Payroll · United States

Zoho Payroll pricing: what it actually costs per employee at 5, 10, 25 and 50

What the vendor publishes

Setup fee: not stated in the vendor's published documentation (checked 2026-09-06).

Minimum contract: not stated in the vendor's published documentation (checked 2026-09-06).

Add-on fees the vendor publishes

These are the extra charges Zoho Payroll states on the same pricing page, for things the headline price does not cover. They are the only add-on figures we hold for Zoho Payroll: anything else it charges is not published, and we do not estimate it. The calculator can add them for your headcount under its advanced options.

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 Zoho Payroll's published prices put through that division.

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 Standard, the $39 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 $99) — see its figures.
• If your headcount is under 5, the base fee of $39 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 2026-09-06. Confirm on the vendor's own page before you sign.

Where each figure comes from

Every figure above is either a number Zoho 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.

Where to check this yourself

Go to Zoho Payroll and open its pricing page. Everything above comes from https://www.zoho.com/us/payroll/pricing/, read on 2026-09-06.

Related

• Zoho Payroll compared with Patriot Software
• Zoho Payroll compared with OnPay
• Zoho Payroll compared with QuickBooks Payroll
• Alternatives to Zoho Payroll
• Why payroll costs more than the advertised per-employee fee
• Put your own headcount against Zoho 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