Enter your business details to see what each option would cost you. Prices are live from our database and shown in US dollars.
Payroll for one employee is a different buying decision from payroll for twenty. With a single person on the books, the per-employee fee is charged once, so the fixed monthly base fee matters far more than it does for a bigger team. The compliance work, on the other hand, is the same size as for a larger business: withholding, deposits, quarterly returns and a W-2 at year end. Whether that one person is a first hire or you, paying yourself a wage, the job is to get full-service filing at a base fee that makes sense for a payroll of one. Below are our picks, then a comparison table and calculator already set to one employee.
How we chose
We picked for a business with a single person on payroll. That means full-service federal and state filing first, because a late deposit is penalized whatever your headcount; then the base fee, because at a headcount of one it carries most of the bill; then W-2 and 1099 handling in one system, support you can reach, and whether the plan the table costs already includes what a first employee needs or pushes you up a tier. Plans and pricing checked September 2026, and every price on this page is read live from our database. The table shows each pick's estimated monthly cost at one employee.
What payroll for one employee should cover
Start with full-service filing, and check it is on the plan you are actually buying. Gusto's filing row reads Yes, OnPay's Yes, Patriot Software's Yes (Full Service) and Homebase's Yes. Then look at what your first employee will need in the first year. If they work hourly, time tracking matters: Homebase's time clock row reads Yes, OnPay's Limited. If they will be offered health cover or a 401(k), benefits administration matters: OnPay's row reads Yes, Patriot Software's Limited and Homebase's No. And if they live in a different state from your business, check multi-state support on the plan you are pricing: Gusto's reads Yes (Plus).
The base fee and the per-employee fee at a headcount of one
Almost every US payroll product charges a base fee each month plus a fee for each person paid. The more people you pay, the more the per-person fee counts; with one, the base fee counts for more. Here is what each pick lists:
- Gusto: $49/mo plus $6/emp/mo
- Patriot Software: $37/mo plus $5/emp/mo
- OnPay: $49/mo plus $6/emp/mo
- Homebase payroll add-on: $39/mo plus $6/emp/mo
Rather than adding those up in your head, use the table: it is already costed for one employee, and if you are about to hire a second person, change the Employees field and every estimate updates. Two things the headline figures do not show. First, some providers keep features a first employee may need on a higher tier than the one priced here, so read the capability rows as well as the price. Second, Gusto's cost is shown as a starting price, because the plan the table uses is its entry tier.
Paying yourself or paying your first hire
"One employee" covers two quite different businesses. The first is a business hiring its first member of staff: you need to register as an employer with your state, collect a Form W-4 and Form I-9, report the new hire, arrange workers compensation, and start withholding from the first pay run. The second is an owner who is the only person on payroll, which is typical of an S corporation, where an owner who works in the business is paid a salary through payroll rather than only taking draws. The software does the same work in both cases, but if the one person on payroll is you, remember that you are a person paid, so the per-employee fee applies to you too. Our guide to the best payroll software for S corps covers that case in detail, including why the salary level is a question for your accountant rather than your payroll provider.
Year-end forms are the other thing a one-person payroll still has to get right. Every pick here files W-2s and 1099s: Gusto's row reads Yes, OnPay's Yes, Patriot Software's Yes and Homebase's Yes. That matters if your first worker is a contractor rather than an employee, or if you add one later.
The verdict
Gusto ($49/mo plus $6/emp/mo) is the all-round choice if you want full-service filing on every tier and room to add benefits later. Patriot Software ($37/mo plus $5/emp/mo) suits a business that needs pay runs and tax filing and nothing else. OnPay ($49/mo plus $6/emp/mo) suits a first hire you plan to offer benefits to, on one plan with no tiers. Homebase ($39/mo plus $6/emp/mo) suits an hourly first hire at a single location. The table above shows what each costs at one employee today.
If you already have a small team, see our guide to the best payroll software for small business. If the one person on payroll is you, as an S corporation owner, see the best payroll software for S corps.