Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Patriot Payroll
Score 9.7 out of 10
N/A
Patriot Software headquartered in Canton, Ohio offers Patriot PAY, their benefits administration and payroll software.
$174
TriNet
Score 4.5 out of 10
N/A
TriNet provides small and medium size businesses (SMBs) with full-service HR and payroll solutions tailored by industry. TriNet also offers specialized services through client access to HR representatives for advice and notifications on impactful regulatory changes.N/A
Pricing
Patriot PayrollTriNet
Editions & Modules
Basic Payroll
$17/mo + $4 per employee/contractor
Accounting Basic
$20/mo (unlimited use)
Accounting Premium
$30/mo (unlimited use)
Full Service Payroll
$37/mo + $4 per employee/contractor
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Patriot PayrollTriNet
Free Trial
YesNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional DetailsPatriot Software has two payroll options to choose from: Basic Payroll, and Full Service payroll software. Both start with a simple three-step payroll process. With the Full Service Payroll, Patriot will collect, deposit, and file federal, state, and local payroll taxes on the customer's behalf; end-of-the-year payroll tax filing is included at no extra charge. Print W2s on 8 x 1/2 x 11 plain white office paper to hand to employees, or post to the free employee portal. Also, Patriot Software offers free direct deposit.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Patriot PayrollTriNet
Considered Both Products
Patriot Payroll
Chose Patriot Payroll
I haven't tried any online ones.
Chose Patriot Payroll
Paychex is considerably more expensive software granted they have services and analytics that are not available in Patriot. I am a small business with a tight budget, and that's why I ultimately selected Patriot Software because I can reinvest the savings in so many ways.
Chose Patriot Payroll
Overall a much easier to use interface, a more competitive price point, excellent customer service—just what we needed for our small nonprofit.
Chose Patriot Payroll
I briefly used Intuit Online Payroll, and it was expensive, had no support, and was very frustrating to use.
I also used 3 local tax companies for payroll - they were extremely expensive and messed up all of the time. Their employee turnover was very annoying (and it seemed to …
Chose Patriot Payroll
Patriot Payroll is cheaper with their partner program and customer service seems better. As well Quickbooks Desktop Payroll specifically was charging per direct deposit action which is cost prohibitive and Quickbooks customer service is virtually non existent. As well, Patriot …
Chose Patriot Payroll
I found Patriot Software to offer the best price and service package for me to be able to process payroll for a number of my smaller clients while still allowing me to make a profit on the added revenue.
Chose Patriot Payroll
Quickbooks Online Payroll is literally the devil. They make things unclear, very difficult to tell what has been filed and what has been missed, hard to adjust owner salary whenever you want. I hate it! Gusto is more robust than Patriot and so for bigger companies with more …
Chose Patriot Payroll
I did an internet research and it seemed like Patriot Pay was the most user-friendly and affordable and I am glad I chose Patriot.
Chose Patriot Payroll
My early experience with Gusto was exceptional...then the wheels started falling off. I won't go into the details but I lost a couple payroll clients due to their errors and was on the verge of losing more. That coupled with massive fee increases made it necessary to find …
Chose Patriot Payroll
I did A LOT of research prior to making a decision on which software to use. Patriot had an abundance of high reviews, so I finally decided to give them a try. And while I don't normally find reasons to rave about software, I loved both the product and the service!
Chose Patriot Payroll
I switched from ADP to Patriot PAY almost 2 years ago. I switched because Patriot was a much better financial deal. Also, Patriot has MUCH better customer service than ADP. They have an online chat, which is very quick and easy to obtain an answer. They also (usually) …
Chose Patriot Payroll
I don't think that Patriot PAY is more powerful than QuickBooks. However, it is way cheaper and so much easier to use.
Chose Patriot Payroll
I prefer Patriot to Paychex for several reasons. First of all, for a small business with less than 10 employees, the fees charged by Paychex are unnecessary overhead when Patriot offers high quality and more than sufficient tools to perform the same tasks. Paychex also does not …
Chose Patriot Payroll
Cost is the major factor here, but the ease of use (and design of the interface) is a big advantage for Patriot PAY. Items are (ironically) more "intuitive" to find and manage in Patriot PAY than Intuit. Patriot PAY is closer to ADP/Gusto/Paychex in how it looks and feels and …
TriNet
Chose TriNet
We are considering using the Engagement Survey this next year. The benefits are that our staff are already familiar with TriNet and trust the platform with their data. TriNet also offers insight through consultancy as well as as best practices for the Engagement Survey. We may …
Chose TriNet
I selected them for the payroll platform; however it was oversold by the sales team. It does not operate as I had wished.
Chose TriNet
TriNet was already in use when I started, I switched off of this software as soon as I was able to. ADP and Sequoia both had better customer support, though similar reporting functionality and UX. TriNet was better than both at payroll.
Chose TriNet
I was no involved in the decision to use TriNet as it was in place before I started my role but I have since looked at Deel but they were not able to offer the same level or variety of benefit options as TriNet so that is why we have stayed.
Chose TriNet
TriNet has way more features and functionalities than Gusto. Specifically, the HR function is a big life from mine and the VP of Operations shoulders, and it's nice to have an HR function where we can direct the team to.
Chose TriNet
better technology and consistency, more streamlined and the ADP product was not PEO
Chose TriNet
We selected them because of the great customer service/support - and we haven't been let down!
Chose TriNet
TriNet platform is much user friendly
Chose TriNet
I used Insperity for 1 year. they sold me mid year and screwed up our health insurance (something they promised me wouldn't happen which made the relationship start off bad. Their service was pretty good though, they were helpful just a little more expensive and had better …
Chose TriNet
Both Insperity and TriNet have failed us in the same and different ways. Justworks was initially more expensive for benefits than TriNet. However, TriNet's benefits renewed with an average 10% increase, so we did not see savings for very long. If we could just be free of a …
Chose TriNet
TriNet offered us a huge financial incentive to switch to their PEO. Benefit costs seem to be more expensive than competitors.
Chose TriNet
I didn't select TriNet, it was at my organization when I got here. No one at TriNet gave my company information on how hard it is to move companies in the middle of the quarter. Even UKG did that. I think that every other system works better.
Chose TriNet
These were specifically for Payroll and some HR, we did not use the PEO options for these companies. When we decided to go with a PEO these two companies either did have what TriNet offered, the prices were much higher. The switch over to TriNet was much easier than the …
Chose TriNet
I liked Rippling's software better than TriNet. However, the pricing on employee benefits was through the roof, and they don't offer many selections/options. If it was a software only decision, I would go with Rippling (the 2.0 version of Zenefits which TriNet offers). However, …
Chose TriNet
Overall, it was a better product, and it was also more cost effective. We ended up with better benefits for our employees and lower fees while also experiencing a better platform. The competitor was trying to charge us a very large one time set up fee, which we did not have …
Chose TriNet
Trinet was selected because they have a robust platform and many services that they provide. In addition, the first year discount provides piece of mind when changing providers.
Chose TriNet
I was not a part of the selection process, as I was brought in after we began using TriNet. I have seen others, though, and prefer this to anything else I have encountered. I very much like the look of the platform, but most importantly, the people that assist with each …
Features
Patriot PayrollTriNet
Payroll Management
Comparison of Payroll Management features of Product A and Product B
Patriot Payroll
8.3
Ratings
1% above category average
TriNet
4.1
Ratings
64% below category average
Pay calculation9.50 Ratings2.60 Ratings
Support for external payroll vendors10.00 Ratings8.00 Ratings
Off-cycle/On-Demand payment8.70 Ratings3.20 Ratings
Benefit plan administration6.00 Ratings3.30 Ratings
Direct deposit files9.20 Ratings5.00 Ratings
Salary revision and increment management8.20 Ratings3.80 Ratings
Reimbursement management6.30 Ratings2.80 Ratings
Human Resource Management
Comparison of Human Resource Management features of Product A and Product B
Patriot Payroll
-
Ratings
TriNet
2.9
Ratings
92% below category average
Employee demographic data00 Ratings2.50 Ratings
Employment history00 Ratings2.50 Ratings
Job profiles and administration00 Ratings3.60 Ratings
Workflow for transfers, promotions, pay raises, etc.00 Ratings4.00 Ratings
Organizational charting00 Ratings1.80 Ratings
Organization and location management00 Ratings1.80 Ratings
Compliance data (COBRA, OSHA, etc.)00 Ratings3.80 Ratings
Leave and Attendance Management
Comparison of Leave and Attendance Management features of Product A and Product B
Patriot Payroll
-
Ratings
TriNet
1.9
Ratings
123% below category average
Approval workflow00 Ratings2.50 Ratings
Balance details00 Ratings1.60 Ratings
Annual carry-forward and encashment00 Ratings1.60 Ratings
Employee Self Service
Comparison of Employee Self Service features of Product A and Product B
Patriot Payroll
-
Ratings
TriNet
2.6
Ratings
102% below category average
View and generate pay and benefit information00 Ratings3.90 Ratings
Update personal information00 Ratings3.90 Ratings
View company policy documentation00 Ratings2.50 Ratings
Employee recognition00 Ratings1.20 Ratings
View job history00 Ratings1.70 Ratings
Asset Management
Comparison of Asset Management features of Product A and Product B
Patriot Payroll
-
Ratings
TriNet
1.0
Ratings
156% below category average
Tracking of all physical assets00 Ratings1.00 Ratings
HR Reporting
Comparison of HR Reporting features of Product A and Product B
Patriot Payroll
-
Ratings
TriNet
3.0
Ratings
86% below category average
Report builder00 Ratings3.70 Ratings
Pre-built reports00 Ratings3.80 Ratings
Ability to combine HR data with external data00 Ratings1.60 Ratings
Onboarding
Comparison of Onboarding features of Product A and Product B
Patriot Payroll
-
Ratings
TriNet
3.3
Ratings
82% below category average
New hire portal00 Ratings3.70 Ratings
Manager tracking tools00 Ratings2.80 Ratings
Performance and Goals
Comparison of Performance and Goals features of Product A and Product B
Patriot Payroll
-
Ratings
TriNet
1.6
Ratings
133% below category average
Corporate goal setting00 Ratings1.20 Ratings
Individual goal setting00 Ratings1.30 Ratings
Line-of sight-visibility00 Ratings1.20 Ratings
Performance tracking00 Ratings2.50 Ratings
Performance Management
Comparison of Performance Management features of Product A and Product B
Patriot Payroll
-
Ratings
TriNet
3.0
Ratings
89% below category average
Performance plans00 Ratings2.60 Ratings
Performance improvement plans00 Ratings2.50 Ratings
Review status tracking00 Ratings1.30 Ratings
Review reminders00 Ratings1.40 Ratings
Multiple review frequency00 Ratings7.20 Ratings
Succession Planning
Comparison of Succession Planning features of Product A and Product B
Patriot Payroll
-
Ratings
TriNet
4.0
Ratings
64% below category average
Candidate ranking00 Ratings8.20 Ratings
Candidate search00 Ratings2.50 Ratings
Candidate development00 Ratings1.20 Ratings
Recruiting / ATS
Comparison of Recruiting / ATS features of Product A and Product B
Patriot Payroll
-
Ratings
TriNet
3.5
Ratings
75% below category average
Job Requisition Management00 Ratings1.30 Ratings
Company Website Posting00 Ratings5.50 Ratings
Publish to Social Media00 Ratings1.20 Ratings
Job Search Site Posting00 Ratings2.50 Ratings
Duplicate Candidate Prevention00 Ratings9.10 Ratings
Applicant Tracking00 Ratings2.60 Ratings
Notifications and Alerts00 Ratings2.50 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Patriot PayrollTriNet
Small Businesses
Dayforce Powerpay
Dayforce Powerpay
Score 9.5 out of 10
Dayforce Powerpay
Dayforce Powerpay
Score 9.5 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Paypro Workforce Management
Paypro Workforce Management
Score 9.7 out of 10
Paypro Workforce Management
Paypro Workforce Management
Score 9.7 out of 10
Enterprises
Infor Human Resources
Infor Human Resources
Score 7.1 out of 10
PeopleStrong
PeopleStrong
Score 10.0 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Patriot PayrollTriNet
Likelihood to Recommend
9.7
(0 ratings)
2.5
(0 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
9.0
(0 ratings)
4.0
(0 ratings)
Usability
9.3
(0 ratings)
3.1
(0 ratings)
Availability
-
(0 ratings)
6.6
(0 ratings)
Performance
-
(0 ratings)
6.8
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
8.7
(0 ratings)
2.8
(0 ratings)
In-Person Training
-
(0 ratings)
8.7
(0 ratings)
Online Training
-
(0 ratings)
8.7
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
-
(0 ratings)
7.4
(0 ratings)
Configurability
-
(0 ratings)
7.6
(0 ratings)
Ease of integration
-
(0 ratings)
7.8
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
-
(0 ratings)
8.4
(0 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
-
(0 ratings)
7.7
(0 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
-
(0 ratings)
7.9
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Patriot PayrollTriNet
Likelihood to Recommend
Patriot is well suited for an office with a small staff without complicated tax issues to manage. My office had 2 employees: one full-time and one part-time. There were no 1099's issued, and no special tax exemptions or other special tax situations for employees. The owner was a sole proprietor, so she was not paid as an employee through Patriot. It was easy to quickly run simple payroll tasks on a bi-weekly basis in my situation. However, I believe a more complex situation with more employees would still be suitable for this software if there was an employee dedicated to performing payroll and human resources tasks. Information must be manually entered each payroll period and submitted before 8pm to process at the scheduled pay date, so if there was not a dedicated employee for the task, it would be easy to end up paying employees a business-day late. I know that Patriot offers add-on services for human resource tasks, such as time sheets and tools to manage sick days, benefits, and record employee attendance. I did not require these extra services, but I like that Patriot offers services a la carte so that there is no need to pay for tools you do not need
Read full review
For the areas I outlined previously, TriNet is the perfect solution for a young company (start up) to get 1) payroll services, 2) benefits (large offering, best rates), and support when critical issues come about and you don't have an HR Dept. The rates are the best. The people I work with are why I'd keep coming back.
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Pros
  • Patriot's software is very easy to use for running payroll. It takes about 30 seconds to do.
  • The payroll reports are abundant, easy to find and print, and make my accounting very easy.
  • Having a full service payroll provider as easy to use as Patriot leaves me with more availability to focus on treating patients and running other aspects of my business.
Read full review
  • Extensive variety of benefit program plan designs and partners. Something for everyone.
  • One stop shopping for all health and wellness benefits.
  • Continue to add new offerings, such as access to Salary.com at a discount and access to Carta at a discount to manage employee stock programs.
  • On top of compliance by state.
Read full review
Cons
  • The third party direct deposit processor Patriot previously used was not particularly easy to work with...but Patriot just brought all direct deposit processing in house.
  • Clergy housing allowance has to be manually entered each payday. They tell me they're close to adding the capability of making it (and other similar pay types) as a recurring item.
  • The setup process is geared toward novice users who need to be hand-held through the process. That's great for those who need it but a more streamlined, no-frills process payroll pros would be welcome.
Read full review
  • Expense management could be improved upon. We use a state bank for credit cards, and we were unable to link our credit card accounts directly. I have a workaround, but it means manually uploading the charges. Also, in this particular area, the support is not the best.
  • Also in expense management, while it has many fields for you to enter information, some of those don't show up on the reports.
Read full review
Likelihood to Renew
It works well because it is cheap for us.
Read full review
This is one stop shopping perse. They provide tools for Benefits and 401k. There reports are easy to read and the support given from Trinet support is awesome. Having everything in one place is best then having multiple places for things. Why change if things are working well? All the information is all there when needed.
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Usability
I think it is great once things are setup as for general user looking to look for simple things like a copy of a paystub or a current pay rate for an employee. However, to find specialized things like a state withholding number or payroll integration settings those do require a bit more digging to find or possibly a call to customer service for help.
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Being only 8 months into using the product there are still some things I need to learn, but I am sure as we start to use the product to it's full potential the usability score will go up. The expense interface is a little clunky to what we have used in the past, but the employees are happier that they can have their expenses direct deposited instead of getting an expense check.
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Reliability and Availability
No answers on this topic
We had an issue with application errors - took TriNet 5 months to fix it, mean while we had someone manually tracking and keeping up with many requests and questions about the application error which affected time off. When we were all registering for Benefits during open enrollment there were lots of bugs that caused issues with registering for benefits or being able to see what benefits were available
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Performance
No answers on this topic
For the most part pages load quickly. Working for a software company we understand performance is everything, even a few seconds delay can feel like a lifetime, that being said, we ran into a few times where pages didn't load, information didn't load correctly, and an influx in users (like open enrollment) cause things to slow down
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Support Rating
Generally speaking it is pretty good that when I need to call somebody up for a payroll question I can generally within five minutes get somebody on the phone and they can help me resolve the problem or specify where specifically I need to go or contact to find my answers. However, that being said, for my specific situation as a partner my assigned contact has not always been very responsive.
Read full review
again tough to say. Our account manager - 10 most others - 6 Benefits - 5 HR support - 2 (the joke in my team is "why ask, he's just going to say "do this and then check with your legal dept.") If we have to do our own research why do we need you. Like I said, great for smaller companies that don't have an HR team. There is almost an attitude of "we are TriNet, this is how we do it, deal with it. You're in our platform now". Every client may have different needs and TriNet needs to be able to adapt to them. The new role of strong HR teams is business partners - TriNet struggles with this and seems to be stuck in old "tell you what to do", plan the Christmas party and buy cake once a month for birthdays. Its timer to move forward!
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In-Person Training
No answers on this topic
it's been awhile, but I recall them being helpful. I got through a lot of it and when I needed help, they can walk me through it over the phone. It's also pretty user friendly in general at a platform. I don't really know what else to type, but they came and helped me in person and also when there was something new, they came and talked to me. They have not done that since with the new model that I hate
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Online Training
No answers on this topic
Since this was already implemented. I have another employee briefly train me. Then Trinet rep gave me some training as needed for things that came up. For one payroll preview report I figured it could be done, but I had asked the rep to be sure. One important training was when there was an employee leaving the company.
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Implementation Rating
No answers on this topic
not applicable as I implementation was done 5 years ago and have no recollection of the details of the process. Above it says to skip question if not involved in the process but it will not allow me to skip it as it states explanation requitred thus making this process extremely frustrating.
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Alternatives Considered
Cost is the major factor here, but the ease of use (and design of the interface) is a big advantage for Patriot PAY. Items are (ironically) more "intuitive" to find and manage in Patriot PAY than Intuit.

Patriot PAY is closer to ADP/Gusto/Paychex in how it looks and feels and operates in a full-service capacity, but it is much more affordable.
Read full review
I was no involved in the decision to use TriNet as it was in place before I started my role but I have since looked at Deel but they were not able to offer the same level or variety of benefit options as TriNet so that is why we have stayed.
Read full review
Scalability
No answers on this topic
We are a small company, do we use it across departments and sites? Yes, we are all remote working, so there are as many sites as there are people. We also have our entire staff using TriNet, so every department from Accounting, Admin, HR, Development, QA, and Management are all using this. Can't say for sure how great the scalability is as we are only about 30 employees
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Return on Investment
  • Patriot allows the entire team to be on the same page when it comes to a campaign or donor. All of the information is in one place to see how much a donor gave or communication with that donor by a specific team member.
  • It provides comparative historic data and donor analysis. The organization of donations by appeal allows teams to know which campaigns were successful in previous years.
Read full review
  • Stay within HR Compliance - when the new laws about Salary change came into effect I received an email on impacted employees and how to address.
  • More involvement in employee benefits. With greater benefit selection more employees were able to find plans that suited their needs.
  • The TimeClock took a little time to get used to. It is still a little frustrating at times for hourly employees to be able to track how many hours they actually have for the week/pay-period. The off the clock meals count towards "hours" and employees have to subtract that out to be able to see what they need for the rest of the week.
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ScreenShots

Patriot Payroll Screenshots

Screenshot of the 3-step process to carry out payrollScreenshot of the Payroll interface, which can be used run payroll on any device with internet or data connection. There is no need to download and maintain a separate payroll app.Screenshot of a payroll report, to sort by work location, employee, and date range.