Paychex PEO vs Stratum PEO
Paychex PEO
paychex.comStratum PEO
stratumpeo.comSide by side
| Figure | Paychex PEO | Stratum PEO |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | — | $750/mo |
| Free plan | — | — |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | — |
| macOS | Yes | — |
| iOS | Yes | Yes |
| Android | Yes | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 2 | 10 |
| Spec score · PEO Software | 8.6 (#1) | 7.6 (#3) |
| Integrations | Paychex HR PEO terms provide access to third-party integrations through Paychex Marketplace, with integration access for authorized contacts who have administrative access. | The platform lists BambooHR, Greenhouse, Lever, QuickBooks Online, Xero, Slack, Deputy, and Clockify as native connectors. |
| Security | Paychex says it maintains SOC 1 Type 2 and SOC 2 Type 2 reports for various products and services and holds ISO 27001 certification. | The site describes schema-per-tenant PostgreSQL isolation, AES-256/Fernet encryption for PII at rest, bcrypt password hashing, mandatory MFA for privileged roles, SAML 2.0 SSO, and append-only audit logging. |
Plans
Stratum PEO
- CPA channel — Starter$9,000 a year
- Staffing — Starter$11,000 a year
- CPA channel — Growth$12,000 a year
- Staffing — Growth$14,000 a year
- CPA channel — Established$15,000 a year
- Staffing — Established$18,000 a year
- ASO — Starter$19,000 a year
- ASO — Growth$23,000 a year
- PEO — Starter$25,000 a year
- ASO — Established$27,000 a year
In their own words
Paychex PEO
Paychex PEO provides HR, payroll, benefits, and compliance support through a co-employment relationship. It processes payroll and tax filings, administers workers’ compensation coverage and claims, and provides access to health, retirement, and wellness plans through a larger benefits group. Clients can receive HR guidance, workplace policies, compliance resources, and help monitoring employment laws. A support team may include a client advocate, HR business partner, safety specialist, and payroll specialist. The service includes a client company portal, employee self-service, benefits enrollment, compliance tools, and HR onboarding. Authorized contacts with administrative access can use third-party integrations through Paychex Marketplace. Paychex describes its small-business PEO as designed for growing businesses with five or more employees, while noting that businesses of all sizes use PEOs. Mobile access is available through Paychex Flex and Paychex Oasis apps. Pricing is custom and available on request; Paychex offers a free consultation to help assess fit and goals.
Stratum PEO
Stratum PEO is an HR and payroll platform for PEOs, ASOs, domestic EORs, staffing agencies, and CPA firms administering payroll for clients. It runs fully on customers’ own infrastructure. Its architecture combines 16 FastAPI microservices behind an API gateway with Next.js frontends, and modules can be deployed independently. The in-house tax engine handles federal, state, and local withholding across all 50 states and D.C., with multi-state allocation and NACHA ACH export. HR workflows include onboarding checklists with LLM-assisted I-9 extraction and E-Verify, plus offboarding notices for 21 states. Case management, SLA tracking, escalation rules, AI-assisted triage, Twilio CTI call logging, and sales CRM are included. Native connectors include BambooHR, Greenhouse, Lever, QuickBooks Online, Xero, Slack, Deputy, and Clockify. Annual plans range from $9,000 annually for CPA channel Starter to $27,000 annually for ASO Established. Implementation and support are $150/hr.