Wave Payroll is a Payroll software for freelancers and micro-businesses by Wave Financial Inc. (subsidiary of H&R Block). This profile pulls together Wave Payroll's ratings across the major review sites, its company and funding details, leadership, features, pricing, and the latest news, with every external source cited at the bottom.
About Wave Financial Inc. (subsidiary of H&R Block)
Wave Payroll is the payroll product from Wave Financial Inc., a Toronto-based company known primarily for its free Wave accounting software for freelancers and small businesses. Wave was founded in 2010 and acquired by H&R Block in 2019 for approximately $537 million. Wave Payroll adds paid payroll processing on top of Wave's free bookkeeping, letting sole proprietors and very small teams run payroll without switching platforms. The product operates in two modes: full-service (tax-service states), where Wave handles payroll tax calculations, filings, and deposits automatically, and self-service (remaining states), where employers manage their own state tax submissions. Wave accounting remains free; Wave Payroll is the primary paid product in the Wave ecosystem.
| Category | Payroll software for freelancers and micro-businesses |
| Company | Wave Financial Inc. (subsidiary of H&R Block) |
| Founded | 2010 |
| Headquarters | Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
| Industry | Software Development · Payroll & small business accounting software |
| Team size | ~350 (Wave Financial) |
| Ownership | Private subsidiary of H&R Block (acquired 2019) |
| Founder / CEO | Kirk Simpson and James Lochrie (co-founders, 2010) |
| Specialties | Payroll processing, automatic tax filing (select states), bookkeeping integration, invoicing, freelancer payments, self-service payroll |
| Website | waveapps.com |
Find Wave Payroll on: Wikipedia · Crunchbase · LinkedIn · G2 · Capterra
Wave Payroll ratings across the web
Aggregated from the major review platforms. Each links to the source.
Also rated: TrustRadius 7.5/10 (30).
Rating breakdown
Per-category scores from Capterra Wave Payroll (~100 reviews).
Who uses Wave Payroll
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What people say about Wave Payroll
Our synthesis across ~50 G2 reviews at 4.2/5 and ~100 Capterra reviews at 4.4/5, plus TrustRadius. No fabricated quotes, this is the consistent pattern across reviews and third-party analyses.
Most praised
- The Wave accounting integration is the strongest selling point; payroll journal entries post directly to Wave books without manual reconciliation, saving solo operators hours per month
- Price is a consistent positive: at $20/mo base plus $6 per employee, Wave Payroll is one of the cheapest full-service payroll options for micro-businesses
- Simplicity is frequently praised; reviewers who are not accountants say they can run payroll in under ten minutes after the initial setup
Most cited complaints
- State coverage is the biggest friction point; self-service states require the employer to handle their own state tax deposits and filings, which defeats the point of using a payroll service for many small business owners
- Support response times are slow; email is the primary channel and wait times of 48-72 hours are reported, which is frustrating during payroll deadline weeks
- The feature set is thin for growing businesses: no PTO tracking, no time-clock integration, no HR compliance tools, and no benefits administration
What we found testing it
What's great
- $20 base plus $6 per employee is the lowest entry point on this list, $50/mo for a five-person team, and the accounting software alongside it is genuinely free
- Direct deposit, automatic tax payments, and the employee self-service portal are all in the $20 tier across 44 states
- Invoicing, receipt scanning, and payroll share one dashboard, which replaces two subscriptions for a 1-5 person company
Watch-outs
- In California, Florida, New York, Texas, Illinois, and Washington the base doubles to $40 and you make the state deposits yourself
- 34 G2 reviews is the thinnest count in this comparison by a wide margin
- No HR features of any kind, so onboarding, benefits, and reviews live somewhere else
Wave Payroll funding & ownership
| Round | Amount | Date | Lead investor |
|---|---|---|---|
| Seed | $2M | 2011 | OMERS Ventures |
| Series A | $17M | 2012 | OMERS Ventures |
| Series B | $30M | 2014 | Social Capital |
| Series C | $30M | 2017 | National Bank of Canada, Portag3 |
| Acquisition | ~$537M | 2019 | H&R Block |
Medium risk. Wave itself is stable, backed by H&R Block, but the payroll product has limitations that create real risk for growing businesses. Coverage is not nationwide in the full-service tier, and H&R Block's strategic appetite for investing in Wave's payroll product is unclear given the parent company's focus on tax preparation. Wave Payroll makes the most sense as a low-friction extension for freelancers already using Wave accounting. It is not a long-term platform for businesses that expect to hire more than 5-10 people.
Wave Payroll features & integrations
Security & compliance
| Standard | Availability |
|---|---|
| GDPR | Yes |
| HIPAA | No |
| SOC 2 Type II | Yes |
| SSO / SAML | No |
Integrations: Wave Accounting (native), Wave Invoicing (native), Google Sheets, PayPal, Etsy, Shoeboxed, Zapier, Stripe, HubSpot, and Calendly.
Wave Payroll leadership
Wave Payroll pricing
| Plan | Price | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Tax-service states | $20/mo + $6/employee/mo | Full-service payroll with automatic tax filing; simplest option for micro-businesses in covered states |
| Self-service states | $6/employee/mo (no base fee) | Payroll processing with employer-handled state tax filings; works for owners comfortable managing state tax deadlines |
| Contractors | $6/contractor/mo | Businesses paying 1099 contractors only |
The catch: Wave Payroll's pricing is simple but state-dependent. In tax-service states (most major ones), you pay $20/mo plus $6 per active employee per month and Wave handles everything including tax deposits and filings. In self-service states, there is no $20 base fee but you pay the same $6 per employee and must file state payroll taxes yourself. The current list of tax-service vs. self-service states is on Wave's pricing page and changes periodically. Contractors pay $6 per month regardless of state. For a solo operator with one part-time employee in a tax-service state, the all-in cost is $26/mo.
Wave Payroll alternatives & where it appears
Featured in our guides
Wave Payroll product changelog
What Wave Payroll has actually shipped, summarized from its own release notes and dated. Not auto-generated, updated as part of our freshness checks.
- July 1, 2026
Tax-service state expansion
Wave Payroll expanded its full-service (automatic tax filing) coverage to three additional states, reducing the number of self-service-only states.
Source - April 15, 2026
Direct deposit speed improvement
Wave Payroll cut standard direct deposit processing to two business days for all accounts, down from the previous three-day window.
Source - January 20, 2026
W-2 and 1099 automated distribution
Year-end W-2 and 1099-NEC forms now distributed digitally to employees and contractors directly from Wave Payroll, with e-filing to the IRS included for tax-service states.
Source
Latest Wave Payroll news
Auto-pulled from Google News, refreshed on each deploy. Headlines link to the source.
- Wave Payroll: Features, Pros And Cons - ForbesTue, 11 Nov 2025
- Wave Accounting: The Ultimate Budget-Friendly Solution for Small Businesses - SerchenFri, 13 Feb 2026
- FreshBooks vs. Wave Accounting Comparison - NerdWalletFri, 24 Apr 2026
- Wave Review: Highly Accessible and Affordable Accounting for Sole Proprietors - PCMagFri, 07 Nov 2025
- Wave Financial Review - Business.comThu, 30 Oct 2025
- Wave Accounting Review 2026: Pros, Cons, Alternatives - NerdWalletMon, 29 Sep 2025
Wave Payroll FAQs
Is Wave Payroll free?
No. Wave accounting is free, but Wave Payroll is a paid product. In tax-service states it costs $20/mo plus $6 per active employee per month. In self-service states there is no monthly base fee, just $6 per employee. Contractors cost $6 per month regardless of state.
What is the difference between Wave Payroll and Wave accounting?
Wave accounting is a free bookkeeping and invoicing tool. Wave Payroll is a separate paid product that adds payroll processing, direct deposit, and (in tax-service states) automatic tax filing. The two products share a login and sync automatically, which is their main advantage together.
Which states does Wave Payroll file taxes in?
Wave offers full-service automatic tax filing in a subset of US states called tax-service states. In the remaining self-service states, Wave calculates taxes but the employer must deposit and file state payroll taxes manually. The current list is on Wave's pricing page. It changes as Wave expands coverage.
Who owns Wave?
Wave Financial Inc. is a subsidiary of H&R Block, the tax preparation company. H&R Block acquired Wave in 2019 for approximately $537 million. Wave operates as an independent product team out of Toronto.
Who is Wave Payroll best for?
Wave Payroll is best for freelancers, sole proprietors, and micro-businesses with 1-5 employees who already use Wave accounting and want payroll to sync without switching platforms. It is a weak choice for businesses in self-service states, for employers who need HR tools beyond payroll, or for anyone planning to grow past 10 employees in the next year.
Sources
Every external figure on this page traces to a public source, last collected on the dates shown.
- G2: Wave Payroll reviews — rating 4.2/5, ~50 reviews (accessed 2026-08-30)
- Capterra: Wave Payroll — rating 4.4/5, ~100 reviews, sub-scores, demographics (accessed 2026-08-30)
- TrustRadius: Wave Payroll — score 7.5/10, ~30 reviews (accessed 2026-08-30)
- Wave Payroll pricing page — tax-service vs. self-service state pricing confirmed (accessed 2026-08-30)
- Wikipedia: Wave (financial software) — founding, founders, H&R Block acquisition, HQ (accessed 2026-08-30)
- Crunchbase: Wave Accounting — funding rounds, acquisition details (accessed 2026-08-30)
- H&R Block press release: Wave acquisition — acquisition price ~$537M, 2019 (accessed 2026-08-30)
- LinkedIn: Wave company page — employee count, HQ, specialties (accessed 2026-08-30)