# Patriot Payroll Review: Pricing, Features, Alternatives Patriot Payroll: Low-cost US payroll sold to firms at a volume discount they bill on at their own rate. Pricing from $17 / month plus $4 per worker paid, SOC 2 yes, and how it compares to the alternatives, for US accounting and bookkeeping firms. Source: https://node8.ai/accounting-tools/payroll/patriot-payroll/ --- [Accounting Tools](https://node8.ai/accounting-tools/) · [Payroll & PEO](https://node8.ai/accounting-tools/payroll/) # Patriot Payroll Strong Option · Patriot Software · founded 1986 Low-cost US payroll sold to firms at a volume discount they bill on at their own rate [Visit Patriot Payroll](https://www.patriotsoftware.com/payroll/) [All 19 payroll & peo tools](https://node8.ai/accounting-tools/payroll/) Best for Firms serving price-sensitive single-state clients with under 25 employees, especially micro-businesses and contractors Starting price $17 / month plus $4 per worker paid (Full Service is $37 per month plus $5 per worker; partner discount 5% to 30% by client count; $12 per additional state) SOC 2 Yes Multi-factor auth Yes Ownership independent, majority held by founder Mike Kappel Integrates with QuickBooks Online, Patriot Accounting, Vestwell, ERGO NEXT, SimplyInsured, Stride Health, +2 more The read ## What Patriot Payroll does Price is the argument here and it is a strong one. Full Service Payroll lists at $37 a month plus $5 per worker paid, Basic Payroll at $17 plus $4 if the firm would rather file the returns itself, and partners buy below those numbers on a discount ladder that runs from 5 percent up to 30 percent at the Diamond level of 100 or more clients. Patriot bills the accountant on one consolidated invoice at the discounted rate, and the firm then invoices its clients on whatever fee schedule it likes. That is a genuine wholesale arrangement rather than a referral, and the spread belongs to the practice. There is no revenue share component, so the margin comes entirely from the gap between the discounted cost and the firm's own fee. Once a partner has six or more active clients, Patriot gives the firm its own payroll and accounting software free. Operationally the product is deliberately small. An Umbrella Login switches between client accounts, unlimited firm users can be scoped per client, and billing is in arrears on workers actually paid, so a seasonal client that runs nothing in February costs only the base fee. The workflow is three screens: enter hours, approve, pay. Data migration and USA-based support are included, and co-branding with the firm's logo is free. Two limitations decide whether this fits. The first is multi-state work. Patriot charges $12 a month for each additional state, so a client with employees in four states carries $36 a month of surcharge that OnPay would not charge at all. The second is that Patriot has no batch processing across clients and no after-the-fact payroll module. Each client is opened and run individually, which is fine at 15 clients and painful at 80. The integration list is also short by modern standards. QuickBooks Online is the only mainstream general ledger connection, with Vestwell for 401(k), ERGO NEXT for workers' compensation and a handful of small partners around it. No Xero, no Sage Intacct, no open API ecosystem. Against OnPay the trade is stark: Patriot is roughly a quarter cheaper on a five-employee single-state client and roughly the same or worse once states multiply, and OnPay pays revenue share where Patriot pays none. Against Gusto, Patriot gives up almost all of the employee experience, benefits marketplace and HR tooling in exchange for a price a laundromat or a two-truck landscaping company will accept without argument. That is the real use case. Strong option is the correct tier and it stays there. Patriot publishes prices, a SOC 2 report and MFA, is profitable, debt-free and privately held by its founder, and has been shipping since long before most of its competitors existed. It does not reach top pick because the integration surface is thin, the per-state fee punishes exactly the clients that are growing, and there is no mechanism for processing many payrolls in one pass. A firm whose payroll book is mostly small, local and single-state will do well with it; a firm with 60 clients and remote workforces will outgrow it. Capabilities ## What you get Basic Payroll at $17 per month that calculates taxes and leaves filing to the firm Full Service Payroll at $37 per month that files and deposits federal, state and local taxes including W-2s Umbrella Login for switching between all client accounts without re-authenticating Unlimited firm users with per-client permission control Billed in arrears on workers actually paid, so dormant clients cost only the base fee Free firm payroll and accounting software once a partner reaches six active clients Pricing, security, integrations ## What it costs and what it connects to Patriot Payroll starts at $17 per month plus $4 per worker paid (Full Service is $37 per month plus $5 per worker; partner discount 5% to 30% by client count; $12 per additional state). Pricing is base fee plus per worker paid, per month. A free trial is available: 30 days, then 50% off for six months. Patriot Payroll holds a SOC 2 report, multi-factor authentication is available. Patriot Payroll connects to QuickBooks Online and Patriot Accounting. Supporting more than one ledger matters for firms whose clients are split across them. Beyond that: Vestwell, ERGO NEXT, SimplyInsured, Stride Health, CorpNet and Stripe. [Vendor pricing page](https://www.patriotsoftware.com/payroll/pricing/) · [Vendor security page](https://www.patriotsoftware.com/security/) Our rating ## Why we rate Patriot Payroll a Strong Option Patriot Payroll is rated Strong Option, alongside 8 other of the 19 payroll & peo tools in this directory. A credible choice that wins on a specific fit rather than across the board — a price point, a niche, a workflow, or an integration the top picks do not cover as well. [How these ratings are decided](https://node8.ai/accounting-tools/methodology/). Same vendor ## More from Patriot Software ### [Patriot Accounting](https://node8.ai/accounting-tools/general-ledger/patriot-accounting/) Low-cost US-only ledger with a partner program built around firm billing and discounts Strong Option Alternatives ## Patriot Payroll alternatives ### [OnPay](https://node8.ai/accounting-tools/payroll/onpay/) Flat-rate full-service payroll with a partner program that lets the firm bill and keep a share Top Pick ### [Gusto](https://node8.ai/accounting-tools/payroll/gusto/) Small-business payroll with a partner program that lets firms choose how they bill Top Pick ### [SurePayroll](https://node8.ai/accounting-tools/payroll/surepayroll/) White-label small business and household payroll a firm resells under its own brand Dated ### [QuickBooks Payroll Core](https://node8.ai/accounting-tools/payroll/quickbooks-payroll-core/) Entry payroll tier inside QuickBooks Online, resold by ProAdvisors at a 30% ongoing discount Strong Option ### [Payroll Relief](https://node8.ai/accounting-tools/payroll/payroll-relief/) Batch payroll processing platform licensed to the firm, which bills clients at its own rates Dated ### [ADP Refer & Earn](https://node8.ai/accounting-tools/payroll/adp-refer-and-earn/) ADP's referral track for accountants, paying revenue share instead of a wholesale margin Strong Option [Compare all 19 payroll & peo tools](https://node8.ai/accounting-tools/payroll/) Sources ## Where these facts came from Researched from public sources. Pricing and security claims change without notice, so check the vendor before you buy. Last reviewed September 8, 2026. ### [Patriot Payroll product page](https://www.patriotsoftware.com/payroll/) Retrieved 2026-09-08 ### [Patriot Payroll pricing](https://www.patriotsoftware.com/payroll/pricing/) Retrieved 2026-09-08 ### [Patriot for accountants](https://www.patriotsoftware.com/accountants/) Retrieved 2026-09-08 ### [Patriot Software integrations](https://www.patriotsoftware.com/payroll/integrations/) Retrieved 2026-09-08 Keep browsing ## Other categories [Practice Management (49)](https://node8.ai/accounting-tools/practice-management/)[General Ledger & Bookkeeping (26)](https://node8.ai/accounting-tools/general-ledger/)[Tax Workflow & Document Automation (26)](https://node8.ai/accounting-tools/tax-workflow/)[Tax Preparation (18)](https://node8.ai/accounting-tools/tax-preparation/)[Tax Planning & Advisory (13)](https://node8.ai/accounting-tools/tax-planning/)[Tax Research (13)](https://node8.ai/accounting-tools/tax-research/)[Month-End Close Automation (11)](https://node8.ai/accounting-tools/close-automation/)[Proposals & Engagement Letters (9)](https://node8.ai/accounting-tools/proposals-engagement/)[Spreadsheet Reporting & Ledger Sync (6)](https://node8.ai/accounting-tools/spreadsheet-reporting/)[Tax Resolution & IRS Representation (6)](https://node8.ai/accounting-tools/tax-resolution/)[AI Meeting Assistants (5)](https://node8.ai/accounting-tools/meeting-assistants/) ## Got the stack, still doing the work by hand? Node8 builds the automation and AI layer that sits between the tools a firm already pays for: intake, document extraction, review workflows, and the handoffs nobody has time to chase. [AI for accounting firms](https://node8.ai/acct) Book a strategy session