Payroll · head to head
OnPay vs Paylocity
OnPay
Payroll
Single-plan United States payroll with unlimited pay runs and support for awkward tax situations other providers avoid
- From
- On request
- Rated
- -
Paylocity
Payroll
HR and payroll solutions to drive employee engagement
- From
- On request
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Each has a real cost: OnPay onPay operates only in the United States, so the first international hire means a second payroll vendor and a separate compliance model.; Paylocity the Internet Archive's capture of Paylocity's homepage on 3 January 2021 named a wide suite of modules, including Payroll, On Demand Payment, HR Edge, Recruiting, Performance Management, Compensation Management and a Learning Management System, all sold via 'Request a Demo' with no price figures published.
- They diverge on capability: OnPay covers Single plan, Paylocity covers Payroll.
- Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which OnPay and Paylocity actually diverge.
Identical on both: starting price (On request), pricing model (quote), free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Payroll).
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 OnPay
- Single plan
- Tax filing and payment
- Vertical payroll support
- Benefits brokerage
- Workers compensation
- Contractor payments
- Basic HR tools
- Accounting integrations
Only in Paylocity
- Payroll
- HR Management
- Benefits Administration
- Time and Labor
- Talent Management
- Employee Engagement
- Slack
- Microsoft Teams
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
OnPay
- A farm running agricultural payroll that needs Form 943 rather than the standard quarterly filingnot Paylocity
- A church or nonprofit with clergy compensation rules that mainstream providers decline to handlenot Paylocity
- A restaurant group needing tip credit and minimum wage make-up calculated correctly each pay periodnot Paylocity
- A small business that wants one price for payroll rather than a tiered plan it has to keep upgradingnot Paylocity
Paylocity
No use cases recorded yet. See the Paylocity review.
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
OnPay
- OnPay operates only in the United States, so the first international hire means a second payroll vendor and a separate compliance model.
- There is no native mobile application, only a responsive web interface, which employers with field or shift-based staff notice immediately.
- The HR functionality is administrative and does not replace an HRIS, so performance, learning and any real workflow automation need another product.
- Time and attendance is handled through integrations rather than natively, meaning hours arrive from a third-party system that has to be reconciled when it disagrees with payroll.
- Reporting is functional but limited, and companies that want cost analysis by department, project or location generally export to a spreadsheet rather than build it in the product.
Paylocity
- The Internet Archive's capture of Paylocity's homepage on 3 January 2021 named a wide suite of modules, including Payroll, On Demand Payment, HR Edge, Recruiting, Performance Management, Compensation Management and a Learning Management System, all sold via 'Request a Demo' with no price figures published.
Pricing, plan by plan
OnPay
On request- OnPay$undefined/month
- One published plan combining a flat monthly base fee with a per person charge
- No feature tiers, upgrades or add-on modules
- Unlimited pay runs and multi-state filing included
Paylocity
On request- Core Payroll$undefined/month
- Payroll Processing
- Tax Services
- Direct Deposit
- Complete HCM$undefined/month
- All Core features
- HR
- Benefits
Which should you pick?
Choose Paylocity if
- You need payroll.
- You work on Web, Ios, Android.
- You also want hr management.
Questions people ask
- Is OnPay or Paylocity better?
- Neither clearly leads. OnPay starts at On request and Paylocity at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, OnPay or Paylocity?
- OnPay starts at On request and Paylocity at On request.
- Does OnPay or Paylocity run on more platforms?
- OnPay runs on Web. Paylocity runs on Web, Ios, Android.
- What is OnPay best used for?
- OnPay is most often used 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. Of those, a farm running agricultural payroll that needs form 943 rather than the standard quarterly filing and a church or nonprofit with clergy compensation rules that mainstream providers decline to handle are not what Paylocity is typically brought in for.
- What can OnPay do that Paylocity cannot?
- OnPay covers Single plan, Tax filing and payment, Vertical payroll support, Benefits brokerage. Paylocity covers Payroll, HR Management, Benefits Administration, Time and Labor.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
OnPay: How is OnPay priced?
As a single published plan with a flat monthly base fee plus a charge per person paid, with no feature tiers. Contractors are charged at the same per person rate as employees.
OnPay: Does it handle payroll outside the United States?
No. It is US-only, in all fifty states, including multi-state filing at no extra cost.
OnPay: Why do farms and churches use it?
It supports Form 943 agricultural filing, clergy housing allowance and Social Security exemption rules, and 501(c)(3) nonprofit payroll, which several larger providers do not.
OnPay: Is there a mobile app?
No. Employers and employees use a responsive web interface, which is a genuine gap for shift-based workforces.
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