Are you looking for payroll software that’s Mac compatible? Although I personally prefer a PC, I can understand the value of having something that works with both platforms. So for all of my Apple users who absolutely hate Microsoft’s OS, I’ve researched, tested and reviewed four of the best Mac compatible payroll software options on the market.
Overall Score: 4.54 OUT OF 5
What We Like
- Affordable plans with an inexpensive contractor-only payroll tier
- Multiple payment options, including payroll card and on-demand pay
- Unlimited pay runs with payroll tax filings and year-end reporting
- Not ideal for businesses planning to scale to enterprise level
- Health insurance coverage limited to 39 states
- Next-day direct deposits, employee onboarding, and time tracking available only in higher tiers
Gusto Pricing
- Core: $39 per month + $6 per employee monthly
- Complete: $39 per month + $12 per employee monthly
- Concierge: $149 per month + $12 per employee monthly
- Contractor-only plan: $6 per contractor monthly
Gusto is a cloud-based payroll software that works well for both Mac and Windows computers. Given its affordability and user-friendly online payroll tools, Gusto is an ideal pay processing solution for small business Mac users. Aside from automatic and unlimited pay runs, you get tax filings and payments for federal, state, and local taxes, including year-end W-2 and 1099 reporting. It also offers employee benefits plans and basic HR tools to help you onboard new hires and track staff attendance.
With an overall rating of 4.54 out of 5 in our evaluation, Gusto scored perfect marks in pricing, reporting capabilities, and popularity among users. Many find its online tools easy to use, allowing them to compute and remit employee payments with just a few clicks. However, it lost points due to its limited customizability and health insurance coverage (available in 39 states as of this writing).
Gusto’s affordability and solid payroll tools are just some of the reasons it ranks well in our buyer’s guides. It’s our top choice for small business payroll software. We also recommend it to those looking for the best HR payroll software and contractor payroll services.
Gusto Pricing
- Software fees: Gusto offers a Core plan ($39 plus $6 per employee monthly) that comes with unlimited pay runs, wage garnishments, benefits administration, automated payroll taxes, paid time off (PTO) tracking, and new hire reporting. It also has a Complete tier ($39 plus $12 per employee monthly) and a Concierge option ($149 plus $12 per employee monthly) that include additional features like time tracking, next-day direct deposits, and access to certified HR experts.
- Contractor-only plan: If you have only contractors in your workforce, Gusto lets you process payroll for them for $6 per person, per month.
- Add-on costs: Gusto doesn’t charge administration fees for its health insurance and pay-as-you-go workers’ compensation plans, but you have to pay the applicable premium costs. You also have to pay participation fees for the following:
- Retirement plans: Starts at $49 monthly, plus $8 per participating employee
- Commuter benefits: $4 per participant, per month (with a $20 monthly minimum)
- 529 college savings: $6 per participant, per month (with an $18 monthly minimum)
- Health savings account (HSA): $2.50 per participant, per month
- Flexible spending account (FSA): $4 per participant, per month (with a $20 monthly minimum)
Gusto Features
- Multiple direct deposit and pay options: Apart from pay card and pay-on-demand, Gusto offers four- and two-day direct deposits. While it has a next-day option, this is available only in its higher tiers. If you require fast payments, consider QuickBooks Payroll since it offers next- and same-day direct deposits. For instant payouts, we recommend Square Payroll, although you need to have a Square Payments account to pay employees instantly.
- Employee benefits: For small businesses that don’t have an in-house HR team to handle benefits, the provider’s licensed brokers can help you select health insurance plans for your staff and manage online employee enrollments. Gusto offers commuter benefits, health insurance, retirement, college savings, life and disability, HSA, FSA, and pay-as-you-go workers’ compensation options. Note, however, its health benefits, life and disability, FSA, and HSA, are not available in 11 states (Alabama, Alaska, Hawaii, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, West Virginia, and Wyoming). For benefits coverage that includes all US states, consider any of the providers in this list, except Aatrix (it doesn’t offer employee benefits).
- Hiring and time tracking tools: Gusto offers basic hiring tools and services that include offer letter templates, electronic signatures, onboarding checklists, new hire reporting, and online document storage. Like QuickBooks Payroll, if you subscribe to Gusto’s higher tiers, you get additional tools for monitoring PTO and tracking your workers’ actual work hours. Aatrix doesn’t have this capability, while ADP Run, Paycor, and Rippling offer this as a paid add-on. With Square Payroll, you need to use its Square Team App (for iOS/Android devices) to capture employee clock-ins/outs and import it into its payroll solution.
- Third-party software integrations: Gusto integrates with several software like accounting, expense management, performance, collaboration, time tracking, and point-of-sale (POS) systems. However, if you want a robust integration network, Rippling is a good choice as it connects with more than 400 apps.
QuickBooks Payroll: Best for Small Business QuickBooks Users
Overall Score: 4.19 OUT OF 5
What We Like
- Fast direct deposits; comes with next- and same-day options
- Unlimited pay runs with payroll tax filings (federal and state)
- Seamless integration with QuickBooks accounting
- Has a tax penalty protection program that covers both the provider and its clients’ tax errors
- Local tax filings available only in the highest tier
- Workers’ compensation and time tracking aren’t included in the basic plan; requires upgrading to at least its Premium plan
QuickBooks Payroll Pricing
- Core: $45 per month + $4 per employee monthly
- Premium: $75 per month + $8 per employee monthly
- Elite: $125 per month + $10 per employee monthly
QuickBooks Payroll offers reasonably priced plans with essential pay processing tools small businesses need. Given that its cloud-based payroll solution can be directly and easily accessed through the QuickBooks system, it saves QuickBooks accounting users time from having to separately set up a chart of accounts and import pay-related data into its platform. Similar to Gusto, it offers unlimited pay runs, full-service payroll, payroll tax filings and payments, employee benefits, online onboarding, and year-end tax reporting.
Scoring 4.19 out of 5 stars, QuickBooks Payroll was rated favorably for ease of use, payroll functionalities, and HR features—even getting perfect marks in pricing and reporting capabilities. However, it didn’t rank higher than Gusto due to its limited payment options (doesn’t have pay-on-demand) and small number of user reviews (average number of reviews on G2 and Capterra is below 500). You also have to upgrade to its highest tier if you want QuickBooks Payroll’s tax filing services to include local taxes.
In terms of user feedback, reviewers who left reviews on G2 and Capterra said that its simple yet efficient tools make running payroll easier for them. On the other hand, some users commented that its app can be glitchy and that connecting with its support team via phone can be difficult at times.
Not only is QuickBooks Payroll one of our best payroll software for Mac users, it’s our top-recommended payroll solution for accountants and payroll app for small businesses.
QuickBooks Payroll Pricing
- Software fees: QuickBooks has three plans that all include full-service payroll with next-day direct deposits, automated taxes and forms, and access to health benefits and retirement plans. Its Core option costs $45 plus $4 per employee monthly, while its Premium and Elite packages are priced at $75 plus $8 per employee and $125 plus $10 per employee monthly, respectively. Note that its higher tiers come with additional features like same-day direct deposits, workers’ compensation administration, time tracking, and more.
- Add-on costs: Payroll tax filing in more than one state costs $12 per month for each additional state (for Core and Premium subscribers only since the Elite plan covers multistate tax filing). If you haven’t signed up for a QuickBooks Accounting plan, adding this solution to your payroll subscription costs anywhere from $25 to $80 per month.
QuickBooks Payroll Features
- Payroll processing: You can set up payroll to run automatically—provided that all employees are under direct deposits and your first pay run using QuickBooks has been successful. You also get unlimited payrolls, wage garnishments, and automated taxes (federal and state) with year-end filings for Forms W-2 and 1099. However, you have to upgrade to its Elite plan if you want automatic local tax payments and filings too. This is unlike most of the providers on this guide (except Aatrix, which charges extra) whose basic plans have tax filing services that cover federal, state, and local taxes.
- Fast payment options: QuickBooks Payroll is the only provider on this list that offers next-day payouts as its standard direct deposit processing timeline. It even has a same-day option for Premium and Elite plan holders.
- Tax accuracy and penalty protection: All plans are covered by QuickBooks Payroll’s tax accuracy guarantee in which it will pay for any penalties arising from late payments and form submissions—provided that you forwarded the correct tax information and have available funds in your account to pay the applicable taxes. Those on the Elite plan also get an extra tax penalty coverage, wherein QuickBooks will pay for all the penalties (up to $25,000 per year), regardless of who makes the mistake–none of the other providers offer this as an option.
- HR support and tools: QuickBooks Payroll’s partnership with Mineral grants you access to HR advisers and compliance support as well as customizable job descriptions, onboarding, and performance tools. However, these features, plus time tracking (via QuickBooks Time), are available only for those who subscribe to its higher tiers.
- Employee benefits: All of QuickBooks Payroll’s plans include access to health benefits and 401(k) options in all US states. Its integration with SimplyInsured for health benefits provides you with affordable coverage and an efficient way to manage your benefits, while its partnership with Guideline for retirement ensures that you get expert administration of 401(k) plans. However, it lacks Gusto’s college savings option and ADP’s employee discount perks.
Read Full QuickBooks Payroll Review
ADP Run: Best for Companies Needing Flexible Plans That Scale With Their Business
Overall Score: 3.66 OUT OF 5
What We Like
- Feature-rich platform with a wide range of HR tools
- Offers direct deposits and secure paychecks with advanced fraud protection
- Advanced HR support available
- Pricing isn’t transparent
- Benefits, time tracking, and workers’ compensation are add-on products
- Year-end reporting costs extra
- Lacks unlimited pay runs
ADP Run Pricing
- Essential: Custom-priced
- Enhanced: Custom-priced
- Complete: Custom-priced
- HR Pro: Custom-priced
ADP Run has a suite of cloud-based payroll and human capital management solutions. It’s great for businesses that plan to scale because it has a wide selection of products to fit your company’s growing HR and payroll software needs. It also has payroll packages for small businesses to large enterprises, including a professional employer organization (PEO) option. This enables businesses to easily upgrade their ADP plan without having to change providers and get extra HR support if the need for a team of HR professionals and experts arises.
Earning an overall rating of 3.66 out of 5 stars in our evaluation, the criteria where ADP scored the highest include HR features, payroll tools, ease of use, and reporting capabilities. It’s also highly rated by users given its easy-to-use interface and robust solution suite. However, ADP scored the lowest in pricing because it lacks unlimited payroll and transparent pricing.
ADP Run Pricing
- Software fees: ADP offers four small business payroll plans (for companies with up to 49 employees) and four midsize to enterprise payroll tiers (for businesses with 50 and more employees). However, pricing details aren’t available on its website—you have to call ADP to request a quote.
- Add-on costs: The preparation, delivery, and filing of W-2s/1099s cost extra. Other paid add-ons include time and attendance monitoring, workers’ compensation, retirement plans, and health insurance options.
ADP Run Features
- Multiple pay options: You can pay your employees via direct deposits, paychecks, and a Wisely direct debit card. If you prefer paychecks, ADP Run has check signing, stuffing, and delivery services—wherein it will send the checks to your business just in time for you to hand them out to employees. None of the providers we reviewed offer this type of service.
- Secure paychecks: ADP offers highly secured payroll checks, which come with 10 advanced fraud protection features, that your company’s designated approver can sign off.
- Payroll tax support: ADP Run automatically calculates, pays, files, and reconciles payroll taxes (federal, state, and local). In addition, you get tax compliance support, wherein ADP will respond to tax agencies in case they have questions about tax deposits and returns that the provider made for you. However, year-end tax reporting costs extra. Plus, it lacks QuickBooks Payroll’s tax penalty protection that covers even your tax mistakes.
- Hiring solutions: What’s great about ADP is that aside from payroll, new hire reporting, and employee onboarding, you have additional access to basic hiring tools that include background checks and job postings on ZipRecruiter—provided you subscribe to its higher tiers. Rippling and Paycor require you to purchase a separate recruitment module, while the other providers on our list don’t have hiring capabilities.
- HR documents: ADP has a library of key HR documents that you can use for your checklists, best practice guides, and company policies. Aside from HR documents, you also get an employee handbook wizard to help you create a comprehensive handbook based on federal employment laws. However, access to these resources requires a paid subscription to one of ADP’s premium payroll packages.
- Third-party software integrations: ADP’s integration options include QuickBooks, Xero, Wave, SAP Success Factors, Workday, TSheets, Homebase, iCIMS, Docufree, OrgChart Now, Slack, and Pingboard. For those that want a bigger selection, we recommend Rippling since its integration network includes more than 400 systems.
Square Payroll: Best for Small Retailers & Restaurants Using Square POS
Overall Score: 3.59 OUT OF 5
What We Like
- Flat pricing with an affordable contractor plan
- Seamless integration with Square POS
- Offers fast direct deposits, including an instant payment option
- Unlimited pay runs
- Next-day direct deposits and instant payments require a Square Payments account
- Standard direct deposit has a four-day turnaround time
- Phone support requires a customer code
Square Payroll Pricing
- Pay employee and contractors: $35 per month + $5 per employee monthly
- Pay contractors only: $5 per person monthly
Square Payroll is optimal for small restaurants and retail shops already using or planning to use Square POS. Given the seamless integration between the two Square products, data imports of staff tips/commissions and employee attendance (Square POS can capture both information) for pay processing are much easier. Similar to Gusto and QuickBooks Payroll, Square Payroll comes with automatic and unlimited pay runs as well as payroll tax filings and year-end tax reporting.
Scoring 3.59 out of 5, Square Payroll earned 4 and above ratings in reporting, payroll features, and pricing. While it has a platform that’s easy to learn, it didn’t get a high score in our ease of use criteria because of its limited customization options and phone support that requires a customer code for you to get through. Another hard-hit criteria is popularity, mainly because its average number of user reviews on third-party sites (G2 and Capterra) didn’t reach 500. However, users still gave Square Payroll positive reviews, wherein many raved about its affordability and efficient payroll tools.
Square Payroll Pricing
- Software fees: Unlike many of the providers in this guide that offer multiple pricing tiers, Square Payroll only offers two options. One is a package for paying both employees and contractors that costs $35 plus $5 per employee monthly. The other is a contractor-only option that’s priced at $5 per contractor.
Square Payroll Features
- Seamless Square POS integration: Tracking and importing employee time data, as well as tips and commissions, are made easy given Square Payroll’s direct integration with Square POS. This reduces manual inputs while helping you manage payroll effectively.
- Affordable contractor-only plan: While both Gusto and Square Payroll both have contractor-only plans, Square’s package is more affordable—costing only $5 per contractor monthly (Gusto’s is priced at $6 per contractor, per month). And similar to Square Payroll’s “pay employees and contractors” plan, this package comes with unlimited pay runs, full-service payroll, year-end tax reporting, and multiple payment options.
- Multiple payment options: Square Payroll supports employee payments made through manual checks, direct deposits, and its Cash App (for iOS/Android devices). Note, however, that the standard turnaround time for its direct deposits is four days. Although, you can pay employees the next day and even instantly if you have a Square Payments account.
- Tax filing and reporting services: Square Payroll offers automatic tax payments and filings for federal, state, and local taxes. It also prepares and files W-2s and 1099s at year-end (this costs extra with ADP and Aatrix).
- Employee benefits: Square Payroll will provide your employees access to health insurance, pay-as-you-go workers’ compensation plans, and even retirement packages that will automatically sync with your payroll. However, it doesn’t have ADP’s employee discounts and Gusto’s college savings plans.
Read Full Square Payroll Review
Rippling: Best for Businesses That Rely Heavily on Technology & Require Global Payroll Tools
Overall Score: 3.44 OUT OF 5
What We Like
- Handles both local and international payroll; comes with unlimited pay runs
- Offers integrated modular solutions; you can choose modules that you need and want
- Offers IT management of employee apps and devices
- More than 400 integrations options
- Pricing isn’t all transparent
- Its employee management platform is a must-purchase; you can’t buy its other solutions as a standalone product
- HR help desk option with phone and email support costs extra
Rippling Pricing*
- Employee management platform: $10 per employee monthly
- Full-service payroll: $8 per employee monthly
- Employee benefits: $6 per employee monthly
- Flex HSA/FSA and commuter benefits: $6 per employee monthly
- HR help desk: $100 per month
- App management: $8 per employee monthly
- Device management: $8 per employee monthly
*Pricing is based on a quote we received
Rippling’s base program is an employee management platform with full-service payroll as an add-on module—international payroll included. It has the most integration options in this list of best Mac payroll software, with more than 400 partner apps—from accounting and information technology systems to office management and HR-related solutions. If you purchase its device management add-on, you can buy, set up, secure, and monitor software and company devices (like computers and laptops) that are issued to employees.
Overall, it earned 3.44 out of 5 in our evaluation. Rippling scored the highest (4 and above) in reporting, HR features, and payroll functionalities. However, it lost points in pricing and ease of use because of its limited pricing transparency and the lack of phone support—you have to pay extra for its HR help desk services that include phone and email support. And while a majority of online Rippling reviews are positive in which many users raved about its intuitive interface, payroll analytics, and ease of managing benefits, it didn’t get a high rating in popularity since its average number of user reviews on G2 and Capterra is below 500.
Rippling Pricing
- Software fees: Rippling’s pricing page only shows that its monthly fees start at $8 per employee. We contacted the provider to ask for clarification about its solutions and prices. Based on the quote we received, here are Rippling’s pricing for some of its HR, payroll, and IT modules:
- Core employee management platform (required module): $10 per employee monthly
- Full-service payroll: $8 per employee monthly
- Employee benefits: $6 per employee monthly
- Flex HSA/FSA and commuter benefits: $6 per employee monthly
- HR help desk: $100 per month
- App management: $8 per employee monthly
- Device management: $8 per employee monthly
Rippling Features
- Feature-rich HR and IT solution suite: Rippling offers a full HR solution suite that includes recruiting, onboarding, time and attendance, payroll, employee benefits, and learning management. It even has IT products that allow you to manage business apps and computers issued to employees, a feature none of the other providers on our list offer. It also doesn’t offer a variety of benefits options as Gusto and ADP Run do—the former offers a college savings plan and the latter has employee discount perks.
- Full-service payroll: You can pay both employees and contractors via paychecks and two-day direct deposits, although it lacks ADP Run’s check stuffing services and QuickBooks Payroll’s fast direct deposit timelines (next- and same-day options). If you have a lot of staff transferring from one work location to another, Rippling automatically calculates payroll taxes and files the applicable tax forms with the IRS and other federal, state, and local agencies. Rippling also handles your business’ HR compliance work. This is to ensure that your company is always compliant and up-to-date with the latest laws and regulations, including the use of all relevant forms like I-9s and W-2s.
- Job costing tools: Apart from capturing your staff’s actual work hours, Rippling can help you track how your workers spent their time and compute the applicable cost of that time (either by client, task, or work location). You can even change your employees’ pay rate depending on the type of job they’re handling, and Rippling will automatically calculate the costs as your staff move from job to job.
- Flexible PEO: Rated highly in our best PEO companies guide, Rippling can provide you with the expert assistance you need to manage payroll and day-to-day HR operations. And unlike ADP, if you decide that you no longer need a PEO, then you can simply turn off Rippling’s PEO services from your account and start using its software again.
- Third-party software integrations: Among all of the Mac payroll software that we reviewed, Rippling has the most extensive network of third-party software partners. It provides over 400 integration options that include TSheets, Homebase, When I Work, GoodHire, Checkr, SurveyMonkey, Greenhouse, Guru, QuickBooks Online, Xero, Slack, Asana, DocuSign, and Adobe Sign.
OnPay
OnPay is a value for money yet powerful payroll and HR solution that’s simple enough to use for anyone that’s new to Payroll processing.
OnPay offers a full service payroll including unlimited monthly pay runs, automatic tax filing, health insurance payments and multi-state payroll processing.
OnPay allows employees to login and self-onboard, run reports on new hires and make automated payroll taxations.
OnPay also offers phone support with trained experts in case of problems or any payroll related processing issues.
OnPay is excellent value for money compared to other small business payroll solutions with the base fee starting at $36 per month and then $4 per user.
Unlike many payroll software there are no add-ons or additional fees either apart from mailing workers W-2/1099 forms and penalties if there are insufficient funds to run a payroll.
OnPay will also automatically transfer your payroll processing from an existing provider including from ADP, Paychex, Intuit and most other payroll solutions.
OnPay offers a no risk free trial to see if it’s the righ solution for your business before you have to subscribe.
Conclusion
Compatibility is an important factor when choosing your payroll software, particularly if you run a Mac-based company. With many programs claiming to be Mac compatible, how do you determine which program actually works on the operating system you are running?