OnPay vs. Paychex

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
OnPay
Score 9.9 out of 10
N/A
OnPay's payroll and HR is designed for people who want to spend more time running their business, and less on back-office tasks. The application aims to enable users to: • Run payroll • Automate taxes • Let employees do more themselves • Simplify HR processes • Offer benefits in any state OnPay is $49 plus $6 per person each month. The monthly fee includes integrations with QuickBooks, Xero, and time-tracking software, as well as all quarterly and year-end…N/A
Paychex
Score 5.2 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.
$59
per month/+$4 per employee
Pricing
OnPayPaychex
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
Paychex Go
$59
per month/+$4 per employee
Paychex Flex Service
Contact sales team
Paychex Flex Enterprise
Contact sales team
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
OnPayPaychex
Free Trial
YesNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeRequired
Additional DetailsFirst month free, then $49 + $6 per employee each month.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
OnPayPaychex
Features
OnPayPaychex
Payroll Management
Comparison of Payroll Management features of Product A and Product B
OnPay
9.9
Ratings
18% above category average
Paychex
9.2
Ratings
14% above category average
Pay calculation9.90 Ratings9.70 Ratings
Benefit plan administration9.90 Ratings8.90 Ratings
Direct deposit files9.90 Ratings9.70 Ratings
Salary revision and increment management10.00 Ratings9.20 Ratings
Reimbursement management9.80 Ratings9.60 Ratings
Off-cycle/On-Demand payment00 Ratings8.30 Ratings
Human Resource Management
Comparison of Human Resource Management features of Product A and Product B
OnPay
-
Ratings
Paychex
7.3
Ratings
7% below category average
Employee demographic data00 Ratings7.30 Ratings
Employment history00 Ratings9.40 Ratings
Job profiles and administration00 Ratings9.00 Ratings
Workflow for transfers, promotions, pay raises, etc.00 Ratings8.60 Ratings
Organizational charting00 Ratings1.00 Ratings
Organization and location management00 Ratings9.20 Ratings
Compliance data (COBRA, OSHA, etc.)00 Ratings6.60 Ratings
Leave and Attendance Management
Comparison of Leave and Attendance Management features of Product A and Product B
OnPay
-
Ratings
Paychex
8.6
Ratings
7% above category average
Approval workflow00 Ratings8.50 Ratings
Balance details00 Ratings8.70 Ratings
Annual carry-forward and encashment00 Ratings8.60 Ratings
Employee Self Service
Comparison of Employee Self Service features of Product A and Product B
OnPay
-
Ratings
Paychex
8.7
Ratings
8% above category average
View and generate pay and benefit information00 Ratings9.10 Ratings
Update personal information00 Ratings8.40 Ratings
View company policy documentation00 Ratings9.80 Ratings
View job history00 Ratings7.50 Ratings
Asset Management
Comparison of Asset Management features of Product A and Product B
OnPay
-
Ratings
Paychex
7.5
Ratings
7% below category average
Tracking of all physical assets00 Ratings7.50 Ratings
HR Reporting
Comparison of HR Reporting features of Product A and Product B
OnPay
-
Ratings
Paychex
7.0
Ratings
7% below category average
Report builder00 Ratings7.90 Ratings
Pre-built reports00 Ratings8.10 Ratings
Ability to combine HR data with external data00 Ratings5.00 Ratings
Onboarding
Comparison of Onboarding features of Product A and Product B
OnPay
-
Ratings
Paychex
6.9
Ratings
13% below category average
New hire portal00 Ratings7.50 Ratings
Manager tracking tools00 Ratings6.30 Ratings
Recruiting / ATS
Comparison of Recruiting / ATS features of Product A and Product B
OnPay
-
Ratings
Paychex
7.9
Ratings
2% above category average
Job Requisition Management00 Ratings7.80 Ratings
Company Website Posting00 Ratings9.30 Ratings
Publish to Social Media00 Ratings7.20 Ratings
Job Search Site Posting00 Ratings7.20 Ratings
Duplicate Candidate Prevention00 Ratings8.00 Ratings
Applicant Tracking00 Ratings8.00 Ratings
Notifications and Alerts00 Ratings8.10 Ratings
Best Alternatives
OnPayPaychex
Small Businesses
Dayforce Powerpay
Dayforce Powerpay
Score 9.5 out of 10
Dayforce Powerpay
Dayforce Powerpay
Score 9.5 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Paypro Workforce Management
Paypro Workforce Management
Score 9.7 out of 10
Paypro Workforce Management
Paypro Workforce Management
Score 9.7 out of 10
Enterprises
Infor Human Resources
Infor Human Resources
Score 7.1 out of 10
PeopleStrong
PeopleStrong
Score 9.9 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
OnPayPaychex
Likelihood to Recommend
9.9
(0 ratings)
5.4
(0 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
9.1
(0 ratings)
9.0
(0 ratings)
Usability
9.2
(0 ratings)
8.2
(0 ratings)
Availability
9.1
(0 ratings)
7.4
(0 ratings)
Performance
9.1
(0 ratings)
7.3
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
8.8
(0 ratings)
7.2
(0 ratings)
In-Person Training
-
(0 ratings)
4.5
(0 ratings)
Online Training
-
(0 ratings)
8.3
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
9.1
(0 ratings)
6.5
(0 ratings)
Configurability
9.1
(0 ratings)
7.4
(0 ratings)
Ease of integration
9.1
(0 ratings)
9.1
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
9.1
(0 ratings)
9.1
(0 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
9.1
(0 ratings)
8.9
(0 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
9.1
(0 ratings)
9.2
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
OnPayPaychex
Likelihood to Recommend
I'd say if you had someone who wasn't educated on how Payroll should be setup and function OnPay is less ideal. But even then you've got things so well setup and cost efficient, they could afford to put some focus on training. In my mind I imagine OnPay is the best solution for small to mid, even early large, company Payroll processing. We're a small company so I'm unaware of the options provided to streamline importing of large group payrolls, but that might be an area where the interface could provide challenges.
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It's better for larger businesses (50+) with various types of pay structures. Employees need to be comfortable with technology to take advantage of the self-service features. I've struggled with the default in the state tax section; extra steps must be taken when an employee lives in a different state than they work, and we don't know where they live until after completing their profile. So we have to go into the system and make the corrections, then notify the employee to go in and complete the state-specific withholding forms and follow up to confirm they do so.
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Pros
  • It is easy to add new employees.
  • It is easy to inactivate employees who leave the company.
  • All quarterly and annual reports are completed and filed on a timely basis.
  • Employees have direct online access to their paycheck as well as their W-2.
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  • 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.
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Cons
  • I would like to enter some payroll information in advance of the current payroll runs
  • Adding and changing administrators was a bit cumbersome and took several days
  • It works fine for a small number of people being paid if they can be seen on one screen but it might be cumbersome with more than about 10 people. Probably needs a better or different procedure with more people.
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  • When it comes to audit reports, Paychex Flex could improve on helping clients locate the correct reports for audit purposes more easily
  • When a client receives a discount, it would be helpful if the discount were automatically provided each year, or if the Paychex rep proactively reached out to the client first, versus the client having to call and request that the discount continue.
  • It would be helpful if the invoice was emailed to the client versus the client logging in to access invoices.
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Likelihood to Renew
We have used OnPay for a few years now and we do continue to renew our annual use of OnPay. We are only a small organization and although OnPay provides a lot of additional services that larger organizations might ind useful, OnPay still meets our limited requirements of running bi-weekly payroll and submitting our quarterly state and federal tax documents, and at a price that we still find affordable.
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there are a lot of competitors on the market such as BambooHR and Insperity. Paychex need to make significant improvement on their offline customer service in order to compete with the other guys. Everything is online now and timely response to customer's questions is vital. Customers won't enjoy being put on hold for 45 mins every time they have a question regarding their HSA problems
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Usability
OnPay is very easy to use. The computer interface is setup very well. You can quickly add people, enter your Payroll, print reports, etc. If your Payroll doesn't change from pay period to pay period (example, salaried employees) it takes mere seconds to enter in your Payroll.
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Some things could be streamlined. For example, we could do custom options for the "add items" tab which has so many options that we never use. "Medical Pay" could be something that the system remembers for the applicable employees. Salaried employees' salaries should definitely be auto-filled. Overall the system works well but I think it could be improved to be easier to use and read.
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Reliability and Availability
OnPay immediately responds to any of my inquiries.
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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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Performance
No complaints on OnPay's integration with Xero.
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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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Support Rating
I've only had to call a couple of times, and each time the customer service rep is extremely thorough and helpful. I've never had the experience, like I do with some other companies, of feeling stressed or irritated with the reps. They are competent, educated, and easily walk me through the system
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Neil Williams makes this entire system work - without our direct contact with our professional advisor - this would be just like any other platform and the relationship would not have the dimension that is has. Using chat or phone support with a new person every time you need support wastes time, as generally the person you are talking to does not have an intimate knowledge of our company. By having an assigned professional representative that knows our companies, this provides a level of confidence of caring coming from the Paychex side.
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In-Person Training
No answers on this topic
We did online training only
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Online Training
No answers on this topic
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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Implementation Rating
Easy to implement and easy to convert any other payroll reports to the OnPay system when making the switch
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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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Alternatives Considered
OnPay is tremendously less expensive and technically superior to Quickbooks in my opinion. OnPay is less expensive and offered the ease of managing a restaurant payroll that was better in my opinion than When I Work. My experience when evaluating all of the payroll products that I felt the company could afford was that OnPay had a superior staff of professionals who knew their product and could explain how to use it most clearly.
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In addition to the ones listed above, we also used BenePay, a local payroll company. We found Paychex Flex priced in the middle, with ADP the most expensive and too complicated, with many features that were unnecessary for us. We found that Paychex Flex's features and reporting to be sized right for our size (around 30 employees). Paychex Flex also offered a very reasonable service to apply for the ERTC
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Scalability
OnPay works.
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Employees can log in at home and get up to date information on their FSA balance and any medical bill reimbursements they may have uploaded. At renewal time they have the ability to make changes to their FSA or for new employees star the enrollment.
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Return on Investment
  • Reduces payroll processing time
  • Ability for full electronic employee files
  • The overall cost is the best in the industry, saving us money
  • Ability for on/off-boarding ensures our files our complete
  • There are a few limitations but they work with programmers to get those features setup
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  • 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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ScreenShots

OnPay Screenshots

Screenshot of full-service payrollScreenshot of multiple pay rates and schedulesScreenshot of employee self-onboarding and org charts, which are built-inScreenshot of an e-signable offer lettersScreenshot of calendars, where PTO is managed and approvedScreenshot of centralized finances, viewed with over 20 reports for analyzing employment-related expenses

Paychex Screenshots

Screenshot of Screenshot of Screenshot of