# Paycor

> US payroll and HR software, with published prices under 50 staff

Paycor is payroll and HR software for US employers, from small businesses to companies with more than 1,000 staff. It runs payroll and files payroll taxes, and adds onboarding, time tracking, analytics and recruiting in higher bundles. Paycor is now a standalone business unit of Paychex, Inc.

- **Category:** Payroll
- **Made by:** Paycor, Inc.
- **Website:** https://www.paycor.com
- **Runs on:** Web, iOS, Android
- **Facts last checked:** Oct 17, 2026

## Pricing

Paycor is a paid product, starting at $99 per month, plus $5 per employee.

- **Pricing model:** Paid
- **Free plan:** None.
- **Free trial:** None listed.

| Plan | Price | What you get |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Basic | $99 per month, plus $5 per employee | Payroll with federal and state tax filing, direct deposit, new hire filing, employee self-service, standard reports and OnDemand Pay. |
| Essential | $149 per month, plus $7 per employee | Adds onboarding and E-Verify, the HR Support Center, time-off tracking and labor law posters. The page's sign-up step shows $6 per employee. |
| Core | $199 per month, plus $8 per employee | Shown as COR. Adds on-demand HR advice, Paycor Analytics, 401(k) integrations and wage garnishment payments. The sign-up step shows $7 per employee. |
| Complete | Custom | Adds Paycor HR, career management, compensation planning and talent development. No price in the main table; the sign-up step shows $199 plus $12 per employee. |

Read from https://www.paycor.com/plans-pricing/small-business/ on Oct 17, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with Paycor before buying.

## Ways to pay less

- **50% off for the first 6 months** (Other savings): Paycor's small business pricing page offers new customers 50% off for 6 months as a limited-time offer, with some restrictions. Other parts of the page advertise free months of payroll instead. Source: https://www.paycor.com/plans-pricing/small-business/

## Key features

- **Payroll and tax filing:** Paycor calculates pay, files federal and state payroll taxes and handles W-2 and 1099 processing, with no limit on payroll runs a month.
- **Compliance alerts:** A compliance dashboard flags missing or invalid tax IDs, address problems and direct deposit discrepancies before payroll runs.
- **OnDemand Pay:** Employees can draw up to 50% of the wages they have earned before payday, or be paid onto the Paycor Visa card.
- **Onboarding and E-Verify:** From Essential, new hires fill in forms, I-9s and tax documents online before their first day and sign documents electronically.
- **Paycor Mobile:** Employees view pay stubs and tax forms, request time off, check schedules and enroll in benefits from the iPhone and Android app.
- **Add-on modules:** Time and scheduling, benefits administration, recruiting and workers' compensation can be added to any small business bundle.

## Good for

- US businesses under 50 employees that want to see a price before calling sales
- Employers that want payroll, onboarding and HR advice from one provider
- Hourly teams that want early wage access and a mobile app

## Worth knowing

- Runs US payroll across all 50 states; payroll in other countries comes through partner apps in Paycor's marketplace.
- Prices are published only for businesses under 50 employees; larger ones get a quote from sales.
- The same page lists setup fees of $59 to $199, shown as waived, and a sign-up step with lower per-employee charges than the main table.
- Time tracking, scheduling, benefits administration and recruiting cost extra on top of the bundles.

## ToolGPA grades

**GPA: 2.2 out of 4**, graded Oct 17, 2026. Paycor is payroll and HR from a business that's now part of Paychex, and unlike Paychex it shows prices for employers under 50 people. Basic is $124 a month for five. You get early wage access and compliance alerts on it, but onboarding waits for Essential.

- **Value for money: C.** Basic is $99 a month plus $5 an employee, $124 for five: above Gusto and OnPay at $79 and QuickBooks at $85, though under Deel's $145. Onboarding needs Essential, $184 for five. Setup fees are waived and the first 6 months are 50% off.
- **Free plan and trial: F.** No free plan or trial. The 50% off for 6 months is a discount on a paid plan, not a way to try it.
- **Features: B.** Payroll with federal and state tax filing and unlimited runs, compliance alerts before payroll, early wage access for staff, onboarding with E-Verify from Essential, and HR advice and analytics on Core. The whole job across its bundles.
- **Ease of use: B.** 4.53 from about 33,700 App Store ratings for Paycor Mobile, where staff see pay stubs, request time off and enroll in benefits.
- **Platforms and integrations: B.** Web, iPhone and Android. No desktop app, and the listing names no integrations, though Core adds 401(k) integrations and partner apps handle payroll abroad.

These are ToolGPA's own grades. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from Paycor's own pages on 17 October 2026, and its App Store rating. Not based on using the product, and shorter than our full reviews.

## Where it stands among payroll services

- Paycor's GPA of 2.2 is higher than 3 of the 18 other payroll services we grade, and level with 2.
- It stands best on features (B, above 6 of 18) and worst on free plan and trial (F, above 0).
- Its paid plans start at $99 a month, against a middle price of $29 for the category: 13 of the 13 others that charge start lower.
- On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 3.0 out of 4. 3 tools score higher and cost less.

The category's chart of price against score: https://toolgpa.com/charts/payroll

## Keep it, or make your own?

**Keep it.** To replace Paycor you would be making payroll taxes worked out and filed with the government for you. That is not a weekend's work, with an AI app builder or without one. That makes this kind of software worth paying for, not this one in particular: 13 of the 18 other payroll services grade higher. It costs $1,188 a year.

- You could make: Reports and expense tracking: an app builder makes these well.
- You could not: Payroll taxes worked out and filed with the government for you.
- You could not: A real app for iOS and Android. Something home-made would be a web page.
- You could not: The depth: we grade its features B, which means it covers the whole job.

A judgement by ToolGPA from this listing, by rules that are the same for every tool. Nothing was built to test it.

## What people say

- **App Store rating of the iPhone and iPad app:** 4.5 out of 5 from 33,689 ratings in the United States, read Oct 17, 2026. This is the store's rating of the app, not a score from ToolGPA. Source: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/id555322549

**Tags:** Payroll, Reports, Expense tracking

## Alternatives

- [Paychex Flex](https://toolgpa.com/tools/paychex-flex): Paychex's payroll, tax filing and HR platform, priced by quote. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/paychex-flex-vs-paycor)
- [Paylocity](https://toolgpa.com/tools/paylocity): Payroll, HR, finance and IT platform for US employers, by quote. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/paycor-vs-paylocity)
- [RUN Powered by ADP](https://toolgpa.com/tools/adp-run): ADP's payroll and HR service for US businesses of 1 to 49 people. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/adp-run-vs-paycor)
- [Gusto](https://toolgpa.com/tools/gusto): Payroll and HR for small businesses, with apps for owners and staff. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/gusto-vs-paycor)
- [Rippling](https://toolgpa.com/tools/rippling): HR, IT and finance platform with US and global payroll, by quote. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/paycor-vs-rippling)

## Sources

The prices, plans, platforms and features above were read from these pages on Oct 17, 2026:

- https://www.paycor.com/plans-pricing/small-business/
- https://www.paycor.com/plans-pricing/
- https://www.paycor.com/plans-pricing/mid-market/
- https://www.paycor.com/who-we-serve/1-49/
- https://www.paycor.com/hcm-software/payroll-software/
- https://www.paycor.com/hcm-software/payroll-software/mobile-app/
- https://www.paycor.com/paychex-acquisition/

Page: https://toolgpa.com/tools/paycor
Listed by ToolGPA (toolgpa.com).