Paychex vs. Paylocity

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Paychex
Score 6.7 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.
$59
per month/+$4 per employee
Paylocity
Score 8.2 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 Go
$59
per month/+$4 per employee
Paychex Flex Service
Contact sales team
Paychex Flex Enterprise
Contact sales team
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
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
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 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
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
6.6
270 Ratings
21% below category average
Paylocity
7.9
1477 Ratings
3% below category average
Employee demographic data7.8217 Ratings8.41407 Ratings
Employment history8.1241 Ratings8.21360 Ratings
Job profiles and administration7.7175 Ratings7.91267 Ratings
Workflow for transfers, promotions, pay raises, etc.7.6170 Ratings7.71279 Ratings
Organizational charting1.01 Ratings7.51179 Ratings
Organization and location management7.5156 Ratings8.01159 Ratings
Compliance data (COBRA, OSHA, etc.)6.7145 Ratings7.5988 Ratings
Payroll Management
Comparison of Payroll Management features of Product A and Product B
Paychex
7.6
312 Ratings
7% below category average
Paylocity
8.3
1415 Ratings
2% above category average
Pay calculation8.1294 Ratings8.71382 Ratings
Off-cycle/On-Demand payment6.9152 Ratings8.71079 Ratings
Benefit plan administration6.9173 Ratings7.6957 Ratings
Direct deposit files8.3293 Ratings8.91376 Ratings
Salary revision and increment management7.9208 Ratings8.31113 Ratings
Reimbursement management7.6117 Ratings7.8703 Ratings
Support for external payroll vendors00 Ratings7.9699 Ratings
Leave and Attendance Management
Comparison of Leave and Attendance Management features of Product A and Product B
Paychex
7.3
159 Ratings
11% below category average
Paylocity
7.6
1197 Ratings
7% below category average
Approval workflow7.3113 Ratings7.71065 Ratings
Balance details7.5151 Ratings7.41144 Ratings
Annual carry-forward and encashment7.0119 Ratings7.7914 Ratings
Employee Self Service
Comparison of Employee Self Service features of Product A and Product B
Paychex
7.8
268 Ratings
5% below category average
Paylocity
8.4
1423 Ratings
2% above category average
View and generate pay and benefit information7.8246 Ratings8.61387 Ratings
Update personal information7.9258 Ratings8.71411 Ratings
View company policy documentation7.6120 Ratings8.11151 Ratings
View job history7.8182 Ratings8.51239 Ratings
Employee recognition00 Ratings8.21047 Ratings
Asset Management
Comparison of Asset Management features of Product A and Product B
Paychex
5.1
43 Ratings
45% below category average
Paylocity
7.4
459 Ratings
8% below category average
Tracking of all physical assets5.143 Ratings7.4459 Ratings
HR Reporting
Comparison of HR Reporting features of Product A and Product B
Paychex
6.0
177 Ratings
23% below category average
Paylocity
7.3
1317 Ratings
3% below category average
Report builder6.4147 Ratings7.31264 Ratings
Pre-built reports6.4165 Ratings7.51283 Ratings
Ability to combine HR data with external data5.191 Ratings7.2841 Ratings
Onboarding
Comparison of Onboarding features of Product A and Product B
Paychex
6.2
172 Ratings
25% below category average
Paylocity
8.2
1235 Ratings
3% above category average
New hire portal6.7164 Ratings8.31225 Ratings
Manager tracking tools5.8107 Ratings8.1995 Ratings
Recruiting / ATS
Comparison of Recruiting / ATS features of Product A and Product B
Paychex
5.2
69 Ratings
38% below category average
Paylocity
8.0
829 Ratings
4% above category average
Job Requisition Management5.636 Ratings8.1712 Ratings
Company Website Posting5.434 Ratings8.2741 Ratings
Publish to Social Media4.828 Ratings8.0577 Ratings
Job Search Site Posting5.235 Ratings8.1709 Ratings
Duplicate Candidate Prevention4.934 Ratings7.6610 Ratings
Applicant Tracking4.939 Ratings8.2768 Ratings
Notifications and Alerts5.663 Ratings7.9766 Ratings
Performance and Goals
Comparison of Performance and Goals features of Product A and Product B
Paychex
-
Ratings
Paylocity
7.7
701 Ratings
4% below category average
Corporate goal setting00 Ratings7.6561 Ratings
Individual goal setting00 Ratings7.8647 Ratings
Line-of sight-visibility00 Ratings7.7501 Ratings
Performance tracking00 Ratings7.9656 Ratings
Performance Management
Comparison of Performance Management features of Product A and Product B
Paychex
-
Ratings
Paylocity
7.6
877 Ratings
4% below category average
Performance plans00 Ratings7.4800 Ratings
Performance improvement plans00 Ratings7.3694 Ratings
Review status tracking00 Ratings7.8807 Ratings
Review reminders00 Ratings7.8814 Ratings
Multiple review frequency00 Ratings7.7689 Ratings
Succession Planning
Comparison of Succession Planning features of Product A and Product B
Paychex
-
Ratings
Paylocity
7.6
471 Ratings
3% below category average
Create succession plans/pools00 Ratings7.3323 Ratings
Candidate ranking00 Ratings7.5381 Ratings
Candidate search00 Ratings8.0427 Ratings
Candidate development00 Ratings7.6350 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 9.2 out of 10
Paypro Workforce Management
Paypro Workforce Management
Score 9.2 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
6.5
(323 ratings)
8.4
(1475 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
1.3
(44 ratings)
8.8
(166 ratings)
Usability
6.8
(264 ratings)
8.3
(281 ratings)
Availability
5.7
(12 ratings)
8.9
(35 ratings)
Performance
7.1
(12 ratings)
8.4
(34 ratings)
Support Rating
6.4
(265 ratings)
7.0
(148 ratings)
In-Person Training
4.5
(1 ratings)
8.1
(6 ratings)
Online Training
8.3
(4 ratings)
7.9
(29 ratings)
Implementation Rating
5.5
(13 ratings)
7.0
(92 ratings)
Configurability
5.1
(9 ratings)
6.9
(25 ratings)
Contract Terms and Pricing Model
-
(0 ratings)
8.3
(24 ratings)
Ease of integration
9.1
(3 ratings)
7.2
(28 ratings)
Product Scalability
6.3
(12 ratings)
8.2
(34 ratings)
Professional Services
-
(0 ratings)
8.7
(18 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
2.4
(33 ratings)
7.3
(34 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
3.3
(34 ratings)
8.4
(31 ratings)
User Testimonials
PaychexPaylocity
Likelihood to Recommend
Paychex Inc.
It is a fantastic tool for having an all-in-one package. Employees can monitor their pay stubs, monitor their 401 (k) balance, sign up and manage employee benefit programs, and more. The software is easy to access on a computer or smartphone, making it very accessible. From what we've observed, even with a staff ranging from young to old, everyone has been catching on pretty easily.
Read full review
Paylocity
Paylocity makes record keeping and payroll so simple. The times are able to be imported from time keeping saving tons of time and frustration. Going from manual entries to a more automated system has saved so much time. Whether a company is small or large or there are multiple companies that you take care of the system will work for you.
Read full review
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.
  • When it comes to audit reports, Paychex Flex could improve on helping clients locate the correct reports for audit purposes more easily
  • When a client receives a discount, it would be helpful if the discount were automatically provided each year, or if the Paychex rep proactively reached out to the client first, versus the client having to call and request that the discount continue.
  • It would be helpful if the invoice was emailed to the client versus the client logging in to access invoices.
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.
Read full review
Usability
Paychex Inc.
Employee usability is very good and user-friendly. For the most part, the employer usability is good, but for complicated rules and policies, it requires technical assistance, which in our case, was clunky and slow in implementation. Once is place, everything works as it should
Read full review
Paylocity
I love Paylocity. As I have stated before I love the user friendliness of the system. I have used more than four different payroll systems during my career, and I have found Paylocity to be the most user friendly of all the systems I have used. I was able to catch on within two days of my training. The system has a lot of features I use on a daily basis and over the years I have not had a desire to change systems.
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.
Read full review
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
Read full review
Support Rating
Paychex Inc.
Chat has been helpful but the person I chat with isn't always able to help me with my questions. Phone support is ok, depending on your payroll specialist. We have a great one currently, but the few before that were never available and did not return calls.
Read full review
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.
Read full review
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.
Read full review
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.
Read full review
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.
Read full review
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
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 using Paylocity for everything.
Read full review
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 Screenshot of Screenshot of

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.