# QuickBooks Workforce

> Intuit's payroll and HR service, sold alone or with QuickBooks

QuickBooks Workforce is Intuit's payroll service, the product its app listings still call QuickBooks Payroll. Every plan calculates, files and pays payroll taxes, runs automatic payroll for salaried staff and e-files 1099s. Premium adds time tracking, hiring and HR tools, and Elite adds expert setup and cover for IRS penalties. It can be bought on its own or bundled with QuickBooks Online accounting.

- **Category:** Payroll
- **Made by:** Intuit Inc.
- **Website:** https://quickbooks.intuit.com/payroll/
- **Runs on:** Web, iOS, Android
- **Facts last checked:** Oct 17, 2026

## Pricing

QuickBooks Workforce is a paid product with a free trial, starting at $50 per month, plus $7 per employee, billed monthly.

- **Pricing model:** Free trial
- **Free plan:** None.
- **Free trial:** 30-day free trial of the base price, taken instead of the 3-month discount; per-employee fees still apply.

| Plan | Price | What you get |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Workforce Payroll | $50 per month, plus $7 per employee, billed monthly | Advertised at $25 a month for the first 3 months. Full-service payroll and tax filing, auto payroll, 1099 e-filing and next-day direct deposit. |
| Workforce Premium | $88 per month, plus $13 per employee, billed monthly | Advertised at $44 a month for the first 3 months. Adds same-day direct deposit, time tracking, hiring, recruiting and an expert setup review. |
| Workforce Elite | $134 per month, plus $17 per employee, billed monthly | Advertised at $67 a month for the first 3 months. Adds expert setup, IRS penalty cover up to $25,000 a year, performance reviews and an HR advisor. |

Read from https://quickbooks.intuit.com/payroll/pricing/bundle/ on Oct 17, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with QuickBooks Workforce before buying.

## Ways to pay less

- **50% off the base fee for 3 months** (Other savings): New customers on a monthly plan pay half the base price for the first 3 months, then the regular price. Per-employee and state filing fees are not discounted. Source: https://quickbooks.intuit.com/payroll/pricing/bundle/

## Key features

- **Full-service payroll taxes:** Intuit calculates, files and pays payroll taxes, sets up garnishments and deductions, and keeps reports on pay history, tax payments and time off.
- **Auto payroll and fast deposits:** Salaried staff on direct deposit can be paid automatically. Payroll pays next day; Premium and Elite pay the same day if run by 7 am.
- **Payroll AI:** Collects hours from staff by text or app, spots inconsistencies and drafts a payroll for you to approve. The plans list it by name on Premium and Elite.
- **Time tracking in the Workforce app:** Premium and Elite include time tracking by phone or an on-site kiosk, with job schedules; Elite adds geofenced reminders and GPS mileage.
- **Hiring and HR:** Premium and Elite add offer letters, digital onboarding, automated I-9s, recruiting, time-off policies and a documents center with e-signatures.
- **1099 e-filing:** Every plan e-files unlimited 1099-MISC and 1099-NEC forms with the IRS and sends copies to contractors.

## Good for

- US businesses already keeping their books in QuickBooks Online
- Small teams that want payroll, time tracking and HR from one vendor
- Employers who want an expert to set up payroll for them

## Worth knowing

- The advertised prices are 50% off the base fee for the first 3 months; per-employee fees are charged in full from the start.
- Time tracking, HR tools and same-day deposit need Premium; IRS penalty cover and a personal HR advisor need Elite.
- Bundles with QuickBooks Online accounting start at $88 a month plus $6.50 per employee (Workforce Payroll with Simple Start).
- It is Intuit's US payroll, filing with the IRS and US states; Canada has its own QuickBooks payroll site and prices.

## ToolGPA grades

**GPA: 2.4 out of 4**, graded Oct 17, 2026. QuickBooks Workforce is Intuit's payroll, and if your books are already in QuickBooks Online it's the natural pick: taxes filed, salaried staff paid automatically, 1099s e-filed. It's $85 a month for five people. The extras most teams want, time tracking and HR, sit on Premium at $153.

- **Value for money: C.** Workforce Payroll is $50 a month plus $7 an employee, so $85 for five, the middle of this category. Half-price base for the first 3 months makes that $60 at first. Time tracking and HR need Premium, which is $153 for five.
- **Free plan and trial: D.** A 30-day trial, but it only waives the $50 base: the $7 per employee is still charged, so running a real payroll costs money from day one. Taking the trial also means giving up the 3 months at half price.
- **Features: B.** Intuit files and pays payroll taxes, pays salaried staff automatically, e-files unlimited 1099s and pays next day. Premium adds time tracking, hiring and onboarding, and Elite adds IRS penalty cover up to $25,000 a year. That covers the whole job.
- **Ease of use: B.** 4.65 from about 197,000 App Store ratings for the QuickBooks Workforce app, where staff clock in. Premium includes an expert review of your setup, and Elite has an expert set it up for you.
- **Platforms and integrations: B.** Web, iPhone and Android, sitting alongside QuickBooks Online, with QuickBooks Time, Checkr, Vestwell, NEXT Insurance and Mineral connected. No desktop app in the listing.

These are ToolGPA's own grades. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from Intuit'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

- QuickBooks Workforce's GPA of 2.4 is higher than 6 of the 18 other payroll services we grade, and level with 9.
- It stands best on features (B, above 6 of 18) and worst on free plan and trial (D, above 14).
- Its paid plans start at $50 a month, against a middle price of $29 for the category: 11 of the 13 others that charge start lower.
- On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 3.0 out of 4. 2 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 QuickBooks Workforce 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. It costs $600 a year.

- You could make: Time tracking: an app builder makes this 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: It plugs into other products, QuickBooks Online, QuickBooks Time and Checkr among them.
- You could not: AI features, unless you pay a model provider for each request yourself.
- 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:** 4.6 out of 5 from 197,223 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/id864076487

## Works with

QuickBooks Online, QuickBooks Time, Checkr, Vestwell, Allstate, NEXT Insurance, Mineral

**Tags:** Payroll, Time tracking, AI features

## Alternatives

- [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-quickbooks-payroll)
- [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-quickbooks-payroll)
- [OnPay](https://toolgpa.com/tools/onpay): US payroll with published prices, plus HR and time add-ons. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/onpay-vs-quickbooks-payroll)
- [Square Payroll](https://toolgpa.com/tools/square-payroll): Payroll for Square sellers, with timecards from Square POS. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/quickbooks-payroll-vs-square-payroll)
- [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-quickbooks-payroll)

## Sources

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

- https://quickbooks.intuit.com/payroll/pricing/bundle/
- https://quickbooks.intuit.com/payroll/pricing/
- https://quickbooks.intuit.com/payroll/
- https://quickbooks.intuit.com/payroll/workforce-app/
- https://apps.apple.com/us/app/quickbooks-workforce/id864076487
- https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.tsheets.android.hammerhead&gl=US&hl=en

Page: https://toolgpa.com/tools/quickbooks-payroll
Listed by ToolGPA (toolgpa.com).