Payroll Check Printing Software Compared

Before comparing anything, one question settles most of this category: do you already pay for payroll software? If you do, it almost certainly prints paychecks, and buying a separate check printing product means paying twice for the same function.

The reason a standalone market exists anyway is narrower than the listicles suggest. Payroll platforms generally print onto stock where your bank details are already applied by a check supplier. Standalone check printing software encodes the magnetic bank line itself onto blank security paper, which lets one supply of paper serve several bank accounts and removes the reorder cycle. That capability, and not check printing generally, is what you are actually buying.

This comparison covers both categories, what magnetic ink printing genuinely requires from your hardware, how to print a payroll check without having it rejected, and the legal reason paper checks remain a requirement for US employers even though most people are paid electronically.

Two kinds of product wearing one label

Search results mix these together constantly. They are bought by different people for different reasons.

The practical test is what happens to your paper. If you order pre-printed checks from a supplier with your routing and account numbers already applied, your payroll platform prints the variable data onto them and you are done. If you would rather buy plain security paper and have software generate everything including the bank line, you need a product built for that, and most payroll platforms are not.

12 check printing products compared

Sorted by category rather than price, because the category determines whether the product is a substitute for your payroll software or a supplement to it.

ezCheckPrinting

The cheapest realistic entry into blank stock check printing, at a one-time licence from around $49 with no monthly fee, unlimited checks, and unlimited bank accounts. It installs as a virtual printer, which means accounting and payroll products that can print a check can generally send it here instead.

Checkeeper

The cloud alternative, from around $14.99 per month for unlimited checks with a free trial. Because it is browser-based, checks can be created from anywhere and it offers a mailing service that prints and posts on your behalf, which is the practical answer for paying someone who is not in your office.

VersaCheck

A long-established desktop product sold as a one-time licence across several editions, with printer and toner bundles available. It targets both small business and home use, and its main draw is printing complete checks onto blank stock with template control over layout and security features.

OnlineCheckWriter

A cloud platform that treats the printed check as one payment method among several, alongside ACH, wire, and electronic checks. For a business that pays a mix of employees and vendors by different methods, consolidating them in one place is a legitimate argument that pure check printers cannot make.

PrintBoss

The control-focused option, aimed at businesses printing from desktop accounting systems across multiple bank accounts. Its distinguishing feature is security and audit control including positive pay file generation, which matters more than convenience once check volume is meaningful.

ezPaycheck

Desktop payroll with check printing built in, sold as a one-time bundle per tax year. It calculates withholding, prints onto blank or pre-printed stock, and handles year-end forms, which makes it a genuine alternative to a payroll subscription for a small business that prefers to own software rather than rent it.

CheckMark Payroll

Desktop payroll aimed at small businesses and accountants handling multiple clients, with magnetic check printing onto blank stock and year-end form support. Priced as an annual licence tied to the tax year, which is materially more than the consumer-grade desktop products but comes with a deeper feature set.

Gusto

A full-service payroll platform that both lets you print checks yourself and will print and mail them for you at a per-check fee that varies with delivery speed. For a business with one or two employees who want paper while everyone else is on direct deposit, paying the mailing fee is often cheaper than owning a printer, toner, and stock.

Square Payroll

Prints paychecks to a standard check stock format and works with a mailing partner for checks you would rather not handle. At $35 per month plus $6 per person it is the cheapest full-service payroll base fee here, and the argument strengthens considerably if you already run Square point of sale.

Patriot Software

The cheapest full-service payroll here at $37 per month plus $5 per employee, printing paychecks and stubs without an additional product. For a small business that wants payroll handled and occasionally needs a paper check, this is the lowest-cost route to both.

OnPay

One flat plan at $49 per month plus $6 per employee with every state included, printing checks without requiring additional software. The flat structure suits a business that occasionally issues paper and does not want a tier upgrade to do it.

QuickBooks Workforce Payroll

Prints paychecks onto blank paper or compatible voucher stock with the printing setup configured in payroll settings. As always the argument is ledger proximity: if the books are in QuickBooks Online, checks and payroll entries land in the general ledger without an export.

MICR: what it is and what it demands from your printer

The row of stylised digits along the bottom of a check is the MICR line, carrying the routing number, account number, and check number in a font called E-13B. Banks read it magnetically on high-speed sorters, which is why the ink contains iron oxide.

You do not necessarily need a dedicated MICR printer. A standard laser printer with a magnetic toner cartridge is the usual small business setup, provided the model is compatible. What you do need is verification: alignment tolerances on the magnetic line are tight, and a cartridge running low on toner can produce a line too weak to read even though it looks fine.

How to print payroll checks in five steps

The sequence is short. The step people skip is the fourth one, and it is the reason most rejected checks get rejected.

One addition worth building into the routine: record the check numbers issued in the same place you keep the payroll register. If you later adopt positive pay at your bank, that list is exactly what the service needs, and reconstructing it after the fact is tedious.

What check printing actually costs

Software is usually the smallest line. The comparison below prices the routes rather than the products, because the recurring consumables matter more than the licence.

Two things follow. A one-time licence is not a one-time cost: magnetic toner cartridges are a recurring purchase at a substantial premium over standard toner, blank stock is an ongoing supply, and desktop payroll products tied to a tax year need paying again each January.

And the per-check economics cut both ways. Having a payroll platform print and mail at a per-check fee looks expensive next to owning a printer, until you count how few checks you actually issue. A business paying two people by check each fortnight issues about 52 checks a year, which at a few dollars each is comfortably less than a printer, toner, and stock, plus the time spent handling paper.

Do small businesses still need to print checks?

The prevailing narrative is that paper payroll is finished. Survey data supports the direction: direct deposit adoption among US workers sits above 90 percent, and paper checks are a small remainder.

The narrative misses a legal detail that decides the question for employers.

The practical consequence is that check printing survives as a compliance capability rather than a primary payment method. Most of your team will be on direct deposit. A minority may decline it or lack a bank account, and you need a lawful route to pay them. That is a very different requirement from printing a full payroll run on paper, and it argues for the cheapest adequate solution rather than the most capable one.

What the federal shift does and does not mean

Executive Order 14247, signed March 25, 2025, directed the Treasury to stop issuing paper checks for most federal disbursements from September 30, 2025, covering tax refunds, benefit payments, and vendor payments. It is frequently cited as evidence that payroll checks are being phased out.

It is not. The order governs payments made by the federal government, not wages paid by private employers, and it imposes no obligation on your payroll. What is worth carrying across is the stated reasoning: the order cites Treasury data that paper checks are roughly 16 times more likely to be reported lost, stolen, returned undeliverable, or altered than an electronic transfer. That risk profile applies to your checks too, even though the mandate does not.

Fraud controls that matter more than software features

Check fraud exposure sits in the paper and the process rather than in which product printed it.

Our guides to payroll security and payroll fraud cover the wider control set, including the schemes that target payroll specifically rather than checks generally.

Verdict by situation

Most readers of this page should buy less than they arrived intending to.

Before you choose

FirstHR does not process payroll, print checks, or handle payments of any kind. Every product above does something we do not, and if putting a paycheck in someone's hand is the problem in front of you, one of them is the answer.

The reason this section exists is that a printed check is the last step of a chain, and the errors visible on the paper usually started at the beginning of it. A check made out to the wrong legal name, withholding calculated from a Form W-4 that was never returned, a payment issued to someone whose Form I-9 was never completed, or a stub reflecting a pay rate that changed a month ago. None of those is a check printing problem and none is fixed by better printing software.

That is the layer we handle: onboarding workflows a new hire completes before their first pay period, e-signature on W-4s, I-9s, offer letters, and direct deposit authorisations, employee records that stay accurate and retrievable, document management, and training with completion tracking. It runs at a flat $98 to $198 per month for 5 to 50 employee US teams regardless of headcount. It sits alongside whichever payroll and check printing route you choose rather than replacing either.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need separate check printing software if I already have payroll?

Usually not, since every mainstream payroll platform prints paychecks. The exception is stock: payroll platforms generally print onto pre-printed or voucher stock, while standalone tools encode the magnetic bank line onto blank security paper. If blank stock is what you want, that is the reason to buy a second product.

What is MICR and do I actually need it?

MICR is the magnetic bank line at the bottom of a check, read by high-speed sorters. No statute requires magnetic ink, but banks may refuse or manually process checks that fail to read, usually with a fee. With pre-printed stock the supplier has already applied it. With blank stock you are generating it, so you need magnetic toner.

Can I print MICR checks on an inkjet printer?

In practice no. Magnetic toner exists for laser printers from specialist suppliers, but no usable magnetic ink is commercially available for inkjet printers, because ink absorption varies too much across papers to hold a consistent magnetic signal. A standard laser printer with a magnetic cartridge is the common small business setup.

How do I print payroll checks?

Run and approve payroll, choose pre-printed or blank stock, load the paper and magnetic toner if you are encoding the line yourself, print a test alignment page and verify the magnetic line position, then print, sign, distribute, and reconcile against the payroll register. Skipping the test print is the usual cause of rejected checks.

Can I print payroll checks on blank paper?

On blank check stock, which is security paper with watermarks and microprinting rather than ordinary paper. Software prints everything including the magnetic line, so magnetic toner matters. Printing on plain copier paper often fails mobile deposit imaging, may be refused at a branch, and carries no fraud protection features.

Do small businesses still need to print paper checks?

Most pay is electronic, with direct deposit adoption above 90 percent of US workers, but roughly 19 states prohibit employers from requiring it and others require consent or an alternative for unbanked staff. You need a lawful route to pay anyone who declines, which is why check capability survives even in mostly electronic payrolls.

Does the federal move away from paper checks affect employers?

Not directly. Executive Order 14247 directed the Treasury to stop issuing paper checks for most federal disbursements from September 30, 2025, covering federal payments rather than private payroll. The stated reasoning does carry over: checks are roughly 16 times more likely than electronic transfers to be lost, stolen, returned undeliverable, or altered.

How much does it cost to issue a paper check versus a direct deposit?

Industry estimates commonly put a paper check at around $2 or more fully loaded, against roughly 35 to 40 cents for an ACH direct deposit, counting labour, stock, postage, and reconciliation. Across a 40-person biweekly payroll the annual difference runs into the thousands, which is the strongest argument for moving willing employees onto direct deposit.

What is the difference between pre-printed and blank check stock?

Pre-printed stock arrives from a supplier with your routing and account numbers already applied, usually in magnetic ink, so you print only the variable data. Blank stock has no bank information and your software prints everything including the magnetic line, which is cheaper per unit and serves several accounts but requires magnetic toner and careful alignment.

What is the best free payroll check printing software?

There is no meaningful free option producing bank-ready checks with the magnetic line without limits. Some cloud products offer free tiers or trials with limited check counts. The genuinely inexpensive end is paid: one-time desktop licences from around $49 or cloud subscriptions from around $15 monthly, and toner and stock cost the same regardless.

Are printed checks a fraud risk?

More than electronic payment, and the exposure is physical. Blank stock and magnetic toner should be stored locked, since together they enable a bank-readable check on your account. The strongest control is positive pay, a bank service that refuses checks not matching an uploaded issue file, which several printing products generate.

Which payroll platforms will print and mail checks for me?

Gusto prints and mails at a per-check fee that varies by delivery speed, ADP and Paychex offer onsite printing or delivered checks, and Square works with a mailing partner. Mailing usually wins when the employees needing paper are remote or few, since per-check fees are cheap next to owning a printer, toner, and stock.