Wagepoint vs QuickBooks Payroll (2026): Which Canadian Payroll Is Cheaper?

Wagepoint and QuickBooks Payroll are the two payroll systems Canadian small businesses ask us about most, and for a different reason each time. QuickBooks Payroll comes up because the books already live in QuickBooks Online and turning payroll on is one click. Wagepoint comes up because a bookkeeper recommended it, usually one who works in Xero. Both do the compliance work properly. The differences are price, what happens in Quebec, and what happens if you ever change accounting software. Wagepoint pays us a referral fee and Intuit does not; every figure below is from wagepoint.com and quickbooks.intuit.com/ca, not from either sales team.

Published September 2026. Every price and feature below was read at wagepoint.com and quickbooks.intuit.com/ca on 6 September 2026.

The Short Answer: Wagepoint or QuickBooks Payroll?

QuickBooks Payroll if your books are in QuickBooks Online and you intend to keep them there: Core is sold with EasyStart at $60 a month plus $5 per employee, it remits to the CRA and Revenu Québec and files T4, RL-1 and ROEs from inside the accounting file, and Intuit's Buy Now promotion takes 90% off the base fee for 6 months. Wagepoint if you run Xero or FreshBooks, if you want the cheapest compliant payroll on its own line ($20 plus $4 per employee for one run a month, $40 plus $6 for unlimited runs), or if you want payroll that survives a change of accounting software, since it syncs to Xero, QuickBooks Online and FreshBooks. Five employees paid biweekly: $70 a month at Wagepoint, $85 at QuickBooks Payroll Core with EasyStart, and the QuickBooks figure includes the accounting plan. Both are Canadian-compliant; neither is the wrong choice on compliance.

Wagepoint vs QuickBooks Payroll Side by Side

Wagepoint: Payroll That Works With Any Ledger

Wagepoint is Canadian-built payroll used by more than 30,000 businesses, and it is the one we run on client payrolls that live in Xero. Solo is $20 a month plus $4 per employee or contractor and allows one pay run a month, which suits a salaried team paid monthly. Unlimited is $40 plus $6 for weekly, biweekly or semi-monthly schedules. Both calculate federal and provincial income tax, CPP and EI (and the Ontario and BC Employer Health Tax), remit the source deductions to the CRA on your schedule, and produce T4s, T4As and Records of Employment, with year-end forms and support included at no extra cost. Employees get direct deposit, a portal with pay stubs and vacation accruals in hours and dollars, and self-onboarding. The decisive feature is the sync: Wagepoint posts the payroll journal two ways into Xero, QuickBooks Online or FreshBooks, so it does not care which accounting software you use now or later. The limits are that it is Canada-only, tops out around 100 employees, and has no built-in time tracking or HR module. A new account through our referral link receives a $50 gift card after its first payroll; terms are on the Wagepoint deal page. Try Wagepoint free for 14 days.

QuickBooks Payroll: The One-Click Answer Inside QuickBooks Online

QuickBooks Payroll is Intuit's payroll module and it is priced as a bundle with QuickBooks Online: Core with EasyStart at $60 a month plus $5 per employee, Core with Essentials at $100 plus $5, and Premium with Plus at $165 plus $8 per employee. Core covers auto payroll, tax forms, ROEs, workers' compensation, the Workforce portal and app, and two-day direct deposit; Premium adds next-day deposit, time tracking, job and shift scheduling and prioritised support. It EFILEs and remits payroll taxes with the CRA or Revenu Québec from inside QuickBooks and fills out T4 and RL-1 forms. Intuit says payroll can be bought without the accounting suite, but the prices it publishes are the bundles, so the standalone figure appears at checkout. The September 2026 promotion is 90% off QuickBooks plus Payroll for 6 months through Buy Now, applied to the base subscription and shown beside an undiscounted per-employee fee; it cannot be combined with the 30-day trial. We are not a QuickBooks affiliate, so this section earns us nothing; it is here because QuickBooks Online is the most used accounting software in Canada and its payroll is the right answer for many of its users.

What Each Costs at 1, 5 and 10 Employees

List prices before promotions, per month. The QuickBooks columns include the accounting plan because Intuit publishes them that way; the Wagepoint column is payroll only, and the last column adds Xero Standard ($60) so the stacks compare fairly.

The pattern holds at every size: Wagepoint is cheaper on the payroll line, and roughly level once you add an accounting subscription beside it. With Intuit's 6-month promotion the QuickBooks base fee drops to a tenth (EasyStart with Core to $6 a month for six months), which makes QuickBooks the cheaper stack in year one for a business that was going to buy QuickBooks Online anyway.

Quebec Employers

QuickBooks Payroll is explicit: it remits to Revenu Québec and prepares RL-1 slips. Wagepoint lists Quebec among the provinces it serves and its French-language site states that it handles RL-1 slips alongside T4s, T4As and ROEs, though its English pricing page does not spell out Quebec-specific items. For a Quebec employer we would confirm QPIP, QPP and CNESST handling directly with whichever provider you choose before the first pay run; both are in use by Quebec businesses, and the Canadian payroll price index lists Nethris and PaymentEvolution as the Quebec-focused alternatives.

The Question That Decides It: Will You Ever Leave QuickBooks Online?

QuickBooks Payroll only exists inside QuickBooks Online. That is its strength (one login, payroll expenses and liabilities booked automatically, most Canadian bookkeepers know the module) and its cost: move to Xero or FreshBooks later and payroll has to be re-implemented, with the history staying behind. Wagepoint sits beside the ledger instead of inside it, so a change of accounting software is a new sync, not a new payroll. If you are certain about QuickBooks Online, take its payroll and the promotion. If you are on Xero or FreshBooks, or you chose QuickBooks by default and might revisit it, Wagepoint keeps that door open.

If Neither Fits

A team of three or fewer paying per run can go cheaper with PaymentEvolution at $0 plus $3.50 per employee per pay run; a business that wants HR, onboarding and time off in the same tool should look at Employment Hero (formerly Humi); a company already on Wave accounting has Wave Payroll outside Quebec. All of them are priced side by side in the Canadian payroll software price index. For the employer-side paperwork that comes with a first hire, read our guides to the TD1 and TD1BC forms and managing payroll taxes in a Canadian small business.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Wagepoint cheaper than QuickBooks Payroll?

On the payroll line alone, yes. Wagepoint Unlimited is $40 a month plus $6 per employee, or $20 plus $4 for a single monthly pay run; QuickBooks Payroll Core is sold with QuickBooks Online EasyStart at $60 a month plus $5 per employee. Five employees paid biweekly cost $70 at Wagepoint and $85 at QuickBooks, but the QuickBooks figure includes the accounting subscription. Add Xero Standard at $60 beside Wagepoint and the two stacks are within a few dollars of each other.

Does Wagepoint handle Quebec payroll?

Wagepoint lists Quebec in its province selector and its French-language site states that it handles T4, T4A, RL-1 slips and Records of Employment with CRA compliance built in. QuickBooks Payroll states that it EFILEs and remits payroll taxes with the CRA or Revenu Québec and fills out T4 and RL-1 forms. Both cover a Quebec employer; confirm QPIP and CNESST handling with the provider before the first Quebec pay run.

Can I use QuickBooks Payroll without QuickBooks Online?

Intuit says yes: its payroll page offers payroll solutions without QuickBooks Online and states you can use QuickBooks Payroll as a comprehensive service if you do not currently need an integrated accounting suite. The prices it publishes, however, are the bundles (Core with EasyStart, Core with Essentials, Premium with Plus), so the standalone price appears at checkout.

Does QuickBooks Payroll work with Xero?

No. QuickBooks Payroll posts its journal into QuickBooks Online only. A Xero or FreshBooks business needs a payroll tool with its own sync, which is the case for Wagepoint: it connects directly to Xero, QuickBooks Online and FreshBooks.

Which one remits source deductions to the CRA automatically?

Both. Wagepoint calculates CPP, EI and federal and provincial income tax and remits the source deductions to the CRA on your schedule; QuickBooks Payroll EFILEs and remits with the CRA or Revenu Québec from inside QuickBooks. Both file T4s and Records of Employment.

Is there a QuickBooks Payroll or Wagepoint promo code?

No codes for either. Intuit was advertising 90% off QuickBooks plus Payroll for 6 months in September 2026, applied through its Buy Now checkout to the base subscription and not combinable with the 30-day trial. Wagepoint offers a 14-day free test run, and a new account opened through our referral link receives a $50 gift card after its first payroll.

How fast is direct deposit on each?

QuickBooks Payroll Core runs two-day direct deposit and Premium runs next-day. Wagepoint pays employees by direct deposit and lets each employee split pay across up to four bank accounts; its lead time is set by your pay schedule in the app.

Which should a business that might switch accounting software choose?

Wagepoint. QuickBooks Payroll lives inside QuickBooks Online, so a later move to Xero or FreshBooks means re-implementing payroll and leaving the history behind. Wagepoint syncs to all three, so the payroll survives the change.

Still deciding? Read the full Wagepoint review, compare every provider in the payroll price index, or ask us which fits your team.