Paychex vs. Paylocity

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Paychex
Score 6.8 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
Paylocity
Score 8.1 out of 10
N/A
Paylocity provides 24/7 access to your online payroll and human resource data management. Paylocity offers highly customizable payroll functionality, as well as HR, benefits administration, and time and talent management programs.N/A
Pricing
PaychexPaylocity
Editions & Modules
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
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
PaychexPaylocity
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoYes
Entry-level Setup FeeRequiredNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
PaychexPaylocity
Considered Both Products
Paychex
Chose Paychex
I would say Paycor is very similar, although my last use was in 2015. I'm unsure about the changes made between then and now. I haven't used paylocity personally since 2013, but my wife currently uses it and it's also great, more features to the end user. That said, I didn't …
Chose Paychex
Paychex Flex is a good system but honestly I prefer Paylocity's products over Flex. Paychex Flex doesn't seem to be as developed as other systems and not nearly as user friendly. I only use Paychex Flex because that is the system that was in place when I started my job over a …
Chose Paychex
Gusto is more intuitive than Paychex and easier for smaller companies. Paychex has better customer support than Paylocity. Paychex is easier to navigate than Paycom.
Chose Paychex
All solutions we have reviewed offer the same solutions, and all have pros/cons. Price is a factor, and we have found slightly less costly solutions, though any cost savings are negated in transition costs.
Chose Paychex
Paychex has been around for a long time and have used it at other organizations. The payroll functionality is the best out of the other systems I have used. They all are great with handling the HR needs of our organization but Paychex is the most streamlined.
Chose Paychex
Paychex Flex has some room for improvement, I would choose ADP out of the different HRIS's I have used in the past
Chose Paychex
Paychex is much easier to use. [...]
Chose Paychex
Paychex Flex was a much more affordable option than some of those out there. For a small business, the quicker ROI makes a big difference. Some of the customization options were especially helpful to our team. Paychex Flex was also much more well-known in our market and we …
Chose Paychex
The system automates the whole process of managing HR tasks helping businesses be more productive, save time and stay compliant.
Chose Paychex
I didn't select Paychex, it was already in place when I joined the company and I'm getting us off them.
Paylocity
Chose Paylocity
We used to use ADP and Paychex when we had a particularly problematic time with Paylocity. We looked into Paycor, but they're very, very expensive for what they were giving us too. So we stuck it out with Paylocity. We did get some extra involvement in that, like a support …
Chose Paylocity
We used Paychex back when it was Preview and switched before we used Paychex Flex. So, this is really the only platform we've used.
Chose Paylocity
As long as I am the Director of HR, we will never be a Paychex customer again. The report writer of Paychex, I felt I needed a Paychex college degree to navigate. When we decided to leave Paychex, they did not help in any way to help me navigate retaining my employee records …
Chose Paylocity
The reports for Corpay were very difficult to decipher. Monthly payroll reconciliations would take three times as long as they do with Paylocity. When we had our annual audits, the auditors had difficulty matching up the payroll amounts with the 941s.
Paychex was all about …
Chose Paylocity
We switched from Paychex to Paylocity, and they were much better. In our experience, Paychex was terrible- billing us for things that we did not do, impossible to get a hold of, and terrible portal.
Chose Paylocity
I've never had a reason to want to switch. It doesn't seem like they offer anything Paylocity doesn't that makes it better.
Chose Paylocity
Paylocity is hands down, the most user friendly, and intuitive product.
Chose Paylocity
Time and Labor, in my prior organizations we didn't use time and labor, I think it's a game changer.
Chose Paylocity
There is no comparison. Paylocity offers so much more to its clients. Their pricing is unbeatable and they provide a much bigger variety of features and customization. I had to use 6 different platforms to cover all necessary areas for our business, when I am now solely …
Chose Paylocity
Paylocity has far surpassed other payroll companies that we have used in the past. Our sales rep not only did a phenomenal job of selling and pricing the product to us but remains available now, years after we first started using the product, for any questions or issues we may …
Chose Paylocity
Paylocity was already in place when I took over my position.
Chose Paylocity
Paylocity has the reports that I need and what our auditors require, and reports that are easily read. Customer service is great.
Chose Paylocity
We have given notice to terminate Paylocity and are returning to ADP
Chose Paylocity
Paylocity is better organized and way more robust.
Chose Paylocity
They had an LMS and Benefits along with integrated Time and Attendance so that is was brought us to overall choosing Paylocity. We also would like to work on integrating the onboarding modules and the recruiting modules but we just have not gotten there yet. We do also want to …
Chose Paylocity
Paylocity is so much better. But we did have an issue, and the person who sold us the software never returned our calls.
Chose Paylocity
It is less complicated that others
Chose Paylocity
Advantage Payroll was going out of business and was being bought out by Paychex. After viewing several payroll companies and demoing each one, I chose Paylocity and haven't regretted my decision.
Chose Paylocity
The ease of use and service is so much better!
Features
PaychexPaylocity
Human Resource Management
Comparison of Human Resource Management features of Product A and Product B
Paychex
7.7
273 Ratings
5% below category average
Paylocity
7.9
1503 Ratings
3% below category average
Employee demographic data7.8220 Ratings8.31433 Ratings
Employment history8.0243 Ratings8.21383 Ratings
Job profiles and administration7.8178 Ratings7.81288 Ratings
Workflow for transfers, promotions, pay raises, etc.7.8173 Ratings7.71303 Ratings
Organizational charting8.02 Ratings7.61198 Ratings
Organization and location management7.5159 Ratings8.01173 Ratings
Compliance data (COBRA, OSHA, etc.)6.7146 Ratings7.61007 Ratings
Payroll Management
Comparison of Payroll Management features of Product A and Product B
Paychex
7.7
314 Ratings
5% below category average
Paylocity
8.3
1441 Ratings
2% above category average
Pay calculation7.9296 Ratings8.71408 Ratings
Support for external payroll vendors8.01 Ratings7.9712 Ratings
Off-cycle/On-Demand payment7.2154 Ratings8.71103 Ratings
Benefit plan administration6.9175 Ratings7.7974 Ratings
Direct deposit files8.3295 Ratings8.91400 Ratings
Salary revision and increment management7.9210 Ratings8.31136 Ratings
Reimbursement management7.6119 Ratings7.7716 Ratings
Leave and Attendance Management
Comparison of Leave and Attendance Management features of Product A and Product B
Paychex
7.2
159 Ratings
12% below category average
Paylocity
7.7
1220 Ratings
6% below category average
Approval workflow7.3113 Ratings7.81086 Ratings
Balance details7.4151 Ratings7.51167 Ratings
Annual carry-forward and encashment6.9119 Ratings7.8932 Ratings
Employee Self Service
Comparison of Employee Self Service features of Product A and Product B
Paychex
7.9
271 Ratings
4% below category average
Paylocity
8.4
1448 Ratings
3% above category average
View and generate pay and benefit information7.8249 Ratings8.61412 Ratings
Update personal information7.9261 Ratings8.71436 Ratings
View company policy documentation7.8122 Ratings8.11171 Ratings
View job history7.9185 Ratings8.51262 Ratings
Employee recognition00 Ratings8.21064 Ratings
Asset Management
Comparison of Asset Management features of Product A and Product B
Paychex
4.9
43 Ratings
48% below category average
Paylocity
7.6
466 Ratings
5% below category average
Tracking of all physical assets4.943 Ratings7.6466 Ratings
HR Reporting
Comparison of HR Reporting features of Product A and Product B
Paychex
5.8
177 Ratings
26% below category average
Paylocity
7.3
1342 Ratings
3% below category average
Report builder6.2147 Ratings7.31286 Ratings
Pre-built reports6.2165 Ratings7.61307 Ratings
Ability to combine HR data with external data5.191 Ratings7.2857 Ratings
Onboarding
Comparison of Onboarding features of Product A and Product B
Paychex
6.6
174 Ratings
19% below category average
Paylocity
8.1
1257 Ratings
2% above category average
New hire portal6.9166 Ratings8.31247 Ratings
Manager tracking tools6.3110 Ratings8.01013 Ratings
Recruiting / ATS
Comparison of Recruiting / ATS features of Product A and Product B
Paychex
5.1
70 Ratings
42% below category average
Paylocity
8.0
843 Ratings
2% above category average
Job Requisition Management5.536 Ratings8.2724 Ratings
Company Website Posting5.234 Ratings8.3752 Ratings
Publish to Social Media4.728 Ratings8.0586 Ratings
Job Search Site Posting5.135 Ratings8.1721 Ratings
Duplicate Candidate Prevention4.734 Ratings7.6622 Ratings
Applicant Tracking4.739 Ratings8.2780 Ratings
Notifications and Alerts5.964 Ratings7.9780 Ratings
Performance and Goals
Comparison of Performance and Goals features of Product A and Product B
Paychex
-
Ratings
Paylocity
7.7
711 Ratings
4% below category average
Corporate goal setting00 Ratings7.5567 Ratings
Individual goal setting00 Ratings7.8656 Ratings
Line-of sight-visibility00 Ratings7.6508 Ratings
Performance tracking00 Ratings7.9664 Ratings
Performance Management
Comparison of Performance Management features of Product A and Product B
Paychex
-
Ratings
Paylocity
7.7
891 Ratings
2% below category average
Performance plans00 Ratings7.4813 Ratings
Performance improvement plans00 Ratings7.3707 Ratings
Review status tracking00 Ratings7.9820 Ratings
Review reminders00 Ratings7.9827 Ratings
Multiple review frequency00 Ratings7.8702 Ratings
Succession Planning
Comparison of Succession Planning features of Product A and Product B
Paychex
-
Ratings
Paylocity
7.7
478 Ratings
2% below category average
Create succession plans/pools00 Ratings7.6327 Ratings
Candidate ranking00 Ratings7.5385 Ratings
Candidate search00 Ratings8.0432 Ratings
Candidate development00 Ratings7.5353 Ratings
Best Alternatives
PaychexPaylocity
Small Businesses
Dayforce Powerpay
Dayforce Powerpay
Score 9.3 out of 10
Dayforce Powerpay
Dayforce Powerpay
Score 9.3 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
PeopleStrong
PeopleStrong
Score 10.0 out of 10
PeopleStrong
PeopleStrong
Score 10.0 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
PaychexPaylocity
Likelihood to Recommend
6.6
(329 ratings)
8.3
(1586 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
7.1
(48 ratings)
8.8
(172 ratings)
Usability
7.1
(270 ratings)
8.2
(396 ratings)
Availability
5.5
(12 ratings)
8.9
(40 ratings)
Performance
7.1
(12 ratings)
8.4
(39 ratings)
Support Rating
6.4
(270 ratings)
6.7
(156 ratings)
In-Person Training
4.5
(1 ratings)
8.1
(6 ratings)
Online Training
8.3
(4 ratings)
8.1
(33 ratings)
Implementation Rating
5.3
(13 ratings)
6.7
(98 ratings)
Configurability
5.0
(9 ratings)
7.1
(31 ratings)
Contract Terms and Pricing Model
-
(0 ratings)
8.1
(28 ratings)
Ease of integration
9.1
(3 ratings)
7.4
(32 ratings)
Product Scalability
5.8
(12 ratings)
8.3
(39 ratings)
Professional Services
-
(0 ratings)
8.6
(20 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
5.6
(34 ratings)
7.7
(37 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
6.1
(35 ratings)
8.5
(35 ratings)
User Testimonials
PaychexPaylocity
Likelihood to Recommend
Paychex Inc.
Overall we have had a good experience. The unfortunate part of being with them for over 10 years is the change-over in support specialists and sometimes the lack of transparency when that occurs or the lack of personalized communication. However, the ease of use and streamlined services for reporting and recording payroll and onboarding employees is definitely a benefit to the service. Being able to pull reports and review past employees information can be invaluable at times. Knowing I have peace of mind when it comes to tax documentation because someone else is ensuring it is handled and handled correctly is very important
Read full review
Paylocity
I have already recommended Paylocity to another company and they are using it. The ability to streamline multiple platforms into one is the key feature as it saves time. Also, the speed of loading, the customer service help, and the ease of payroll processing are all reasons why we like utilizing Paylocity. It would be nice to have a referral bonus program as I was told there wasn't one when I referred the company and they signed up
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Pros
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
Paylocity
  • Payroll is made pretty easy. I love that we have the ability to log into payroll, we just upload the information from commissions, things like that where there are exceptions to a regular payroll run. It may make it very easy to do that, just a quick upload. Additionally, when we're in the payroll grid, it gives us the ability to just make quick changes to people's pay or their tax schedule, tax withholdings, things like that without having to go through a lot of different screens. It's just very easy to access just for the click of a button. Love that.
  • We talked about performance reviews, talked about payroll with benefits administration, it allows us to utilize EDI feeds with our benefit vendors so it creates a seamless, but we just enter the information into Paylocity and then it seamlessly provides that information to our vendors. That's been really helpful. And adjusting benefits is also very easy within Paylocity. I love the recent edition of compensation analysis information, so I'm able to go into the compensation module and look for jobs that are similar to a job title at our company. I can enter the job description, I give them what state that the person or the job is in, and it pops out compensation data. It gives me different options, so titles that might be similar. So if there's not something that's an exact fit, I'm able to find something really, really close. It's been a huge upgrade because before that I was having to use a different vendor and paying $400 per job and now it's significantly less expensive to Paylocity and I'm still getting great quality data. It's been very helpful.
Read full review
Cons
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
Paylocity
  • I'd like to see a forum in which users could discuss the platform, raise both questions and concerns. I feel that changes are done without enough input from users.
  • Improving hold time recently with customer service.
  • Accuracy of new 'graphic' payroll report - the new report is not complete when payroll is done, so it is unusable from my perspective. I rely on the preprocess payroll register. This is one of those 'improvements' that have not been positive in my experience.
Read full review
Likelihood to Renew
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
Paylocity
There are several technical issues we have experienced this past year with the employee onboarding process that we are still waiting to have resolved. Overall our experience with Paylocity has been positive, and we love how user-friendly and easy to navigate the system is. It has made all of our HR processes much more streamlined and efficient.
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Usability
Paychex Inc.
I think as both a payroll administrator and an employee who is paid from Paychex, the site is user friendly and easy to find the items I need. The support is knowledgeable and quick to assist as is not always the case with other payroll platforms. The payroll options for checks and templates, gross-up, etc is easy to use and makes changes easy to do.
Read full review
Paylocity
I simply love Paylocity! We have run into some issues, but no company is going to be perfect. The flow of the modules is really nice, no double entry of data. The Time & Labor flows into Payroll nicely and Benefits flows into the employees Pay Setup which goes onto the employees paycheck with little to no issues.
Read full review
Reliability and Availability
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
Paylocity
Over the last 3 years, we've only had one major service issue that rendered Airbase unusable for us for about 24 hours. That said, they navigated the SVB bank crisis very well and made sure funds were available during that time.
Read full review
Performance
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.
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Paylocity
We had some minor hiccups throughout the year but they have all been fixable. Paylocity integrates well with our 401k provider, Principal, and our benefits, OneDigital. It makes it simple to house everything and have it all connected. It doesn't slow anything down to have Principal integrated. It makes it more efficient
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Support Rating
Paychex Inc.
In our experience, Support is slow to respond. They always eventually resolve issues and answer questions, but it almost always takes time. This has occasionally been a problem for us. However, in the instances where it was a problem, they made it right by processing a payroll overnight (instead of the usual 2 day requirement) in one case, and in another, they processed a separate payroll at no charge.
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Paylocity
It is very hard to get answers to your questions, you cannot speak to someone without days of requesting assistance or answers and then eventually can get a call back and then it is usually resolved fairly quickly. But NOT easy to get that help.
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In-Person Training
Paychex Inc.
We did online training only
Read full review
Paylocity
I didn't have in-person training, but I'm sure it was just as great as any other training/assistance Paylocity provides. Paylocity customer service is always available. You never have to be on hold and their answers are always accurate and timely. Documents in the help section are helpful as well. My in-person training was conducted y one of our employees who was involved in the initial set-up and training of all employees. She was excellent.
Read full review
Online Training
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.
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Paylocity
Our rep was very thorough and made sure we fully understood the software before turning us loose alone. Paylocity was very good to do periodic check ins to ensure we understood the features and answered any questions we had. The training reps are very well trained and are very patient with clients.
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Implementation Rating
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
Paylocity
Implementation was a bit bumpy and Paylocity team not always available for next steps and/or questions. I feel like Paylocity could have done a better job in their fact finding as far as what we were currently doing, our payroll policies and needs, etc. so that we would have run into less issues as we moved forward.
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Alternatives Considered
Paychex Inc.
We still use QB Desktop Pro to maintain a Check Register / Overall Balance for the company, but once having tried QB Payroll Online for about 3 months prior to finding Paychex Flex I can tell you that there's just no comparison. QB online is VERY EXPENSIVE and not so user-friendly. I hated every minute of those 6 payrolls we ran through QB online.
Read full review
Paylocity
ADP was very similar to the way Paylocity is, but I seem to favor Paylocity to be honest. Miter was VERY difficult to use and set up. I wouldn't ever consider using that software ever again. I didn't like a lot of aspect Miter had to offer either. Paylocity would always be my choice.
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Contract Terms and Pricing Model
Paychex Inc.
No answers on this topic
Paylocity
Everyone wants a good deal of course. We thought we did ok and felt you still made your money also
Read full review
Scalability
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
Paylocity
We have gone from a medium sized company to a larger company with no issues whatsoever with Paylocity being able to keep up or do what we need it to do for the size of our needs. In fact, it does more than we even use at this juncture
Read full review
Professional Services
Paychex Inc.
No answers on this topic
Paylocity
Some are knowledgable others not as much and sometimes instead of helping you fix the issue will just give you some directions and expect you to try to figure it out yourself. Also, when your Account Manager needs to escliate the issue to another group, it can take a long time for them to get to your issue and there's no commuication.
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Return on Investment
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
Paylocity
  • Paylocity has helped us with recruitment by streamlining the process and making it efficient. It is saving me time.
  • Paylocity has also helped us with compensation so we can create a fair and robust compensation plan.
  • I also like using the data insights feature, which helps me keep track of over time, payroll and benefits costs, and retention numbers. This also saves me time as it is all in one place.
Read full review
ScreenShots

Paychex Screenshots

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

Paylocity Screenshots

Screenshot of a view of real-time employee data and performance metrics used to uncover and analyze trends. This creates an impactful understanding of the business, increase retention, understand labor costs, and plan for changes.Screenshot of where to automate manual processes with Paylocity's self-serve automation engine, Workflows. Users can implement routines for time-consuming manual tasks.Screenshot of where to manage and comply with employment law. Paylocity's HR Compliance solution helps users to stay on track and view important employee compliance items, from Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO), healthcare, and compensation.Screenshot of how Paylocity Recruiting can automate hiring processes. amplify outreach, showcase a company's culture, and build stronger candidate connections to swiftly fill positions.Screenshot of recognition and rewards in Paylocity.