Nanny Payroll Services Compared: 2026 Prices and Trade-Offs

Last updated September 28, 2026

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A nanny payroll service sells you one thing above all: compliance insurance. The math of household payroll is simple — 7.65% here, Schedule H there. What’s hard is remembering the January 31 W-2 deadline, your state’s quarterly wage reports, and new-hire reporting within 20 days of day one. You’re paying $40–$75 a month so that forgetting isn’t an option.

Prices below are published prices as of 2026 — verify on each provider’s site before buying, since pricing moves. Support quality is described from reported owner feedback patterns, not hands-on testing.

The comparison

A note on the table: every major provider covers the same compliance core — federal and state filings, new-hire reporting, W-2s, direct deposit. The differences are price, how household-specialized the support team is, and extras like time tracking. Nobody in this table will do your state registration for free in every case, so ask at signup.

Best-for verdicts

HomeWork Solutions — best for the budget-conscious who still want full service. At $195/quarter it’s the lowest published price among the household-specialist providers, and it’s been in the household-payroll niche for decades. Disclosure: HomeWork Solutions runs a publisher affiliate program (reported at $55–75 per signup — verify current terms when you apply). If you sign up through our link, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. We list them first because the price and niche focus are genuinely competitive, not because of the commission.

GTM Payroll — best for complex situations. Multi-state employment, nanny shares, household employees plus a home office — GTM’s team handles edge cases other providers escalate. You pay ~$70/month for that depth.

HomePay — best if you hired through Care.com. Integration with the Care.com hiring flow is the selling point; if your nanny came from elsewhere, compare on price and support alone.

Poppins — best app experience at the lowest monthly price. $49/month published, modern interface, and reported-responsive support. The trade-off of a newer entrant: a shorter track record on weird edge cases.

SurePayroll — the generalist option. ~$39–45/month gets you a mainstream small-business payroll provider that also handles household employment. Fine if you already use them for a business; as a pure household play, the specialists above know the Schedule H world better. (Listed here for completeness — no promotional relationship.)

The DIY option: $0 plus your time

You can do all of this yourself. The federal side is one Schedule H filed with your 1040 each year plus W-2s by January 31. The ongoing work is your state’s quarterly unemployment wage reports and one new-hire report per hire. Realistic time cost: a few hours at setup (EIN, state registration), then an hour or two per quarter.

DIY makes sense if you’re organized, have one employee in one state, and will actually calendar the deadlines. It stops making sense with multiple employees, multiple states, or a history of missing tax deadlines. Our household employer tax guide walks the full DIY path step by step, including the year-one checklist.

How to choose in five minutes

1. One nanny, one state, tight budget → HomeWork Solutions or Poppins. Lowest cost, full compliance coverage.
2. Nanny share, multi-state, or unusual situation → GTM Payroll. Pay for the specialist bench.
3. Already in the Care.com ecosystem → HomePay. Otherwise, shop on price.
4. Running a business on SurePayroll already → adding household there is reasonable. Otherwise, pick a household specialist.
5. Genuinely organized and cost-sensitive → DIY with Schedule H. Set calendar reminders for January 31 and your state’s quarterly deadlines.

Whatever you choose, decide before the first payday — retroactive payroll cleanup is the most expensive kind. And once the service is running, plug its monthly fee into the true cost of a nanny model so your budget reflects reality.

What to ask before you sign up

Every provider’s marketing says “we handle everything.” Before you pay, ask these five questions and get the answers in writing:

1. Do you register me with my state, or do I? Some providers file your state unemployment account application; others hand you instructions and wish you luck. State registration is the single most common DIY failure point.
2. Do you file my state quarterly wage reports, or just remind me? “Handling state taxes” sometimes means filing, sometimes means emailing you a reminder. Know which.
3. Who prepares the W-2s, and who’s liable if they’re late? The January 31 deadline carries penalties. Confirm the provider files W-2 Copy A with the SSA, not just hands you a form.
4. How do you handle mid-year hires and terminations? Prorated quarters, final paychecks, and amended filings are where cheap services earn their bad reviews.
5. What happens if I get a notice from the IRS or state? The best answer: “send it to us, we handle it.” The worst: a help article.

What getting it wrong actually costs

For perspective on the $49–$75/month: the IRS can hold you liable for the employment taxes you should have withheld plus interest and penalties. Miss the W-2 deadline and penalties start at $60 per form (2026 figure — the IRS adjusts these for inflation), scaling up with lateness. States add their own penalties for late quarterly reports and missing workers’ comp coverage — New York’s go up to $2,000 per 10-day period without coverage.

None of this is meant to scare you into a service — the DIY path in our tax guide is genuinely manageable. It’s meant to calibrate the price: $588 a year buys you someone whose full-time job is remembering January 31. For most families hiring their first nanny, that’s the cheapest insurance they’ll buy all year.

The bottom line

Rank by your situation, not by feature tables — the feature tables are nearly identical. Rank by price if your situation is simple (one employee, one state), by specialization if it’s not, and by honesty about what “full service” includes. Then set it up before the first paycheck, and never think about payroll taxes again until April.

Red flags when shopping

A few warning signs that a provider — or an internet article — is steering you wrong:

• “We file your 941s.” Household employers don’t file Form 941. A provider that talks about 941s for your nanny is running business-payroll software with a household skin, or doesn’t know the difference. Either way, keep shopping.
• No mention of state registration. If the signup flow never asks about your state unemployment account, they’re not handling it — and that’s the filing most likely to generate a penalty notice.
• “Just 1099 them.” Any provider, forum, or friend who suggests classifying your nanny as a contractor to “keep it simple” is advising tax fraud with extra steps. The control test is clear, the IRS enforces it, and the back taxes plus penalties dwarf a year of payroll service fees.
• Pricing that hides the per-employee fee. Some providers advertise a low monthly rate that’s per employee, or charge extra for each state. Get the all-in annual number for your situation before comparing.
• No EIN guidance. If a provider lets you sign up without an EIN and never prompts you to get one (free, from IRS.gov), their onboarding is incomplete — you’ll hit a wall at W-2 time.

Heads-up: product links on this page are plain links to retailers. We may earn a commission from some in the future, at no cost to you — see our affiliate disclosure for details.