Share
Your crews grew 30% this year. So did your PEO invoice, and nobody asked for your approval. If you run a construction company, a plant, or a trucking fleet on BBSI, that math is probably why you’re reading about BBSI alternatives.
BBSI, short for Barrett Business Services, is a publicly traded PEO and staffing company based in Vancouver, Washington. It’s built a strong following among hourly, blue-collar employers, with local branch teams and on-site safety consulting. It’s also a co-employment model that bills as a percentage of your payroll, which means the fee rises every time your people earn more.
Below are five alternatives. One takes you out of the PEO model entirely. The other four are PEOs, and we’ll be clear about what switching to them would and wouldn’t fix.
Best BBSI Alternatives at a Glance
- Netchex: Best for hourly, multi-location operations that want to run payroll and HR themselves, with no co-employment.
- FrankCrum: Best for contractors who want a PEO with its own workers’ comp carrier.
- TriNet: Best if you want a national PEO, or its HR Plus option without co-employment.
- Insperity: Best for mid-sized companies that still want a full-service PEO.
- VensureHR: Best for businesses that want a large PEO with many service options.
How We Picked These BBSI Alternatives
We focused on what matters to a blue-collar employer thinking about leaving BBSI. Does the option require co-employment? Who runs payroll and HR from one pay period to the next? And what happens to the cost when you add a shift, a crew, or a location?
Reviewer data comes from G2, Capterra, Trustpilot, StaffMarket, and third-party PEO review sites where available. Provider details were checked in September 2026.
1. Netchex: Your Payroll, Your People
Netchex is payroll and HR software, not a PEO, so there’s no co-employer and no fee tied to a share of your payroll. Your employees stay your employees under your own EIN. Your benefits plans are yours, set up with the broker you already know.
It’s built for the kind of workforce BBSI clients have: hourly, multi-location, run by lean HR teams. Payroll, time and attendance, benefits administration, recruiting, onboarding, and performance sit in one system your team controls, and most teams run payroll in about 15 minutes with OneScreen Payroll. Every customer gets a dedicated Account Manager, and the US-based, FPC-certified team answers 90% of calls in under a minute. Implementation is free, project-managed, includes your data import, and takes about six weeks.
Netchex has the best support of any service provider I’ve ever worked with. There aren’t any hoops to jump through with Netchex support.
Source: Mary Lang, Accounting and Financial Control Director, Atlanta Air Charter, Inc.
| Strengths | Considerations |
| ✓ No co-employment: you stay the sole employer | ✗ Doesn’t sell workers’ comp, so you’ll place a policy through your broker |
| ✓ Costs aren’t a percentage of your payroll | ✗ Leaving a PEO takes a planned implementation, about six weeks |
| ✓ Built for hourly, multi-location teams | |
| ✓ 4.8/5 customer satisfaction, 8.9/10 G2 Quality of Support | |
| ✓ Free, project-managed implementation with 96% implementation satisfaction |
2. FrankCrum: A PEO That Owns Its Comp Carrier
FrankCrum is a family-owned PEO in Clearwater, Florida, founded in 1981, with a big book of construction, skilled trades, and franchise clients. Its standout feature is Frank Winston Crum Insurance, its own AM Best-rated workers’ comp carrier, with pay-as-you-go premiums and no year-end audit. For a high-risk trade, that’s a serious draw.
It’s still co-employment, though, and the fee still tracks your headcount. FrankCrum’s own site says quotes are built from payroll size and employee count, with per-employee administrative fees, and it lists extra fees for add-ons like time and attendance and applicant tracking.
| Strengths | Considerations |
| ✓ In-house, AM Best-rated workers’ comp carrier | ✗ Co-employment, same as BBSI |
| ✓ Family-owned since 1981 | ✗ Per-employee fees plus paid add-ons for time tracking and recruiting |
Compare: Netchex vs. FrankCrum
3. TriNet: Big PEO, With a Way Out of Co-Employment
TriNet ranks among the largest PEOs in the country. Its standard PEO works like BBSI’s, with TriNet as an employer of record alongside you. It also sells HR Plus, an ASO product without co-employment, which absorbed the former Zenefits customer base after TriNet bought Zenefits in 2022.
On Capterra, reviewers cite limited customization within industry bundles, per-employee costs that rise at scale, and inconsistent account rep continuity. For a BBSI client leaving over cost growth, that’s a pattern to test before signing.
| Strengths | Considerations |
| ✓ National scale and broad PEO benefits | ✗ Standard PEO is still co-employment |
| ✓ HR Plus option without co-employment | ✗ Reviewers cite rising per-employee costs at scale |
Compare: Netchex vs. TriNet
4. Insperity: Full-Service PEO, Mixed Reviews
Insperity is one of the most recognized PEO brands, a fit for companies that have outgrown ad hoc HR but don’t want a full department. Switching from BBSI to Insperity changes the logo, not the model. Your workforce would still be co-employed.
Insperity rates roughly 3.9/5 on G2, with an 8.0/10 Quality of Support score. Review aggregators list premium, rising cost, rigid administrative processes, and service that can thin out after onboarding as the most common complaints.
| Strengths | Considerations |
| ✓ Established PEO with broad benefits access | ✗ Co-employment, same as BBSI |
| ✓ Dedicated implementation specialist at onboarding | ✗ Reviewers cite rising cost and rigid processes |
Compare: Netchex vs. Insperity
5. VensureHR: Scale Through Acquisitions
VensureHR, founded in 2004 and based in Chandler, Arizona, is a PEO and HR services company backed by private equity firm Stone Point Capital. It has grown mostly by buying other PEOs and HR providers, passing its 100th acquisition by April 2026. That gives it breadth. It also means the company you sign with may keep changing around you.
Reviewer sentiment is soft. VensureHR holds about 3.6/5 on G2 with a 7.3/10 Quality of Support score. G2 reviewers mention payroll failures, communication breakdowns, an outdated platform, and unexpected fees after signup.
| Strengths | Considerations |
| ✓ Wide range of PEO and HR services | ✗ Co-employment, same as BBSI |
| ✓ Named relationship lead plus a service team | ✗ 3.6/5 on G2, with complaints about fees and payroll errors |
Compare: Netchex vs. VensureHR
Why Blue-Collar Employers Leave BBSI
Most don’t leave over one incident. They leave once three things add up.
Your admins stop running payroll. In a PEO, processing, filing, enrollment, and compliance run inside the PEO’s service model. At BBSI, a dedicated payroll specialist handles processing, and BBSI’s annual report says it can terminate a client in most cases for not following its workplace safety recommendations. Your team requests. BBSI’s specialist processes.
Your workers become its workers. BBSI’s agreement creates a co-employment relationship, with wages reported under the PEO’s tax ID and benefits offered through BBSI’s program. Leaving means moving tax accounts, benefits, comp coverage, and payroll history back to your company.
The fee rises with every paycheck. BBSI bills PEO services as a percentage of client payroll, per its own annual report, and it told investors in August 2026 that client rate increases are building. More hours, more hires, and every raise push the fee higher, on top of wages, taxes, premiums, and comp.
Direct payroll and HR software fixes all three. You keep the employer relationship, your team keeps the workflow, and your cost isn’t tied to your payroll total. BBSI isn’t an IRS-Certified PEO, and the IRS explains what Certified PEOs offer if you’re weighing other PEOs.
Want the detailed comparison? Read Netchex vs. BBSI: Which HR and Payroll Platform Is Right for Your Business in 2026? Or see the broader field in 5 Best PEO Alternatives for Growing Businesses.
Frequently Asked Questions
For blue-collar employers ready to leave co-employment, Netchex is the strongest BBSI alternative. It’s built for hourly, multi-location teams, keeps you as the sole employer, and puts payroll, time tracking, and HR in one system you run. You’ll place workers’ comp through your broker, and implementation takes about six weeks.
Yes. Netchex is payroll and HR software, so there’s no co-employment and no fee tied to your payroll total. TriNet also sells HR Plus, a non-PEO product. FrankCrum, TriNet, Insperity, and VensureHR all offer standard co-employment PEOs, so switching among them keeps the same basic structure.
BBSI’s annual report says it bills PEO services as a percentage of client payroll. When wages rise through raises, overtime, or new hires, the percentage applies to a bigger number. BBSI also told investors in August 2026 that client rate increases were building as the workers’ comp market firms up.
If you elected BBSI’s workers’ comp, coverage ends with the PEO relationship, so you’ll need a standalone policy placed through your insurance broker before your last BBSI payroll. Plan the timing carefully. Netchex works directly with your broker and CPA during a free, project-managed implementation that takes about six weeks.
Built for Hourly Teams. Run by Yours.
See how Netchex runs payroll, HR, benefits, and time tracking for multi-location crews, with no co-employer and no percentage-of-payroll fee.
This guide reflects publicly available product information and independent reviewer data as of September 2026. Feature availability may vary by plan. Contact each provider for current details.
Disclaimer: Any product roadmap or future plans provided herein are for informational purposes only. They do not represent a commitment to deliver any material, code, feature, or functionality. Plans may change without notification. The development, release and timing of any features or functionality described remain at the sole discretion of Netchex, its affiliates, and partners. Netchex does not give legal, tax, or accounting advice. You are responsible for ensuring your use of Netchex product meets your individual business and compliance requirements.
Related events
Netchex vs. BBSI: Which HR and Payroll Platform Is Right for Your Business in 2026?
5 Best FrankCrum Alternatives for Contractors and Franchise Owners
Netchex vs. FrankCrum: Which HR and Payroll Platform Is Right for Your Business in 2026?
