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Payroll · head to head

Nmbrs vs Paychex

Nmbrs logo

Nmbrs

Payroll

Dutch and Swedish payroll and HR sold largely through accountants, owned by Visma since 2017

From
On request
Rated
-
Paychex logo

Paychex

Accounting

Outsourced United States payroll, tax filing, benefits and HR services with an assigned service representative

From
$29/month
Rated
-

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Nmbrs coverage is the Netherlands and Sweden only, so any international group will run Nmbrs alongside other payroll systems and reconcile them manually.; Paychex pricing is quoted rather than published and varies between clients and between renewals, with separate charges for each payroll run, off cycle payments and year end processing, so two similar businesses regularly pay very different amounts for the same service and comparing quotes is difficult by design.
  • They diverge on capability: Nmbrs covers Dutch payroll engine, Paychex covers Payroll processing.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Nmbrs and Paychex actually diverge.

Attributes where Nmbrs and Paychex differ
AttributeNmbrsPaychex
Starting priceOn request$29/month
Pricing modelquotesubscription
CategoryPayrollAccounting
FoundedUnknown1971

Identical on both: free tier (No), platforms (Web, iOS, Android), user rating (Not yet rated).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Nmbrs

  • Dutch payroll engine
  • Swedish payroll
  • Collective agreement handling
  • HR records
  • Accountant workspace
  • Open API
  • Journal export

Only in Paychex

  • Payroll processing
  • Payroll tax filing
  • Year end forms
  • Multi state payroll
  • Garnishments
  • Time and attendance
  • Benefits administration
  • Retirement plans

Both cover

  • Employee self service

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Nmbrs

  • A Dutch company that wants payroll calculated and filed in-country rather than routed through an international aggregatornot Paychex
  • An accountancy firm running payroll for dozens of client companies from one workspacenot Paychex
  • A Dutch subsidiary of an international group that needs correct CAO and pension fund handlingnot Paychex
  • An HR or time tracking vendor that needs a documented API to push hours and changes into Dutch payrollnot Paychex

Paychex

  • A United States business with employees in several states that does not want to track differing withholding and unemployment rules internallynot Nmbrs
  • A small employer whose accountant recommends outsourcing payroll tax filing so the penalty risk sits with a service providernot Nmbrs
  • A growing company that wants payroll, benefits enrolment and a retirement plan administered together rather than through three vendorsnot Nmbrs
  • A small employer seeking benefits pricing through a professional employer organisation that it could not negotiate on its own headcountnot Nmbrs

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Nmbrs

  • Coverage is the Netherlands and Sweden only, so any international group will run Nmbrs alongside other payroll systems and reconcile them manually.
  • Most customers buy through an accountancy or payroll bureau, which means the price, the service level and the escalation path are set by an intermediary rather than by Visma.
  • English documentation and support lag behind the Dutch material, which slows down international finance teams trying to understand what a declaration actually contains.
  • The HR modules are basic next to a dedicated HRIS, so companies typically pair Nmbrs with another system and maintain an integration between them.
  • Ownership by Visma places it inside a large portfolio with overlapping payroll products, and buyers should ask where Nmbrs sits in that portfolio before committing to a long contract.

Paychex

  • Pricing is quoted rather than published and varies between clients and between renewals, with separate charges for each payroll run, off cycle payments and year end processing, so two similar businesses regularly pay very different amounts for the same service and comparing quotes is difficult by design.
  • Charging per payroll run rather than per month penalises employers who pay weekly or who run frequent off cycles, so a business with hourly staff on a weekly cycle pays several times what a monthly salaried business of the same size pays.
  • Migrating mid year requires transferring year to date wage and tax figures for every employee in every jurisdiction, so in practice companies switch only at a calendar year end, which leaves you locked to the incumbent for the rest of the year whatever the service is like.
  • The service model depends on an assigned representative, and reported experience varies sharply with who that person is and how often the assignment changes, which means the quality of what you bought is not a property of the product you evaluated.
  • It is a United States service, so a company with employees abroad still needs a separate payroll provider in each country, and the group has no single view of employment cost without building one outside the system.

Pricing, plan by plan

Nmbrs

On request
  • Nmbrs$undefined/year
    • Priced per employee per month, commonly resold by accountancy firms
    • Payroll and HR modules licensed separately
    • Direct pricing differs from partner pricing

Paychex

$29/month
  • Flex Essentials$39/month
    • Payroll
    • Tax administration
    • Direct deposit
  • Flex Select$59/month
    • HR administration
    • State unemployment insurance
    • New hire reporting

Which should you pick?

Choose Nmbrs if

  • You need dutch payroll engine.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want swedish payroll.

Choose Paychex if

  • You need payroll processing.
  • You work on Web, Ios, Android.
  • You also want payroll tax filing.

Questions people ask

Is Nmbrs or Paychex better?
Neither clearly leads. Nmbrs starts at On request and Paychex at $29/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Nmbrs or Paychex?
Nmbrs starts at On request and Paychex at $29/month.
Does Nmbrs or Paychex run on more platforms?
Nmbrs runs on Web, iOS, Android. Paychex runs on Web, Ios, Android.
What is Nmbrs best used for?
Nmbrs is most often used for a dutch company that wants payroll calculated and filed in-country rather than routed through an international aggregator, an accountancy firm running payroll for dozens of client companies from one workspace, a dutch subsidiary of an international group that needs correct cao and pension fund handling, an hr or time tracking vendor that needs a documented api to push hours and changes into dutch payroll. Of those, a dutch company that wants payroll calculated and filed in-country rather than routed through an international aggregator and an accountancy firm running payroll for dozens of client companies from one workspace are not what Paychex is typically brought in for.
What can Nmbrs do that Paychex cannot?
Nmbrs covers Dutch payroll engine, Swedish payroll, Collective agreement handling, HR records. Paychex covers Payroll processing, Payroll tax filing, Year end forms, Multi state payroll. Both handle Employee self service.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Nmbrs: Does Nmbrs actually file Dutch payroll taxes?

Yes. It calculates wage tax and submits the loonaangifte to the Belastingdienst, along with pension fund and sector scheme declarations. It is not an aggregator passing data to a bureau.

Paychex: How much does it cost?

Paychex quotes per client rather than publishing rates, and the structure typically includes a base fee plus a per employee per payroll charge with extras for year end and off cycle runs. Get the full fee schedule in writing, including what a mid year change of plan costs.

Nmbrs: Which countries does it cover?

The Netherlands and Sweden. Nowhere else.

Paychex: Who is liable if payroll taxes are filed late or wrongly?

Contractually the provider generally accepts responsibility for errors it makes, but the employer remains the party the tax authorities pursue. Read the specific indemnity language rather than relying on the sales description.

Nmbrs: Do I buy it direct or through an accountant?

Both are possible, but most Dutch customers come through an accountancy or payroll administration firm, and the price and support come from that firm.

Paychex: Can I switch providers mid year?

Technically yes, but you must carry year to date figures across for every employee and jurisdiction, and errors there surface at year end on employee tax forms. Most businesses switch effective 1 January for that reason.

Nmbrs: Who owns Nmbrs?

Visma, the Nordic business software group, acquired it in 2017.

Paychex: What is the difference between the standard service and the professional employer organisation option?

Under the professional employer organisation arrangement Paychex becomes a co-employer for tax and benefits purposes, which changes your benefits access and some of your employment administration. It costs more and it is harder to unwind, so treat it as a different decision from buying payroll.

Paychex: Does it work with my accounting software?

It exports a general ledger file and connects to the mainstream accounting products. Confirm the mapping to your chart of accounts during onboarding, because a generic export means your bookkeeper recodes every run.

Paychex: Is it suitable if we only have a few employees?

It will serve you, but very small employers often find the per run charges and the service tiering expensive relative to self service payroll products. The case improves once multi state complexity or benefits administration enters the picture.

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