Paylocity review

Paylocity score breakdown

What Paylocity is and who it is for

Paylocity is a cloud human capital management suite that covers payroll, HR, onboarding, employee self-service, performance reviews and benefits. It was founded in 1997, with Ameripay Payroll, Ltd. named as its predecessor (third-party reported, Wikipedia). Two acquisitions affect what buyers can get. Paylocity completed its purchase of Airbase, a spend management platform covering bill pay, expense management, corporate cards and procurement, on October 1, 2024 (vendor-sourced). It also reported completing the acquisition of Grayscale Labs in April 2026 to expand AI-powered recruiting (vendor-sourced).

The vendor case studies describe customers from about 78 to more than 400 employees, across real estate, retail marketing, manufacturing and consumer goods. That makes Paylocity a fit for small to mid-sized employers that want payroll and HR in one system and can budget for a sales-quoted contract. A team that needs only basic payroll, or wants published prices before talking to a vendor, should look at the alternatives below.

What Paylocity does

Vendor case studies document payroll, onboarding, employee self-service for paychecks, documents and time off, performance reviews and benefits administration. Airbase adds expense management, bill pay and corporate cards, and it is sold separately from the core HCM rate (vendor-sourced). Paylocity acquired Grayscale Labs in April 2026 to expand AI-powered recruiting (vendor-sourced).

Review platform feedback splits along familiar lines. G2 reviewers praise ease of use, while G2 reviewers also cite an interface some find unintuitive and Capterra reviewers cite technical glitches and limited reporting. Capterra sentiment is 87% positive, 9% neutral and 4% negative (review platform).

On security, Paylocity's security page lists SOC 1 and SOC 2 reports, ISO 27001, single sign-on, data protection and data export as topics (vendor-sourced), and third-party security profiles also report SOC 2 and ISO 27001. Third-party setup guides state that SAML 2.0 single sign-on must be requested through Paylocity support before an administrator can configure it.

Paylocity pricing

Paylocity does not publish list prices. The figures below come from OutSail's July 2026 pricing analysis (third-party reported) and vary with headcount, modules and contract length.

• Full HCM suite: about $26 to $33 per employee per month.
• Core payroll and HR only: about $18 to $22 per employee per month.
• Billing is a flat per-employee monthly rate and not a per-paycheck fee.
• Implementation: a one-time fee of roughly 10% to 20% of first-year software spend, often negotiable. OutSail estimates $6,000 to $16,000 for 200 employees and $15,000 to $40,000 for 500 employees.
• Illustrative software cost: about $62,400 to $79,200 per year for 200 employees and $156,000 to $198,000 per year for 500 employees.
• Billed separately: the Airbase finance suite (quoted on transaction volume), 401(k) through Vestwell, managed payroll at roughly $5 to $15 or more per employee per month, year-end filings, and premium support or training.
• Contracts: two- to three-year terms can lower the rate, and OutSail cites a 3% to 5% annual renewal cap as standard.

Sources disagree on structure. CostBench, an aggregator, lists Core at $20, Professional at $30 and Enterprise at $40 per user per month and a median contract of $42,240 a year from 13 verified purchases (third-party reported). The sample is small and CostBench's three tiers conflict with OutSail's two-range structure. The entry price understates total cost, because implementation, managed payroll and add-ons sit on top of the per-employee rate.

Paylocity pros

• The strongest pro for Paylocity is its review platform record: G2 shows a 4.4 out of 5 rating from between 5,302 and 6,080 reviews, depending on the snapshot, and Capterra shows 4.3 out of 5 from about 1,830 reviews (review platform).
• Paylocity covers payroll, HR, onboarding, benefits and performance reviews on one platform, with Airbase available for spend management.
• G2 reviewers most often praise Paylocity's ease of use (review platform).
• Vendor case studies report concrete outcomes, such as Barlean's cutting onboarding time by more than 50% and Duncan Enterprises cutting onboarding from 6 hours to 15 minutes. These are vendor-sourced and self-reported.
• Security documentation lists SOC 1, SOC 2 and ISO 27001, and SAML single sign-on is supported.

Paylocity cons

• No list prices are published, and third-party estimates vary by source.
• Implementation fees, managed payroll, Airbase, 401(k) and premium support add to the per-employee rate.
• Roughly 483 G2 reviews cite long support waits and limited direct access, against about 661 that praise helpful service (review platform, G2 summary tallies). Capterra reviewers say representatives respond quickly but often lack technical depth.
• TrustRadius reviewers describe implementation problems, including PTO balances that did not transfer in 2025, and one 2025 reviewer reports an account manager who changed every couple of months without a handoff.
• G2 reviewers cite an interface that some find unintuitive, and Capterra reviewers cite technical glitches and limited reporting.

How Paylocity compares

• Gusto: choose it when a published entry price matters, since Gusto lists $49 per month plus $6 per employee (vendor-sourced).

Featured in: Best HR software

Last researched: October 29, 2026.

Reviewed by Greylisting Team.

Paylocity verdict

Paylocity earns a 6.5 out of 10 as a broad payroll and HR suite backed by about 5,300 to 6,100 G2 reviews and about 1,800 Capterra reviews, with documented SOC and ISO coverage. It will not give you published pricing, and the added costs for implementation, managed payroll and finance tools can raise the bill well above the entry rate. It is right for small to mid-sized employers that want payroll and HR together and can negotiate a quoted contract. It is a weaker fit for buyers who need a transparent price up front or consistently fast support.