OnPay vs. Paychex

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
OnPay
Score 8.6 out of 10
N/A
OnPay's payroll and HR is designed for people who want to spend more time running their business, and less on back-office tasks. The application aims to enable users to: • Run payroll • Automate taxes • Let employees do more themselves • Simplify HR processes • Offer benefits in any state OnPay starts at $49 plus $6 per person each month. The monthly fee includes integrations with QuickBooks, Xero, and time-tracking software, as well as all quarterly and…
$49
per month +$6 per month, per person
Paychex
Score 6.9 out of 10
N/A
Paychex Flex, of Paychex' Online Payroll Services, is a cloud-based human resource management and payroll platform. Paychex offers core and specialized services, and scales to meet the needs of small businesses, SMBs, and large enterprises.N/A
Pricing
OnPayPaychex
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
Paychex Flex Pro
Custom Pricing
per month/+$4 per employee
HR Pro
Custom Pricing
HR PEO
Custom Pricing
Paychex Flex Select
Custom Pricing
Paychex Flex Enterprise
Custom Pricing
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
OnPayPaychex
Free Trial
YesNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeRequired
Additional DetailsFirst month free, then $49 + $6 per employee each month.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
OnPayPaychex
Considered Both Products
OnPay
Chose OnPay
Overall OnPay was the best bang for my buck. Had a lot to offer and was cheaper than the rest of the people we looked into
Chose OnPay
I've also used 3py Payroll/staffing companies. I found those competitors clunky, slower in support, overly complicated, and overpriced. OnPay has been my favorite experience in Payroll over the past 20 years.
Chose OnPay
While different payroll software options cater to various business needs, OnPay's standout features in terms of usability, affordability, accuracy, scalability, and support often place it favorably among businesses seeking a reliable and user-friendly payroll solution.
Chose OnPay
I personally did not like Paychex. I found their reporting antiquated, cumbersome, and not easily readable. Reporting is very important to me as it serves as a marketing tool. I can highlight the quality of our services by providing informative and easy-to-read reports. The …
Chose OnPay
Great value and easy to use without a masters degree in payroll. Great customer service, not having to wait on hold or chat for hours in the hope someone can help you.
Chose OnPay
From employee controls, overall pricing, multiple pay runs per month, tax filings, WC services, ease of platform, and customer support, OnPay beats them in spades. I have worked with PayChex and QuickBooks for years. They are expensive and bundle items which increases prices. …
Chose OnPay
ADP run was very slow and clunky. It probably has the ability to do a lot but the actual process of entering payroll was not user-friendly and literally took all Day sometimes. Onboarding with Paychex felt really repetitive and sometimes HR would have to enter information after …
Chose OnPay
The support with OnPay is on a different level. So far, OnPay has delivered all payrolls without any problems. They are easy to use, and the user interface is the best I have seen. There is a lot of customization allowed in OnPay that is not permitted in other applications.
Chose OnPay
OnPay is much easier to use and much more cost effective.
Paychex

No answer on this topic

Features
OnPayPaychex
Payroll Management
Comparison of Payroll Management features of Product A and Product B
OnPay
9.3
70 Ratings
12% above category average
Paychex
7.7
318 Ratings
6% below category average
Pay calculation9.766 Ratings8.0300 Ratings
Benefit plan administration8.926 Ratings7.2179 Ratings
Direct deposit files9.764 Ratings8.3299 Ratings
Salary revision and increment management8.749 Ratings8.0214 Ratings
Reimbursement management9.733 Ratings7.4122 Ratings
Support for external payroll vendors00 Ratings7.44 Ratings
Off-cycle/On-Demand payment00 Ratings7.4157 Ratings
Human Resource Management
Comparison of Human Resource Management features of Product A and Product B
OnPay
-
Ratings
Paychex
7.3
277 Ratings
12% below category average
Employee demographic data00 Ratings7.7224 Ratings
Employment history00 Ratings7.9247 Ratings
Job profiles and administration00 Ratings7.7182 Ratings
Workflow for transfers, promotions, pay raises, etc.00 Ratings7.8178 Ratings
Organizational charting00 Ratings6.34 Ratings
Organization and location management00 Ratings7.1162 Ratings
Compliance data (COBRA, OSHA, etc.)00 Ratings6.4148 Ratings
Leave and Attendance Management
Comparison of Leave and Attendance Management features of Product A and Product B
OnPay
-
Ratings
Paychex
7.2
161 Ratings
13% below category average
Approval workflow00 Ratings7.5115 Ratings
Balance details00 Ratings7.6153 Ratings
Annual carry-forward and encashment00 Ratings6.4120 Ratings
Employee Self Service
Comparison of Employee Self Service features of Product A and Product B
OnPay
-
Ratings
Paychex
7.2
275 Ratings
14% below category average
View and generate pay and benefit information00 Ratings8.0253 Ratings
Update personal information00 Ratings7.6265 Ratings
View company policy documentation00 Ratings7.4124 Ratings
Employee recognition00 Ratings5.52 Ratings
View job history00 Ratings7.6189 Ratings
Asset Management
Comparison of Asset Management features of Product A and Product B
OnPay
-
Ratings
Paychex
6.3
44 Ratings
24% below category average
Tracking of all physical assets00 Ratings6.344 Ratings
HR Reporting
Comparison of HR Reporting features of Product A and Product B
OnPay
-
Ratings
Paychex
6.1
179 Ratings
22% below category average
Report builder00 Ratings6.5149 Ratings
Pre-built reports00 Ratings6.8167 Ratings
Ability to combine HR data with external data00 Ratings5.093 Ratings
Onboarding
Comparison of Onboarding features of Product A and Product B
OnPay
-
Ratings
Paychex
6.8
176 Ratings
17% below category average
New hire portal00 Ratings7.0168 Ratings
Manager tracking tools00 Ratings6.7112 Ratings
Performance and Goals
Comparison of Performance and Goals features of Product A and Product B
OnPay
-
Ratings
Paychex
9.0
1 Ratings
10% above category average
Corporate goal setting00 Ratings8.01 Ratings
Individual goal setting00 Ratings9.01 Ratings
Line-of sight-visibility00 Ratings9.01 Ratings
Performance tracking00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
Performance Management
Comparison of Performance Management features of Product A and Product B
OnPay
-
Ratings
Paychex
9.0
1 Ratings
12% above category average
Performance plans00 Ratings9.01 Ratings
Performance improvement plans00 Ratings9.01 Ratings
Review status tracking00 Ratings9.01 Ratings
Review reminders00 Ratings9.01 Ratings
Multiple review frequency00 Ratings9.01 Ratings
Succession Planning
Comparison of Succession Planning features of Product A and Product B
OnPay
-
Ratings
Paychex
7.7
2 Ratings
2% below category average
Candidate ranking00 Ratings7.31 Ratings
Candidate search00 Ratings7.52 Ratings
Candidate development00 Ratings8.21 Ratings
Recruiting / ATS
Comparison of Recruiting / ATS features of Product A and Product B
OnPay
-
Ratings
Paychex
5.3
72 Ratings
40% below category average
Job Requisition Management00 Ratings5.138 Ratings
Company Website Posting00 Ratings5.235 Ratings
Publish to Social Media00 Ratings5.729 Ratings
Job Search Site Posting00 Ratings6.037 Ratings
Duplicate Candidate Prevention00 Ratings4.635 Ratings
Applicant Tracking00 Ratings4.741 Ratings
Notifications and Alerts00 Ratings6.166 Ratings
Best Alternatives
OnPayPaychex
Small Businesses
UZIO
UZIO
Score 9.4 out of 10
UZIO
UZIO
Score 9.4 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Paypro Workforce Management
Paypro Workforce Management
Score 9.1 out of 10
Paypro Workforce Management
Paypro Workforce Management
Score 9.1 out of 10
Enterprises
Infor Human Resources
Infor Human Resources
Score 7.1 out of 10
PeopleStrong
PeopleStrong
Score 10.0 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
OnPayPaychex
Likelihood to Recommend
8.6
(70 ratings)
6.8
(333 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
9.2
(7 ratings)
7.1
(48 ratings)
Usability
8.9
(41 ratings)
7.2
(274 ratings)
Availability
9.1
(1 ratings)
5.2
(12 ratings)
Performance
9.1
(1 ratings)
7.0
(12 ratings)
Support Rating
8.0
(41 ratings)
6.5
(273 ratings)
In-Person Training
-
(0 ratings)
4.5
(1 ratings)
Online Training
-
(0 ratings)
2.8
(4 ratings)
Implementation Rating
9.7
(4 ratings)
5.1
(13 ratings)
Configurability
9.1
(1 ratings)
5.0
(9 ratings)
Contract Terms and Pricing Model
9.1
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Ease of integration
9.1
(1 ratings)
9.1
(3 ratings)
Product Scalability
9.1
(1 ratings)
5.4
(12 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
9.1
(1 ratings)
5.7
(34 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
9.1
(1 ratings)
6.2
(35 ratings)
User Testimonials
OnPayPaychex
Likelihood to Recommend
OnPay
OnPay works for me as a small business owner. It streamlines HR, Payroll and Employment Tax Filings - and it can be helpful in exploring benefit options with integrated partners. We run payroll for both of our companies through OnPay and haven't had any issues. The employees find it easy to use on their end, as well. The OnPay representatives are extremely proactive and communicate updates/changes in a very timely manner. If you have a substantial number of employees, it may be more efficient to look elsewhere due to cost.
Read full review
Paychex Inc.
It is best suited for payrolls from 1 to 150 employees, because their constant attention and flex system are easy to use. Any problem is taking care by your Paychex Agent, and they always listen to you. Better yet, when you become a client with more than 5 years, you get special discount on your renewal. Honestly, I can't not think on nothing that will be less appropriate.
Read full review
Pros
OnPay
  • Communication - From my first call I was so impressed at the level of care and compassion OnPay expressed. I was assigned specific employees who were available in the sign up process to walk me through each step and to answer all my questions. I know some of my questions were probably "stupid" but OnPay never minded answering them and I was always treated with respect.
  • On Boarding - The nightmare I had experienced with a competitor became a dream with OnPay. They said if I would authorize them to sign onto my account they would take care of the sign up process. And they did!!! They also did it correctly. All of the numbers and information was error free. The only information I was required was input was direct deposit bank information.
  • Resolving an Issue - I have only had one issue that needed to be resolved. The person I talked to had to check with another person for an answer but she stayed on the line with me to make sure the problem was resolved. Then I received a follow up email outlining exactly what action they had taken.
  • Ease of using the website - I can find what I am looking for! I like the verification code. And every time I sign on to my account the red heart by our company name makes me smile.
Read full review
Paychex Inc.
  • It provides a well account of Retirement Plan Account Information.
  • Alerts are sent to email when there is new information to access.
  • Employee access both online and thru app.
  • Paperless options.
  • Easy and quick access to paystubs and tax forms.
  • Easy employee retirement management.
Read full review
Cons
OnPay
  • You can add additional additions or benefit items such as a car allowance. The process required me to contact a representative as that wasn't as easy to navigate.
  • The process for handling additional withholdings for pre-payed taxes required support to ensure the calculations were accurate.
  • Process for on-boarding is a little tricky if you don't start the process from the point of hire. You can add various things easily but it reflects differently in terms of completion of an Employee file.
Read full review
Paychex Inc.
  • I understand logging you out is a security function, but I'd prefer it not to log you out so soon.
  • The training we received for the team's meeting was subpar, in my opinion. Probably better geared for people with little to no computer experience. Very slow pace; we could have easily received all of this from some tutorials in a few minutes.
Read full review
Likelihood to Renew
OnPay
We have used OnPay for a few years now and we do continue to renew our annual use of OnPay. We are only a small organization and although OnPay provides a lot of additional services that larger organizations might ind useful, OnPay still meets our limited requirements of running bi-weekly payroll and submitting our quarterly state and federal tax documents, and at a price that we still find affordable.
Read full review
Paychex Inc.
Overall I like the features that Paychex Flex offers. I am sure that there are other features that I am unaware of, so I am excited to see if there is more that Flex is capable of to make my job easier. The basic features are really user friendly and easy to access. If there ever is an issue customer service is great
Read full review
Usability
OnPay
For a one geography business in a larger metro area not planning to expand tax geographies or do anything other than the same-ol, same-ol, then I think OnPay is great. Their biggest issue is tax support responsiveness - it's simply unacceptable yet they seem to not be concerned about it at all.
Read full review
Paychex Inc.
Once you are set up in the system, it is very user-friendly and usability is on par with my expectations. Onboarding new employees is simple, employee access is simple and easy for them to use. Tax documentation, reporting, and entering payroll is easy and user-friendly. Running reports and finding information necessary to keep the flow moving foward is easy to do
Read full review
Reliability and Availability
OnPay
OnPay immediately responds to any of my inquiries.
Read full review
Paychex Inc.
We have not experienced any difficulties with unplanned outages. Notifications are always made for outages, and they do not effect normal business operations.
Read full review
Performance
OnPay
No complaints on OnPay's integration with Xero.
Read full review
Paychex Inc.
Unless there is lag time within the internet, the Paychex Flex website loads exceptional fast, pages load quickly and reports that I need to print or download load quickly. If I need to create a specialized report, once I complete it I receive an e-mail telling me my report is ready to be downloaded. Changing between web pages is fast as well.
Read full review
Support Rating
OnPay
As mentioned previously, I appreciate the Chat feature and have used it several times. I've also used the help database and found it wonderful. And I've had many email support interactions. Every time I've interacted with many individuals from the support team including...(who has helped me a number of times). The interactions have been professional and courteous and extremely helpful. Often they're able to resolve my problems and questions very quickly. OnPay has provided great support to our team here at Strike Visuals.
Read full review
Paychex Inc.
The dedicated support we are given is good and very responsive. If there is a change to the dedicated support, we are notified quickly and have temporary support in place while we wait for our new rep. The phone support is knowledgeable and quick to help if there is an immediate need. However, the chat support can be the slowest option and doesn't always launch so I rarely use it.
Read full review
In-Person Training
OnPay
No answers on this topic
Paychex Inc.
We did online training only
Read full review
Online Training
OnPay
No answers on this topic
Paychex Inc.
It was easy to understand and follow along. I do like the informational videos that we can utilize before we opt to call in for customer service support. It has made a difference since sometimes that resolves the issue I may have had and saved myself a phone call to Paychex support.
Read full review
Implementation Rating
OnPay
Easy to implement and easy to convert any other payroll reports to the OnPay system when making the switch
Read full review
Paychex Inc.
Implementation was very smooth. The most cumbersome task was entering the current employees into the system during initial set up, but Paychex staff handled most of that and verified against prior system reports as well as internal reports provided to ensure 100% accuracy.
Read full review
Alternatives Considered
OnPay
OnPay is tremendously less expensive and technically superior to Quickbooks in my opinion. OnPay is less expensive and offered the ease of managing a restaurant payroll that was better in my opinion than When I Work. My experience when evaluating all of the payroll products that I felt the company could afford was that OnPay had a superior staff of professionals who knew their product and could explain how to use it most clearly.
Read full review
Paychex Inc.
In addition to the ones listed above, we also used BenePay, a local payroll company. We found Paychex Flex priced in the middle, with ADP the most expensive and too complicated, with many features that were unnecessary for us. We found that Paychex Flex's features and reporting to be sized right for our size (around 30 employees). Paychex Flex also offered a very reasonable service to apply for the ERTC
Read full review
Scalability
OnPay
OnPay works.
Read full review
Paychex Inc.
I generally do payroll at the office, however I have had to go remote due to internet issues and also had to take payroll on vacation with me. Very easy to log in wherever you are and manage your TAA and payroll
Read full review
Return on Investment
OnPay
  • Cut our payroll fees by more than half of what was being paid to CPA firm
  • Save time in dealing with CPA firm for payroll returns and filing
  • Could easily generate various payroll related reports..even from the past....this was not possible with the CPA firm previously used
Read full review
Paychex Inc.
  • With Paychex Flex we have been able to improve our compliance with required documentation for new/rehires
  • Moving everyone to direct deposit and mobile clock in/out eliminated lines at punching stations and paycheck pickup stations
  • Lost checks is a thing of the past
Read full review
ScreenShots

OnPay Screenshots

Screenshot of full-service payrollScreenshot of multiple pay rates and schedulesScreenshot of employee self-onboarding and org charts, which are built-inScreenshot of an e-signable offer lettersScreenshot of calendars, where PTO is managed and approvedScreenshot of centralized finances, viewed with over 20 reports for analyzing employment-related expenses

Paychex Screenshots

Screenshot of Paychex Payroll DashboardScreenshot of Employee Background ChecksScreenshot of Paychex HR DashboardScreenshot of Paychex Flex Perks