Patriot Payroll Pricing Review: What the Cheapest Full-Service Plan Costs and Skips
By SoftwareSift Team.
Patriot Payroll's Full Service plan lists at $37/mo plus $5 per worker paid, the lowest full-service payroll price in SoftwareSift's ranked field of eight small-business payroll platforms (as of Q3 2026, verified directly on Patriot Software's own pricing page). A live promotional banner drops that to $18.50/mo plus $2.50 per worker for the first six months, but the promo is not the ongoing cost: it is a dated sale that expires, and the list price is what a buyer pays afterward. The sharper evaluation question is this: does Patriot's cheaper Basic Payroll tier, priced at $17/mo plus $4 per worker, actually file payroll taxes the way Full Service does, or does the lower sticker price hide a compliance task the buyer has to handle alone?
The Short Answer
Patriot's Full Service Payroll tier, at the $37/mo list price, is a legitimate contender for the cheapest fully-tax-compliant payroll plan among the eight platforms in this ranking. The Basic Payroll tier costs less still, at $17/mo plus $4 per worker, but Patriot's own pricing page states plainly that federal, state, and local tax filings and deposits are things Full Service adds on top of Basic, meaning Basic does not include them. A buyer who picks Basic to save roughly $20/mo at typical headcounts is trading that savings for a task payroll software exists to handle: filing and remitting payroll taxes yourself.
Patriot Payroll Pricing Structure
Patriot runs two payroll tiers plus two add-ons, all billed monthly with no annual-commitment discount published on the pricing page. Every figure below is the list price. Patriot's live sign-up promotion (30 days free plus 50% off for six months) is addressed separately in the hidden-costs section below, because a six-month promotional rate is not what the account costs starting in month seven.
| Plan / Add-on | Billing | List Price (as of Q3 2026) | Per-Worker / Employee Fee | Files Payroll Taxes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic Payroll | Monthly | $17/mo | $4/worker paid | No (business self-files) |
| Full Service Payroll | Monthly | $37/mo | $5/worker paid | Yes (federal, state, and local) |
| Time & Attendance and HR Software (add-ons, priced the same) | Monthly | $6/mo each | $2/employee each | n/a |
Prices verified directly on patriotsoftware.com/payroll/pricing/, as of Q3 2026. Figures shown are list prices, not the active sign-up promotion.
Feature Reality: What Full Service Actually Adds Over Basic
Patriot's own pricing page describes Full Service as "Everything in Basic, PLUS" five specific items: federal, state, and local tax filings and deposits; year-end payroll tax filings at no additional fee; and a tax filing reliability guarantee. That phrasing is a direct statement that Basic does not include those five items. A business on Basic calculates, withholds, and remits its own payroll taxes, without Patriot's guarantee if a filing goes wrong.
Both tiers share unlimited payrolls, auto payroll, free 2-day direct deposit for qualified customers, a free employee portal, and free accounting-software integration. The gap between the two tiers is entirely the tax-filing and tax-guarantee layer, not payroll-run mechanics.
For a one- or two-person business with an accountant already handling quarterly tax filings, Basic's list-price savings over Full Service might be a deliberate, reasonable trade. For a business with no dedicated tax-filing help already in place, Basic converts a software subscription into an ongoing compliance obligation, with real penalty exposure if a filing is missed or wrong.
What Both Payroll Tiers Include, Regardless of Which You Pick
Patriot's payroll feature comparison table, published alongside its pricing, lists a set of operational capabilities that run across the payroll product line rather than being confined to one tier: unlimited payrolls, auto payroll, multiple pay rates, employee self-onboarding, a free employee portal, electronic or printable W-2s, the ability to pay contractors in the same payroll run with a free contractor portal, all standard pay frequencies, on-the-fly pay rate changes, customizable hours and deductions, time-off accruals, optional 1099 e-filing, comprehensive payroll reports, support for multiple departments and locations, unlimited users with permissions, a net-to-gross payroll calculation tool, and a mobile-friendly interface. Free integrations with 401(k) plans, health benefits, and workers' comp are also part of the payroll product line, alongside free USA-based software support and free payroll setup assistance.
What is not shared, per the tier breakdown covered above, is tax filing itself: that remains the single differentiator Patriot's own pricing page draws between Basic and Full Service.
Use-Case Fit
- Solo operators and 1-2 employee shops with an accountant already filing payroll taxes: Basic Payroll's lower price is a reasonable trade, provided that accountant relationship is durable and not a gap waiting to open.
- Businesses with 3-25 employees and no in-house tax-filing capacity: Full Service Payroll is the tier built for that gap: it files tax forms and remits the money, not only calculates the numbers.
- Businesses layering on scheduling or HR needs: Time & Attendance and HR Software are priced identically to each other ($6/mo plus $2/employee), so adding both costs $12/mo plus $4/employee on top of whichever base tier is chosen, a real add-on cost that grows fast once headcount climbs.
- Businesses comparing Patriot against the category leaders: Patriot's Full Service list price undercuts both Gusto's Simple tier ($49/mo plus $6/mo per person) and OnPay's single Payroll Essentials plan ($49 base plus $6/worker per month), but Patriot's product breadth is narrower: neither Gusto's benefits-administration depth nor OnPay's bundled HR add-on has a direct Patriot equivalent at this price point.
Patriot Payroll has no affiliate placement on SoftwareSift. The link to Patriot's pricing page later in this article is a plain, unmonetized link, not an affiliate recommendation, and SoftwareSift earns no commission from it.
The Hidden Costs
The 50%-off promotion is the largest one. Patriot's pricing page displays a live banner ("Celebrate America's 250th with 30 days free + 50% off for 6 months") that strikes through every list price and shows a lower promo price beside it: Full Service reads "$37 $18.50/mo" plus "$5 $2.50 per worker paid" directly on the page. That promotional pricing is time-boxed to a dated sale; the account reverts to the $37/mo plus $5/worker list price once the six months lapse. A buyer who budgets year-one cash flow off the promo number will see the bill roughly double starting in month seven.
Add-ons are the second real cost to account for. Time & Attendance and HR Software each add $6/mo plus $2/employee (list) on top of either payroll tier. At 10 employees, adding both add-ons to Full Service Payroll brings the monthly bill from $87/mo (payroll alone: $37 plus $5 times 10 workers) to $139/mo (adding a combined $12 base plus $4 times 10 employees for the two add-ons), roughly a 60 percent increase that has nothing to do with the headline payroll price.
Verdict: Who Should Actually Buy Patriot Payroll
Patriot Payroll's Full Service tier earns its place as the budget full-service option in this ranking on the strength of its list price alone: $37/mo plus $5/worker beats every other transparently-priced full-service competitor in SoftwareSift's payroll ranking at every headcount tested against SurePayroll (see the Patriot vs. SurePayroll comparison for the worked math). The Basic tier is not a shortcut to the same outcome at a lower price. It is a different product with a real compliance gap, disclosed in Patriot's own description of what Full Service adds. Buyers who want Patriot's price without inheriting that gap should budget for Full Service, and should treat the six-month promo rate as a temporary discount rather than the plan's real cost.
See Patriot Payroll's current pricing and live promotion directly on Patriot Software's payroll pricing page, compare it against SurePayroll's calculator-based pricing in the Patriot vs. SurePayroll head-to-head, or see how the full field stacks up in SoftwareSift's payroll software ranking.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Does Patriot Payroll's Basic tier file payroll taxes?
- No. Patriot's own pricing page lists federal, state, and local tax filings and deposits as features that Full Service Payroll adds on top of the Basic tier. Basic Payroll handles payroll runs and direct deposit, but the business stays responsible for filing and remitting payroll taxes itself.
- How much does Patriot Payroll cost per employee?
- Full Service Payroll lists at $37/mo plus $5 per worker paid; Basic Payroll lists at $17/mo plus $4 per worker paid (both as of Q3 2026, list price). At 10 employees, that works out to $87/mo for Full Service or $57/mo for Basic.
- Is Patriot Payroll's 50%-off promotion the real price?
- No. The offer (30 days free plus 50% off for six months) is a time-boxed sign-up promotion tied to a specific dated sale shown on Patriot's pricing page. After six months, billing reverts to the list price: $37/mo plus $5/worker for Full Service.
- Does SoftwareSift earn a commission on Patriot Payroll signups?
- No. Patriot Payroll has no affiliate placement on SoftwareSift. The link in this article is a plain, unmonetized link to Patriot's own pricing page.
- What operational features come with either Patriot Payroll tier?
- Unlimited payrolls, auto payroll, multiple pay rates, a free employee portal, electronic W-2s, the ability to pay contractors inside the same payroll run, all standard pay frequencies, time-off accruals, comprehensive payroll reports, and free integrations with 401(k) plans, health benefits, and workers' comp all run across the payroll product line; these are not gated behind Full Service. Tax filing is the one capability that is.
- How does Patriot Payroll's add-on pricing compare to its base plans?
- Time & Attendance and HR Software each list at $6/mo plus $2/employee, and are priced identically to each other. Adding both to a 10-employee Full Service account raises the monthly bill from $87/mo to $139/mo, a roughly 60 percent increase driven entirely by add-ons rather than the base payroll price.