Square Payroll Pricing (2027): Plans and Fees

Square Payroll's two plans

Square Payroll has one employee plan and one contractor plan, and both prices are on the pricing page. Both are month to month with no long-term contract and unlimited pay runs. No free trial is listed. This page is based on Square's payroll pricing, feature and help pages, checked November 12, 2026.

Plan	Price	What it covers
Full-service payroll	$35/mo + $6 per person paid	Federal and state tax filing and payment, W-2s and 1099s, multi-state, auto payroll, off-cycle runs, new-hire reporting, deductions and garnishments, 2-day payroll, scheduling
Contractor-only payroll	$6 per person paid, no base fee	Direct deposit, check or Cash App pay, 1099-NEC filing; no tax payments or filings, no multi-state

The per-person fee counts people paid that month. Full-service also includes free seasonal inactivity.

What it costs at 5, 20 and 50 employees

Full-service, regular price, employees only. Multi-state is included, so a second state doesn't change these numbers.

Employees	Monthly cost
5	$65
20	$155
50	$335

Add-ons and traps

• Mailed paper W-2 and 1099 copies cost $3 per form per year. Digital delivery is free.
• Workers' comp, paid amendment services, health insurance (through SimplyInsured) and 401(k) (through Vestwell) are add-ons, and the pricing page shows no price for them.
• Standard direct deposit takes 4 business days. Full-service shortens that to 2 business days, and payroll run from a Square balance can go 1 day before payday.
• Square can't pay one employee who works in several tax jurisdictions, run multiple EINs under one account, or handle courtesy withholding.
• The contractor plan files 1099-NECs and nothing else.

What tax filing is included

Full-service files and pays federal and state payroll taxes in all 50 states and DC, according to Square's help article on tax jurisdictions. Local taxes are filed only in supported jurisdictions. Elsewhere Square calculates them and you file and pay.

The gaps Square documents are local:

• Ohio: municipalities not run by RITA, CCA or the City of Columbus are calculated but not filed or paid.
• Pennsylvania: Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and supported EIT and LST collectors are filed. You file the rest, with a quarterly wage report from Square.
• New York: NYC and Yonkers withholding are supported. The Employer Compensation Expense Program is not.

We found no tax penalty guarantee on Square's payroll, pricing or features pages.

How Square compares on price

Square's $35 base fee is the lowest among full-service plans on this site. Patriot Full Service still costs less in total because its per-person fee is $5 against Square's $6: $62, $137 and $287 a month for 5, 20 and 50 employees, against Square's $65, $155 and $335. Patriot charges $12/mo per extra state, though, and Square includes multi-state.

OnPay Payroll Essentials and Gusto Simple both run $79, $169 and $349, so Square undercuts them at every size. Gusto Simple covers one state only. QuickBooks Workforce Payroll costs more at $85, $190 and $400, and it doesn't file local taxes.

For 1099-only teams, the contractor plan costs $6 per person paid with no base fee. QuickBooks Contractor Payments, by comparison, is $25/mo for up to 20 contractors. Square's Trustpilot score is 3.5/5 from 7,536 reviews, but that covers all of Square US, not payroll alone.