QBO w/out Payroll Plus

I just got off an hour long chat with intuit. I’ve been using QBPro with payroll since 2014. I’m a small business (mostly t&m) with sporadic PT employees and some 1099 subs. Last year’s license was $520 w/ payroll. According to the Intuit rep my annual fee for essentially the same product and payroll is approx $168/mo. Currently I do my own 940/941s’, W2s’ and 1099s’. I know I’m going to have to transition at some point but a 380% increase for a product with fewer reporting and tracking options is a big ask. Is there anyone else in a similar situation? Is there a QBO option that would allow me to continue to run my own payroll without the Payroll Plus option?