Tickin vs QuickBooks Payroll: Slack-first attendance and payslips, or payroll inside your books
QuickBooks Payroll and Tickin solve different halves of the same month. QuickBooks sells full-service US payroll together with QuickBooks accounting: it calculates, files and pays payroll taxes and pays employees by direct deposit, inside the books you already keep. Tickin records the working month, with clock-ins, breaks, leave and overtime from Slack, and turns it into itemized payslips. It doesn't file taxes or pay employees.
In short
Choose QuickBooks Payroll if you run your books in QuickBooks, pay employees in the US, and want payroll taxes filed and paid for you. Choose Tickin if you want time tracking, attendance, leave and payslips in Slack, including for teams outside the US, with filing and payments handled by your bank or accountant.
| Tickin | QuickBooks Payroll | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Attendance, leave and payroll software, run from Slack (Microsoft Teams on the Scale plan) or the browser | Full-service US payroll sold together with QuickBooks accounting |
| Files and pays payroll taxes | No. Tickin calculates pay; filing stays with you or your accountant | Yes: full-service payroll calculates, files and pays payroll taxes |
| Pays employees | No. You pay salaries through your bank | Yes: next-day direct deposit, same-day on higher plans |
| Where it runs payroll | Any country, with income-tax presets for 17 markets that an admin reviews and confirms | United States |
| Time tracking and attendance | Included on every plan, with clock-in from Slack and the browser | Mobile time tracking on the Workforce Premium + Plus plan |
| Leave | Leave requests and approvals on every plan | Time off management on the Workforce Premium + Plus plan |
| Accounting | Not included | Included: each payroll plan is bundled with a QuickBooks accounting plan |
| Free plan | Free for up to 10 employees (payroll is on Growth) | No free plan |
| Pricing (per month) | Starter $2, Growth $3, Scale $6 per employee | From $88 + $6.50 per employee (Workforce Payroll + Simple Start) to $203 + $10 per employee (Workforce Premium + Plus), with 50% off for the first 3 months |
What QuickBooks Payroll is great at
If your books already live in QuickBooks, its payroll keeps everything in one place: full-service payroll that calculates, files and pays payroll taxes, direct deposit (next-day on the entry plan, same-day on higher plans), and payroll that posts straight into your accounting. The top plan adds mobile time tracking, time off management and HR tools. For a US business that wants payroll and accounting from one vendor, that is a strong combination, and Tickin does not replace it.
Where Tickin is different
Tickin is built around the working day in Slack. People clock in with /tickin start and out with /tickin end, request leave and get approvals in chat, and managers see who is working on a live dashboard, on every plan including Free. On the Growth plan, Tickin turns those hours, that leave and approved overtime into pay and sends each person an itemized PDF payslip. It works for teams in any country. It doesn't file taxes, pay employees or keep your books.
US teams: read this first
For US payroll, Tickin's preset covers federal income tax brackets for a single filer as a starting point. It does not calculate FICA (Social Security and Medicare) or state income tax, and it does not file or pay anything. A US employer that needs compliant payroll should use a full-service provider like QuickBooks Payroll. Tickin can still run attendance, leave and time tracking for that team.
Which should you choose
If you keep your books in QuickBooks and pay US employees, QuickBooks Payroll is the natural choice. If you want attendance, leave, overtime and payslips run from Slack, for a team anywhere, with filing and payments handled by your accountant, Tickin covers that, and a team of up to 10 can start free.
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Frequently asked questions
- Is Tickin a QuickBooks Payroll alternative?
- Only for part of it. Tickin calculates pay from attendance, leave and overtime and sends payslips, but it doesn't file taxes, pay employees or do accounting. For US payroll with filing and direct deposit, QuickBooks Payroll is the better fit.
- Does Tickin integrate with QuickBooks?
- Tickin does not sync with QuickBooks. It runs attendance, leave and payroll calculations itself, and you pay and file through your own bank and accountant.
- Does Tickin file payroll taxes?
- No. Tickin is payroll software, not a payroll service: it doesn't file taxes or pay employees. QuickBooks Payroll's full-service plans calculate, file and pay payroll taxes.
- Which is cheaper?
- On list prices, Tickin is $2, $3 or $6 per employee per month, and free for up to 10 employees; payroll is on Growth. QuickBooks lists its payroll bundles from $88 a month plus $6.50 per employee to $203 plus $10 per employee, with 50% off for the first three months, and each includes QuickBooks accounting. They do different jobs, so compare against what you need.
- Does Tickin work outside the US?
- Yes. Tickin works for teams anywhere, with currency set per workspace and income-tax presets for 17 markets that an admin reviews and confirms.
Competitor pricing and features change often. QuickBooks Payroll details on this page come from Intuit's own QuickBooks Payroll pricing page as of September 2026, where plans are sold together with QuickBooks accounting; Tickin details describe what Tickin does today. It is not an exhaustive feature audit, so please check each product's own website for current details.