Square Payroll Review 2026: Best for Square POS Users
Square Payroll review: $35/mo base plus $6/employee. Ideal for restaurants and retail already using Square POS. Limited HR features but clean payroll execution.
Quick verdict
Square Payroll is the easiest payroll tool for businesses already on Square POS. Hours from Square Timeclock flow in directly. Not worth it if you do not use Square.
Pricing and contractor-only option
Square Payroll costs $35/month plus $6/employee for full employees. If you only pay contractors (no W-2 employees), the contractor-only plan is $6/contractor/month with no base fee. That makes it one of the cheapest 1099 contractor payroll options available.
For a 10-person hourly team, Square Payroll runs $95/month. That is competitive with Gusto Simple ($100/month for the same headcount) and cheaper than Paychex.
Square POS integration
If your business uses Square Point of Sale, Square Payroll pulls hours directly from the Square timeclock. No export, no manual entry. For restaurants and retail with hourly staff, this is the biggest time saver in any payroll tool.
The tip tracking integration is particularly useful. Square POS records tips, and Square Payroll calculates tip allocation and handles the payroll tax treatment automatically.
Without Square POS, this integration advantage is gone. If you use a different POS system, there is no reason to choose Square Payroll over Gusto or QuickBooks Payroll.
Limitations to know
Square Payroll is not strong on HR. There is no onboarding workflow, document storage, or performance review feature. It is a payroll execution tool, not an HR platform.
Multi-state payroll works, but Square Payroll is not built for complexity. If you have employees in multiple states with different tax rules, Gusto or ADP handles the edge cases better.
Customer support is Square's weak point across all its products. Payroll-specific questions sometimes require persistence to get a clear answer.
Frequently asked questions
How much does Square Payroll cost? Full-service payroll runs $35 a month plus $6 per person paid; contractor-only payroll is $6 per person paid with no base fee, making it one of the cheapest 1099-only options available.
What is Square Payroll's rating on review sites? Square Payroll holds about 4.7/5 on Capterra (600+ reviews) and 4.2/5 on Trustpilot (over 5,000 reviews), reflecting strong satisfaction among small teams already on Square POS.
What do users complain about most? Limited customization options and occasional banking-information sync issues are the most cited complaints; a few reviewers also describe it as pricey for an app compared to standalone payroll tools.
Does Square Payroll handle FICA tip credits automatically? No, this is a recurring frustration for restaurant operators. Square Payroll does not automatically calculate FICA tip credits, so tipped-employee tax handling often needs manual work or a switch to a restaurant-focused provider like OnPay.
Is Square Payroll worth it if I don't use Square POS? No. The automatic hours and tip import from Square Timeclock is the single biggest advantage of this product; without Square POS, Gusto or QuickBooks Payroll offer comparable pricing with deeper features.