Author: Larry Li

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Payroll for Specific Jobs: Best Payroll Software By Industry

payroll software by industry concepts on a desk

Different industries have different needs and payroll obligations, so it’s essential to find the best payroll software for your industry. You may need specific payroll software that makes it easy for you to pay contractors or full-time employees, for example.

1. Nanny Payroll

Whenever you hire a nanny, it counts as adding a household employee and puts you on the hook with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). You’ll need to file Schedule H (household employment taxes) payroll taxes. Failure to do so may result in large fines. There are many nanny payroll software solutions that can simplify and automate the majority of the nanny payroll process.

The best software for nanny payroll includes:

Each of these software solutions offer nanny payroll services that help you file taxes correctly and avoid IRS penalties. By using one of the nanny payroll solutions, your only job will be to enter your nanny’s hours or salary, preview the taxes, and approve the payroll. The software will handle everything else.

2. Construction Payroll

Construction projects involve large teams and an extensive hierarchical structure. Dealing with all the different employee hours, salaries, and taxes for a big group isn’t easy or enjoyable. However, construction payroll software can automate most of the process and provide error-free payroll processing.

A construction payroll solution ensures your payroll runs smoothly. Construction projects have special union requirements that present unique payroll challenges. Furthermore, you need to keep track of all of your contractors and make sure their 1099s are filed correctly. 

Construction payroll offers time-tracking features that allow you to create schedules by shift or job. Your workers can easily log their hours online for you to approve in just a couple clicks. Payroll software also automates your worker’s comp coverage payments with automatic, pay-as-you-go premiums. 

General contractors (GC) are also responsible for paying wages all the way down the chain. Even if you fully pay your subcontractors, if the subcontractor doesn’t pay their subcontractors, you are still liable as the GC. A comprehensive construction payroll software confirms everyone down the chain is paid fairly based on the completed work.

In essence, construction payroll keeps your employees and managers happy so that the entire team can focus solely on the construction project at hand.

Here are the best payroll software for construction companies:

3. Restaurant Payroll

Running a restaurant requires you to manage a lot of moving pieces. Payroll can be particularly complicated because workers tend to be paid differently than most full-time employees. You must track hundreds of shift hours, shift changes, tip splits, and overtime payments. On top of that, you have to file taxes for each employee that works in your restaurant. 

Restaurants have an even more significant challenge compared to other industries because of the minimum wage requirement. Unlike standard employees, restaurant employees who collect tips as part of their income may also earn a unique minimum wage from other employees. This also depends on which state your restaurant resides in because different states have different minimum wage requirements.

Fortunately, there’s payroll software that specifically aims to help restaurant owners. The software included below ensures that your employees are always paid accurately and on time.

Here are the five best payroll software by industry for restaurants:

4. Payroll Software for Manufacturing Companies

Manufacturing companies face unique challenges and obstacles. This is because manufacturing companies have a variety of roles with different pay scales. Whether it’s machine operation, assembly work, packaging, shipping, or supervising, businesses in this industry need a payroll solution that can handle all of its complexities. 

Every minute is crucial on the manufacturing line. Shutdowns or delays caused by employee absences, miscommunications, or safety violations results in loss of productivity and revenue. Modern payroll software solutions provide enhanced visibility and reporting capabilities that give payroll managers a clear picture of the process and labor costs. 

Here’s the three best payroll software for manufacturing companies:

Read our Gusto review and Paychex payroll review to know more about their pricing and features.

5. Payroll Software for Retail Stores

Managing payroll obligations for a retail store is a challenge. From managing inventory, hiring new employees, and keeping current employees satisfied, running payroll duties adds even more stress and difficulties.

Luckily, there are payroll software solutions for retail store owners that facilitate and streamline all of your payroll responsibilities. The software options in our list ensure that your employees are paid punctually in the correct amount.

Payroll software helps you track the W-4, I-9, W-2, and other withholding forms for each of your employees. It will also track time and attendance records as well as automatically pay your employees upon approval. Whenever tax laws are updated, the software will ensure your retail store stays compliant to avoid tax penalties.

Here are our top five payroll solutions for retail stores:

Not sure which to go for? Check out the OnPay payroll review or Gusto vs Onpay review.

6. Payroll for IT companies

Your IT company needs payroll software that keeps managers and lower-level employees satisfied and happy. Without a payroll solution, your company is vulnerable to wage and tax filing errors.

IT companies are unique because you may have employees located in different states or even different countries. Due to the nature of IT companies, remote work is gaining momentum in the industry. This brings new payroll and tax challenges that can be difficult to navigate without a modern payroll system.

Choose software solutions that are reliable and easy to configure. They ensure your employees receive accurate, on-time payments via direct deposit or a paycheck. Payroll software also allows your staff to efficiently navigate complex payroll flows while complying with tax laws and financial regulations.

The best payroll software for IT companies include:

7. Payroll for the Education Industry

The education industry faces many complexities that have hindered a smooth rollout of regulations, employee obligations, and transactions. Daycares, early childhood centers, schools, universities, and online education programs all face the pressure of achieving compliance with government regulations, employee certifications, and accurate pay obligations.

There are several payroll software solutions that specifically cater to companies that operate in the education industry. The solutions on our list offer comprehensive HR solutions in addition to their payroll features. This allows you to effectively recruit new educators, train your employees, and simplify the scheduling process. 

For instance, Rochester University and Baptist Bible College use Paycor as their payroll solution. Paycor offers extensive tools for education operators, such as employee self-service, tax compliance, payroll automation, and I-9 and W-4 form filing. Read the Paycor review if you’re interested in knowing more about this software.

The best payroll software for education companies include:

8. Payroll for Healthcare Industry

The healthcare industry is one of the fastest-growing industries worldwide. As such, it’s imperative that your employees can work seamlessly without worrying about being paid fairly and on time.

Every hospital is equipped with a union of workers that include nurses and healthcare professionals. Your payroll solution should be able to handle the salaries of permanent staff members and those with temporary shifts. Payroll software keeps you in line with union regulations so you can create a healthier relationship with the workers and the union.

It’s also vital to implement payroll software to ensure your workers stay with your healthcare company. Hiring competent employees is a challenge in itself, so it’s essential to keep them satisfied. 

Here are the best payroll software for the healthcare industry:

9. Payroll for the Public Sector

Choosing the best payroll software for public sector organizations doesn’t need to be challenging. The right payroll solution allows you to maximize opportunities despite all the public sector’s complexities.

Furthermore, payroll software empowers your organization to deal with the constant pressures and government changes to create operational efficiencies within your payroll processing. These solutions enhance your regulatory compliance and optimize your organization’s public spending. This way, your organization can focus on innovation and improvement without needing to stress about payroll obligations. 

The best payroll software for public sector organizations are:

10. Payroll for Farms and Ranches

If you run an agricultural business like a farm or ranch, you’re aware that you deal with unique tax rules. For example, as a farm or ranch owner, you must file an annual Form 943, which shows how much money you withheld from each employee’s pay for federal income tax. Non-agricultural businesses file a quarterly Form 941. Payroll software will ensure your employees are paid accurately and that your business follows every tax rule and payroll law.

The best payroll software by industry for farms and ranches include:

11. Payroll for Remote Workers

Due to the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020, many companies have shifted to remote work and allowed their employees to work from home. Furthermore, many new startups have operated entirely remotely. For this reason, you need a payroll software dedicated to handling payroll obligations for remote workers.

Additionally, if your small business relies on spreadsheets to track payroll, your business may be  vulnerable to many payroll issues. Using payroll software can help you avoid miscalculations, delayed payments, and data mismanagement. 

Here’s the best payroll for remote workers:

Bottom Line on Payroll Software by Industry

We understand how important it is to find the specific payroll software for your type of company. Different payroll software specializes in different industries, and choosing the right software can significantly enhance and optimize your company. 

To better understand how payroll works, we recommend learning how to do payroll. This way, you’ll have an easier time navigating your payroll software and ensuring everything runs smoothly.

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How to Calculate Payroll Taxes in 5 Steps 

Businessman filling out a payroll tax form

As a business owner, learning how to calculate payroll taxes are one of the most daunting tasks to tackle. Among all the other aspects of your business that you manage, it’s also essential you calculate your taxes correctly. Without accurate tax calculations, you can face legal and financial penalties if the IRS investigates your business. 

Payroll taxes are entirely your responsibility as a business owner so let’s dive into how to calculate them.

How to Calculate Payroll Taxes in 5 Steps 

Payroll taxes are taxes employers pay on behalf of their employees. The exact amount of tax is determined by each employee’s salary, wage, and tips. These taxes are used to finance social security programs, including Medicare and Social Security. 

The most significant portions of the social insurance taxes are the federal payroll taxes, which appear as Medicare (MEDFICA) and Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) tax on the employee’s pay stub. 

As a business owner, you may be surprised to learn that employees effectively pay around half of the whole payroll tax with their wages, with a smaller contribution from you. Payroll taxes are directly deducted from each employee’s earnings and sent to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). 

Before you start calculating payroll taxes, your employees need to complete these documents:

  • Form W-4: Employee’s Withholding Certificate
  • State W-4 (as applicable)
  • Direct Deposit Authorization Form
  • Form I-9: Employment Eligibility Verification
How to calculate payroll taxes in 5 steps

Step 1: Calculate Gross Pay

The first step to calculate payroll taxes is calculating the wages earned by each employee and the amount of taxes that need to be withheld as part of running payroll. You also need to make deductions for items such as retirement benefits, health insurance, and garnishments. Expense reimbursements will have to be added back as well.

Gross pay is calculated differently for hourly salaried employees.

Calculating Gross Pay for Hourly Employees

You calculate gross pay for hourly employees by multiplying the number of hours they worked during the pay period by their hourly rate. For example, if the employee worked 40 hours in the week at $30 an hour, their gross pay is $1,200.

Remember to include overtime pay, which is typically 1.5 times the normal hourly rate if the employee works more than 8 hours a day or 40 hours a week. Here’s a comprehensive process of how to do payroll for contractors and freelancers.

Calculating Gross Pay for Salaried Employees

For salaried employees, simply divide their salary by the number of pay periods in a tax year. For instance, if an employee earns an annual salary of $60,000 and receives a paycheck twice a month, their gross pay for each pay period is $2,500 ($60,000/12 months/2 monthly pay periods)

Make sure to add on commissions, tips, and bonuses the employee earns to calculate the total gross pay.

Step 2: Calculate Employee Tax Withholdings

The next step is to calculate the employee’s tax withholdings. Once you have the employee’s gross pay and the number of allowances from their W-4 form, you can begin to calculate how much you need to withhold to cover their taxes.

For the majority of states, you’ll need to withhold both state and federal taxes as well as FICA taxes from each paycheck.The information on the W-4 states how much income tax needs to be withheld from the employee’s paycheck each pay period. The employee will claim their marital status and the number of allowances they have on the W-4 form. You need this information to calculate their FICA, federal, and state taxes.

Calculate Federal Income Taxes

Assuming the employee completed the W-4 in 2020 or later, you would use the updated tax tables found in Publication 15-T, Federal Income Tax Withholding Methods.

This process involves:

  • Adjusting the employee’s wage amount
  • Determining the tentative withholding amount
  • Accounting for tax credits
  • Tallying the final withholding amount

Calculate FICA

You and the employee both contribute 7.65% to FICA, including 6.2% for Social Security and 1.45% for Medicare. The first $137,700 of an employee’s wages are subject to the Social Security tax. Employees earning more than $200,000 are subject to an additional Medicare tax.

Let’s follow the example from above with a gross pay of $2,500 per pay period:

  • Social Security: $2,500 x 6.2% = $155
  • Medicare: $2,500 x 1.45% = $36.25

The employee’s total FICA withholding is $191.25 (155+36.25).

As the employer, you are responsible for the same amount in FICA taxes.

Calculate State and Local Tax

The next step is to calculate any state taxes the employee is responsible for. Some states, like Texas, have no state income taxes. The other eight states without an income tax are Alaska, Tennessee, Wyoming, New Hampshire, Florida, South Dakota, Nevada, and Washington. So check your state’s income tax guidelines and follow them accordingly.

Let’s follow the example from above and imagine that your business is based in New Mexico.

For New Mexico, the wage withholding table states that you need to deduct $64.67 along with an additional 4.9% of the surplus amount over $2,183.

We calculate this by:

  • $2,500 – $2,183 = $317
  • $317 x 4.9% = $15.53
  • $64.67 + $15.53 = $80.20

You will need to deduct $80.20 from each paycheck to withhold for New Mexico state income tax.

Step 3: Handle Deductions

After you calculate the employee’s tax withholdings, the next step is to take out any applicable deductions. These are voluntary pre- and post-tax deductions such as 401(k) plans, health insurance premiums, or health savings account contributions. 

Certain employees will have involuntary deductions like wage garnishments or child support that need to be considered. You’ll receive an order from the state, the IRS, or a judge which tells you to withhold these items. 

It’s important to be cautious and accurate here because pre-tax deductions like 401(k)s are taken out of gross income in step 1. This means that tax withholding calculations in step 2 will be reduced and pre-tax deductions save the employee more on taxes. Post-tax deductions are calculated after step 2. 

Step 4: Add Expense Reimbursements

If an employee paid for company expenses with their own money, they need to be reimbursed. As an employer, you can either pay reimbursements by combining them with payroll or separately from payroll.

Expense reimbursements are not included in gross wages. This means they are not subject to tax withholding. All expenses you reimburse to employees should be paid in full and added on to net pay at the end of your calculation.

Step 5: Total Everything Up

After you’ve completed all the calculations to determine gross pay, tax withholdings, deductions, and reimbursements, you’ll be ready to calculate the paycheck:

  • Begin with gross pay
  • Subtract employee tax withholdings
  • Subtract deductions
  • Add expense reimbursements
  • Arrive at net pay

Net pay is the amount of money you need to send to the employee come payday. 

Following the example above, let’s walk through the calculation:

Summary of how to calculate payroll tax:

Gross Pay

$2,500

Federal Withholding Tax

Calculated from W-4 and Publication 15-T form

Social Security Tax

-$155

Medicare Tax

-$36.25

New Mexico Income Tax

-$80.20

Net Pay

$2,228.55 – Federal Withholding Tax

The employee’s net pay is $2,228.55 minus their specific federal withholding tax.

Calculating Employer Payroll Taxes

Now that you know how much of the employee’s paycheck to withhold for taxes, it’s time to calculate how much you’re responsible for as the employer.

FICA Matching

You must match the employee’s FICA tax withholding, which means your business will also pay 6.2% for Social Security and 1.45% for Medicare. Using the previous example, you would need to match the employee’s $191.25 FICA obligation.

Unemployment Taxes

As the employer, you also have to pay federal and state unemployment taxes. These taxes are only paid by the employer and not the employee.

Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA)

FUTA is 6% of the first $7,000 in wages you pay to each employee every year. If your company is subject to state unemployed tax, you’re also subject to a federal tax rate credit of up to 5.4%. This makes the effective tax rate 0.6%. When an employee earns more than $7,000 in a calendar year, you stop paying FUTA taxes for that specific employee in that tax year.

Following the example from above, federal unemployment tax: $2,500 x 0.6% = $15

State Unemployment Tax (SUTA)

SUTA varies from state to state. We recommend you consult with your state’s Unemployment Revenue or Department of Labor for tax rates, filing requirements, and wage bases.  

Paying the IRS

Once all the heavy calculations are complete, your next step is to send the tax payments to the proper taxing authority. For federal income tax and FICA, you send this to the IRS. Payments need to be sent to your state’s withholding tax agency for state and local income taxes.

Make sure you send both the taxes you withheld from the employee’s paycheck and the taxes you owe as the employer.

The comprehensive way to calculate payroll taxes include:

  • Federal withholding
  • Social Security (employee portion)
  • Medicare (employee portion)
  • State income tax (if applicable)
  • Social Security (employer portion)
  • Medicare (employer portion)
  • FUTA
  • SUTA

This adds up to the total payroll taxes you must pay.

How to Calculate Payroll Taxes with Gusto

Although it’s manageable to calculate payroll taxes manually, this isn’t recommended. Taxes require accuracy, and a small mistake in your calculations can lead to disaster in the future.

This is especially true if you have a lot of employees. It’s not only time-consuming to manually calculate payroll taxes for each of them, but you are also putting yourself at an increased risk of making a mistake.

We recommend using Gusto, a payroll software that automatically calculates payroll taxes for you. It also automates payroll, includes an employee self-service portal, and offers some human resources (HR) tools. It regularly tops lists of the best payroll software for small businesses.

Gusto has a free employer tax calculator which provides an accurate estimate of how much you’ll have to pay in payroll taxes over a year.

Screenshot of How to calculate payroll taxes in Gusto
(Source: Gusto.com)

To completely calculate your payroll taxes, you’ll need to register for an account and enter each employee’s Form W-4 details.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) for How to Calculate Payroll Taxes

We understand that payroll taxes are confusing, so here are a few common questions and answers to provide more clarity.

Bottom Line on How to Calculate Payroll Taxes

Calculating payroll taxes is entirely manageable as a business owner. As long as you know which numbers to use and what steps to follow, you’ll end up with an accurate number. The overall goal is to start with the employee’s gross pay and end with their net pay. The difference between the two is the employee’s withholdings you need to pay as payroll taxes on behalf of the employee.

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Gusto vs OnPay Payroll: Who Wins?

Gusto vs OnPay Payroll: Who Wins?

When comparing Gusto vs OnPay, you’ll find both full-service payroll processing software feature a variety of valuable HR and customer service tools. Although they offer similar functionalities, there are a few key differences between these payroll solutions. This means that one of these options is a better fit for your company. 

We compare payroll processing, pricing, HR benefits, and much more in this in-depth Gusto vs OnPay Payroll comparison guide. Once you pick the right payroll software, it’ll be easy to process each payroll run while tracking the essential data and assembling the reports needed to run your company.

Gusto logo

Gusto: Best for Overall Value

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Gusto is a robust payroll processing platform that combines HR and benefits administration into a single, convenient package. Over 200,000 businesses and teams use Gusto because of its impressive feature set and functions. Gusto is excellent for growing businesses with over 50 employees because of its automation tools.

In essence, Gusto is a comprehensive payroll service that manages every aspect of your payroll and reporting process. Each pricing tier features automated payroll and direct deposit for unlimited monthly payroll runs. You will also receive tax filings for each level of government for both 1099 contractors and W-2 employees. Read the Gusto review to learn more about this software.

  • Unlimited payroll runs
  • State tax registration in all 50 states
  • Direct deposits
  • Calculating employee deductions is burdensome
  • Business owners can’t run payroll through the mobile application
  • No customer support during the evenings and weekends

Pricing

Gusto offers four different packages to choose from:

  • Core: $39 per month plus an additional $6 per employee
  • Complete: $39 per month plus an additional $12 per employee
  • Concierge: $149 per month plus an additional $12 per employee
  • Contractor: no monthly fee and $6 per person
Onpay logo

OnPay Payroll: Best for Small Businesses

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Similar to Gusto, OnPay is a cloud-based payroll service that offers scalable solutions for small businesses. Some of its core features include automated tax filing and payment workflows as well as unlimited payroll. However, OnPay lacks integration capabilities and an auto-pay option.

OnPay is payroll for small businesses looking for an affordable and simplified approach to payroll management. It’s easy to insert payroll data such as reimbursements, tips, hours, and bonuses with OnPay. Furthermore, you can administer benefits and compensation insurance to employees who work on a pay-as-you-go basis. Read our OnPay review to learn more about its features and pricing.

  • Free W-2 and 1099 processing
  • Unlimited monthly pay runs
  • Quick and efficient employee management protocols
  • Not ideal for businesses with over 25 employees
  • Limited integrations
  • Doesn’t offer fast direct deposit

Pricing

OnPay’s pricing uses a sliding scale based on how many employees you have:

  • $36 per month, plus $4 per person per month

Pricing & Features Comparison 

Simply put, Gusto is designed for businesses with over 50 employees, whereas OnPay is optimal for small businesses with fewer employees. Both payroll solutions feature extensive payroll and HR tools that make your life much easier.

However, it’s essential to look at the features each software offers and how much each one costs. We compare all the key features and factors you should consider when making your decision in the table below.

Key Features

Gusto logo

Gusto

Onpay logo

OnPay Payroll

Price

Starts at $39 per month plus $6 per employee

Starts at $36 per month plus $4 per employee

Tax Filings and Payments

Yes, Gusto automatically calculates your taxes when you run payroll

Yes, OnPay withholds taxes when you run payroll and makes the necessary payments

Managing Employee Benefits

Ability to build customized benefits packages for employees

Ability to offer 401(k) plans, life insurance, health and dental benefits

Ease of Use

Simple and intuitive interface

Organized and convenient design

Live Customer Support

Weekdays from 9am to 8pm EST

Weekdays from 9am to 8pm EST

Integrations

100+

~10

Winner: OnPay Payroll. OnPay is slightly more affordable than Gusto if you’re looking for the cheaper option.

Payroll Processing Breakdown

Payroll processing is the most important feature to compare because you’re looking for the best payroll software for your business. The right payroll solution should let you run unlimited payrolls, customize pay rates and pay schedules and pay employees with direct deposit. Luckily, both software feature these tools. Read more on how to do payroll here.

Gusto

Gusto provides faster direct deposit than OnPay and gives you access to Payroll on Autopilot. With this enabled, payroll will automatically run one day before your company’s payroll deadlines. Furthermore, Gusto will withhold and file local taxes for you. OnPay doesn’t offer this feature.

OnPay Payroll

Like Gusto, OnPay automatically calculates, pays, and files taxes on your company’s behalf. However, OnPay doesn’t offer local tax filing and it doesn’t have a similar feature to Gusto’s Autopilot. With an autopay option, running payroll with OnPay can be tedious and time-consuming.

Winner: Gusto. The clear winner for the most important feature of payroll software is Gusto.

Onboarding and HR Tools

Onboarding tools are vital to your company as your employees will need to learn how to use the software. As such, let’s take a closer look at each of the onboarding and HR tools Gusto and OnPay offer.

Gusto

In terms of Gusto vs Onpay Payroll, Gusto offers a few premium features that OnPay doesn’t. These include anonymous employee surveys, survey trend analysis, and access to professional HR agents. Gusto is easy to learn because of its friendly user interface and your employees shouldn’t have any issues getting used to the software. 

OnPay Payroll

OnPay includes an impressive set of onboarding and HR tools, such as customized HR documents or built-in templates, organizational charts, custom onboarding documents, document e-sign features, and an HR resource library with hundreds of templates and guides. All of these features allow you to onboard employees in a smooth and seamless process.

Winner: Tie. Although Gusto offers more features, these are only in the higher pricing plans whereas OnPay offers all of its HR tools in its single plan. 

Time Management Features

Since both software include HR tools, it’s important to compare how they face up against each other. Time management is a critical task within every company and your employees need a system that simplifies absence requests and approvals.

Gusto

Gusto offers comprehensive HR time management features but only in the Complete or Concierge plan.

OnPay Payroll 

Onpay lets you create custom paid time off (PTO) policies. Furthermore, your employees can request time off using their accounts and the PTO hours are automatically subtracted if the request is approved by a manager. 

Winner: OnPay. All of OnPay’s HR tools are included within its single rate. 

Integrations Breakdown

There are so many crucial tools businesses use to stay afloat nowadays. As such, app and software integrations are essential to have on every piece of software.

Gusto

Gusto offers integrations with over 100 different tools across various categories: tax preparation, hiring, legal and compliance, point-of-sale, performance management, and business operations.

OnPay Payroll

In terms of OnPay Payroll vs Gusto, OnPay only offers 10 integrations, a few which include QuickBooks, Xero, Guideline, and Mineral.

Winner: Gusto. With over 10 times the amount of integrations as OnPay, Gusto is the clear winner for integration support.  

Gusto vs OnPay Payroll Customer Service

Both payroll software solutions offer live phone and chat agents from 9am to 8pm EST from Monday to Friday. Furthermore, both options have email support agents too.

Gusto

Gusto offers unlimited support through phone, live chat, and email. However, it doesn’t provide any support on the weekends. 

OnPay Payroll

OnPay also offers unlimited support through phone, live chat, and email. The difference between OnPay payroll vs Gusto is that OnPay provides emergency email support on the weekends.

Winner: OnPay. Since OnPay provides support on the weekends, the customer service features are more comprehensive than Gusto. 

Gusto vs OnPay Payroll Customer Reviews

Gusto and OnPay are both established and reputable payroll software solutions with great customer reviews. However, Gusto is more popular and has a higher quantity of reviews among all software review platforms.

Gusto Customer Reviews

The majority of Gusto reviews are positive and the customers thoroughly enjoy Gusto’s payroll services, easy-to-use dashboard, and HR features. Many reviewers state that Gusto has the easiest payroll system and a highly affordable price tag. The most common complaint reviewers have about Gusto is its lack of effective customer support. There have been cases where Gusto’s customer support ignores and doesn’t respond to emails.

OnPay Payroll Customer Reviews

OnPay users love how easy it is to run payroll with the software. Users appreciate how once the initial setup is complete, all they need to enter are the weekly hours. Then, the pay is automatically calculated and the direct deposit is automatically sent. There have been mixed reviews about OnPay’s customer support because some customers have had a great experience while others have been ignored.

Winner: Tie. Both Gusto vs OnPay Payroll have excellent reviews and thousands of satisfied customers. 

Alternative Payroll Processing Software Options

If you’re interested in alternative options, here are a few more competitive choices for you to consider.

Paychex logo

Paychex Flex

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Paychex Flex is suited for startup businesses that are in the early stages of growth. We recommend this software for multi-state companies and restaurants. Read the Paychex flex review to learn more.

  • Provides payroll via debit card
  • Offers helpful employee self-service features
  • Features Employee Assistance Programs (EAP) to employees as an included service
  • Doesn’t support companies that use independent contractors
  • Year-end tax forms and time tracking cost extra
  • Software known to be slow at times

Pricing

  • The standard base service costs $39 per month plus $5 per employee. Upgraded service plans must be individually quoted by a salesperson through a phone call.
QuickBooks payroll logo

QuickBooks Payroll

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QuickBooks Payroll is ideal for small businesses that already use QuickBooks accounting software. If your business is already familiar with QuickBooks, using QuickBooks Payroll will be extremely easy. Read our QuickBooks vs Gusto payroll to find out which is the better choice for your business.

  • Excellent user interface
  • Great mobile application
  • Simple to file taxes and other financial details
  • Long wait times to speak with customer service representative
  • Pricing may be out of reach for smaller businesses
  • Users have reported glitches with computer and mobile application

Pricing

  • Core: $22.50 per month plus $4 per employee
  • Premium: $37.50 per month plus $8 per employee
  • Elite: $62.50 per month plus $10 per employee
Square payroll logo

Square Payroll

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Businesses that already use Square’s point-of-sale software should use Square Payroll. This payroll processing solution provides a seamless integration between the two products. Read the Square payroll review to learn more about its services and pricing.

  • Offers an instant and next-day payroll processing option
  • Great ease of use on app
  • Features an inexpensive pricing plan
  • Lack of HR tasks within the app
  • The included standard payroll processing is four days
  • Costs may rise as your business hires more employees

Pricing

  • $35 per month plus $5 per person paid
Patriot Software logo

Patriot Payroll

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Patriot Payroll is another budget-friendly payment processing software solution that’s best suited for smaller businesses. The main difference between Patriot Payroll and Gusto vs OnPay Payroll is that Patriot Payroll doesn’t offer HR tools.

  • Great for small businesses and nonprofits
  • Easy to set up
  • Offers essential payroll features at a low price
  • Isn’t intended for companies with over 100 employees
  • Lacks HR tools and features
  • Doesn’t have a dedicated mobile app

Pricing

  • Basic Payroll: $10 per month plus $4 per employee
  • Full Service Payroll: $30 per month plus $4 per employee

Bottom Line: OnPay Payroll vs Gusto

Overall, OnPay Payroll and Gusto are effective payroll processing solutions that can optimize your business. Gusto is better for mid-sized and large businesses while OnPay is suited for smaller businesses.

As for the winner of this comparison, Gusto takes the crown. Even with Gusto’s basic tier package, you get access to all the essential payroll features. These include direct deposits to your employees, tax filing, and unlimited payroll runs. 

Furthermore, the basic tier package lets you administer your company’s health benefits and manage worker’s compensation. Since Gusto is marginally more expensive than OnPay Payroll but offers more features, we recommend using Gusto as your payroll processing software solution.

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Best 6 Free Project Management Software – 2023

Business team contemplating on what free project management software to use

If you’re running a small business and need help managing your team and projects, free project management software can help you dramatically. Manually managing your projects is both headache-inducing and highly inefficient. Luckily, there are plenty of options for free project management apps.

Best Free Project Management Software

  • monday.com – Best Overall for Building Custom Workflows Across Teams
  • ClickUp – Best for Fully Customizable Dashboards & Task Management 
  • Hive – Best for Collaboration & Messaging
  • GanttPro – Best for Gantt Chart Creation & Project Planning
  • Easy Project – Best for Visual Project Management for Large Teams
  • Microsoft Project – Best for Microsoft Based Businesses

Software

Price

Free Trial Available

Storage Included at Price Listed

Members Included at Price Listed

Time Tracking Included at Price Listed

Support Included at Price Listed

Monday logo

monday.com

From $0 monthly per user

Yes

500 MB

Up to 2

No

24/7 customer support

Clickup logo

ClickUp

From $0 monthly per user

Yes

100 MB

Unlimited

Yes

24/7 customer support

Hive logo

Hive

From $0 monthly per user

Yes

Unlimited

Up to 2

No

Self-serve knowledge base

GanttPRO logo

GanttPro

From $8.90 monthly per user

Yes

5 GB

1

Yes

Personal account manager

Easy Project logo

Easy Project

From $24 monthly per user

Yes

100 GB

1

Yes

Email & live chat support

Microsoft Project logo

Microsoft Project

From $10 monthly per user

Yes

Unlimited

1

No

24/7 customer support

Monday logo

monday.com: Best Overall Free Project Management Software

Pricing: Free (2 seats) to $27 per seat

4.95

★★★★★

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monday.com offers the most features out of every free project management software. Along with project management tools, you’ll also find HR tools with the ability to clearly organize and see others’ availability.

With more than 125,000 companies on its roster, monday.com is one of the more popular projects management tools today. Used by big names like Zippo, Unilevel, Hulu, and Uber, monday.com offers intuitive dashboards with hundreds of customizable templates to depict project status, estimates, priority, and resources by start and end dates. You can view data in the calendar, timeline, Kanbatt, Gantt, and map formats.

Why we chose it: We chose monday.com as the best overall free project management software because of the number of features included in the free plan. With the free plan, you get unlimited boards, unlimited docs, 200+ templates, and customizable notifications. monday.com is great for any size business.

  • Tracks assignments for multiple people per project
  • Sends updates and reminders via email or Slack, depending on your preferences 
  • Offers multiple views for boards so you can manage up to C-suite level
  • Limited reporting functionality
  • Lack of a built-in chat function (can integrate with Slack)
  • Higher learning curve as you dive into more features

Pricing: As for cost, monday.com offers five pricing plans – Individual, Basic, Standard (most popular), Pro, and Enterprise. Individual plans (free) allow up to two team members. The Basic plan ($8 per user per month) includes Individual features plus unlimited free viewers, unlimited items, and a dashboard with one board.

Standard ($12 per seat per month) and Pro ($27 per seat per month) plans add additional views (e.g. Timeline & Gantt) along with up to five boards and up to 250 automation and 250 integrations per month.

Lastly, the Enterprise plan features all of monday.com’s bells and whistles, including enterprise-grade security, advanced reporting, multi-level permissions, and premium support with the fastest turnaround times.

Clickup logo

ClickUp: Best for Fully Customizable Dashboards & Task Management 

Pricing: Free “Free Forever” plan that lasts forever and allows unlimited members

4.91

★★★★★

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Most project management software demand premium prices for what ClickUp offers for free. With ClickUp, you can enjoy 11 different task views and 20 different dashboard widgets.

Over the past several years, ClickUp has made serious waves with its project workflow tools. Calling itself “one app to replace them all,” ClickUp works with the concept of “Spaces,” which are fully customizable dashboards based on a team’s needs. It also integrates non-project management-related items into the dashboard, such as emails (sending and receiving directly within the app) and document creation with a full-on document editor available within, easily replacing similar apps like Confluence, Evernote, and Google Docs.

Why we chose it: In short, ClickUp touts itself as a one-stop-shop where using separate apps like Google Docs, Smartsheet, Jira, and countless others is no longer necessary. Teams that rely tremendously on four or five third-party apps may decide to choose ClickUp over other free project management software options for this purpose. ClickUp is fully customizable for every type and size of team.

  • Ability to create different views to track tasks/projects due in a specific time period
  • Email integration for notifications and chat integration with Slack
  • Ability to create multiple spaces or folders for simple organization
  • Lack of dashboard customizability options
  • Time tracking feature needs improvement
  • The Free Plan features a limited amount of storage and goal-setting options

Pricing: With pricing, ClickUp is one of the more affordable options we’ve covered. There is a free version and an Unlimited version, costing $9 per user per month (paid monthly) and $5 per user per month (paid annually). The free version is good for 100MB of storage, unlimited tasks, unlimited members, and two-factor authentication. The paid version offers unlimited dashboards, storage, integrations, and dashboards along with the ability to invite guests.

There are also two higher-tier plans named Business and Business Plus. Business costs $12 per member per month (paid annually) and $19 per member per month (paid monthly. Business Plus costs $19 per member per month (paid annually) and $29 per member per month (paid monthly. The Business plan is for mid-sized teams whereas the Business Plus plan is best for multiple teams.

One of the most impressive features of ClickUp is its sheer number of available views. It offers more than 15 views in total, with list, board, box, and calendar views being the most popular.

Hive logo

Hive: Best for Collaboration & Messaging

Pricing:  Free “Hive Solo” plan that lasts forever and allows up to 2 seats

4.85

★★★★★

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Hive is the best project management software for collaboration and messaging because of its native email and group messaging features. Effective file sharing and resourcing capabilities enhance the collaborative nature of software even more.

Like monday.com, Hive offers a centralized workflow management system with powerful project and action templates for all kinds of tasks. It offers project calendar, Gantt, Kanban, Portfolio, calendar, and summary views, each customized to a work style preference (e.g. heavy drag-and-drop with powerful visuals over simpler linear formats).

Why we chose it: Hive is a beginner-friendly project management software that offers a robust amount of features in its free plan. These include unlimited storage, task management, project summary views, Hive calendar, and reporting. However, the easy-to-use communication and collaboration tools makes Hive stand out among all the free project management services. 

  • Integration with 1000+ apps
  • Especially user friendly and built for beginners
  • Ability to turn any action into a task
  • Needs improved reporting functions
  • Inability to create dependent tasks within project actions that recur
  • Difficult to track edits and modifications made by users

Pricing: Hive has three pricing plans – Solo, Team, and Enterprise. Solo is free and is for individuals and small teams of up to two users, with unlimited storage, community support, and a robust list of project management and collaboration features. Teams ($12 per month per user) allows for unlimited users, phone support, and flexible a-la-carte options for an additional fee per user per month, such as reporting and analytics, approvals reporting, single-sign on (SSO), enterprise security, and controls.

The Enterprise version offers all of the benefits of Solo and Teams, plus a dedicated customer success manager, ongoing coaching/adoption training, and specialized offerings such as security contract & legal review.

GanttPRO logo

GanttPro: Best for Gantt Chart Creation & Project Planning

Pricing: No free plan but offers a free trial

4.81

★★★★★

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GanttPro gives teams the flexibility to organize complex tasks in a convenient and intuitive way that’s easy to understand. True to its name, GantPro’s main function is to provide effective project planning through Gantt charts.

Dubbed the “Online Chart Maker”, GanttPro is based on Gantt charting. Used by more than 700,000 project managers around the world across well-known brands like Booking.com, Sony, Intel, and Amway, it relies on the highly popular Gantt system, which uses stacked bar charts to show resources, schedule status, and task/subtask activity dependencies.

Why we chose it: GanttPro is an excellent project management app for small teams that need to visually enhance their project planning process through Gantt Charts. Although many project management apps include Gantt charts, GanttPro takes them to the next level with a heap of customizability options and features.

  • Convenient and intuitive user interface
  • Easy to track the progress of the team, the workload of each member and the total budget spent
  • Ability to share and export data
  • Mobile version needs improvement
  • Exceedingly large projects with lots of tasks can get difficult to show on the screen
  • Kanban view has limited column options

Pricing: As for pricing, GanttPro offers three packages—Individual, Team, and Enterprise. Individual costs $15 per user per month. Chosen by roughly 74% of businesses, the Team feature offers unlimited functionality for $8.90 per user per month, whereas the Enterprise version offers advanced management and security features such as AML Single sign-on & 2FA, increased API limits, and priority level support.

Both the Individual and Teams plans have the option for a free trial.

Easy Project logo

Easy Project: Best for Visual Project Management for Large Teams

Pricing: No free plan but offers a 14-day free trial

4.76

★★★★★

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Easy Project is the best free project management software for large teams because of its in-depth resource planning and reporting features. This allows managers to monitor employee and team workloads efficiently. Counting IBM, HP, and CenturyLink amongst its users, Easy Projects is one of the more popular project management tools today.

Like most elite project management software, Easy Projects offers all types of views, such as Table, Gantt, Kanban, and calendar views. Each offers its own benefits, in terms of visual layout with different ways of viewing task hierarchy, critical paths, and start/end dates. Its Kanban board is arguably the most intuitive, using quick drag and drop motions to move tasks from one phase to the next (updating team members in the process)

Another area Easy Projects is strong in is Integrations. It allows data, information, and files from 2000+ third-party apps such as Outlook, Slack, and Jira to become centralized in one place.

Why we chose it: One of our favorite features with Easy Projects is its robust machine learning suite. It uses a proprietary algorithm that processes all historical data to determine how likely a project is to come to completion, highlighting all pre-emptive corrective actions earlier in the process to make task, resource, and dependency changes. This software is ideal for companies with 100+ employees because of how easy it is to keep track of and organize different projects and portfolios.

  • Auto notifications to keep projects on track
  • Helpful and friendly customer support 
  • Effective charting and reporting features
  • The user experience isn’t as strong as other free project management software
  • Lack of documentation for different features
  • Not very effective for small tasks

Pricing: Unlike Monday, Hive, and GanttPro, Easy Project’s pricing structure is a lot simpler, only offering the choice of Team and Enterprise options. The Team pricing tier ($24 per user per month) comes with most of its project management tools, including Kanban boards, milestone setting, time tracking, and portfolio management

The Enterprise pricing tier offers add-on project management features, such as resource loading simulations, payroll reports, and enhanced integrations and API functionality (e.g. 200+ integrations via Workato), and webhook compatibility. It also offers additional security and business intelligence services for larger businesses. No pricing is offered for Enterprise plans; a custom quote can be requested using its contact form based on your organization’s needs.

Microsoft Project logo

Microsoft Project: Best for Microsoft-Based Businesses

Pricing: No free plan but offers a free trial

4.74

★★★★★

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Microsoft Project is one of the most widely used project management software in the world. It is an excellent choice for businesses already integrating other Microsoft products into their workflow, such as Microsoft 365. Our favorite Microsoft Project features include its centralized home screen, support for multiple project management methodologies (Scrum, Kanban, and customized), and multiple views such as Kanban boards, and Gantt charts.

Why we chose it: Microsoft Project is one of the most powerful project management tools out today. In the right hands, this software is an excellent way to manage various company projects. However, the steep learning curve means that it isn’t for beginners. 

  • Offers customizable features and well-documented APIs 
  • Ability to select specific tasks or summary tasks for the timeline to see an overview of the project
  • Great integration with Microsoft Office products and tools
  • Advanced features require training
  • Could improve its network diagram features
  • Overall user interface needs improvement

Pricing: In terms of pricing, it offers an on-premise (software) or cloud-based solution, where projects can be managed using a web browser like monday.com and Hive. All plans include a Project Home centralized view per user, an ordered list of tasks in three views (Grid, Board, Gantt), and several collaboration tools for a flat fee per user per month with additional portfolio optimization, demand management, and enterprise resource planning tools.

There are tiered packages, starting with Project Plan one ($10 per user per month) up to Project Plan 5 at $55 per user per month.

Methodology for the Best 6 Free Project Management Software

We looked at 6 main criteria as we created this list for the best free project management app. In essence, we prioritized software that had user-friendly interfaces with additional features that improve productivity, communication, and organization. Let’s take a closer look at each essential rating criteria.

Scheduling and planning projects 

The primary function of any free project management software is to plan and schedule projects. Each software on our list is equipped with comprehensive team and individual dashboards. Dashboards will state all assigned tasks, as well as start and end dates. For example, monday.com features more than eight view options and ClickUp offers more than 15. The scheduling and planning function of each software heavily impacted its rating and overall usability. 

At a minimum, your free project management software should incorporate a minimum of three views (Kanban, Gantt, calendar). Kanban is a highly visual, drag-and-drop interface board that separates tasks into different categories, labeling them as “To Do,” “In Progress,” and “Complete” to oversee a continuous workflow. Gantt Charts are much more conventional, using a horizontal axis to depict the project timeline and a vertical axis to depict where individual tasks should occur. Each view offers outstanding benefits as it pertains to project management.

Integrations 

Integrations allow third-party apps to work within the project management software’s ecosystem. For instance, monday.com allows 1000+ app integrations, including examples such as Dropbox, Slack, and Outlook. App integrations provide even more convenience to your team in terms of managing emails, files, and important information. The best free project management software should act as the only place you and your employees need to visit on a daily basis because of the integration capabilities. 

User Interface (UI) 

User interface is the design, functionality, and intuitive nature of a free project management app. Effectively designed user interfaces require minimum effort on the user’s end to receive the maximum desired outcome. The best free project management app has easy-to-understand dashboards, a high-level view of project statuses, assigned team members, start, and end dates. This extends itself to a healthy mix of view and chart types (e.g. calendar, box, Gantt, Kanban). Interfaces should also be uncluttered and visually pleasing on each page.

Monitoring

Successful project management does not rely on a “set it and forget it” approach. In reality, effectively run projects require constant monitoring. Although monitoring is frequently overlooked, it’s an essential part of a project’s lifespan. The best project management software should allow you to create systems for monitoring and evaluating projects, including the ability to organize all data in a centralized view, keep track of different project phases (e.g. Initiation, Planning/Execution), assign responsibilities, and record project bottlenecks. 

Another related aspect to monitoring is the ability to pull reports to measure performance against key performance indicators such as time spent, money spent, or resources dedicated. It’s the best way to understand why project deadlines might not be met.

Reporting

All excellent project management software features real-time reporting capabilities, allowing quick exports of every success metric imaginable from time spent expenses, project budgets, overrun forecasts, and deadline completion percentages by team members. Many of the best project management apps already have pre-defined reports to choose from with lots of customization options.

Cost

Each software on this list has a free plan that offers limited functionality or a free trial. However, most economic options range from $5 to $9 per user per month with the potential for additional a-la-carte style add-ons such as enhanced security/encryption, reports, and the ability to create and access an unlimited number of dashboards. Paid plans usually fall under Standard, Pro, Enterprise, or a combination of these payment types and allow for many more users. Some offer a 14-day free trial, with the ability to extend in some cases with a quick note to the customer support team.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) for Free Project Management Software

Here are a few common questions we frequently receive about project management software.

Bottom Line on Free Project Management Software

With the rise of remote teams and collaboration, you need project management software to accompany your business. The right free project management software can quickly change a disorganized and dysfunctional business into an optimized and effective one. 

The best free project management software are monday.com and ClickUp. These two services provide a heap of free features that usually require a paid subscription. You’ll have more than enough tools to manage your team and business with these these two free project management software options.