Skip to content

New here? 910 verified deals and credit programs — free to browse, no account.

See what's new
SaaSTweaks

◆ 18 verified deals

Best Payroll deals

Payroll software calculates wages, taxes, pension contributions and statutory pay, files RTI submissions and pension reports with the relevant authorities, and pays employees and contractors accurately on time — across one country or many.

18 tools
18Verified deals
74Top score
58Average score

Ranked by SaaSTweaks Score

Every payroll deal we've verified.

Scored on the same six criteria as everything else on the site. Featured placements never move a score.

Multiplier Free demo · contractors from ~$40/mo 74 Gusto $100 Visa gift card after your first payroll — exclusive for SaaSTweaks readers 72 Quickbooks Free trial available 72 Remote 15% off Remote services for 12 months with code RFS15OFF (startups) — EOR from $599/employee/mo on annual billing 70 Deel Global HR platform for hiring, paying, and managing employees and contractors in 150+ countries — offering Employer of Record, global payroll, and compliance services. 59 Human Interest Affordable 401(k) administration that integrates with your existing payroll 57 Rippling Rippling unifies HR, payroll, IT, and finance on a single employee record — a powerhouse for mid-market and growing teams. 57 Rise Global contractor payouts from $49/contractor/mo — EOR, AOR + crypto & fiat rails 57 MYOB MYOB review 2026: the AU/NZ accounting stalwart still worth it for compliance-heavy small businesses. 55 Paychex $300 Credit 55 Justworks Justworks turns HR, payroll, and benefits into one predictable per-employee bill for growing US teams. 53 ADP ADP — the world's largest payroll provider offering payroll processing, HR management, benefits administration, and compliance for businesses from 1 employee to global enterprises. 50 Hubstaff Time tracking with optional screenshots, activity levels, GPS, scheduling, and payroll — built to give remote and field teams visibility into how work hours are spent. 49 Lano Payroll consolidation from €3/employee/mo · contractors from €19 · EOR from €499 46 Workday Cloud HCM and financial management suite for mid-market and enterprise — unifying HR, payroll, talent, and finance on one platform. 46 Remote For Startups Program Up to 20% off RemotePass Startup Discount Program Up to 100% off Rippling for Startups Discounted HR + IT + payroll bundle for early-stage startups

How to choose payroll

Payroll software calculates wages, taxes, pension contributions and statutory pay, files RTI submissions and pension reports with the relevant authorities, and pays employees and contractors accurately on time — across one country or many.

Finance leads, HR managers, operations directors and founders running small teams use payroll software to eliminate manual calculation errors, stay compliant with PAYE and auto-enrolment rules, and give employees a reliable, self-service view of their payslips and leave balances.

Compare on the countries you employ in, whether you need contractor payments alongside employee payroll, how the software handles pension auto-enrolment, and whether a standalone payroll tool or an integrated HR-and-payroll suite makes more sense for your headcount and operational complexity.

{"intro":"

Payroll errors are expensive and visible — employees notice late or incorrect pay immediately. These five criteria are the ones that actually matter when evaluating payroll software.

","criteria":[{"title":"PAYE, RTI and auto-enrolment compliance","body":"

For UK payroll, confirm that the software handles Real Time Information submissions to HMRC on every pay run, manages pension auto-enrolment duties including re-enrolment cycles, and stays current with statutory pay rates (SSP, SMP, SPP). HMRC recognition as a payroll software provider is a baseline requirement — do not assume it.

"},{"title":"Contractor and global payroll coverage","body":"

If you pay both employees and contractors, check whether the platform handles both types of payment in one system or requires separate tools. For teams spread across multiple countries, confirm which countries are covered with native compliance rather than a managed-service arrangement, and what the per-country or per-employee pricing looks like at your current and 12-month-projected headcount.

"},{"title":"Payroll run workflow and error checking","body":"

Evaluate how a payroll run is initiated, what automated checks catch errors before submission, and how exceptions (new starters, leavers, mid-month changes) are handled. A poor payroll UX leads to rushed runs and errors. Run a test payroll with your actual pay structure — variable pay, commission, multiple pay rates — before committing.

"},{"title":"Integration with HR and accounting","body":"

Payroll data needs to flow to your accounting software for journal entries and to your HR system for headcount and cost-centre reporting. Check whether integrations are native or API-based, whether they require manual exports or sync automatically, and whether your specific accounting platform is supported without a third-party connector.

"},{"title":"Employee self-service and payslip access","body":"

Employees should be able to access payslips, P60s and P11Ds without emailing HR. Check whether the self-service portal is included in the plan cost, whether it is mobile-accessible, and whether employees can update bank details and personal information directly — reducing the HR admin burden significantly at any headcount above ten.

"}],"pricingReality":"

Standalone payroll software for small UK employers typically costs £5 to £20 per month for up to ten employees, rising to £30 to £80 per month for 25 to 50 employees. Integrated HR-and-payroll platforms price per employee per month, typically £8 to £25 per employee. Global payroll for distributed teams can run £20 to £50 per employee per month depending on the country mix and whether compliance is fully managed.

","commonPitfalls":["Not verifying HMRC recognition before go-live — unrecognised software cannot submit RTI directly","Choosing a global payroll platform without confirming which countries have native payroll versus third-party managed arrangements","Underestimating pension auto-enrolment complexity, particularly re-enrolment cycles every three years","Assuming integrations with your accounting software are bidirectional — many are export-only"]}

Payroll FAQ

What buyers ask before choosing in this category.

Ask us something else

Real Time Information is the system HMRC uses to receive payroll data from employers. Under RTI, you must submit a Full Payment Submission to HMRC on or before each pay day, showing what each employee was paid and what tax and National Insurance was deducted. Using HMRC-recognised payroll software that handles RTI submissions automatically is a legal requirement for UK employers running PAYE payroll.

Auto-enrolment requires eligible workers to be automatically enrolled into a qualifying workplace pension scheme, with mandatory contributions from both employer and employee. Payroll software should assess eligibility on each pay run, calculate and deduct contributions, submit contribution files to your pension provider and manage opt-outs and re-enrolment cycles every three years. Check that your pension provider is supported natively — manual contribution uploads are error-prone.

Standalone payroll software is lower cost and often simpler to operate for small teams with straightforward pay structures. Integrated platforms eliminate duplicate data entry between HR records and payroll, reduce the risk of payroll errors from manual data transfer and provide a single system for headcount reporting. The integration value becomes significant above 15 to 20 employees or when you have frequent starters, leavers and pay-rate changes.

Employees are paid through PAYE with tax and National Insurance deducted at source. Contractors are typically paid gross against invoices, with IR35 status determining whether employer NI applies. Some payroll platforms handle both in one system; others require a separate accounts-payable process for contractors. Clarify IR35 obligations with your accountant before setting up contractor payments, particularly for off-payroll workers on medium or large-client engagements.

An off-cycle or supplementary pay run processes a one-off payment — bonuses, commission true-ups, corrections to previous pay runs — without affecting the main payroll. Most platforms support supplementary runs, but check whether they require a separate RTI submission, how they interact with pension contribution calculations and whether there is an additional cost per run beyond your monthly subscription.

Switching mid-tax-year requires transferring year-to-date figures for every employee — gross pay, tax paid and National Insurance contributions — into the new system. The new software uses these figures to calculate deductions correctly for the remainder of the year. Export a full year-to-date report from your existing system before migration and verify that the new system has imported every employee's cumulative figures accurately before running the first live payroll.