Home / Categories / HR & Payroll

The best HR & Payroll tools for small business in 2026

Hire, onboard and pay your team without drowning in paperwork. Here are the 6 HR & Payroll tools we recommend, ranked.

1

Gusto

Friendly payroll, benefits and HR for small business.

Best for: US small businesses running payroll · Pricing: From $40/mo + $6/person
DetailsAlternatives
2

Deel

Hire and pay anyone in 150+ countries compliantly.

Best for: Global contractors and remote teams · Pricing: Contractors from $49/mo
DetailsAlternatives
3

Rippling

HR, IT and finance in one employee graph.

Best for: Scaling companies automating onboarding · Pricing: From $8/user/mo
DetailsAlternatives
4

BambooHR

The friendly HRIS for growing teams.

Best for: HR departments of one · Pricing: Custom pricing
DetailsAlternatives
5

Homebase Free tier

Scheduling, time clocks and payroll for hourly teams.

Best for: Restaurants and retail managing shifts · Pricing: Free plan; from $20/location/mo
DetailsAlternatives
6

Justworks

PEO with big-company benefits for small teams.

Best for: Small teams that want great benefits · Pricing: From $59/user/mo
DetailsAlternatives

Popular comparisons

Gusto vs DeelGusto vs RipplingGusto vs BambooHRGusto vs HomebaseGusto vs JustworksDeel vs RipplingDeel vs BambooHRDeel vs Homebase

Stacks that use HR & Payroll

Restaurant or CafeDental or Medical Practice

Which one is right for you?

The Stack Builder picks from this list based on your business type and budget.

Build my stack