co-employing workers so small businesses can access enterprise-level health insurance and retirement plans. They also offer EOR services in 180+ countries through partnerships with G-P and Borderless AI.

Paychex does a lot of things well at scale. Payroll processing is straightforward, tax filing is automated across federal, state, and local jurisdictions, and the benefits administration handles everything from health insurance to 401(k) plans. The company administers 120,000+ employer retirement plans. Contractor payments with automated 1099-NEC filing are included, and the expense management module has receipt scanning and credit card sync.

The complaints mirror what you hear about ADP. Customer support gets mixed reviews, with users reporting slow response times and difficulty getting issues resolved quickly. The interface feels dated next to Gusto or Rippling. Pricing isn't transparent at all. You won't find numbers on their website, and costs can fluctuate with add-ons and unexpected fees. The integration ecosystem is also smaller than competitors, with roughly 15 featured integrations compared to Gusto's 150 or Rippling's 600+.

• Small to mid-size businesses (10-500 employees) that want a proven payroll and HR platform with PEO options. Especially strong for companies needing retirement plan administration, workers comp management, and multi-state tax compliance.

• Startups wanting a modern, transparent-pricing experience. Tech-forward teams that prioritize a sleek UI and deep integrations. Companies that need extensive third-party app connectivity. Businesses that want to self-serve without talking to sales.

• Simple, quick payroll processing with automated tax calculations and direct deposit.
• All-in-one platform consolidating HR, payroll, benefits, and time tracking.
• Strong reporting and analytics with labor insights and compliance reporting.

• Customer support is slow with long response times and issues that take too long to resolve.
• Dated, clunky user interface that requires too many clicks to navigate between modules.
• Opaque pricing with surprise add-on fees, setup fees, and unpredictable cost fluctuations.

Flex Essentials: ~$39/mo base + ~$5/employee. Flex Select: ~$47/mo + ~$3/employee. Flex Pro: ~$95/mo + ~$3/employee. PEO pricing is fully custom. All pricing requires a sales call. Setup fees may apply. Third-party estimates only.