Patriot Software vs Sterling (First Advantage)

Side-by-side comparison of features, pricing, and integrations.

Quick Verdict

Patriot Software offers more features (71 vs 25) and more integrations (6 vs 2). Starting price: Patriot Software at $6/mo vs Sterling (First Advantage) at Contact Sales. Patriot Software has 71 unique features while Sterling (First Advantage) has 25 unique features, with 0 features in common.

Patriot SoftwareSterling (First Advantage)
CategoryHR & PayrollHR & Payroll
Total Features7125
AI-Powered Features00
Starting Price$6/moContact Sales
Pricing Tiers70
Integrations62
Shared Features0
Shared Integrations0
Data Quality90%40%

Feature Comparison by Category

Accounting (14 vs 0)

FeaturePatriot SoftwareSterling (First Advantage)
1099 and 1096 Generation
Account Reconciliation
Accounting Software
Bank Transaction Imports
Custom Invoice Templates
Estimate Creation
Expense Tracking
Invoice Management
Invoice Payment Reminders
Receipt and Document Management
Recurring Invoices
Subaccounts
Transaction Editing
Vendor Management

Automation (1 vs 0)

FeaturePatriot SoftwareSterling (First Advantage)
Auto Payroll

Compliance (0 vs 1)

FeaturePatriot SoftwareSterling (First Advantage)
Compliance Tools

Compliance & Risk (0 vs 1)

FeaturePatriot SoftwareSterling (First Advantage)
Sanctions, Risk & Compliance

Data Management (1 vs 0)

FeaturePatriot SoftwareSterling (First Advantage)
Data Import

Employee Management (4 vs 0)

FeaturePatriot SoftwareSterling (First Advantage)
Contractor Portal
Employee Self-Onboarding
Employee Self-Service Portal
Time-Off Accruals

Global Services (0 vs 1)

FeaturePatriot SoftwareSterling (First Advantage)
Global Screening

HR Management (2 vs 0)

FeaturePatriot SoftwareSterling (First Advantage)
HR Compliance Center
HR Software Add-on

Identity Verification (0 vs 2)

FeaturePatriot SoftwareSterling (First Advantage)
Digital Identity
Social Security Number Trace

Integration & API (0 vs 1)

FeaturePatriot SoftwareSterling (First Advantage)
Sterling API

Integrations (4 vs 0)

FeaturePatriot SoftwareSterling (First Advantage)
401(k) Integration
Accounting Software Integration
Health Benefits Integration
Workers' Compensation Integration

Mobile (2 vs 0)

FeaturePatriot SoftwareSterling (First Advantage)
Mobile App Access
Mobile Friendly Interface

Onboarding (1 vs 0)

FeaturePatriot SoftwareSterling (First Advantage)
Payroll Setup Wizard

Payment Processing (4 vs 0)

FeaturePatriot SoftwareSterling (First Advantage)
ACH Payments
Check Printing
Credit Card Payments
Free Direct Deposit

Payroll (8 vs 0)

FeaturePatriot SoftwareSterling (First Advantage)
Contractor Payroll
Customizable Hours and Deductions
Departments
Multiple Locations
Multiple Pay Rates
Net to Gross Payroll Tool
On-the-Fly Pay Rate Changes
Online Payroll Processing

Post-Hire Compliance (0 vs 2)

FeaturePatriot SoftwareSterling (First Advantage)
E-Verify
Form I-9

Post-Hire Monitoring (0 vs 3)

FeaturePatriot SoftwareSterling (First Advantage)
Criminal Monitoring
Medical License Monitoring
Risk Monitoring

Pre-Hire Screening (0 vs 9)

FeaturePatriot SoftwareSterling (First Advantage)
Civil Court Records
Credit + Liens + Judgments
Criminal Record Checks
Drug & Occupational Health Verification
Due Diligence
Executive Investigations
Financial & Business Credit Checks
Fingerprinting
Motor Vehicle Records

Reporting (5 vs 0)

FeaturePatriot SoftwareSterling (First Advantage)
Comprehensive Payroll Reports
Financial Reporting
Payroll Details Report
Payroll Tax Deposit Report
Payroll Tax Liabilities Report

Reporting & Analytics (0 vs 1)

FeaturePatriot SoftwareSterling (First Advantage)
Reports & Analytics

Reputational & Risk (0 vs 1)

FeaturePatriot SoftwareSterling (First Advantage)
Social Media Screening

Security (2 vs 0)

FeaturePatriot SoftwareSterling (First Advantage)
Multi-Factor Authentication
SOC2 Type II Compliance

Services (1 vs 0)

FeaturePatriot SoftwareSterling (First Advantage)
Bookkeeping Service Add-on

Staffing Solutions (0 vs 1)

FeaturePatriot SoftwareSterling (First Advantage)
Contingent Workforce

Support (2 vs 0)

FeaturePatriot SoftwareSterling (First Advantage)
Free Payroll Setup Assistance
Free USA-Based Support

Tax Compliance (8 vs 0)

FeaturePatriot SoftwareSterling (First Advantage)
1099 Form Generation
1099 e-Filing
Federal Tax Filing & Deposits
Local Tax Filing & Deposits
State Tax Filing & Deposits
Tax Filing Reliability Guarantee
W-2 Generation
Year-End Tax Filings

Time Tracking (9 vs 0)

FeaturePatriot SoftwareSterling (First Advantage)
Automatic Overtime Calculation
Custom Overtime Rules
Hourly Time Card Format
Salary Time Card Format
Time & Attendance Software Add-on
Time Card Approval Workflow
Time Card History Tracking
Time-Off Tracking
Timecard Reminders

User Experience (0 vs 2)

FeaturePatriot SoftwareSterling (First Advantage)
Candidate Experience
Client Experience

User Management (3 vs 0)

FeaturePatriot SoftwareSterling (First Advantage)
Multi-User Access with Permissions
Unlimited Users
User-Based Permissions

Unique Features

Only in Patriot Software (71)

1099 and 1096 Generation
Account Reconciliation
Accounting Software
Bank Transaction Imports
Custom Invoice Templates
Estimate Creation
Expense Tracking
Invoice Management
Invoice Payment Reminders
Receipt and Document Management
Recurring Invoices
Subaccounts
Transaction Editing
Vendor Management
Auto Payroll
Data Import
Contractor Portal
Employee Self-Onboarding
Employee Self-Service Portal
Time-Off Accruals

+ 51 more unique features

Only in Sterling (First Advantage) (25)

Compliance Tools
Sanctions, Risk & Compliance
Global Screening
Digital Identity
Social Security Number Trace
Sterling API
E-Verify
Form I-9
Criminal Monitoring
Medical License Monitoring
Risk Monitoring
Civil Court Records
Credit + Liens + Judgments
Criminal Record Checks
Drug & Occupational Health Verification
Due Diligence
Executive Investigations
Financial & Business Credit Checks
Fingerprinting
Motor Vehicle Records

+ 5 more unique features

Want to build your own alternative to Patriot Software or Sterling (First Advantage)?

Analyze it with Reap