Best Wave Payroll Alternatives in 2026

§1Why teams look beyond Wave Payroll

Wave Payroll used to split pricing by state: free self-service filing in 14 states, $35 per month plus $6 per employee for full tax service everywhere else. That changed in April 2025, when Wave partnered with payroll infrastructure provider Check and unified pricing into one plan: $40 per month plus $6 per active employee or contractor paid that month, with automatic tax filing included in all 50 states. There is no more free or self-service tier, including for contractor-only accounts, which used to be free.

Full tax service is no longer a reason to leave Wave, since it is now standard on every account. Teams still look elsewhere for two reasons: they need features Wave lacks (time tracking, PTO management, HR document management, benefits integration), or they have grown past roughly 10 employees and want a platform built for more complex payroll and HR needs. Wave's pricing is also no longer clearly the cheapest option, so cost alone doesn't make the case for staying that it once did.

§2Gusto Simple: best overall upgrade

Gusto Simple at $49 per month plus $6 per employee provides full tax filing in all 50 states, automated tax deposits, next-day direct deposit, and basic HR document management. Since Wave's own plan now runs $40 per month plus $6 per employee, the gap to Gusto Simple is only about $9 per month for teams that also want Gusto's HR document management and onboarding tools.

Gusto also integrates with Wave Accounting, so teams already using Wave for bookkeeping can keep that while switching to Gusto for payroll.

§3OnPay: best for agricultural and restaurant payroll

OnPay at $49 per month plus $6 per employee covers payroll in all 50 states with full tax service and includes contractor payments at no extra charge. It is one of the few platforms that explicitly handles agricultural payroll with FUTA agricultural exception handling, and supports tip credits for restaurant payroll.

Customer service reviews for OnPay are consistently better than Wave. For growing businesses that will have compliance questions, having access to reliable support matters.

§4Patriot Payroll: best if cost is paramount

Patriot Full Service at $37 per month plus $4 per employee is consistently the cheapest paid option that includes full tax service, and it now undercuts Wave's own $40-plus-$6-per-employee pricing too. For a team of 10, that is $77 per month on Patriot versus $100 on Wave, for the same all-50-states tax coverage.

Patriot's interface is no-frills and customer service reviews are more mixed than OnPay, but the core payroll function is reliable.

§5How to choose

If cost is the main driver: go with Patriot, since it now beats Wave's own pricing for the same nationwide tax coverage. If you need HR features in the same platform: Gusto Simple or Plus. If you are a Wave Accounting user and the automatic journal-entry sync matters more than price: staying on Wave Payroll is reasonable, but budget for the full $40-per-month base plus $6 per employee, since Wave does not offer a discounted bundle for running accounting and payroll together.

See also: Patriot Payroll alternatives for related options.

§6Frequently asked questions

Is Wave Payroll actually free? No. Wave unified its US payroll pricing in April 2025 through a partnership with payroll infrastructure provider Check. Every account, in every state, now costs $40 per month plus $6 per active employee or contractor paid that month, and that fee includes automatic tax filing. There is no more free or self-service tier, including for contractor-only accounts.

Does Wave Payroll cover all 50 states? Yes. Since the April 2025 pricing change, the standard $40-per-month-plus-$6-per-employee plan includes automatic tax deposits and filings in every state, not just a subset.

Does Wave Payroll integrate with Wave Accounting? Yes, and this is the main reason teams stay. Journal entries from payroll automatically sync to Wave Accounting. If you are not using Wave Accounting, this integration benefit disappears.