Paylocity
Wave
| Feature | Paylocity | Wave |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Contact sales | Free / from $16/mo |
| Free Plan | ✗ No | ✓ Yes |
| Rating | 4.3 / 5 | 4.2 / 5 |
| Best For | mid-size-businesses, hr-teams, payroll-managers, growing-companies | freelancers, solopreneurs, micro-businesses, side-hustlers |
| Founded | 1997 | 2010 |
| Payroll | ✓ | ✗ |
| Benefits Administration | ✓ | ✗ |
| Talent Management | ✓ | ✗ |
| Time Attendance | ✓ | ✗ |
| Hr Analytics | ✓ | ✗ |
| Employee Experience | ✓ | ✗ |
| Accounting | ✗ | ✓ |
| Invoicing | ✗ | ✓ |
| Receipt Scanning | ✗ | ✓ |
| Bank Connections | ✗ | ✓ |
| Financial Reports | ✗ | ✓ |
| Payroll Addon | ✗ | ✓ |
| Payments Addon | ✗ | ✓ |
✓ Paylocity Pros
- Strong payroll processing
- Good employee self-service
- Modern community features
- Comprehensive benefits admin
✗ Paylocity Cons
- Implementation can be lengthy
- Pricing not transparent
- Customer support varies
✓ Wave Pros
- Core accounting and invoicing completely free
- Unlimited income and expense tracking
- Receipt scanning with OCR included
- Simple enough for non-accountants
✗ Wave Cons
- Payroll and payments are paid add-ons
- No inventory or project tracking
- Limited integrations compared to competitors
The Verdict
Paylocity is built for mid size businesses and hr teams, with a focus on payroll and benefits-administration. Wave targets freelancers and solopreneurs and leads with accounting and invoicing.
Paylocity uses custom enterprise pricing, while Wave starts at $16/mo — a tangible advantage for teams with a fixed budget.
Wave has a free plan, which gives it a meaningful edge for individuals and small teams exploring their options. Paylocity requires a paid subscription from day one.
Feature-wise, Wave offers broader built-in capabilities (7 features vs 6), while Paylocity takes a more focused approach — which can mean a simpler, faster onboarding experience.
This is a genuinely close comparison. If you can, sign up for both free trials (where available) and run a one-week test with your actual team tasks before deciding.