QuickBooks Payroll costs $50 a month plus $7 per employee on its cheapest tier, $88 plus $13 on Premium and $134 plus $17 on Elite. Those are list prices from Intuit’s pricing and disclosures pages, checked October 27, 2026. Intuit now sells the product as QuickBooks Workforce, so the tiers formerly called Payroll Core, Premium and Elite are now Workforce Payroll, Workforce Premium and Workforce Elite. For a 15-person, single-state team that works out to $155, $283 or $389 a month.
QuickBooks Payroll pricing: what the numbers mean
The headline offer is “50% off for 3 months.” It applies only to the base price, not to per-employee fees, per-contractor fees or state filing fees, according to Intuit’s products page. The 30-day free trial covers only the base price too. In dollars, the promo saves $75 on Workforce Payroll ($25 × 3 months), $132 on Premium and $201 on Elite. On a $1,860-a-year bill that’s real money, but not a reason to pick a tier (our view).
We checked these figures on October 27, 2026 on Intuit’s main pricing page, the bundle checkout and the payroll disclosures: all showed $7, $13 and $17 per employee. Some older cached versions of the pricing page circulated lower per-employee rates, so confirm the figure on your own checkout screen before you buy.
Also note Intuit’s disclosures say pricing is subject to change without notice. A June 2026 Intuit Community thread complains about an upcoming Elite per-worker increase.
What each QuickBooks Workforce tier adds
Workforce Payroll ($50 + $7). Full-service payroll with automated tax filings and forms, one state filing included, unlimited 1099 e-filing, and next-day direct deposit if you run payroll by 5:00 PM.
Workforce Premium ($88 + $13). Everything above, plus:
- Same-day direct deposit for employees if you run payroll by 7:00 AM PT
- QuickBooks Time Premium for time tracking
- An expert review of your payroll setup
- Automated I-9s and weekend phone and chat support
Workforce Elite ($134 + $17). Everything in Premium, plus:
- Full payroll setup by an expert
- QuickBooks Time Elite
- Tax penalty protection up to $25,000 a year
The penalty protection has conditions. You need automated taxes and forms turned on, and you must send Intuit the notice within 15 days of its date (disclosures).
Benefits administration on Premium and Elite requires 20 or more employees, per Intuit’s products page.
QuickBooks Payroll Core vs Premium: is the upgrade worth it?
The upgrade costs $38 more in base fee plus $6 per employee. That’s $68 a month at 5 employees, $128 at 15 and $278 at 40.
Our decision rule: Premium pays for itself if you would otherwise buy a separate time-tracking tool and you value same-day deposit or weekend support. If you track hours on paper or in a spreadsheet and Friday deposits are fine, Workforce Payroll already includes next-day deposit, which several competitors charge extra for. Elite’s $25,000 penalty protection is insurance. It’s worth it if a single tax notice would hurt you more than about $1,270 a year at 15 employees ($106 a month), the gap between Premium and Elite.
QuickBooks payroll cost at 5, 15 and 40 employees
List price, before taxes and add-ons, single state, monthly:
| Employees | Workforce Payroll ($50 + $7) | Workforce Premium ($88 + $13) | Workforce Elite ($134 + $17) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | $50 + $35 = $85 | $88 + $65 = $153 | $134 + $85 = $219 |
| 15 | $50 + $105 = $155 | $88 + $195 = $283 | $134 + $255 = $389 |
| 40 | $50 + $280 = $330 | $88 + $520 = $608 | $134 + $680 = $814 |
Over a year, the 15-person team pays $1,860, $3,396 or $4,668. The per-employee fee drives the bill: at 40 employees it is 85% of the Workforce Payroll total. If you expect to grow, model next year’s headcount, not this year’s.
The extra costs in the QuickBooks payroll fine print
- Additional states: $12 a month per state on Workforce Payroll and Premium; one state is included. A 15-person team with employees in three states pays $155 + $24 = $179 on the cheapest tier.
- Contractors on an employee plan: contractor direct deposit payments are billed at the same $7, $13 or $17 tier rate as employees.
- Contractor Payments (contractors only): $25 a month including 20 contractors, then $2 per additional contractor (Intuit). Thirty contractors costs $25 + $20 = $45. Next-day contractor deposit is an extra fee Intuit does not publish.
- Background checks: from $29.99 per report.
- QuickBooks Online accounting: sold separately (see below).
- Leaving: no annual contract and no stated cancellation fee. Cancellation takes effect at the end of the billing period with no pro-rated refund. If you need Intuit to prepare year-end filings or W-2s after you cancel, that’s $150 (Intuit help). Our guide to switching payroll providers covers how to time a move so you avoid that fee.
Do you need QuickBooks Online? (QBO payroll vs payroll only)
Intuit’s bundle checkout runs “Pick a payroll plan, Add accounting, Checkout,” and the pricing page links to “Get payroll only.” Intuit’s help center documents payroll-only Workforce subscriptions. One help article tells Desktop users to buy one, and the usage-limits article says payroll-only subscribers get 5 billable users.
So on paper you can buy QuickBooks payroll without QuickBooks Online accounting. What we could not confirm without completing a checkout is whether payroll-only is priced the same as the figures above. If you don’t use QuickBooks for your books, the main argument for QuickBooks Payroll, data flowing straight into your ledger, mostly disappears (our view).
QuickBooks Payroll vs Gusto, OnPay and Patriot on price
Published list prices for full-service payroll, single state, monthly:
| Employees | QuickBooks Workforce Payroll ($50 + $7) | Gusto Simple ($49 + $6) | OnPay ($49 + $6) | Patriot Full Service ($37 + $5) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | $85 | $79 | $79 | $62 |
| 15 | $155 | $139 | $139 | $112 |
| 40 | $330 | $289 | $289 | $237 |
On price alone QuickBooks is the most expensive of the four at every size. Two details change the picture:
- Deposit speed. QuickBooks includes next-day direct deposit on its cheapest tier. Gusto Simple charges $15 a month + $3 per person for next-day pay (Gusto), which brings it to $199 at 15 employees, above QuickBooks. OnPay runs on a 2- or 4-day schedule with no faster option published. Patriot’s standard is 4 days, with 2-day for qualifying customers.
- Multiple states. Gusto Simple covers one state only, so a two-state team needs Gusto Plus at $80 + $12 ($260 at 15 employees). QuickBooks adds $12 ($167). Patriot also adds $12 ($124). OnPay includes multi-state at no extra cost ($139).
Our read: if you live in QuickBooks Online and want next-day pay without add-ons, the premium over Gusto is small. If you just want the lowest full-service price in one state, Patriot is cheaper at every size we modeled. If you pay people in several states, OnPay’s flat price is hard to beat. The full head-to-head is in Gusto vs QuickBooks Payroll. If even $62 a month is too much, see what’s realistic in our free payroll software guide.
What breaks with QuickBooks Payroll
Beyond price, reviewers on Capterra often mention slow support, long holds and agents without much payroll-tax depth. They also mention frequent price increases and older filings that are hard to find. Some report pre-tax deduction calculations that needed manual fixes. These are user reports, not our test results. They’re consistent enough to factor in if your payroll has 401(k) or HSA deductions.
Bottom line
- List prices: $50 + $7, $88 + $13 or $134 + $17 per month. That’s $155, $283 or $389 for 15 employees.
- The promo halves only the base fee, for 3 months.
- Extra states cost $12 each on the two lower tiers.
- Leaving costs no fee, but you get no refund for the partial month and pay $150 for post-cancellation year-end forms.
- Choose it if your books are in QuickBooks Online and next-day deposit matters.
- Skip it if you’re price-first in one state (Patriot) or multi-state on a budget (OnPay).
How we check these figures is on our methodology page.