Paychex Cost Per Employee 2026: Monthly Estimates for Every Team Size
Paychex charges a base fee plus a per-employee fee each month. Use the calculator to estimate your exact cost, or find your team size in the tables below.
Paychex Payroll Cost Calculator
Pre-Computed Cost Table: All Team Sizes
Base fee + per-employee fee only. Does not include per-run fees, setup costs, W-2 processing, or add-ons. See hidden fees.
| Employees | Essentials/Mo | Essentials/Yr | Select est./Mo | Pro est./Mo | Enterprise est./Mo |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $44 | $528 | ~$50 | ~$79 | ~$98 |
| 2 | $49 | $588 | ~$53 | ~$83 | ~$101 |
| 3 | $54 | $648 | ~$56 | ~$87 | ~$104 |
| 5 | $64 | $768 | ~$62 | ~$95 | ~$110 |
| 10 | $89 | $1068 | ~$77 | ~$115 | ~$125 |
| 15 | $114 | $1368 | ~$92 | ~$135 | ~$140 |
| 20 | $139 | $1668 | ~$107 | ~$155 | ~$155 |
| 25 | $164 | $1968 | ~$122 | ~$175 | ~$170 |
| 30 | $189 | $2268 | ~$137 | ~$195 | ~$185 |
| 40 | $239 | $2868 | ~$167 | ~$235 | ~$215 |
| 50 | $289 | $3468 | ~$197 | ~$275 | ~$245 |
| 75 | $414 | $4968 | ~$272 | ~$375 | ~$320 |
| 100 | $539 | $6468 | ~$347 | ~$475 | ~$395 |
How Payroll Frequency Affects Your Cost
Unlike Gusto (which includes unlimited payroll runs in all plans), Paychex charges per payroll run on most plans. The table below shows total estimated monthly cost for 10 employees on Essentials at different payroll frequencies.
| Payroll Frequency | Runs/Month | Base + Per-Employee | Est. Run Fees | Total/Month | Annual Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly | 1 | $89 | $0 | ~$89 | ~$1068 |
| Semi-monthly | 2 | $89 | $0 | ~$89 | ~$1068 |
| Bi-weekly | 2.17 | $89 | ~$15 | ~$104 | ~$1248 |
| Weekly | 4.33 | $89 | ~$50 | ~$139 | ~$1668 |
Per-run fee estimates for 10 employees. On Essentials, basic monthly runs may be included; on Select/Pro, per-run fees apply above the included frequency. Weekly payroll is significantly more expensive with Paychex than with Gusto.
How Paychex Per-Employee Pricing Works
Paychex uses a base fee + per-seat pricing model. The base fee covers the platform, tax filing infrastructure, and core processing regardless of how many employees you have. The per-employee fee scales with your headcount.
This model means Paychex is relatively expensive for very small businesses (1-3 employees) where the base fee represents most of the cost. It becomes more cost-effective as team size grows because the base fee is amortized across more employees. At 25+ employees, the effective per-employee total cost (including base fee allocation) drops meaningfully.
Comparison to flat-fee models: Gusto Simple charges $40 base + $6/employee with unlimited payroll runs. For 5 employees running bi-weekly payroll, Gusto Simple = $70/month. Paychex Essentials = $64/month base but adds per-run fees if running bi-weekly on some configurations. The total cost difference narrows significantly when per-run fees are factored in. Full Gusto comparison.