Toolradar Research
Payroll software statistics 2026
First-party data on the 71 payroll tools Toolradar tracks: Gusto at 3.50 from 15,084 reviews against Rippling at 4.80 from 18,284.
Founder, Toolradar & Dupple
Key findings
What the data shows.
- 01
71 payroll tools tracked, holding 130,897 aggregated third-party reviews. (Source: Toolradar directory, September 17, 2026.)
- 02
Rippling leads volume at 4.80 from 18,284 reviews. Gusto holds 15,084 at 3.50. ADP holds 12,314 at 4.20. (Source: Toolradar directory, September 17, 2026.)
- 03
80% are paid-only. Payroll is a paid-first category. (Source: Toolradar directory, September 17, 2026.)
- 04
The median paid plan starts at $20 a month. (Source: Toolradar directory, September 17, 2026.)
- 05
The review-weighted average is 4.33. (Source: Toolradar directory, September 17, 2026.)
About the research
How we built this report.
Toolradar tool database. Editorial review with weekly pricing verification.
2026. Snapshot taken September 17, 2026. Refresh due Dec 17, 2026.
Public scoring rubric. See how we rate for the full criteria.
Creative Commons BY 4.0. Quote, link, and reuse with attribution.
Payroll is a three-name race with a 1.30-point satisfaction gap. Toolradar tracks 71 tools holding 130,897 reviews. Rippling holds 18,284 reviews at 4.80. Gusto holds 15,084 at 3.50. ADP holds 12,314 at 4.20. efile4Biz holds 9,609 at 4.80. The challenger that bundled HR plus payroll is the one people like. The payroll-native brand is the one they do not.
Every figure below is computed from the Toolradar directory on September 17, 2026. The live dashboard is Payroll statistics. The buyer ranking is best payroll software.
How large the category is
We track 71 published tools, or 0.7% of the 10,619 tools in the directory. 94% (67 of 71) were added to Toolradar in 2026. "Added" means added to our directory, not founded this year.
A $20 payroll seat is a small-company starter. The run-rate is employees times filings.
How these tools are priced
80% of the 71 tools are paid-only. 20% offer a free tier or freemium plan (14 tools). 6% are fully free.
n = 71 tools, September 17, 2026How payroll software are priced
For the 21 tools that publish a paid tier, the median entry price is $20 a month and the mean is $31.
n = 21 tools with a published paid tierEntry price distribution
The catalog-wide median entry is $20 (software pricing statistics).
How these tools are rated
62 of 71 tools carry a rating (87%). Those ratings rest on 130,897 reviews. Unweighted mean 4.38. Review-weighted mean 4.33.
n = 62 rated toolsRating distribution
The most-reviewed tools on September 17, 2026:
| Tool | Rating | Reviews |
|---|---|---|
| Rippling | 4.80 | 18,284 |
| Gusto | 3.50 | 15,084 |
| ADP | 4.20 | 12,314 |
| efile4Biz | 4.80 | 9,609 |
Source: Toolradar directory, September 17, 2026.
Gusto at 3.50 from 15,084 reviews is the incumbent tax inside payroll. Rippling at 4.80 from even more reviews is the rare case where the high-volume name also wins.
The highest-rated tools with at least 200 aggregated reviews:
| # | Tool | Rating | Reviews |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rippling | 4.80 | 18,284 |
| 2 | efile4Biz | 4.80 | 9,609 |
| 3 | Patriot Software | 4.70 | 4,662 |
| 4 | Multiplier | 4.70 | 1,305 |
| 5 | OnPay | 4.70 | 883 |
| 6 | Playroll | 4.70 | 242 |
| 7 | ZayZoon | 4.70 | 232 |
| 8 | ZenMaid | 4.70 | 221 |
| 9 | Ease | 4.60 | 1,447 |
| 10 | Findmyshift | 4.60 | 1,234 |
Rippling leads at 4.80.
Review volume by platform:
| Review platform | Tools with a profile | Aggregated reviews | Mean rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| G2 | 59 | 84,732 | 4.48 |
| Capterra | 29 | 32,655 | 4.59 |
| Trustpilot | 9 | 12,950 | 4.15 |
| SourceForge | 9 | 541 | 4.30 |
| TrustRadius | 2 | 19 | 3.05 |
Three tools worth comparing are Rippling, Gusto, and ADP.
How often pricing moves
Our pricing tracker logged 5 pricing changes for these tools in 2026, 0 of them applied.
How this data was measured
Every figure in this report is computed live from the Toolradar directory on September 17, 2026, covering the 71 published tools we categorize under Payroll. Pricing model is read from each vendor's official pricing page. The entry price is the cheapest positive monthly tier a tool publishes. Ratings and review counts are aggregated from third-party platforms (G2, Capterra, Trustpilot and others), not from Toolradar's own reviews. The leaderboard floor is 200 aggregated reviews. This is a directory snapshot, not a survey.
Cite this report
- APA: Corneloup, L. (2026). Payroll software statistics 2026. Toolradar Research. https://toolradar.com/reports/payroll-software-statistics
- MLA: Corneloup, Louis. "Payroll software statistics 2026." Toolradar Research, 17 Sept. 2026, toolradar.com/reports/payroll-software-statistics.
Browse the full category on the best payroll software page, or explore all of Toolradar Research.
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Use the data, credit the source.
Released under Creative Commons BY 4.0. You may quote, link, and reuse the data with attribution.
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