Payroll · alternatives
Alternatives to OnPay
23 payroll tools sit alongside OnPay in this directory. Below is what separates each from OnPay on the figures we hold, price, model, tier count and rating, and a direct comparison for every one.
- Alternatives listed
- 23
- With a free tier
- 4
- Cheaper to start
- -
- OnPay starts at
- On request
Why people look past OnPay
Only what the record supports. Each point below is a figure on the OnPay entry measured against the tools listed beside it.
There is no free tier
The record for OnPay carries no free tier, so evaluating it means paying first. 4 of the 23 alternatives below can be used without paying.
There is only one tier
OnPay publishes a single plan, OnPay at On request. There is no smaller tier to drop to if the fit is wrong or the budget moves.
What each alternative does differently
Ordered by the aggregated rating on each catalogue entry. Differences are drawn from price, pricing model, tier count and rating, the fields the category listing carries. For a feature-level difference, follow the head-to-head link on each card: those pages read both full records.
The people platform for small businesses
- Publishes an entry price of $49/month, where OnPay does not.
Manage HR, IT, and Finance in one place
- Publishes an entry price of $8/month, where OnPay does not.
- Sold on a subscription model rather than quote.
- 2 tiers to OnPay's 1.
Outsourced United States payroll, tax filing, benefits and HR services with an assigned service representative
- Publishes an entry price of $29/month, where OnPay does not.
- Sold on a subscription model rather than quote.
- 2 tiers to OnPay's 1.
Brazilian employee benefits and earned wage access app, owned by Serasa Experian since 2024
- Can be used without paying; OnPay cannot.
- Sold on a Free for employers, fees apply to advances and loans model rather than quote.
Virtual card issuing and spend controls layered onto existing business credit cards
- Can be used without paying; OnPay cannot.
- Sold on a Per user per month, free starter tier model rather than quote.
- 3 tiers to OnPay's 1.
Earned wage access and financial wellness benefit, free to employers and free for standard transfers
- Can be used without paying; OnPay cannot.
- Sold on a Free for employers, fees apply only to expedited transfers model rather than quote.
Every OnPay alternative at a glance
A dash means the catalogue entry carries no figure, not that the answer is nothing.
| Tool | Entry price | Model | Tiers | Head to head |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OnPay (this page) | On request | Quote | 1 | |
| GustoA broader US payroll and benefits platform with a real mobile experience and more HR tooling, at tiered pricing | $49/month | - | - | vs OnPay |
| RipplingIf payroll needs to sit inside a wider system that also manages devices, apps and identity | $8/month | Subscription | 2 | vs OnPay |
| PaychexFor companies that want assigned service and a PEO option alongside payroll rather than self-service software | $29/month | Subscription | 2 | vs OnPay |
| SalaryFits | Free | Free for employers, fees apply to advances and loans | 1 | vs OnPay |
| Extend | Free | Per user per month, free starter tier | 3 | vs OnPay |
| Payactiv | Free | Free for employers, fees apply only to expedited transfers | 1 | vs OnPay |
| Branch App | Free | Free for employers, fee-free standard access for workers | 1 | vs OnPay |
| Mooncard | On request | Quote | 1 | vs OnPay |
| Hastee | On request | Quote | 1 | vs OnPay |
| Jify | On request | Quote | 1 | vs OnPay |
| Openwage | On request | Per-transfer fee, paid by the employee | 1 | vs OnPay |
| Clair | On request | Quote | 1 | vs OnPay |
| Payhawk | On request | Per module per month | 4 | vs OnPay |
| Immediate | On request | Quote | 1 | vs OnPay |
| Wagestream | On request | Quote | 1 | vs OnPay |
| DailyPay | On request | Quote | 1 | vs OnPay |
| EnKash | On request | Quote | 1 | vs OnPay |
| Volopay | On request | Quote | 1 | vs OnPay |
| Refyne | On request | Quote | 1 | vs OnPay |
| Rain Instant Pay | On request | Quote | 1 | vs OnPay |
| PayFit | On request | Quote | 1 | vs OnPay |
| RemoFirst | On request | Quote | 2 | vs OnPay |
| Omnipresent | On request | Quote | 2 | vs OnPay |
Ratings are aggregated from third-party sources and imported with each catalogue entry; Softwr hosts no reviews of these products. How each figure is used is set out on the OnPay badges page.
Cheaper ways to solve the same problem
Free to start (4)
These publish a tier that costs nothing, so they can be evaluated before any money changes hands.
- SalaryFits , Free
- Extend , Free
- Payactiv , Free
- Branch App , Free
What you would be giving up
OnPay is most often brought in for a farm running agricultural payroll that needs form 943 rather than the standard quarterly filing, a church or nonprofit with clergy compensation rules that mainstream providers decline to handle, a restaurant group needing tip credit and minimum wage make-up calculated correctly each pay period, a small business that wants one price for payroll rather than a tiered plan it has to keep upgrading. Anything replacing it has to cover the ones you actually depend on, and a cheaper tool that misses one of them is not cheaper.
Two things this page cannot settle. It compares on price, model, tier count and rating, because those are the fields the category listing carries, feature-level differences need both full records, which is what the head-to-head pages load. And the ratings are third-party aggregates imported with each entry rather than reviews written here, so a 0.2 difference between two tools is noise rather than a finding.
If OnPay is broadly right and the question is cost, the OnPay pricing breakdown covers every tier and what each one adds. If you want the whole field rather than a shortlist, the Payroll category lists everything the directory holds, and best payroll tools ranks them.
OnPay runs on web. Platform coverage is not carried on the category listing for the alternatives, so it is one more thing to check on each head-to-head page rather than here.
Questions about OnPay alternatives
- What are the main alternatives to OnPay?
- 23 other payroll tools are listed in this directory, led by Gusto, Rippling, Paychex, SalaryFits. They are ordered by the aggregated rating on each catalogue entry, not by any Softwr ranking.
- What is the best free alternative to OnPay?
- 4 of the alternatives listed here can be used without paying: SalaryFits, Extend, Payactiv, Branch App.
- Why do people look for an alternative to OnPay?
- On the figures on record, 2 things stand out: there is no free tier; there is only one tier. Each is set out with the numbers behind it above.
- What would I give up by switching from OnPay?
- OnPay is most often brought in for a farm running agricultural payroll that needs form 943 rather than the standard quarterly filing, a church or nonprofit with clergy compensation rules that mainstream providers decline to handle, a restaurant group needing tip credit and minimum wage make-up calculated correctly each pay period, a small business that wants one price for payroll rather than a tiered plan it has to keep upgrading. Anything you replace it with has to cover the ones you actually rely on, the side-by-side comparisons linked from each alternative below put the two feature records against each other.
- Is there an open-source alternative to OnPay?
- None of the payroll tools listed here are recorded as open source. That is what the licence field on each entry says, and the field is not always filled in, so it is worth checking directly for any tool you are serious about.
- How were these OnPay alternatives chosen?
- They are the tools filed in the same category, Payroll, ordered by the aggregated rating on each entry. There is no editorial shortlist, and nothing on this page is paid: no sponsored placement runs on alternatives pages and the order cannot be bought. Softwr has not used these products.
- Where can I compare OnPay against one of these directly?
- Every alternative below has a side-by-side page against OnPay covering price, platforms, features and what each one is used for. Those pages read the full record for both products rather than the summary shown here.
- Does this list cover every payroll tool?
- No. It covers what this directory holds in the Payroll category, 23 tools beside OnPay. The category page lists the rest of the catalogue as it grows.