Payroll · United States
Wave Payroll pricing: what it actually costs per employee at 5, 10, 25 and 50
At 10 employees, the cheapest plan Wave Payroll publishes is Wave Payroll (US): $100 a month — $10.00 per employee per month, base fee included.
- Price statusPublished list price
- Prices read onchecked 2026-10-03
- Last recorded changenone recorded since we started checking
Cheaper at this headcount: Patriot Software at $57 a month on its Basic Payroll plan.
On its cheapest published plan, Wave Payroll costs $100 a month for 10 employees, which is $10.00 per employee per month.
At 5 employees the same plan works out at $14.00 per employee — the headline figure of $6 assumes the base fee is spread over more people.
What the vendor publishes
| Plan | Base / month | Per employee / month | Eligibility as published | What the vendor states |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wave Payroll (US) | $40 | $6 | No headcount condition published | $6/month per active employee and per independent contractor paid; no set-up fees or hidden charges; 30-day commitment-free trial begins after processing first payroll |
Minimum contract: not stated in the vendor's published documentation (checked 2026-10-03).
The vendor states there is no setup fee.
What that works out at per employee
Vendors quote a per-employee fee and a base fee separately. What you actually pay per employee is both of them divided by your headcount, so the smaller your team, the further the real figure sits above the advertised one. This table is Wave Payroll's published prices put through that division.
| Plan | 1 | 5 | 10 | 25 | 50 | 100 | 250 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wave Payroll (US) | $46.00 | $14.00 | $10.00 | $7.60 | $6.80 | $6.40 | $6.16 |
Columns are employee counts. Scroll sideways on a phone.
No other adjustment is applied. We do not add estimated tax-filing fees, discounts, or promotional pricing. The full method is at Method.
Where the base fee stops mattering
On Wave Payroll (US), the $40 base fee is 57% of the monthly bill at 5 employees and 12% at 50. That is the whole of why the effective figure falls as a team grows: the fee does not change, the number of people carrying it does.
Who this suits, and who it does not
- If price is the only thing you are deciding on, Patriot Software is cheaper at 10 employees ($57 against $100) — see its figures.
- If your headcount is under 5, the base fee of $40 dominates the bill. Check the per-employee column at your actual size before comparing anything.
- If you are not ready to decide, wait. Published prices change without notice and the figures here are only as current as 2026-10-03. Confirm on the vendor's own page before you sign.
Where each figure comes from
Every figure above is either a number Wave Payroll publishes or a gap it leaves. Field by field: what we hold, which of the vendor's own pages it was read from, the day it was read, and the vendor's wording where we have it. Nothing in this table comes from a third party, and no blank is filled with an estimate.
Show the source of every figure on this page (10 fields)
| Plan | Field | What we hold | Read from | Read on | The vendor's wording |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | Setup fee | $0 | the pricing page | 2026-10-03 | |
| — | Minimum contract | Not stated in the vendor's published documentation | the pricing page | 2026-10-03 | |
| — | Free trial | 30 days | the pricing page | 2026-10-03 | |
| Wave Payroll (US) | Monthly base fee | $40 | the pricing page | 2026-10-03 | |
| Wave Payroll (US) | Per-employee fee | $6 | the pricing page | 2026-10-03 | |
| Wave Payroll (US) | Tax filing | Included | the pricing page | 2026-10-03 | "Wave will automatically transfer tax payments and file the paperwork with your state tax agency and the IRS (excluding 1099 filings)" |
| Wave Payroll (US) | Direct deposit | Included | the pricing page | 2026-10-03 | "Unlimited free direct deposits" |
| Wave Payroll (US) | Year-end forms | Included | the pricing page | 2026-10-03 | "Easily generate W-2 and W-3 and 1099-NEC" |
| Wave Payroll (US) | Contractor payments | Included | the pricing page | 2026-10-03 | "Pay yourself, employees, or contractors"; the fee is "$6 per active employee + $6 per independent contractor paid" |
| Wave Payroll (US) | Conditions on the price | — | the pricing page | 2026-10-03 | $6/month per active employee and per independent contractor paid; no set-up fees or hidden charges; 30-day commitment-free trial begins after processing first payroll |
The same record, for every vendor, is the sources column of plans.csv on the data page.
Where to check this yourself
Go to Wave Payroll and open its pricing page. Everything above comes from https://www.waveapps.com/payroll, read on 2026-10-03.
Related
- Wave Payroll compared with Patriot Software
- Wave Payroll compared with OnPay
- Wave Payroll compared with QuickBooks Payroll
- Alternatives to Wave Payroll
- Why payroll costs more than the advertised per-employee fee
- Put your own headcount against Wave Payroll in the calculator
- What payroll software costs, and where the money goes
- Year-end W-2 and 1099 fees by payroll vendor: included at OnPay, Patriot, QuickBooks and Wave, $3 a form at Square and Zoho, $50 plus $5 a form at SurePayroll ($100 for 10 forms)
- Multi-state payroll fees by vendor: Patriot $12 per extra state, SurePayroll $9.99 a month, Gusto Simple to Plus is +$91 at 10 employees, and who includes it
- Payroll software trials, promos and contract terms by vendor: 30 days at Patriot, 3 months free at Roll by ADP, 6 months at Homebase, and what year one costs for 10 employees
Written by Kaz, independent publisher.
Page last updated: 2026-10-03. Sources: vendor pricing pages only. Figures checked between 2026-08-20 and 2026-10-03. I have not used these products. Nothing here is a personal test result.
Ranking method and formulas: Method. Listing position on this site is not for sale.
Corrections: contact form.