DeelBestBest for global hiring
Best for global hiring
GustoRecommendedBest payroll software for small businesses
Best payroll software for small businesses
QuickBooks OnlineRecommendedBest traditional accounting software
Best traditional accounting software
Best Payroll & HR Software at a Glance
Watch the Full Breakdown
Best Payroll & HR Software Ranked & Reviewed
Watch our full breakdown of the top payroll & HR software, how they performed in testing, and what makes each one worth considering
How We Evaluate Payroll & HR Software
We score each payroll & HR software across purposeful design, user experience, compliance & regulatory coverage, integrations, customer support, and hands-on expert evaluation
- Purposeful DesignPayroll is a core function of the tool, not an add-on checkbox for marketing.
- User ExperienceIs the platform straightforward and intuitive for founders, operators, and HR teams?
- Compliance & Regulatory CoverageHow well does the tool handle local, state, federal, or international compliance?
- IntegrationsAuto-syncs with your financial stack to prevent duplicate entry and reduce reconciliation headaches.
- Customer SupportThe tool prioritizes responsive customer support, so getting help never feels like a nightmare.
- Expert EvaluationCurated by, our rankings reflect in-depth testing, industry insights, and hands-on experience.AlexandAndra
Deel
Best for global hiring
Best for global hiringDeel handles global hiring, payroll, compliance, and HR in over 150 countries, making it easy for companies to manage contracts, pay employees or contractors in their preferred currency, and stay updated with local labor laws and taxes. If you're a mid-to-large company, or a small business with serious global hiring needs, Deel is the go-to choice for cutting out admin headaches and streamlining international workforce management.
What is Deel?
What is Deel?If there was ever a company with the clearest value prop we've ever seen, it's Deel. With the future of work being remote, Deel is solving very real administrative problems for thousands of companies.
Deel helps with hiring by simplifying global tax compliance, payroll management, and HR in over 150+ countries. It's one of the only companies that handles international hiring, payroll, and HR well.
Deel is an all-in-one platform that helps companies streamline the complexities of hiring and paying employees globally. It helps HR manage contracts, labor law and tax compliance, invoicing, and payments. Many well known companies use Deel, including Zapier, Motion, Intercom, and even Reddit (to mention just a few).
Why Use Deel?
Why Use Deel?Hiring internationally is super complex and Deel can help your team expand your workforce with less administrative overhead.
- Compliance Management: Deel helps businesses maintain legal compliance by updating its system with the latest local labor laws and tax regulations for each country it operates in.
- Streamlined International Payouts: Global payroll for employees and contractors is possible straight from Deel as it supports over 150 currencies. This allows you to pay team members in their preferred currency without the complexities for foreign exchange.
- Mitigate Risk of Double Taxation: Deel helps companies comply with local laws and regulations when it comes to taxes.
- Time Saving: Deel auto-generates invoices and allows HR teams to automatically schedule recurring payments, while also integrating with accounting software like Quickbooks Online, Xero, and NetSuite. There are huge time-saving opportunities when it comes to using Deel.
Deel Key Features
Deel Key FeaturesPre-Candidate
Pre-CandidateDeel provides average salary insights for different roles in each country, so it can help you create an offer or at least shows you how you offer compares to the local salaries.
Candidate
CandidateOnce a candidate accepts their offer, Deel helps streamline all the onboarding and admin. Deel provides options for local contracts, and helps you collect any compliance documents required. Deel can also help with doing background checks, providing stock options, employee equipment, and general onboarding (e.g. email access).
Employee
EmployeeDeel manages contractor invoices, employee benefits, and payslips. It also handles general HR workflows like time off, promotions, bonuses.
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Gusto
Best payroll software for small businesses
Best payroll software for small businessesGusto runs payroll and HR in a way that actually feels modern and enjoyable, especially compared to frustrating experiences with QuickBooks Payroll and other services. If you want reliable payroll that integrates smoothly with QuickBooks Online, this is an easy recommendation, but if you need advanced time tracking features, look elsewhere.
What is Gusto?
What is Gusto?We have used QuickBooks Payroll amongst many other services, and Gusto is the first one that actually feels like a modern and enjoyable experience.
We figured that going with QBO Payroll was a no-brainer, as our accounting and payroll would be in the same place, right? Wrong. We had nothing but frustrations and realized that it was essentially a totally separate team and product from QBO.
Since switching to Gusto about 4 years back, we've been happy as a clam, highly recommend. Oh, it also integrates natively with QuickBooks Online beautifully 🔥
While Gusto says they offer Time Tracking, it's incredibly barebones, and more for just general time sheet tracking for employees, nowhere near the scale of a tool like Harvest or Toggl.
Get through your inbox 2x as fast (for teams of all sizes).
QuickBooks Online
Best traditional accounting software
Best traditional accounting softwareQuickBooks Online handles accounting with a strong focus on US businesses, especially around US sales tax laws, and most US accountants are more familiar with it than with alternatives.
If you're in the US and need accounting software with a solid API, it's the standard choice, but don't rely on it for expense management, payroll, or time tracking because those areas are clunky, limited, and better handled elsewhere.
What is Quickbooks Online?
What is Quickbooks Online?We find that teams based in the US tend to use QuickBooks Online, and businesses outside of the US tend to lean more toward Xero.
This is important because it means that the features QBO is building is more focused on things like US Sales Tax laws, while Xero may have more accounting features helpful outside of the US especially.
Also, accountants inside of the US are often more proficient with QBO as compared to Xero (although they should be familiar with both).
P.S. We highly recommend QBO over QuickBooks Desktop because of their robust API—you're not going to be integrating QuickBooks Desktop easily with anything.
Key Features
Key FeaturesAccounting
AccountingQBO helps companies manage core financial tasks like invoicing, expense tracking, bank reconciliation, financial reporting, and tax preparation.
Payroll & Benefits
Payroll & BenefitsThis is one of those areas that it makes sense that they cover, but you can tell it was an add-on versus being their core service. Payroll is boring, and hey, QBO does the job, it's just not a straightforward user-experience, and let's just say we used it for 4 years before switching to Gusto, and there's not a single bone in my body that misses QBO for payroll. It was also incredibly painful closing it down with them, reporting to all the Department of Labor agencies, and everything. Save yourself the time and skip out on QBO for Payroll.
Time Tracking
Time TrackingIf you compare QuickBooks Online to any of the best time tracking software on the market, you'll see just how wildly barebones, slow, and underwhelming it is. Even just the process of logging into QBO feels like you're pushing a boulder uphill, now you need to do it any time you track software? No thanks, I'll pass.
They designed it more to be for people who just need to submit their time one-per-day or once-per-week, they are building to check a box, not to be leading the time tracking space.
