Paychex vs. PlanSource

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
PlanSource
Score 5.6 out of 10
N/A
PlanSource BenefitsOne is an employee benefits engagement platform, from PlanSource headquartered in Orlando, Florida. The solution presents streamlined workflows and real-time integrations, as well as a mobile-friendly enrollment experience that’s designed to maximize HR efficiency and plan adoption.N/A
Pricing
PaychexPlanSource
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
PaychexPlanSource
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeRequiredNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
PaychexPlanSource
Features
PaychexPlanSource
Human Resource Management
Comparison of Human Resource Management features of Product A and Product B
Paychex
7.1
274 Ratings
13% below category average
PlanSource
-
Ratings
Employee demographic data7.7221 Ratings00 Ratings
Employment history8.0244 Ratings00 Ratings
Job profiles and administration7.7179 Ratings00 Ratings
Workflow for transfers, promotions, pay raises, etc.7.8174 Ratings00 Ratings
Organizational charting5.03 Ratings00 Ratings
Organization and location management7.1160 Ratings00 Ratings
Compliance data (COBRA, OSHA, etc.)6.2147 Ratings00 Ratings
Payroll Management
Comparison of Payroll Management features of Product A and Product B
Paychex
7.4
315 Ratings
9% below category average
PlanSource
-
Ratings
Pay calculation7.8297 Ratings00 Ratings
Support for external payroll vendors6.52 Ratings00 Ratings
Off-cycle/On-Demand payment7.2155 Ratings00 Ratings
Benefit plan administration7.1176 Ratings00 Ratings
Direct deposit files8.3296 Ratings00 Ratings
Salary revision and increment management7.9211 Ratings00 Ratings
Reimbursement management7.2120 Ratings00 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
PlanSource
-
Ratings
Approval workflow7.3113 Ratings00 Ratings
Balance details7.4151 Ratings00 Ratings
Annual carry-forward and encashment6.9119 Ratings00 Ratings
Employee Self Service
Comparison of Employee Self Service features of Product A and Product B
Paychex
6.1
272 Ratings
29% below category average
PlanSource
-
Ratings
View and generate pay and benefit information7.9250 Ratings00 Ratings
Update personal information7.4262 Ratings00 Ratings
View company policy documentation7.1123 Ratings00 Ratings
Employee recognition1.01 Ratings00 Ratings
View job history7.2186 Ratings00 Ratings
Asset Management
Comparison of Asset Management features of Product A and Product B
Paychex
4.8
43 Ratings
50% below category average
PlanSource
-
Ratings
Tracking of all physical assets4.843 Ratings00 Ratings
HR Reporting
Comparison of HR Reporting features of Product A and Product B
Paychex
5.7
178 Ratings
28% below category average
PlanSource
-
Ratings
Report builder6.2148 Ratings00 Ratings
Pre-built reports6.5166 Ratings00 Ratings
Ability to combine HR data with external data4.592 Ratings00 Ratings
Onboarding
Comparison of Onboarding features of Product A and Product B
Paychex
6.6
174 Ratings
19% below category average
PlanSource
-
Ratings
New hire portal6.9166 Ratings00 Ratings
Manager tracking tools6.3110 Ratings00 Ratings
Succession Planning
Comparison of Succession Planning features of Product A and Product B
Paychex
7.0
1 Ratings
11% below category average
PlanSource
-
Ratings
Candidate search7.01 Ratings00 Ratings
Recruiting / ATS
Comparison of Recruiting / ATS features of Product A and Product B
Paychex
5.3
71 Ratings
38% below category average
PlanSource
-
Ratings
Job Requisition Management5.137 Ratings00 Ratings
Company Website Posting5.234 Ratings00 Ratings
Publish to Social Media5.629 Ratings00 Ratings
Job Search Site Posting5.936 Ratings00 Ratings
Duplicate Candidate Prevention4.634 Ratings00 Ratings
Applicant Tracking4.740 Ratings00 Ratings
Notifications and Alerts6.065 Ratings00 Ratings
User Ratings
PaychexPlanSource
Likelihood to Recommend
6.5
(330 ratings)
7.3
(1 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
7.1
(48 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Usability
7.0
(271 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Availability
5.4
(12 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Performance
7.1
(12 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
6.3
(271 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
In-Person Training
4.5
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Online Training
8.3
(4 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
5.3
(13 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Configurability
5.0
(9 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Ease of integration
9.1
(3 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
5.7
(12 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
5.6
(34 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
6.1
(35 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
PaychexPlanSource
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
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PlanSource
Less appropriate for small groups with one very simple health plan. More appropriate for 20+ EE groups with multiple plans and supplementary benefits.
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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
PlanSource
  • Puts all of your healthcare selections in one place making changes, drops, and additions are taken care of in one place instead of having to contact every vendor individually.
  • Keeps an accurate record of real time enrollment which helps when you are in an account manager role and handling client questions concerning their health plans.
  • Provides tools to keep the client and yourself organized. Several Open Enrollment messaging tools and places to add any educational documents for the different health plans.
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.
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PlanSource
  • The more advanced options, such as HCM, could have a slightly more user-friendly dashboard for users who are not daily computer users.
  • Needs to be easier to customize the homepage. Clients are always interested in adding in their own pictures, colors, welcome message position, etc.
  • Needs to have a function where the employer can send a document for the employee to sign, open and capture the employee's signature, send back to the employer and save in the employee file.
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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
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PlanSource
No answers on this topic
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.
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PlanSource
No answers on this topic
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.
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PlanSource
No answers on this topic
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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PlanSource
No answers on this topic
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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PlanSource
No answers on this topic
In-Person Training
Paychex Inc.
We did online training only
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PlanSource
No answers on this topic
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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PlanSource
No answers on this topic
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.
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PlanSource
No answers on this topic
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.
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PlanSource
I have looked at GoCo, Kronos and Zenefits. I selected PlanSource because I felt it was the most customizable for a variety of clients across the board. The interface seemed functional but slightly professional looking than it competitors. PlanSource also seemed well established and that it was capable of handling my client needs.
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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
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PlanSource
No answers on this topic
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
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PlanSource
  • Positive - Reduces time spent contacting vendors of enrollment changes. When you are dealing with several hundred employees and their dependents across several vendors that time starts to add up.
  • Positive - Point of value when trying to gain or up sell a client.
  • Negative - You do need to meet the minimum number of people on the platform as per your contact to avoid having to pay a fee to PlanSource. If one of your larger clients leaves that could be a potential issue.
Read full review
ScreenShots

Paychex Screenshots

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