The Single-Record HRIS vs Paylocity

Paylocity in Canada runs US payroll. Workzoom runs Canadian payroll, at $4 a suite.

Native CRA and IRS payroll in the same system as HR and workforce, at a published $4 per employee. Paylocity is US-only and quote-gated.

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Workzoom unified HR and payroll dashboard, compared with Paylocity

Paylocity Canada is the question Canadian buyers ask first, and the answer is that Paylocity is a US-focused HCM that does not operate Canadian payroll natively.

Read the full answer

Workzoom vs Paylocity is a geography decision before a feature decision. Paylocity is a credible US mid-market HCM with strong US payroll and a genuine community platform, priced by quote, serving US-only employers well. Workzoom is the published-price alternative for employers with 50 to 5,000 employees whose footprint includes Canada or the Caribbean: native Canadian payroll, live Bahamas payroll, and HR, workforce, and talent on one employee record at $4 per suite per month. US-only teams tend to fit Paylocity; cross-border and Caribbean-connected teams tend to fit Workzoom.

Paylocity processes US payroll only and requires a sales call for pricing, so a Canadian or cross-border buyer cannot run it natively or model total cost up front.

Workzoom handles Canadian payroll and live Bahamas payroll natively, with statutory engines capable of handling the wider Caribbean, at $4 per employee per month with $0 implementation cost and a 4 to 12 week go-live, no sales call required.

Workzoom in production, the unified alternative to Paylocity

Feature comparison

Every platform says it does it all.Here is how they compare.

Paylocity is a credible US mid-market HCM, and this is an honest comparison, not a takedown. Every Workzoom claim links to an independent source; every Paylocity claim links to cited material with the date we checked it. Where Paylocity is strong, US payroll depth and its community platform, we say so. Workzoom's case is geography and consolidation: native Canadian payroll, live Bahamas payroll, and one record across HR, payroll, workforce, and talent at a published price. Read the footnotes.

Decision criteria Workzoom Paylocity
Database architecture Single employee record Sync layer across separate databases
Canadian payroll (CRA, CPP, EI) Included Not available
Caribbean payroll (NIB, NIS, NHT) Included Not available
US payroll Included Included
Single database architecture Included Modular
Transparent per-employee pricing Included Not available
Shift scheduling Included Included
Performance management Included Included
Learning management Included Included
Recruiting (ATS) Included Included
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Platform

Paylocity keeps HR, payroll, and scheduling in separate tools.One record changes everything.

The feature gaps above all trace to one root difference. Paylocity keeps HR in its own database while payroll, scheduling, and talent live in other tools. Workzoom runs all four together, so the work that happens between systems simply disappears.

Paylocity + a payroll tool + a scheduling tool + a learning system

The stitched stack

  • Re-key every new hire, raise, and termination into each separate system.
  • Export from HR and import to payroll every single pay cycle.
  • Reconcile the mismatches when two systems disagree on one employee.
  • Build and maintain integration middleware between tools never meant to talk.
  • No single source of truth, so the reports never quite agree.
  • An audit trail scattered in pieces across four vendors.

Workzoom

One employee record

  • HR, payroll, scheduling, and talent all work from one record.
  • No exports, no imports, no sync layer between HR and payroll.
  • A change in one place is true everywhere, instantly.
  • One source of truth across HR, payroll, scheduling, and talent.
  • One audit trail for the entire employee lifecycle.
  • One login, one bill, one team that configured it all.

Why Workzoom

Every platform does something well.Here is where Workzoom stands out.

Canadian payroll on the same record

Paylocity runs US payroll only; Canadian employees need a separate provider, a separate support path, and reconciliation between two systems every cycle. Workzoom runs native Canadian payroll (CPP, EI, provincial tax, T4, ROE) on the same employee record as US payroll, HR, workforce, and talent.

One platform for cross-border and Caribbean teams

A Paylocity stack that crosses the US border becomes Paylocity plus a Canadian payroll vendor plus whatever covers the islands. Workzoom runs live NIB and C10 in the Bahamas at Cable Bahamas (850 employees, payroll cut from 5 days to 1.5) and Island Luck (850 across 60+ gaming locations), on the same record as Canadian and US payroll, with engines capable of handling the wider Caribbean.

Published pricing, no sales call

Paylocity does not publish pricing. Organizations must go through a sales process to get a quote, making comparison shopping difficult. Workzoom pricing is $4 per employee per month per suite, published and available without a demo.

Under the hood

One platform, or a rollup?

Two questions a feature table skips: is this built as one system, and who owns it today. Here is the honest answer for both.

Workzoom

Architecture

One unified employee record across HR, payroll, workforce, and talent.

Built or acquired

Built in-house on the Curos Technology Platform (2009 to 2010), not assembled from acquired products.

Ownership today

Privately held, Canadian-owned, founded 2000.

One system, one owner

Paylocity

Architecture

A single-vendor mid-market HCM built for the US market, with payroll, time, HR, and talent from one company.

Built or acquired

Founded in 1997 (originally Ameripay) and grown organically as a US payroll and HCM provider.

Ownership today

Publicly traded (NASDAQ: PCTY).

US-built single-vendor HCM

Architecture and ownership facts above, sourced: [3]

On single-vendor architecture this is broadly a match. The boundary is geography: Paylocity's platform serves US employers, so Canadian or Caribbean operations mean a second system beside it. Workzoom runs Canada, the US, and the Bahamas on one record.

Our clients

The teams that run their people on Workzoom.

Pricing

Transparent pricing, no surprises.

Workzoom

$4–$16

per employee / month

$4 per suite per month. All four suites = $16/employee/month. No setup fees, no contracts.

Paylocity

Custom

quote-based

Paylocity does not publish pricing. Quote-based with per-employee charges and implementation fees. Paylocity is US-focused and does not operate Canadian or Caribbean payroll natively.

Source: independently reported buyer data (HRcosts); paylocity.com confirms pricing is quote-based · Verified August 2026

How this is calculated. Modeled at 200 employees, all four suites, over three years. Workzoom's figure is its published ratepm1; competitor ranges are quote-based and include typical setup, migration, and implementation fees. Send your real headcount and country mix for a vendor-specific total.

The honest fit

Who Workzoom is for, and who it is not.

Picking the right system is as much about ruling out a wrong fit as finding a right one. Here is where Workzoom fits, and where it does not.

Built for you

Workzoom is the right call if

  • You have 50 to 5,000 employees and want HR, payroll, workforce, and talent on one employee record.

  • You operate across the Caribbean, Canada, the US, or some mix of them, and want one system instead of two.

  • You want your own team running payroll, with Workzoom specialists configuring your statutory rules and staying on after go-live.

  • You want published, predictable per-employee pricing you can model on day one.

  • You want named-client proof with real production numbers, not a logo wall.

Be honest with yourself

Workzoom is not the fit if

  • You want payroll handled for you by a bureau.

    Workzoom is the platform your own team runs: it calculates and prepares statutory output, and your team submits. If you would rather hand payroll off entirely, a managed-payroll service is the better fit, not us.

  • You are a 20,000-plus employee global enterprise needing deep multi-entity configuration and a large consultant programme.

    That is Workday and SAP SuccessFactors territory, and we are honest about it. Workzoom is built for the 50 to 5,000 range where fit, speed, and a real relationship beat raw configuration depth.

Switching

How do you switch from Paylocity?

Most teams are live within four to twelve weeks (twelve to thirty-six for large or complex rollouts), depending on size, scope, and how quickly your team can meet and decide, with dedicated implementation support.

01
Discovery and data export
We review your Paylocity configuration and export employee records, pay history, year-to-date tax data, and leave balances. Canadian and multi-country payroll requirements are scoped and mapped.
02
Configuration and parallel payroll
Workzoom is configured and both systems run in parallel for 2-3 pay periods. Your payroll and HR teams validate that Workzoom outputs match Paylocity before committing to cutover.
03
Go-live and decommission
Once your team confirms Workzoom accuracy, you cancel Paylocity. We manage the cutover timeline and support your team through the transition period. Most migrations complete in four to twelve weeks (twelve to thirty-six for large or complex rollouts).

Compare more

Other Workzoom comparisons.

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Explore Workzoom

The Paylocity alternative, answered

Specifics on switching from Paylocity to Workzoom: pricing, data migration, timeline, and what is actually different in day-to-day use.

Fit and pricing

Yes. Workzoom suits Canadian organizations or those with Canadian and Caribbean operations. Paylocity is a US-only payroll platform. Workzoom handles Canadian payroll natively, including CPP, EI, provincial tax, T4, ROE, and union agreements. Bahamas payroll is live, and HR, Workforce, and Talent are available in Jamaica and Trinidad.
Workzoom is $4 per employee per month per suite with $0 setup fees, $0 implementation cost, and month-to-month contracts. Paylocity requires a sales call for pricing and is commonly reported around $10 to $20 per employee per month all-in, with implementation billed as a separate upfront cost and multi-year contracts. For mid-market organizations, the total cost difference is significant.
Workzoom takes a different approach: Paylocity has a strong community and peer-learning platform that is a genuine differentiator. For US organizations with complex multi-state payroll, Paylocity has deep US compliance expertise and a large US client base. If your operations are entirely US-based and community features matter to your culture strategy, Paylocity is worth evaluating.

Migration

Workzoom migrations from Paylocity typically complete in four to twelve weeks (twelve to thirty-six for large or complex rollouts). We run parallel payroll for 2-3 pay periods so your team can validate accuracy before switching over. Year-to-date tax data and historical records transfer across to maintain continuity.
Workzoom implementation is included at no cost and typically takes four to twelve weeks (twelve to thirty-six for large or complex rollouts). Paylocity implementation is billed as a separate upfront cost and typically takes 3-6 months. For organizations that want to be live quickly without a large upfront investment, Workzoom has a clear advantage.

Capabilities

No. Paylocity processes US payroll only. Workzoom was built for the Canadian market and has handled Canadian payroll natively for over 20 years. Canadian organizations need a platform that handles Canadian compliance natively.

Deep dive

Workzoom vs Paylocity, the Paylocity alternative.

01

Paylocity in the US mid-market

Paylocity built a credible US mid-market HCM platform with strong payroll, time, and HR functionality for US-only employers. The product has accumulated operational maturity over a decade-plus, and for US-only mid-market organizations the platform delivers on its scope.

The hard boundary is geography. Paylocity does not operate Canadian payroll. For organizations with Canadian employees or cross-border operations, Paylocity requires a separate Canadian payroll provider and the two-vendor model carries the integration overhead that single-platform alternatives avoid.

02

The Canadian gap

Canadian payroll on Paylocity means a separate vendor relationship, a separate support escalation path, separate update cycles for compliance changes, and manual reconciliation between the two platforms. For any organization with material Canadian operations, the operational seam compounds with every pay cycle.

Workzoom runs Canadian payroll natively alongside US payroll on the same employee record. The architectural alignment removes the cross-border friction that Paylocity-plus-Canadian-partner stacks accumulate.

03

Pricing comparison

Paylocity's per-employee pricing is competitive within its US scope. For organizations operating outside that scope (cross-border, multi-country, multi-jurisdiction) the Paylocity plus partner payroll plus adjacent tools stack costs more than Workzoom's $16 per-employee-per-month maximum, before counting the integration overhead.

The right comparison is total cost of operation across the full HR-and-payroll stack, not the headline per-employee price of any single tool. Bring your full invoice stack to a Workzoom walkthrough and the math will show clearly.

04

Migration considerations

Migrations from Paylocity to Workzoom follow the standard mid-market playbook. Employee records, compensation history, payroll configuration, and time-and-attendance setup export cleanly. Parallel pay runs validate the new platform before cutover. The 4-to-16 week implementation timeline applies.

Customers migrating from Paylocity typically cite either cross-border consolidation or scope expansion as drivers. Both resolve cleanly on Workzoom's unified platform.

05

When Paylocity remains the right call

US-only mid-market organizations with no cross-border operations and no near-term plans to expand internationally can run Paylocity effectively. The product is purpose-built for that segment and ships strong operational depth.

For cross-border organizations, Canadian operators, or anyone running Paylocity plus a stack of adjacent tools: Workzoom is the consolidation play. The 30-minute walkthrough is the cleanest way to evaluate the consolidation case.

Live walkthrough

See Workzoom in 30 minutes.

Real product, real questions, no slides. Starts at $4 per employee per month, CAD or USD, with $0 setup fees.

No commitment 30 minutes
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