Paycom vs Paylocity: Payroll and HCM Compared for 2026

Paycom and Paylocity end up on the same shortlist all the time. Both are US-listed payroll and human capital management (HCM) vendors. Both sell an all-in-one suite built around payroll, and both go after businesses that have outgrown a small-business payroll app but don't want an enterprise ERP project. They also sound alike, which doesn't help.

The real differences show up in the details: which company sizes each targets, how payroll actually gets run, how each bills you, how easily you can leave, and how far each reaches beyond HR. This comparison covers those points using the most reliable public sources available: each company's latest annual report filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), plus each vendor's own product pages.

How we wrote this: we describe both vendors from their public pages and regulatory filings, checked in November 2026. We have not run hands-on trials, and nothing here is a test result. Neither vendor publishes a price list, so you won't find invented prices below. For our module-by-module scoring, see our full Paycom review and Paylocity review.

Paycom vs Paylocity at a glance

Sources: Paycom 2025 Form 10-K, Paylocity fiscal 2026 Form 10-K, Paycom Global HCM.

Who each vendor is built for

The clearest difference between the two is the size of client each is aiming at, and both say so plainly in their filings.

Paycom's 10-K says its "target client size is organizations with 50 to 10,000 or more employees." Its filing describes a core system of record that holds payroll and HR information "in one convenient database", with payroll as the foundation and other applications added on top.

Paylocity's 10-K says its clients "typically have between 10 to 5,000 employees" and on average had over 150 employees. So Paylocity reaches further down-market, into teams of 10 to 50 that Paycom doesn't target, while Paycom says it aims further up, into organisations above 5,000 people.

In practice there is a wide overlap. A 200- to 2,000-employee company sits squarely in both vendors' target ranges, which is why so many buyers in that bracket compare these two. If you are at either end of the range, the filings already point you towards one of them:

• Under 50 employees: Paylocity explicitly serves you; Paycom's stated target starts at 50. You should also look at the small-business options in our payroll software guide.
• Over 5,000 employees: Paycom explicitly targets you. At that size you would normally also shortlist enterprise suites; our Rippling vs ADP vs Workday comparison covers that end of the market.

Scale is similar. Paylocity reports about 44,400 clients, and Paycom about 39,200, or about 20,300 when grouped by parent company. Paycom's revenue is higher ($2.05 billion against $1.77 billion), which fits its larger average client. Both keep most of their customers: Paycom reported 91% annual revenue retention for 2025, and Paylocity "greater than 92%" in each of its last three fiscal years. Paycom's filing notes its retention rate drops when clients are acquired or close down, so neither figure is purely a measure of satisfaction.

Payroll: Beti vs a conventional (or managed) payroll run

Payroll is the core of both products, and it is where they differ most in approach.

Paycom's Beti

Paycom's main selling point is Beti. Normally HR or payroll staff build a payroll run, check it and submit it. Beti hands part of that check to employees. According to Paycom's product page, Beti starts each payroll period on its own, pulls in hours, approved expenses and pay changes, and "automatically finds errors and guides employees to fix them before payroll submission." Employees get alerts in the mobile app, preview their pay and approve it. HR watches progress on a dashboard showing who still needs to act. Paycom's FAQ says employees can see how their pay is calculated but cannot change their own pay rate.

Paycom cites a Forrester Total Economic Impact study (June 2023) which found 90% less labour to process payroll and an 85% reduction in payroll errors and investigations. Bear in mind that Paycom commissioned this study and that it models a composite organisation, not an average customer. Treat those figures as Paycom's own case, not independent proof.

Whether Beti suits you depends on your workforce more than the software. It works best when employees regularly use a phone app and their pay varies enough (hourly shifts, overtime, expenses) that they will actually spot mistakes. If most of your people are salaried and rarely open an HR app, the benefit is smaller, and you still need a fallback for employees who never approve.

Beti is available in the US, Mexico, Canada, the UK and Ireland, according to the same page.

Paylocity's payroll

Paylocity's 10-K describes a more conventional payroll and tax service: payroll processing, deductions, and federal, state and local tax filings. It also includes On Demand Payment (earned wage access), garnishment handling and Elevate Payroll. The fiscal 2026 results release describes "Elevate Solutions" as pairing the platform with dedicated payroll and HR teams. In other words, if you don't want to run payroll yourself, you can hand much of the work to Paylocity.

So the choice comes down to how you want payroll errors handled. Paycom pushes the first check onto employees, while Paylocity keeps payroll with your team and offers to outsource more of it. If garnishments are a big part of your payroll, read our payroll garnishment guide before demos and ask each vendor to show a multi-order garnishment case.

HR, talent and performance modules

Both suites cover the full employee lifecycle. The module lists are long and overlap heavily, so the useful question is how each groups them.

Paycom lists its modules on its software page under payroll, talent acquisition (applicant tracking, onboarding, background checks, E-Verify, tax credits), talent management (performance management with one-on-ones, compensation budgeting, career and succession planning, Paycom Learning, position management, a retention dashboard), time and labour, HR management, and benefits administration (including COBRA and ACA). Its HR management group includes IWant, an AI search tool that Paycom's Beti page says is included "at no extra charge" for all clients and users.

Paylocity groups its modules, in its 10-K, into payroll and tax, human resources (employee records, a self-service module called Home, workflows and compliance tools), time and labour, benefits (enrolment, third-party administration and retirement), and talent (recruiting, onboarding, learning, performance, compensation and Market Pay). It also has an "Employee Experiences" category built around Community, a collaboration tool the filing says "streamlines communication and fosters employee engagement across distributed workforces." The Home module includes an AI Assistant that the filing says "answers Paylocity-centric questions, as well as client-specific ones." The fiscal 2026 results release also mentions Ignite AI and the April 2026 acquisition of Grayscale Labs, an AI recruiting company.

For a performance-focused buyer, both offer reviews, goals and compensation planning inside the suite. The advantage of a suite module is that ratings sit next to pay and job data. The downside is that suite performance tools are often more basic than specialist platforms. If continuous feedback, calibration or 360 reviews matter to you, compare both modules against the specialist tools in our performance management software guide before deciding the suite module is enough.

Paylocity's Community feature is the more distinctive of the two for distributed or frontline teams, because it gives you a company social feed inside the HR system. Paycom's distinctive extras are on the admin side, such as position management and the retention dashboard.

Beyond HR: finance and IT

This is where the two have moved apart in the last couple of years.

Paylocity's 10-K now lists Paylocity for Finance (headcount planning, expense management, accounts payable automation, corporate cards and guided procurement) and Paylocity for IT (access management and identity, and asset management). That pushes Paylocity towards the "one platform for employees, money and devices" model you see from Rippling, and it means Paylocity may be pitched to your finance and IT leaders as well as HR.

Paycom's software page lists expense management (with mileage tracking) and asset management that "tracks company property tied to employees." It doesn't have an accounts payable or corporate card product listed.

If you already run expenses, AP and device management in tools you are happy with, this difference may not matter. If you are trying to cut the number of vendors you deal with, it is a real point in Paylocity's favour. Just check how mature each new module is in a demo rather than relying on the product list.

International employees

Both are US-first vendors, but they handle staff abroad differently.

Paycom's Global HCM says it covers "over 185 countries" for onboarding, learning, recruiting, compliance and payroll. It processes payroll locally in Canada, Ireland, Mexico and the UK, and uses approved third-party payroll processors elsewhere to give the same in-app experience.

Paylocity's 10-K says its "cloud-based global payroll solution enables U.S.-based companies to manage payroll for employees outside the U.S." in "over 100 countries."

Both models suit a US company with some staff abroad. Neither is designed for a business headquartered outside the US. If your company is UK-based, start with our UK payroll software guide instead. If you have more than a handful of countries, ask each vendor exactly which countries are processed in-house and which go through a partner, because that affects support, cut-off times and who fixes errors.

Pricing and contract terms

Neither vendor publishes prices. Paycom's product pages send you to "Request meeting", and we found no price list in either company's annual filing. As of November 2026, any per-employee figure you see quoted elsewhere for either vendor is an estimate, not a published rate.

The filings do tell you how each one bills, which helps you read a quote:

Paycom. The 10-K says pricing "is determined based on employee headcount and the number of applications utilized." Most revenue comes from a fixed amount per billing period plus a per-employee or per-transaction fee, or from a fixed amount alone. Billing usually follows your pay schedule (weekly, biweekly, semi-monthly or monthly), although a growing number of clients are billed monthly for some applications. New clients pay a non-refundable implementation fee at contract signing, which the filing says generally runs 10% to 30% of the annualised value of the deal. On the exit side, the filing says many clients "have the right to cancel their agreements with us for any or no reason by providing 30 days' prior written notice."

Paylocity. The 10-K says recurring fees "generally include a base fee in addition to a fee based on the number of client employees", described as a per-employee-per-month fee. W-2 preparation and annual filings carry separate fees. Paylocity charges implementation fees for professional services. Most client agreements can be cancelled "on 60 days' notice or less," and the company also has term agreements that are "generally two years in length."

Practical points when you compare quotes:

1. Convert both quotes to the same unit. A per-pay-period Paycom quote and a per-month Paylocity quote look different. Work out the annual cost for your headcount and pay frequency.
2. Get the implementation fee in writing. For Paycom you have a benchmark (10% to 30% of annualised value); ask Paylocity for its fixed amount.
3. List the year-end extras. W-2s, ACA forms and off-cycle runs are often billed separately. Paycom's Beti page says off-cycle, termination-only payroll runs carry no additional base or service fees; ask Paylocity what it charges for the same.
4. Check your agreement, not the 10-K. Notice periods in an annual report describe most clients, not your contract. Negotiate notice, renewal and price-increase caps directly.

Our payroll software buyer's guide has a full checklist of questions to ask on cost.

Implementation and adoption risk

A payroll switch is one of the riskier HR projects, because errors land in people's bank accounts. Both vendors' filings say they charge for implementation. Paycom says its target sales cycle is 30 to 90 days, but that covers the sale, not go-live. Ask each vendor for a dated plan that includes at least one parallel payroll run.

Adoption matters as much as configuration. SHRM research presented at SHRM26 found that 30% of HR leaders regret their most recent HR technology purchase, and that only 62% of employees actively use the HR technology their organisation rolls out. This is especially important for Paycom, because Beti only works if employees open the app and approve their pay. For Paylocity it applies to Community and the self-service Home module. In both cases, ask for adoption figures from a reference customer of your size and industry.

Which should you choose?

Choose Paycom if:

• You have roughly 50 to 10,000+ employees and want a single vendor database for payroll and HR.
• Payroll errors and corrections take up a lot of your team's time, and your employees will use a mobile app to check their pay. That is the situation Beti is built for.
• You have staff in Canada, Ireland, Mexico or the UK and want local payroll from the same vendor.

Choose Paylocity if:

• You have 10 to 5,000 employees, especially if you are under 50 today and growing.
• You want an employee communication feed (Community) built into HR, which suits distributed or frontline teams.
• You'd like the option of a managed payroll service (Elevate) or want finance and IT tools from the same vendor.

Consider neither if you are a very small business that needs simple, published pricing, or a non-US company. In those cases, start with our Paylocity alternatives or our payroll software comparison. If you are also weighing ADP, our ADP vs Paylocity comparison covers that matchup.

Whichever you lean towards, run the same scripted demo with both: one hourly employee with overtime, one salaried employee with a pay change mid-period, one termination with final pay, and one garnishment. How each product handles those four cases will tell you more than any feature list.

Frequently asked questions

Is Paycom or Paylocity better for small businesses?

Paylocity, on paper. Its 10-K says its clients typically have 10 to 5,000 employees, while Paycom's stated target starts at 50 employees. Very small teams may still find simpler, published-price tools a better fit.

Does Paycom or Paylocity publish pricing?

No. As of November 2026, neither publishes a price list. Paycom bills per billing period plus per-employee or per-transaction fees, and Paylocity bills a base fee plus a per-employee-per-month fee. Both charge implementation fees.

What is Paycom Beti?

Beti is Paycom's employee-guided payroll. It starts each payroll on its own, flags errors and asks employees to review and approve their paycheck before payroll is submitted. Employees cannot change their own pay rate.

Can I cancel a Paycom or Paylocity contract early?

According to their annual reports, many Paycom clients can cancel with 30 days' written notice, and most Paylocity agreements can be cancelled on 60 days' notice or less, though Paylocity also uses two-year term agreements. Your own contract terms are what count, so check them before signing.

Do Paycom and Paylocity handle international payroll?

Both support US-based companies with staff abroad. Paycom's Global HCM covers 185+ countries, with local payroll in Canada, Ireland, Mexico and the UK. Paylocity's global payroll covers 100+ countries.