Paylocity vs. Square Payroll

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Paylocity
Score 7.8 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
Square Payroll
Score 6.1 out of 10
N/A
Square Payroll is a payroll solution for hourly employees, from Square headquartered in San Francisco, California.N/A
Pricing
PaylocitySquare Payroll
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
PaylocitySquare Payroll
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
PaylocitySquare Payroll
Considered Both Products
Paylocity
Chose Paylocity
Paylocity was the most affordable option that offered a service to help us get set up in states across the US. They have a background check partner and offer free integration with Employee Navigator, which was important to us. Justworks PEO was a close second, but couldn't …
Chose Paylocity
The sales staff was very informative, listened to our needs, and presented us with this information without being pushy. Other companies seemed to be more interested in selling while losing track of our requirements. Our sales person was extremely informative and brought very …
Square Payroll

No answer on this topic

Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
PaylocitySquare Payroll
Human Resource Management
Comparison of Human Resource Management features of Product A and Product B
Paylocity
7.8
859 Ratings
0% below category average
Square Payroll
-
Ratings
Employee demographic data8.5810 Ratings00 Ratings
Employment history8.2791 Ratings00 Ratings
Job profiles and administration7.8726 Ratings00 Ratings
Workflow for transfers, promotions, pay raises, etc.7.6739 Ratings00 Ratings
Organizational charting7.1677 Ratings00 Ratings
Organization and location management7.8659 Ratings00 Ratings
Compliance data (COBRA, OSHA, etc.)7.5565 Ratings00 Ratings
Payroll Management
Comparison of Payroll Management features of Product A and Product B
Paylocity
8.1
847 Ratings
1% above category average
Square Payroll
7.8
6 Ratings
6% below category average
Pay calculation8.6823 Ratings8.96 Ratings
Support for external payroll vendors7.3390 Ratings8.65 Ratings
Off-cycle/On-Demand payment8.5593 Ratings4.44 Ratings
Benefit plan administration7.2564 Ratings9.15 Ratings
Direct deposit files8.9822 Ratings7.06 Ratings
Salary revision and increment management8.2650 Ratings8.94 Ratings
Reimbursement management7.9403 Ratings7.85 Ratings
Leave and Attendance Management
Comparison of Leave and Attendance Management features of Product A and Product B
Paylocity
7.6
710 Ratings
6% below category average
Square Payroll
-
Ratings
Approval workflow7.9631 Ratings00 Ratings
Balance details7.4678 Ratings00 Ratings
Annual carry-forward and encashment7.4528 Ratings00 Ratings
Employee Self Service
Comparison of Employee Self Service features of Product A and Product B
Paylocity
8.3
859 Ratings
2% above category average
Square Payroll
-
Ratings
View and generate pay and benefit information8.5836 Ratings00 Ratings
Update personal information8.6850 Ratings00 Ratings
View company policy documentation8.0676 Ratings00 Ratings
Employee recognition8.3592 Ratings00 Ratings
View job history8.3714 Ratings00 Ratings
Asset Management
Comparison of Asset Management features of Product A and Product B
Paylocity
7.5
240 Ratings
3% below category average
Square Payroll
-
Ratings
Tracking of all physical assets7.5240 Ratings00 Ratings
HR Reporting
Comparison of HR Reporting features of Product A and Product B
Paylocity
7.0
785 Ratings
8% below category average
Square Payroll
-
Ratings
Report builder7.0751 Ratings00 Ratings
Pre-built reports7.4765 Ratings00 Ratings
Ability to combine HR data with external data6.5459 Ratings00 Ratings
Onboarding
Comparison of Onboarding features of Product A and Product B
Paylocity
8.2
731 Ratings
2% above category average
Square Payroll
-
Ratings
New hire portal8.3727 Ratings00 Ratings
Manager tracking tools8.0568 Ratings00 Ratings
Performance and Goals
Comparison of Performance and Goals features of Product A and Product B
Paylocity
7.4
381 Ratings
10% below category average
Square Payroll
-
Ratings
Corporate goal setting7.4289 Ratings00 Ratings
Individual goal setting7.4352 Ratings00 Ratings
Line-of sight-visibility7.3250 Ratings00 Ratings
Performance tracking7.4354 Ratings00 Ratings
Performance Management
Comparison of Performance Management features of Product A and Product B
Paylocity
7.4
490 Ratings
7% below category average
Square Payroll
-
Ratings
Performance plans7.2439 Ratings00 Ratings
Performance improvement plans7.2364 Ratings00 Ratings
Review status tracking7.4451 Ratings00 Ratings
Review reminders7.5453 Ratings00 Ratings
Multiple review frequency7.6370 Ratings00 Ratings
Succession Planning
Comparison of Succession Planning features of Product A and Product B
Paylocity
7.1
225 Ratings
10% below category average
Square Payroll
-
Ratings
Create succession plans/pools6.7148 Ratings00 Ratings
Candidate ranking7.1183 Ratings00 Ratings
Candidate search7.4205 Ratings00 Ratings
Candidate development7.4165 Ratings00 Ratings
Recruiting / ATS
Comparison of Recruiting / ATS features of Product A and Product B
Paylocity
7.7
462 Ratings
1% below category average
Square Payroll
-
Ratings
Job Requisition Management7.8379 Ratings00 Ratings
Company Website Posting8.1405 Ratings00 Ratings
Publish to Social Media7.7312 Ratings00 Ratings
Job Search Site Posting7.7379 Ratings00 Ratings
Duplicate Candidate Prevention7.0317 Ratings00 Ratings
Applicant Tracking8.0424 Ratings00 Ratings
Notifications and Alerts7.9422 Ratings00 Ratings
Best Alternatives
PaylocitySquare Payroll
Small Businesses
Patriot Software
Patriot Software
Score 9.0 out of 10
Patriot Software
Patriot Software
Score 9.0 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Paypro Workforce Management
Paypro Workforce Management
Score 9.5 out of 10
Paypro Workforce Management
Paypro Workforce Management
Score 9.5 out of 10
Enterprises
Infor Human Resources
Infor Human Resources
Score 7.3 out of 10
Infor Human Resources
Infor Human Resources
Score 7.3 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
PaylocitySquare Payroll
Likelihood to Recommend
7.7
(894 ratings)
4.7
(8 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
8.9
(85 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Usability
8.5
(59 ratings)
9.0
(1 ratings)
Availability
8.8
(9 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Performance
9.4
(9 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
7.2
(80 ratings)
9.0
(1 ratings)
Online Training
8.3
(10 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
8.2
(34 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Configurability
8.3
(7 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Contract Terms and Pricing Model
8.1
(4 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Ease of integration
6.6
(7 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
8.8
(8 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Professional Services
9.1
(4 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
7.3
(7 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
9.0
(6 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
PaylocitySquare Payroll
Likelihood to Recommend
Paylocity
Paylocity works well for our organization. Ease of use for our managers and employees is very important. Makes it easier for us in HR to manage. Time and attendance works very well. Efficient and effective. Payroll runs very smoothly. We appreciate the performance and compensation module for tracking employees performance, journals and getting feedback and annual compensation.
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Block, Inc (Square)
Square is an amazing platform to have total control over the payroll of all the employees of a company or a specific sector. This platform has a very good functionality to collect exact information on how long each employee works, that is one of its most outstanding characteristics, because it monitors work schedules and overtime and generates detailed reports on the work time of each employee. Square does not allow to schedule payments, that is one of the main problems, however, I consider that it is a very good option for small and medium-sized companies that are looking for a way to have more exact administrative control over the working hours of all their employees. It is a software that works in the cloud, so all the work information that is collected will remain safe without any risk of loss.
Read full review
Pros
Paylocity
  • Customer Service is always helpful with little wait time.
  • Always improving; for example, the recent change to processing payroll. So much easier.
  • Onboarding makes it simple and the fact that the company can personalize the messaging to new hires allows us to make it more personalized.
  • Having an assigned account manager regardless of company size is definitely a plus.
Read full review
Block, Inc (Square)
  • 1099 contractor payments are easy, and they provide you with the IRS filing as part of the service.
  • Direct deposit/debit from your already connected account to the employee.
  • Reporting and management features are simple yet inclusive.
  • Low cost compared to alternative solutions.
Read full review
Cons
Paylocity
  • Recruiting piece/ATS could be improved.
  • A candidate being able to save progress on their application is really a must as they can't leave and come back to their application without having to restart, i.e. if they need to get a phone number for a reference for example.
  • Could use more room in entering the job for internal notes.
  • Quirky when doing cut and paste of job details that leaves spaces that aren't in the document being pasted.
Read full review
Block, Inc (Square)
  • It's a bit pricey for larger companies at $5 per person paid per month.
  • Has a bit of a learning curve that seems steeper than necessary
  • reports can be confusing at first
Read full review
Likelihood to Renew
Paylocity
We have had many issues with the way our platform was set up at implementation that still continue to plague us. In addition, our benefits, in particular our FSA, have been mis-managed causing a balance due from an employee (and also a lot of work for our accounting and HR team, as well as stress for the employee). Our service rep continues to answer incorrectly on many fronts (original response is usually check out this paylocity article, vs. helping) and recently our COBRA management was mishandled (not adding Dental to a person on Cobra who had requested it). So- all in all...we are not particularly happy w/ Paylocity
Read full review
Block, Inc (Square)
No answers on this topic
Usability
Paylocity
Overall, in my experience, Paylocity has been easy to use for both staff and administrators. First, the staff has an application and inputting Paid Time Off is easy to do. I then get an alert on my app and I am able to approve it on the spot from my app that gives me access as an employee and an administrator without having to use multiple apps or logins. As an administrator I think the portal is easy to use, Paylocity did a great job showing me tools and rolling out training classes before rollout.
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Block, Inc (Square)
It could use a mobile-friendly interface. Other than that it's a simple layout and non-cluttered which allows you to get done what you need to get done. No unnecessary dodads or distractions.
Read full review
Reliability and Availability
Paylocity
Paylocity support is always available and I never have to wait endlessly on hold. If our dedicated account manage is not available, there is an entire team assigned to our account. Every one of them is knowledgeable about our organization and Paylocity's process.
Read full review
Block, Inc (Square)
No answers on this topic
Performance
Paylocity
pages load in an acceptable amount of time, reports come back quickly, but integration is very complicated and hasn't been possible
Read full review
Block, Inc (Square)
No answers on this topic
Support Rating
Paylocity
Everyone wants immediate assistance. Awaiting a response from an email only to ask 2-3 more questions is time consuming. Within the first six months of setup, I would rather respond back to the instructors who provided me the training in each category of my contract.
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Block, Inc (Square)
I think they have quick and helpful customer service reps, however, I give them a 9 because I have had to wait on hold for long periods of time before.
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Online Training
Paylocity
The training was live online, but was with a group of other companies. We did not receive any personalized training with our team. Whenever we would ask for training, we would be sent a peak article link or a video. It felt like the reps we dealt with didn't know the answer to the questions.
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Block, Inc (Square)
No answers on this topic
Implementation Rating
Paylocity
I had gone through an implementation process of another HR platform (Paycom) in my previous job and was traumatized, it was painful. I was surprised how easy and fast it was with Paylocity, the team was very helpful and set us up for success
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Block, Inc (Square)
No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
Paylocity
We honestly had a program that only kept track of our Demographics, salaries, etc. then all of our Payroll was done on paper with paper leave slips etc. When I saw Paylocity, I was very excited about how easy it is/would be to use. [...] Our Paylocity rep that I spoke to was super GREAT in the explanation of Paylocity and I didn't even shop around much.
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Block, Inc (Square)
I liked patriot, but I found it to be more confusing than Square and took me too much time to setup. I setup Square Payroll in about an hour. I would also say the Square interface made more sense to me. I also like how Square offers more things like benefits, etc. that can be added on.
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Contract Terms and Pricing Model
Paylocity
I wasn't involved in the sales process. I joined the organization after Paylocity was implemented.
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Block, Inc (Square)
No answers on this topic
Scalability
Paylocity
You have an account manager assigned to you on a daily basis but that person is barely available to you
Read full review
Block, Inc (Square)
No answers on this topic
Professional Services
Paylocity
Support is quick and proffessional
Read full review
Block, Inc (Square)
No answers on this topic
Return on Investment
Paylocity
  • Definitely more consistent processes. Everything is very user friendly and it reduces the amount of time it has taken us in the past before we started using Paylocity. Everything flows super smoothly.
  • We have an improved retention since we have used Paylocity. Before hand, many employees thought it was difficult to find anything like tax forms, pay stubs, benefit elections, etc. when we used other platforms before we implemented our data into Paylocity.
  • Costs have been reduced and the decision-making process has improved and got quicker. Before Paylocity, it would take at least a week to get a salary increase approved, or a job title change approved. Now, it take less than a day and is super easy.
Read full review
Block, Inc (Square)
  • Square Payroll has dramatically reduced the time it takes to process payroll.
  • We could have a faster payroll with the Square POS integration for commission, but that is not something we've implemented yet.
Read full review
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