Paylocity vs Zenefits

A detailed comparison of Paylocity and Zenefits. See how they stack up on features, pricing, and user ratings.

At a Glance

Paylocity Zenefits
Rating 4.4/5 4.0/5
Starting Price N/A $8/mo
Free Trial No No
Free Plan No No
Features 9 9
Best For Mid-Market SMB

Paylocity

Cloud HCM and payroll platform for mid-sized organisations with modern social collaboration tools, on-demand pay, expense management, and workforce analytics capabilities.

Rating 4.4/5
Best for Mid-Market
Free trial No
Free plan No
Visit Paylocity →

Zenefits

HR platform for small and mid-sized businesses covering onboarding, benefits administration, payroll, time-and-attendance, and compliance. Now part of TriNet.

Rating 4.0/5
Best for SMB
Free trial No
Free plan No
Visit Zenefits →

Feature Comparison

Feature Paylocity Zenefits
Workflow Automation
Reporting Dashboard
EEO/OFCCP Compliance
GDPR Compliance
API Access
HRIS Integration
Slack Integration
Zapier Integration
Mobile App

Pricing Comparison

Paylocity

Platform Custom

Zenefits

Essentials $8/mo
Growth $16/mo
Zen $27/mo

Integrations

Both tools integrate with

Azure AD Google Calendar Microsoft 365 Microsoft Teams Okta Outlook Outlook Calendar Slack Zapier

Only Paylocity

Salesforce

Only Zenefits

ADP Gmail Google Workspace Gusto OneLogin

Pros & Cons

Paylocity

Pros

  • +Modern HR platform with strong payroll
  • +Community and social features for employees
  • +Good mobile app experience
  • +Data insights and workforce analytics

Cons

  • -Pricing not transparent
  • -Better suited for mid-market than SMB
  • -Some features feel like add-ons rather than core
  • -Implementation timeline can be long

Zenefits

Pros

  • +Affordable all-in-one HR platform
  • +Good benefits administration
  • +Clean, intuitive interface
  • +Strong for companies with 10-500 employees

Cons

  • -Past compliance issues affected reputation
  • -Payroll is a paid add-on, not included
  • -Limited recruiting and ATS functionality
  • -Customer support has mixed reviews

Which Should You Choose?

Choose Paylocity if:

  • • Your company is Mid-Market size
  • • Higher user ratings matter to you (4.4 vs 4.0)
  • • Modern HR platform with strong payroll
Visit Paylocity

Choose Zenefits if:

  • • Your company is SMB size
  • • Affordable all-in-one HR platform
Visit Zenefits

How we evaluate tools

Our ratings combine verified user reviews from G2 and Capterra with hands-on feature analysis. Pricing is checked against official sources. We may earn a commission through affiliate links, but this never influences our rankings or recommendations. Read our full methodology.