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Square Payroll Pricing, Plans, and Availability

#13 in Payroll Software

by Squareup · squareup.com ↗

Payroll software for small businesses integrated with Square's payments and point-of-sale tools.

#13Payroll SoftwareSmall business
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Pricing at a glance

◇ Pricing model

Two publicly listed payroll tiers: full-service payroll and contractor-only payroll, with month-to-month pricing and no long-term contract requirement.

↻ Billing notes

Square Payroll’s publicly listed plans are billed monthly. Square says the full-service payroll plan is $35 per month plus $6 per person paid per month, and the contractor-only plan is $6 per person paid per month. The payroll page also says there is no commitment and no long-term contract required. The same pricing page states that you can get started from the plan cards, and the product page says you can cancel anytime. The provided documents do not mention a free trial or public discount for Payroll.

Plans and pricing

2 tiers

Full-service payroll

Monthly
$35/mo + $6 monthly fee per person paid
  • Unlimited pay runs per month
  • Simple onboarding
  • Pay by check, direct deposit, or Cash App Pay
  • Auto payroll
  • Off-cycle payments
  • Multistate payroll

Unlimited pay runs per month; scheduling is listed as up to 10 days out; paper W-2/1099 mailing is an annual $3 per mailed form fee if selected.

Contractor-only payroll

Monthly
$6/mo per person paid
  • Pay contractors easily and directly within the Payroll section of your online Square Dashboard
  • Unlimited pay runs per month
  • No commitment
  • No long-term contracts required
  • Simple onboarding
  • Pay by check, direct deposit, or Cash App Pay

Some features are not included compared with full-service payroll, including auto payroll, off-cycle payments, multistate payroll, multiple pay rates, free seasonal inactivity, direct-tip tracking and importing, overtime calculations, labor-cost reporting, new-hire reporting, and several employee benefits-related items.

Add-ons and extras

Mail paper copies of W-2s/1099s

$3 per employee or contractor, annually per mailed form

If you opt in to mailing paper copies of W-2s/1099s to your team, Square charges an annual fee per mailed form.

Workers’ compensation

Not publicly disclosed

Square lists workers’ compensation as an add-on on the payroll pricing page, but the page text provided does not disclose pricing.

Paid amendment services

Not publicly disclosed

Square lists paid amendment services as an add-on on the payroll pricing page, but the page text provided does not disclose pricing.

Health insurance

Not publicly disclosed

Square includes health insurance as an add-on/benefit offering in its payroll materials, but the provided pricing text does not disclose a fee.

401(k) retirement benefits

Not publicly disclosed

Square includes 401(k) retirement benefits as an add-on/benefit offering in its payroll materials, but the provided pricing text does not disclose a fee.

Hidden and indirect costs

Worth budgeting for
⚠  Square’s payroll pricing page shows one explicit extra charge outside the headline plan prices: mailing paper W-2s and 1099s costs an annual $3 per employee or contractor for each mailed form. The pricing page also indicates that some features are included only in the full-service tier, so buyers can face higher monthly costs if they need auto payroll, multistate payroll, off-cycle payments, or other advanced capabilities. Because the contractor-only tier omits several features, businesses that later need those capabilities may need to move up to the full-service plan.
⚠  Square’s broader pricing pages say some Square products have additional fees for certain device usage, text-message overages, or per-location pricing, but those statements are about other Square subscriptions rather than Square Payroll itself. For payroll buyers, the main disclosed hidden cost in the provided documents is the mailed-form fee; the documents do not disclose other payroll-specific overage charges.

What buyers actually pay

A small business paying W-2 employees every month and needing tax filing support

Expected cost$35 per month plus $6 for each employee paid in that month, plus any optional mailed-form fees if paper W-2s/1099s are selected.
Number of employees paidWhether paper forms are mailedNeed for advanced features like auto payroll or multistate payroll

A contractor-only business paying freelancers periodically

Expected cost$6 per contractor paid in each month the contractor is paid.
Number of contractors paidWhether mailed W-2/1099 copies are selected

A business that needs more payroll automation and compliance features

Expected cost$35 per month plus $6 per person paid per month for the full-service tier.
Need for auto payrollOff-cycle paymentsMultistate payrollMultiple pay ratesLabor-cost reporting

Pricing FAQ

Not publicly disclosed in the provided documents. The pricing page shows the plan prices and a "Get started" action, but it does not state a trial period. The documents provided here do not mention any trial length or trial terms for Square Payroll.

Square says there is no commitment and no long-term contract required on the payroll pricing page. The product page also says you can cancel anytime. The provided documents do not describe a cancellation fee for Payroll.

The clearest disclosed extra charge is the annual $3 per employee or contractor for each mailed paper W-2/1099 form if you opt in to paper mailing. Square also lists certain add-ons on the pricing page, including workers’ compensation and paid amendment services, but the provided text does not include public prices for those items. So the documents support one specific add-on fee and leave the rest not publicly disclosed.

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