Managing payroll for on-site employees is challenging enough, and extending that process to remote workers worldwide introduces a whole new set of challenges. Common obstacles at hand, like country-specific tax laws and varying time zones and currencies, can quickly become a logistical nightmare. Fortunately, many payroll software solutions are designed specifically to handle the unique set of challenges of remote work in 2025.
With around 10.2% of full-time employees now working remotely in the U.S., payroll has become more complex. Varying tax laws, compliance requirements, and time zones make automation essential. Payroll software helps streamline payments, reduce errors, and maintain global compliance with ease.
This blog will take you through the top 9 best payroll software for remote workers, examining their features, pricing, and what makes each one unique.
Company | Best for | Main Features | Pricing |
Deel | Managing global payroll and ensuring compliance across 130+ countries |
| Starts at $29/ user/month |
Gusto | Automating payroll for remote U.S. teams |
| Starting from $49 to $180 |
OnPay | Small businesses managing payroll |
| Starts at $49/month |
Paychex Flex | Businesses of all sizes |
| Starting from $47 to $95 |
Wave Payroll | Remote teams in the United States and Canada |
| Starts at $16/month |
Paylocity | Global remote teams |
| Starting from $22 to $32 |
Rippling HR | Handling the entire workforce through a single platform |
| Starting from $21 to $29 |
Papaya Global | Catering to the International workforce in 100+ currencies |
| Starting from $15 to $25 |
ADP Workforce Now | Expanding businesses in the worldwide market |
| Starting from $23 to $30
|
Deel offers powerful payroll software that simplifies international payments, tax compliance, and local regulations. Built for companies with global teams, it supports payroll in 130+ countries. As an Employer of Record (EOR), Deel enables businesses to hire and pay international employees without setting up legal entities. It manages everything from employment contracts to local tax filings and compliance.
Standout Features
- With Deel’s one-click payment option, you can easily make bulk payments for your entire workforce
- Using Deel software, you can access a consolidated view of your international payroll operations and instantly analyze payroll data through standardized reporting and dashboards
- With 80+ integrations, you can connect Deel to your favorite HR software to reduce manual tasks, streamline workflows, or build custom integrations using our API
Pricing
Deel offers modular pricing along with a ’Global Payroll’ plan that starts at $29/user/month.
Disclaimer: The pricing is subject to change.
Why Choose Deel
Deel is best suited for multinational and large organizations with remote teams across the globe. Supporting 120+ currencies, it simplifies payroll for international workforces. The software also helps you expand into new markets and hire top remote talent without the burden of complex global payroll processes.
Gusto HR software simplifies payroll, talent management, and onboarding for over 400,000 small and midsize businesses. With automated tax registration in all 50 states and easy multi-state compliance, it’s an ideal software for U.S.-based remote teams looking to streamline operations and save valuable time.
Standout Features
- It supports unlimited payroll runs, making it easy to pay freelancers or part-time workers on flexible schedules
- Gusto simplifies employee management with its ’People’ tab, where you can add team members, view your org chart, and manage hiring, onboarding, and background checks through Gusto Recruiting integration
- The software makes it easy to keep track of onboarding paperwork with a user-friendly onboarding task list
Pricing
The software offers three pricing tiers:
- Simple - $49/month ($6/month/person)
- Plus - $80/month ($12/month/person)
- Premium - $180/month ($22/month/person)
Disclaimer: The pricing is subject to change.
Why Choose Gusto
Gusto is a great choice for domestic as well as international remote teams needing automated payroll, tax compliance, and benefits. Its intuitive platform also supports bonuses, reimbursements, and comprehensive benefits administration, making it easy for businesses to stay compliant and competitive in today’s flexible work environment.
OnPay Payroll is a full-service payroll, HR, and benefits software that simplifies paying employees and contractors with just a few clicks. Designed to support businesses with a distributed workforce as well, it automates tax calculations, filings, and state-specific requirements. It also helps manage onboarding, compliance, and payroll across multiple locations.
Standout Features
- Easily onboard remote employees with digital offer letters, W-4s, and e-signatures. OnPay organizes documents, provides built-in audit trails, and handles state-specific new hire filings for distributed teams across the U.S.
- The payroll reports dashboard shows summaries and payroll data per pay schedule. The dynamic report designer lets you set up filters and arrange columns. Custom views for different departments can easily be set up as well
- OnPay assigns a dedicated onboarding representative to new accounts. They assist with account setup, so most of the information is already there when the employee logs into the software
Pricing
The software is available for a base fee of $49/month with an additional $6/person/month.
Disclaimer: The pricing is subject to change.
Why Choose OnPay
OnPay offers one simple pricing plan that includes unlimited payroll runs, flexible pay schedules, and essential HR tools. It is ideal for small businesses managing payroll for remote teams across multiple states.
With nearly 800,000 businesses under its wing, Paychex Flex offers compliance, onboarding, and payroll features that are well-suited for organizations with remote staff. The software supports businesses of all sizes. Paychex Flex excels at supporting companies that are required to abide by labor law requirements due to their size and/or complexity.
Standout Features
- The location-based calculations assist in managing payroll for remote staff, considering the different minimum wage laws in their respective states
- The Paychex app lets employees access tax forms and pay stubs, and employers can handle payroll from mobile devices
- The software offers 160+ reports with analytics and benchmarking tools, helping businesses track labor costs and spot expense trends across dates or departments
Pricing
The following are the pricing plans offered by the software:
- Essentials - $39/month plus $5/person
- Select - $47/month, plus $3/employee
- Pro - $95/month, plus $3/person
- Enterprise - The custom plan depends on the number of users and additional features.
Disclaimer: The pricing has been sourced from third-party websites and is subject to change.
Why Choose Paychex Flex
Paychex Flex assists HR leaders in managing complex payroll and HR tasks, regardless of whether they have one employee or a thousand. The software automatically calculates payroll taxes for each employee based on their location, simplifying payroll for employers with remote employees across different states.
Wave Payroll is cloud-based software designed for small businesses with in-house and remote teams working in the US and Canada. The software lets organizations manage payroll, employee deductions, and taxes all in one platform. Designed with ease of use in mind, it provides employees with a portal to access and update their information without any hassle.
Standout Features
- Quickly create and send professional invoices to your customers in seconds
- Employees can use self-service accounts to view pay stubs, updated information, and access tax forms
- Wave’s complete payroll tax service will automatically pay and file your state and federal payroll taxes
Pricing
The software offers two pricing plans:
- Starter Plan – A free plan with limited features, along with a few add-ons
- Pro Plan - $16/month with advanced features
Disclaimer: The pricing is subject to change.
Why Choose Wave Payroll
If your business is based in the United States or Canada, Wave Payroll could be your go-to partner for all your payroll worries for in-house or your remote workforce. The software has a very friendly interface that does not overwhelm its users, making payroll checks, tax filings, and employee data management smooth and straightforward. Wave Payroll can also connect with Zapier software, having around 1,000 integrations to streamline various HR functionalities.
Paylocity HR is a cloud-based payroll and HR software platform designed to streamline payroll processing, automate HR tasks, and enhance employee engagement. Known for its global payroll option, it perfectly caters to international remote employees in over 100 different countries.
Unique Features
- ’Compliance Dashboard’ helps keep remote employers up to date with multi-state tax laws and labor regulations in real time
- The ’On-Demand Payment’ option allows employees to access earned wages before payday, supporting financial flexibility for remote staff
- Geolocation verifies remote employee clock-ins with Paylocity’s time-tracking feature, ensuring accurate payroll across time zones
Pricing
Paylocity charges employees on a per-employee, per-month basis. Its subscription can cost anywhere from $22-$32/user/month, depending on the size of your company and the modules included in your scope.
Disclaimer: The pricing has been sourced from third-party websites and is subject to change.
Why Choose Paylocity
Paylocity is ideal for remote teams due to its automation, mobile accessibility, and robust compliance tools. With the unique ability to support both local and global payroll needs, it helps businesses efficiently manage remote employees while enhancing the overall employee experience.
Rippling HR is a cloud-based software combining payroll, HR, benefits, and IT management. Designed for an international workforce in mind, it automates payroll, ensures compliance, and streamlines employee onboarding. Rippling single-handedly manages the workforce across 185+ countries.
Unique Features
- With ’Global payroll’ automation, payroll for employees and contractors in multiple countries can be handled effortlessly, with built-in compliance and local tax support
- When information is added or updated in one part of the software, it automatically syncs across all relevant areas where that data applies
- Whether a company’s employees are remote or on-site, Rippling’s ’Time & Attendance’ is preloaded with every state’s overtime and meal break laws, which are automatically assigned based on each employee’s location
Pricing
Rippling charges companies on a monthly subscription basis, costing around $21-$29/user/month, depending on the scope and modules included.
Disclaimer: The pricing has been sourced from third-party websites and is subject to change.
Why Choose Rippling
Rippling is ideal for remote teams, offering global payroll, compliance automation, and unified HR-IT management. Its intuitive platform simplifies onboarding and payroll management, ensuring seamless operations and compliance for distributed workforces across multiple countries.
Papaya Global is a cloud-based platform that streamlines global payroll, HR analytics, and workforce management. It simplifies payments for remote teams by routing all payroll data through a single encrypted platform, replacing unsecured data transfers with secure, centralized integration.
Unique Features
- 24/7 payment monitoring, local compliance, and segregated IBAN accounts ensure your workforce is paid accurately and on time, worldwide
- Onboard international employees with Papaya’s integrated immigration services, ensuring each new hire meets country-specific compliance requirements during the hiring process
- Papaya Global integrates multiple payroll systems into a single platform, ensuring compliance with local labor laws and enabling guaranteed global payroll payouts within 72 hours
Pricing
The pricing plans are as follows for the PayrolPlus:
- Grow Global - $25/user/month (101-500 Employees)
- Scale Global - $20/user/month (501-1,000 Employees)
- Enterprise Global - $15/user/month (Over 1,000 Employees)
Disclaimer: The pricing is subject to change.
Why Choose Papaya Global
Papaya Global is ideal for companies with remote or international teams, offering fast onboarding, robust compliance, and automated global payments. It supports workers in over 160 countries, runs payroll in 100 currencies, and administers benefits globally.
ADP Workforce Now is a cloud-based HR software designed to streamline HR and workforce operations. It extends its services beyond basic HR functions to include talent management, benefits administration, and compliance services. It offers payroll management that caters to local and global teams. ADP is considered an all-in-one solution having advanced AI capabilities.
Unique Features
- The software supports payroll processing in 140+ countries, ensuring compliance with country-specific tax and labor regulations
- ADP offers a complete talent suite to align goals, boost performance, support development, and plan succession with personalized career growth paths
- Real-time time tracking and attendance monitoring simplify workforce management by eliminating manual logins and logouts and providing accurate, up-to-date records
Pricing
The monthly fee for most organizations starts at $23 to $30/employee/month for basic payroll, with additional costs for advanced features.
Disclaimer: The pricing has been sourced from third-party websites and is subject to change.
Why Choose ADP Workforce Now
ADP has been providing payroll services for over 75 years. Its global payroll management efficiently helps both remote teams and in-house teams. The software supports multiple pay rates and jurisdictions, which is perfect for companies that plan to add new locations and job types for their growing operations.
You now know everything there’s worth knowing about the best payroll software for remote teams that you can easily pick from.
Remember, the right payroll software for your remote and global workforce is essential to staying compliant, efficient, and competitive. The platforms listed above are designed to meet the unique challenges of managing distributed teams across different time zones, tax laws, and currencies.
With powerful automation, built-in compliance, and user-friendly tools, these solutions make it easier than ever to run smooth, error-free payroll, whether your team is local, fully remote, or spread across the globe.
But, if you’re still unsure about which tool to pick, visit our resource center for more software listicles and comparisons.