Every cannabis payroll and HR provider, next to each other.
If you are shopping for cannabis payroll, you will find good software, capable service bureaus and at least one PEO. Most of them do the operational work well. The question this page answers is a different one: after you sign, whose name is on the filing when something goes wrong?
Four different things get sold as the same thing
Before any feature list is useful, it helps to know which category you are actually looking at, because the differences between these four matter more than any difference within them.
You run it
A platform for payroll, scheduling and onboarding. Your team operates it. Your business is the employer on every filing.
They run it
A service bureau operates the process for you. Useful, and it still does not move the employer relationship anywhere.
You share it
Co-employment. Their entity and your business are both employers, sharing responsibilities under a written agreement.
We carry it
Employer of record. Roll With Paid. is the sole named W-2 employer, and the coverage sits on our policies.
Where the risk sits, provider by provider
Almost everyone here handles payroll, scheduling, onboarding and reporting competently, so those rows would tell you nothing. These are the rows that differ.
| Item | Gusto | Würk | Paragon Payroll | Greenleaf HR | Green Leaf Business Solutions | KayaPush | Roll With Paid. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Named W-2 employer | Your business | Your business | Your business | Shared, under co-employment, in a PEO arrangement | Your business | Your business | Roll With Paid. |
| Workers’ compensation | Offered as a separate policy in your name, at your own experience mod | Available through Würk Insurance as a policy in your name, at your own experience mod | Not described on their cannabis page. Benefits partner network referenced | Workers’ compensation is within their stated scope. Ask how it is structured for your arrangement | Administered for you as a policy in your name, at your own experience mod | Your own policy, at your own experience mod | Included in our rate, on our policy |
| Unemployment insurance | Your account and your experience rating | Your account and your experience rating | Your account and your experience rating | Unemployment is within their stated scope. Ask which entity holds the account | Your account and your experience rating | Your account and your experience rating | Our account and our rating |
| Employment practices and general liability | Not described on their cannabis page | Insurance services offered. Terms are not published | Not described on their cannabis page | Not published. Ask directly | Not described on their cannabis page | Sourced separately by you | Included |
| Name on the employee paystub | Your business | Your business | Your business | Depends on the arrangement. Ask directly | Your business | Your business | Ours, which helps your crew with banks and landlords |
Every entry is taken from each company’s own published pages on the dates shown on the individual comparison pages. Products and pricing change. Check their sites for current terms, and ask any provider to put the structure in writing before you sign.
The full comparison, one at a time
Each page covers what that provider does well, where the models genuinely differ, and what we are not going to claim.
Roll With Paid. vs Würk
The incumbent specialist. Still software, not an employer.
Read the comparisonRoll With Paid. vs Paragon Payroll
A service bureau with banking relationships. The employer role stays with you.
Read the comparisonRoll With Paid. vs Greenleaf HR
The closest model to ours. The difference is co-employment.
Read the comparisonRoll With Paid. vs Green Leaf Business Solutions
Managed outsourcing, including payroll without a bank account.
Read the comparisonFive questions to ask every provider on this page, including us
If you ask these of everyone you are considering, the differences stop being a matter of marketing.
1. Whose EIN is on the filing?
This single question sorts software and service bureaus from a PEO or an employer of record faster than any feature list.
2. Whose workers’ compensation policy responds?
And at whose experience rating? A bad claim year that lands on your own mod follows your business for years.
3. Who is named if the state opens a wage case?
Ask for the answer in writing. It is the clearest test of what you are actually buying.
4. What is the total, not the invoice line?
Add workers’ compensation premium, unemployment tax at your own rate, liability coverage and internal admin hours to any subscription before comparing.
5. What is your cannabis policy, in writing?
Providers do drop cannabis accounts. Ask how much notice you would get, and what happens to your data and filings if they do.
6. Do you know Minnesota’s rules?
Minnesota bars both the tip credit and employer-required tip pools. Ask any out-of-state provider to explain Minnesota tip handling and listen carefully.
Bring us your actual numbers
Your census, your class codes, your workers’ compensation premium. We will build the real comparison against whoever you are considering, including when the answer is that you should stay where you are.
All company names and trademarks belong to their respective owners. None of the companies named on this page are affiliated with Roll With Paid. and none of them endorse us. Roll With Paid. is not a law firm or an accounting firm and does not provide legal or tax advice.