Paycor vs. Square Payroll

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Paycor
Score 7.1 out of 10
N/A
Paycor provides core HR functions scaled towards small and mid-sized businesses. Paycor offers an integrated benefits platform for interfacing directly with insurance carriers and an adaptable time management platform.N/A
Square Payroll
Score 6.1 out of 10
N/A
Square Payroll is a payroll solution for hourly employees, from Square headquartered in San Francisco, California.
$0
per month
Pricing
PaycorSquare Payroll
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
Free
$0
per month
Plus
$29
per month
Premium
Custom
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
PaycorSquare Payroll
Free Trial
YesNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoYes
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeOptionalNo setup fee
Additional DetailsPaycor's pricing for small, mid, and enterprise companies varies based on product bundle and company size. Because Paycor HR software is built to help businesses scale and grow, plans are based on the mix of HR products needed, and company size. Payroll is at the core of Paycor's offering, and their products are sold as a part of their payroll and HR platform.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
PaycorSquare Payroll
Considered Both Products
Paycor
Chose Paycor
I've used quite a few other pay apps through different companies I've worked with over the years. Truthfully, I don't feel like Payor is any better or worse than the rest of them.
Chose Paycor
Much more intuitive and includes timecards. Harder to get data out of Paycor then it was with J1.
Chose Paycor
very similar. Paycor counts time down to the hour. ADP was increments
Chose Paycor
Paycom is terrible or at least it was 5 plus years ago. The in The interface is terrible, there was no mobile app.. it was not a great solution solution and did not have good integrations. Over all the product was terrible for admins and employees In times of critical need …
Chose Paycor
You have way better control when running payroll. Also way easier to adjust individual employees paycheck. Peoplesoft benefits was difficult so we didn’t use it to enroll employees into health insurance . We used excel spreadsheets to calculate.
Chose Paycor
Paycor is much easier to set up and make changes on the go as the organization evolves. Paycor has a more pleasing interface for managers, software andmin, and employee experience. Reporting is probably more customizable with ADP and they seem to have better and more usable …
Chose Paycor
I think that Paycor's customer service is way better than ADP API Central.
Chose Paycor
I was a big ADP fan and rolled out the system at my previous two jobs. Once I got to my new company I realized how and simple and awesome Paycor is. I would not switch to another company.
Chose Paycor
Paycor is better than Paylocity because at least with Paycor we get responses to our questions and concerns. We do have the best customer success rep and technical account manager who have done wonders for our experience and our account. There is SO much potential with Paycor, …
Chose Paycor
I prefer Quickbooks, it was the easiest system to process, approve, pay, and log. Taxes were easier however it was the most expensive and we were all told that the changes were being made.
Chose Paycor
Paycor seemed simpler and still allowed the employer to control many aspects of what the employeea can do.
The cost was more effective than Paycom. The customer service was another area of concern, even though Paycor could improve on some reps speaking better English, this is …
Chose Paycor
Paycor doesn't have the same functionality for the HRIS piece as the others. Paycor was selected by our payroll provider when we were small.
Chose Paycor
Bamboo's interface and customer service is better than Paycor's. The main reason we have not switched is because of up-front implementation fees that come with every platform. If I had a blank slate, I am honestly not sure I would choose Paycor, but I don't mind having Paycor …
Chose Paycor
Paycom has all one system, so their different modules all talk to one another. They also have an excellent benefit module and EDI feed setup. We have had no problems with their benefit setup or EDI feeds; they work well!
Chose Paycor
I find Paycor to be easier to use, and workflows run smoothly.
Chose Paycor
Overall, I prefer it to the bigger HRIS systems that I work with (ADP, Paycom, Paylocity) and would chose Paycor above those listed. I do prefer utilizing other Ben Admin Systems (Gusto, Rippling, Ease) for pulling general reports, usability, and customer service needs for …
Chose Paycor
Sales rep were really respectful. I felt with some other vendors they were a bit aggressive. The demo that was made in house was nice and the guy demonstrating it knew a lot about the system which made us more confident in the decision. Also, the ability of having all in one …
Chose Paycor
I did not select Paycor. I would not pick it in future roles.
Square Payroll
Chose Square Payroll
ADP is much too expensive. Gusto was great for us but we found Square Payroll to be more cost effective, though the difference is not very much.
Chose Square Payroll
We used Quickbooks for a long time. Our payroll/HR person for the past 20+ years retired around the time our company was sold and bought. Her replacement had experience in using Square Payroll. We gave it a shot and liked it. We went live rather quickly and it did take some …
Chose Square Payroll
We have tested the QuickBooks Online platform. Before using Square, we tried QuickBooks, but the experience we had was not to our liking. QuickBooks Online is a much more complicated platform to use, the interface is much larger and has complexity in the configuration of the …
Chose Square Payroll
I would say that Square Payroll has a step up in comparison to the competition. It is a great platform for small companies that don't need the resources and expense that bigger systems might offer. Square is the exact thing I was looking for.
Chose Square Payroll
I liked patriot, but I found it to be more confusing than Square and took me too much time to setup. I setup Square Payroll in about an hour. I would also say the Square interface made more sense to me. I also like how Square offers more things like benefits, etc. that can be …
Chose Square Payroll
Cheaper and easier to implement Square payroll versus the competition. Accessible to the small business. Doesn't have a learning curve. Quick deployment to usage/adoption. The other options don't compare when looked at feature for feature vs. price.
Features
PaycorSquare Payroll
Payroll Management
Comparison of Payroll Management features of Product A and Product B
Paycor
7.8
Ratings
5% below category average
Square Payroll
7.8
Ratings
5% below category average
Pay calculation8.20 Ratings8.90 Ratings
Support for external payroll vendors8.20 Ratings8.60 Ratings
Off-cycle/On-Demand payment7.70 Ratings4.40 Ratings
Benefit plan administration6.90 Ratings9.10 Ratings
Direct deposit files8.60 Ratings7.00 Ratings
Salary revision and increment management7.50 Ratings8.90 Ratings
Reimbursement management7.30 Ratings7.80 Ratings
Best Alternatives
PaycorSquare Payroll
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
Infor Human Resources
Infor Human Resources
Score 7.1 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
PaycorSquare Payroll
Likelihood to Recommend
6.8
(0 ratings)
4.7
(0 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
8.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Usability
7.2
(0 ratings)
9.0
(0 ratings)
Availability
10.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Performance
10.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
5.2
(0 ratings)
9.0
(0 ratings)
In-Person Training
10.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Online Training
9.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
7.5
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Configurability
10.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Ease of integration
10.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
10.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
10.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
10.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
PaycorSquare Payroll
Likelihood to Recommend
In my experience, Paycor is well suited for organizations such as my own where the hiring process and fairly straightforward. A company that values ease of use, consistency, and organization will have great results with Paycor Recruiting. The system is also especially helpful when a company like mine must frequently recruit for the same exact role over and over again. That is where the customizable templates really come into play! On the other hand, a company that has a more specialized or complex recruiting process may struggle with using the platform. If more advanced integrations or data analytics are required then they would likely need a platform that is more robust in those areas.
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I would say that Square Payroll is perfect for companies that don't exceed 100 employees. The multistate payroll system allows for us to be able to handle business with ease when we go do work in Mississippi or Arkansas. The multiple payout options are great for our particular business. We might deal with a multimillion dollar contract one day and a $120 order the next.
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Pros
  • Allows employees to clock in and out on personal AND company owned devices
  • Allows employees to make notes in order to alert us of additional things or particular matters the need attention.
  • Allows employees to send notifications to administraters regarding missed punch situations and also adverse app performance.
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  • 1099 contractor payments are easy, and they provide you with the IRS filing as part of the service.
  • Direct deposit/debit from your already connected account to the employee.
  • Reporting and management features are simple yet inclusive.
  • Low cost compared to alternative solutions.
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Cons
  • Administrative/C-Suite level of canned reports and dashboards
  • Displaying company reminders or documents to sign that are urgent in a way that doesn’t allow an employee to clock out until they have completed the task.
  • More options to build an org chart
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  • [In my experience] they can cancel your service at any time, without warning or explanation. When they do this your funds are held by them for up to 90 days, at which time they are presumably accruing interest on your money. This could take a small business under very quickly and there is nothing you can do about it.
  • [I believe] getting verified is complex and not customer friendly. Until you are verified you can't talk to payroll customer service, which is paradoxical. Even getting a hold of account services for this purpose is tricky and exceedingly time-consuming, plus they can not answer most questions directly.
  • [I feel] they don't communicate well, closed my account with no notice whatsoever. The only notification I had about the need to verify my account was one easily lost email. Not having responded to this email fast enough created months of stress and difficulty in the setup process, only to find in the end I would need to start from scratch to attempt to sign up again.
  • [In my experience] if they close your account you can never reopen it. You have to start a new account from scratch.
  • [In my experience] they can hold your money and not deposit funds if your account is "under review". This can happen without explanation. No customer service is directly available for this. I was told I had to wait for them to call me.
  • [I believe] they are either lying, or the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing to such an extent that they give a great deal of misinformation.
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Likelihood to Renew
The product is really good overall. The customer service is not the best and the benefits administration is kind of painful. However, the good outweighs the bad. We might get a different benefit admin system that can be integrated into Paycor. My controller doesn't want to switch anything for a [long] time.
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No answers on this topic
Usability
The performance management module was so inaccessible it was impossible to implement alone. They must have received this feedback a lot as then they started offering implementation specialists ($5,000!) that actually got us up and running. Before that I could not access the module. Other areas are relatively easy to learn via their support articles and videos
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It could use a mobile-friendly interface. Other than that it's a simple layout and non-cluttered which allows you to get done what you need to get done. No unnecessary dodads or distractions.
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Reliability and Availability
I feel like Paycor is always up and running! If they are planning downtime, they communicate it clearly. Every once in a while, I get something that says the system isn't working but it is usually back up within the hour. I typically find by the time that the employees complain about it, that it is resolved within the system.
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No answers on this topic
Performance
For the most part, everything moves super fast. There are a few sections (Expense Management) that sometimes take a bit to load correctly. Or if they are interesting, it takes a minute to talk to each other! But reports are quickly downloaded and available! Even data heavy reports run fairly fast!
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No answers on this topic
Support Rating
I feel like support will transfer you back and forth between departments and put you on hold forever. I believe it is very difficult to see the status of an open ticket. During my experience, it feels like the client has to push all communication and request updates from support regularly.
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I think they have quick and helpful customer service reps, however, I give them a 9 because I have had to wait on hold for long periods of time before.
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Online Training
The online trainings are super helpful. They have user guides that you can read through, interactive training that will walk you through it as well as plain web based ones. I've actually never had an in-person training but all of the information you need can be found online. They also will do individual support training if you are struggling with a certain area.
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No answers on this topic
Implementation Rating
I've been through a payroll software implementation multiple times in my career, ranging from upgrades to an existing platform to complete replacement of providers. This implementation was the easiest from the standpoint of confidence in my implementation personnel. The implementation consultants at Paycor were AMAZINGLY knowledgeable about the software and offered us advice at every step of the way. We never had any concerns that they didn't know what we wanted or needed.
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No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
Overall, Paycor is a solid system that meets most of our needs. It offers a wide range of functionality and generally performs well. However, there are a few technical issues that create challenges, particularly within the onboarding module. From the few systems we have used, Paycor has the most potential
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We have tested the QuickBooks Online platform. Before using Square, we tried QuickBooks, but the experience we had was not to our liking. QuickBooks Online is a much more complicated platform to use, the interface is much larger and has complexity in the configuration of the collection of hours of work of the employees. In addition, QuickBooks technical support does not respond in time to users' doubts, on several occasions we had several doubts about the operation of the platform and the response was too late and inconsistent. We decided to use Square Payroll because it offered us a much more accessible UI, a simpler but more precise interface for what we needed in our company, to be able to make payroll payments and make detailed reports on the workers.
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Scalability
I gave it a 10 because we only use it across one organization. However, it has allowed us to break it into multiple departments and layers of management. It is also easy for us to utilize across different locations but still under one master company. They have always provided us support when we decide to change something on an organizational level
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No answers on this topic
Return on Investment
  • We can process Payroll in a 25% of the time that we previously could.
  • Scheduling takes 2 or 3 times as much effort as it did before.
  • Onboarding allows employees to do self-service but comes with a lot of questions from team members so it is net the same amount of time at the end of the day.
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  • Square Payroll has dramatically reduced the time it takes to process payroll.
  • We could have a faster payroll with the Square POS integration for commission, but that is not something we've implemented yet.
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ScreenShots

Paycor Screenshots

Screenshot of the real-time data insights that support critical business decisions.Screenshot of Paycor's expense reportingScreenshot of the recruiting processes streamlined in PaycorScreenshot of workforce scheduling in PaycorScreenshot of Paycor's mobile app, that allows employees to punch in and out from their phonesScreenshot of the Paycor Home Screen