Square Payroll pricing: what Square Payroll costs in 2026
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Square Payroll costs $35 a month plus $6 per person paid for full-service payroll, or $6 per person paid with no base fee if you only pay contractors, according to Square's pricing page (checked October 16, 2026). For 10 employees that is $95 a month.
Tax filing is included, and no setup fee is listed. Extras are mailed paper W-2s and 1099s at $3 per form, and add-ons such as workers' comp, amendments, health and 401(k) that the pricing page lists without prices. No free trial is mentioned. Square's guarantee covers penalties from its own errors but does not mention interest.
Square Payroll is Square's full-service payroll product for US businesses. It pays employees and contractors, files federal and state payroll taxes, and pulls hours and tips from Square POS timecards.
On this page
- Square Payroll at a glance
- Square Payroll plans and prices
- What Square Payroll costs for 5, 10 and 25 employees
- What Square Payroll leaves out
- Square's payroll tax guarantee: what it covers and excludes
- Contract, cancellation and W-2 access after you leave
- Square Payroll support
- What Square Payroll customers say
- How we score Square Payroll
- Who Square Payroll fits, and who should pick something else
Square Payroll at a glance
- Full service
- $35 + $6 per person paidper month, checked Oct 16, 2026
- Contractors only
- $6 per person paidno base fee
- Tax penalty cover
- Penalties and finesinterest not mentioned
- Our score
- 55/100payroll category
Does Square do payroll? Yes. Square Payroll runs full-service payroll for W-2 employees and pays 1099 contractors. Its main draw is the link to Square POS: timecards and tips flow into payroll, so a restaurant or shop already on Square does less re-entry.
Square has one of the lowest published base fees for full-service payroll among the providers we price. Our scores follow our published scoring method.
Square Payroll plans and prices
| Plan | Base per month | Per person paid | What it includes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Full-service payroll | $35 | $6 | Employee payroll with automated federal and state tax filings and payments |
| Contractor-only payroll | $0 | $6 | Contractors paid in the Square Dashboard |
Source: Square Payroll pricing page, checked Oct 16, 2026.
- Mailed paper W-2s and 1099s: $3 per form per year.
- Workers' comp, amendments, health benefits and 401(k): listed as add-ons without prices.
- Free trial: none mentioned.
- Setup fee: none listed. Billing is monthly.
What Square Payroll costs for 5, 10 and 25 employees
| Plan | 5 people | 10 people | 25 people |
|---|---|---|---|
| Full-service | $35 + (5 × $6) = $65 | $35 + (10 × $6) = $95 | $35 + (25 × $6) = $185 |
| Contractor-only | 5 × $6 = $30 | 10 × $6 = $60 | 25 × $6 = $150 |
Source: Square Payroll pricing page, checked Oct 16, 2026. Our arithmetic. Excludes payroll taxes and add-ons.
A year of full-service payroll for 10 employees is $95 × 12 = $1,140. If all 10 want mailed paper W-2s, add 10 × $3 = $30 for the year.
Square bills "per person paid." If you pay 10 employees and 5 contractors in the same month on the full-service plan and Square counts each contractor as a person paid, as that wording suggests, the bill would be $35 + (15 × $6) = $125. Confirm how contractors are billed before you sign up.
How that compares, 10 employees, published prices
Patriot: $37 + (10 × $5). Gusto Simple: $49 + (10 × $6). QuickBooks: $88 + (10 × $6.50), which includes QuickBooks Online accounting. All checked October 16, 2026; see payroll service costs compared for the rest. The software fee is small next to employer payroll taxes; estimate those with the employee cost calculator.
What Square Payroll leaves out
- Priced add-ons: workers' comp, amendments, health benefits and 401(k) are on the pricing page with no price. Ask what each costs before you turn it on.
- Paper forms: $3 per mailed W-2 or 1099.
- State registration: Square does not say it registers state tax accounts for you. Plan to open your state withholding and unemployment accounts yourself; see 2026 SUTA rates by state for your new-employer rate.
- Extra states: the pricing page lists no extra-state fee. If you pay people in more than one state, confirm Square files there.
For tip-heavy businesses, check how tip pooling and tip reporting are handled before you switch. Our restaurant payroll comparison covers which providers handle tips.
Square's payroll tax guarantee: what it covers and excludes
Square's help center says that if a tax notice results from a Square Payroll error, Square will "cover any associated penalties and fines," and will "pay any associated penalties" from erroneous or late reporting (Square).
- Interest: not mentioned.
- Cap: none stated.
- Notice deadline: none stated.
- Exclusion: Square's payroll terms (updated March 16, 2026) say it is not liable for penalties or interest that come from inaccurate or incomplete information you provide (Square payroll terms).
If your hours and tips come from POS timecards, those are your data. Under those terms, a missed clock-out or a wrong tip entry you did not fix counts as your information, not a Square error. Review timecards before each payroll.
Other providers' published terms: Gusto names penalties but needs notice 30 days before the agency deadline, and QuickBooks Elite pays penalties and interest up to $25,000 a year. See Gusto vs Square Payroll.
Contract, cancellation and W-2 access after you leave
Square Payroll bills monthly with no listed setup fee or trial. We did not find cancellation steps or a statement on how long you keep access to payroll records and W-2s after canceling, and the payroll terms do not address it.
Before you cancel, download every W-2, 1099, Form 941, Form 940, state wage report and payroll register, and confirm in writing who files your final quarter and year-end forms. Providers differ a lot here: Patriot lets former customers keep downloading W-2s (Patriot review), and Wave ends access at the end of the month you cancel (Wave Payroll review).
Square Payroll support
Square lists a payroll phone line, 1 (855) 700-6000. It does not publish support hours on the pages we read. If you run payroll on weekends or late at night, check when someone answers before you rely on it.
What Square Payroll customers say
Square Payroll has 4.2 out of 5 from only 31 reviews on G2 (seen October 16, 2026). Square's Trustpilot page could not be read when we checked. With so few payroll-specific reviews, we could not document a clear complaint pattern, so we score Square mostly on its published prices and terms.
How we score Square Payroll
Square Payroll scores 55 out of 100, behind Patriot and Gusto (69 each), OnPay (67), Wave (64) and SurePayroll (56), and ahead of QuickBooks (52). Its low published price earns nearly full marks; missing exit terms and support hours cost the most.
| Criterion | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Price transparency and cost for 10 employees | 24 of 25 | Publishes full-service payroll at $35 + $6 per person and a contractor-only plan at $6 per person with no base fee (10 of 10); 10 employees cost $35 + 10 x $6 = $95 a month (14 of 15). |
| Tax filing coverage and guarantee | 10 of 20 | Federal and state filings are included at no extra charge, but state coverage is not stated (3 of 10); Square's payroll guarantee covers penalties and fines from Square errors with no cap or deadline stated, interest not mentioned (7 of 10). |
| Features | 12 of 20 | A contractor-only plan exists (4), payroll pulls hours from Square POS timecards (4), health and 401(k) add-ons are listed without prices (2), the Square POS link is the only integration documented (2), and multi-state payroll is not published on the pages we checked (0). |
| Contract and exit terms | 4 of 15 | Cancellation steps and record access after leaving are not published (0 each); monthly with no setup fee listed (4). |
| Support access | 2 of 10 | Phone support at 1 (855) 700-6000 (2); hours not published (0). |
| Documented complaint patterns | 3 of 10 | Its Trustpilot page could not be read (1 of 4); complaint patterns were not researched this pass (default 2 of 6). |
Source: HRPricing payroll scores, checked Oct 17, 2026, from published terms, prices and documented complaints. Full method: how we score payroll providers.
Who Square Payroll fits, and who should pick something else
Square Payroll
Fits a business that already runs Square POS and wants timecards and tips to flow into payroll, or a business that only pays contractors and wants no base fee.
How the score adds up
- Price24/25
- Tax filing10/20
- Features12/20
- Contract and exit4/15
- Support2/10
- Complaints record3/10
What works
- $35 base, $6 per person, published
- Contractor-only plan with no base fee
- Tax filing included
- Penalty guarantee for Square errors
Watch out for
- Guarantee does not mention interest
- Add-on prices not shown
- No published cancellation or record access terms
- Few payroll-specific reviews
Pick something else if:
- You do not use Square POS and want help registering in new states: see Gusto vs Square Payroll and Gusto pricing.
- You want the lowest published full-service price and documented W-2 access after you leave: Patriot is $87 a month for 10.
- You only pay freelancers: compare options in contractor payroll software.
The ranked list is in best payroll software for small businesses.
Bottom line: Square Payroll costs $95 a month for 10 employees, with tax filing included. It is a good fit if you are already on Square POS. Ask for add-on prices and exit terms in writing, since Square does not publish them.
Frequently asked questions
How much is Square Payroll?
Does Square Payroll work for contractors?
Does Square Payroll have a free trial?
Does Square pay payroll tax penalties?
How much does Square charge for W-2s?
Can I get my W-2s after canceling Square Payroll?
Sources (7)
- Square: Square Payroll pricing (checked Oct 16, 2026)
- Square: Square Payroll guarantee (checked Oct 16, 2026)
- Square: Payroll terms of service (updated Mar 16, 2026) (checked Oct 16, 2026)
- G2: Square Payroll reviews (seen Oct 16, 2026)
- Gusto: Gusto pricing page (checked Oct 16, 2026)
- Patriot Software: Patriot payroll pricing (checked Oct 16, 2026)
- Intuit: QuickBooks payroll pricing (checked Oct 16, 2026)
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