Best Time Tracking Software with Payroll for Small Teams

Website: https://gusto.com

Best for: small teams that want simple full-service payroll

Starting price: $49 per month plus $6 per person

Free plan: No

Pros: tax filing in all 50 states; time tracking and PTO in one place

Cons: time tracking sits on the Plus tier, not Simple; no free plan

Gusto Simple starts at $49 a month plus $6 per person, and that covers full-service payroll with federal, state and local tax filing, direct deposit and year-end forms. The catch for this list is that time tracking is not part of Simple. It arrives on the Plus plan at $80 a month plus $12 per person, which also adds multi-state payroll, next-day direct deposit and project tracking. A 10 person team therefore pays $109 a month on Simple and $200 a month on Plus, so the time tracking upgrade is a real cost to weigh.

What Gusto does well is keep the whole flow inside one account. Employees clock in through the Gusto time tools, managers approve hours, and the approved hours feed the next pay run without an export step.

The limits are worth noting. Simple covers one state only, so a team with staff in two states has to move to Plus. There is no permanent free plan, and benefits administration costs extra on top of the base plans.

Website: https://onpay.com

Best for: owners who want one flat payroll price

Starting price: $49 per month plus $6 per worker

Free plan: Free trial (first month free)

Pros: one plan with every core payroll feature; multi-state filing included

Cons: time tracking is an add-on, not bundled; US payroll only

OnPay runs a single payroll plan at $49 a month plus $6 per worker, and that one price covers unlimited pay runs, tax filing in all 50 states, W-2s and 1099s, garnishments and multiple pay rates. There are no tiers to compare and no setup fee, and the first month is free. Time tracking is sold as an add-on at $15 a month plus $4 per worker, and HR is another add-on at $15 a month plus $2 per worker.

The appeal is the absence of surprises. The same $6 rate applies to W-2 employees and 1099 contractors, so a team that mixes staff and contractors does not juggle two price lists. Multi-state payroll is included at the base rate, which is where Gusto Simple falls short.

The limits are scope and add-on costs. Payroll is US only, so international hiring is out of reach. Time tracking and HR are separate add-ons, so the full bundle costs more than the headline $49 suggests.

Website: https://squareup.com

Best for: shops and restaurants already on Square POS

Starting price: $35 per month plus $6 per person

Free plan: No

Pros: clock-ins and tips flow from Square POS; low base fee

Cons: no permanent free plan; weak fit outside Square POS

Square Payroll costs $35 a month plus $6 per person for full-service payroll, and a contractor-only plan costs $6 per contractor with no base fee. The per-person fee applies only in months when someone actually receives pay, which helps seasonal teams. For a 10 person team the monthly cost is $95, which undercuts Gusto and OnPay at the same headcount.

The real reason to pick Square Payroll is the connection to Square POS. Staff clock in on the Square terminal or the team app, tips pool and split inside the system, and those hours and tips move into the pay run without retyping.

The limits follow from that focus. Outside the Square ecosystem the tool has little to offer, and there is no free plan or HR suite to grow into.

Website: https://joinhomebase.com

Best for: hourly teams that need scheduling and time clocks

Starting price: $24 per location/month (billed annually)

Free plan: Yes

Pros: free plan for one location up to 10 employees; scheduling built in

Cons: payroll is an add-on at $49 plus $6 per employee; per-location pricing

Homebase starts with a free Basic plan for one location and up to 10 employees, which covers scheduling, time clocks and team messaging. The Essentials plan costs $24 per location a month on annual billing, Plus costs $56 and All-in-One costs $96. Payroll is an add-on at $49 a month plus $6 per employee, on top of whichever plan the team holds. A 10 person team on Essentials with payroll therefore pays about $133 a month.

The strength of Homebase is that it is built for hourly work. Managers build schedules, staff clock in from a phone or a tablet kiosk, and late arrivals and missed shifts surface on the same screen.

The limits are the add-on structure and the per-location billing. Payroll is not bundled, so the total cost is higher than the headline plan price suggests. A second location doubles the plan fee, which hurts a small chain.

Website: https://rippling.com

Best for: teams that want payroll, HR and IT in one system

Starting price: $8 per user/month plus $40 monthly base fee

Free plan: No

Pros: payroll, HR, benefits and device management in one system; strong automation

Cons: every module beyond the platform is quoted; no free plan

Rippling prices its platform from $8 per user a month plus a $40 monthly base fee, and payroll starts from $8 per user a month on top of that. Every other module, including time tracking, benefits and IT management, is quoted separately, so the final monthly cost depends on which modules a team picks. There is no free plan and no published price for the full bundle, which means a small team has to talk to sales before it knows its real monthly cost.

What Rippling offers in return is depth. Payroll, HR, benefits, time tracking and device management share one employee record, so a new hire is set up once and appears everywhere.

The limits are cost and complexity. A team that only needs time tracking and payroll will find the quoted modules and the sales process heavy for its needs. The base fee plus per-user platform fee means the cost starts before any module is added.

Website: https://bamboohr.com

Best for: teams that need HR first and payroll second

Starting price: $10 per employee/month

Free plan: No

Pros: strong HR records, time off and reporting; clean employee self-service

Cons: payroll and time tracking are add-ons with quoted prices; no free plan

BambooHR prices its Core plan at $10 per employee a month, Pro at $17 and Elite at $25, with a flat $250, $425 or $650 a month for teams under 25 employees. Payroll, benefits, time and attendance are add-ons, and their prices are quoted rather than published, so a team has to ask for a number before it can budget the full stack. There is no free plan, and time tracking is not part of the core HR price.

The strength of BambooHR is the HR core itself. Employee records, time-off tracking, onboarding and reporting are all handled in one clean interface that staff can use without training.

The limits are clear for this list. Time tracking and payroll are add-ons, so the headline $10 per employee does not buy the combination this article is about. The quoted add-on prices make it hard to compare BambooHR with tools that publish every figure.

Website: https://deputy.com

Best for: shift-based teams with rotating rosters

Starting price: $5 per user/month

Free plan: No

Pros: strong scheduling and shift swapping; low entry price

Cons: payroll needs an integration, not a native module; $30 monthly minimum

Deputy prices its Lite plan at $5 per user a month, Core at $6.50 and Pro at $9, with a $30 monthly minimum. There is no free plan, and a trial is the only way to test it without paying. Deputy is a scheduling and time tracking tool, so payroll runs through integrations with providers such as Gusto, QuickBooks and Xero rather than inside Deputy itself. The integration sends approved hours to the payroll tool, which keeps the flow clean but means two subscriptions.

The scheduling tools are the reason to pick Deputy. Managers build rosters, staff swap shifts from their phones, and the system flags overtime and gaps before the roster goes live.

The limits are the two-system setup and the minimum charge. A team of three pays $30 a month rather than $15, because of the monthly minimum. Payroll is not native, so the team still needs a payroll provider and has to keep the integration working.

Website: https://quickbooks.intuit.com/time-tracking/

Best for: teams already running QuickBooks Online

Starting price: $20 per month plus $10 per user/month

Free plan: No

Pros: hours flow into QuickBooks payroll and invoicing; GPS and geofencing on Elite

Cons: needs a QuickBooks Online account on top; base fee before any user is added

QuickBooks Time Premium costs $20 a month plus $10 per user a month, and Elite costs $40 a month plus $12 per user a month. Both prices rose in July 2026, up $2 per user from the earlier rates. A QuickBooks Online account is required on top of the Time subscription, which starts at about $38 a month, so the real monthly cost for a 10 person team on Premium is $120 for Time plus the QuickBooks Online subscription.

The advantage is the native link into QuickBooks. Hours tracked on phones, with GPS stamps and optional geofencing on Elite, flow into QuickBooks payroll and invoicing without an export step.

The limits are the cost stack and the lock-in. The base fee applies before any user is added, and the required QuickBooks Online account makes this one of the more expensive options in this list for a small team. The tool only makes sense inside the QuickBooks ecosystem, and a team that leaves QuickBooks has to replace its time tracking too.

Website: https://connecteam.com

Best for: deskless teams that need a mobile-first hub

Starting price: $29 per hub/month (billed annually)

Free plan: Yes

Pros: free plan for up to 10 users; time clock, scheduling and chat in one app

Cons: payroll needs an integration; per-hub pricing adds up with several hubs

Connecteam offers a Small Business plan that is free for up to 10 users, then Basic at $29 a month, Advanced at $49 and Expert at $99 per hub a month on annual billing, each covering the first 30 users. Payroll is not built in. It runs through integrations with providers such as Gusto and QuickBooks, so the team still needs a payroll subscription, but the time data reaches payroll through the integration.

The strength of Connecteam is that it is built for deskless teams. Staff clock in from their phones, see schedules and shift changes, and message the team from one app.

The limits are the payroll gap and the per-hub price. A team that uses several hubs pays per hub, so the cost grows with the number of functions it turns on. Payroll still needs a separate provider, which means two bills and an integration to watch.

These figures use the entry plan for each tool and exclude add-ons except where noted. BambooHR charges a flat $250 a month for teams under 25 employees. QuickBooks Time figures exclude the QuickBooks Online subscription that the tool requires.