BrightPay vs Eddy (2026): which should you pick?

Pick BrightPay if

• Fits if you run payroll for a UK small business
• Works for accountants who want links to Xero, QuickBooks or Sage

Look elsewhere if

• Skip it if you pay staff outside the UK, as it is built around HMRC and UK rules
• Watch out: prices are in pounds plus VAT, and the entry price is for one employer and one employee
• Watch out: per-employee charges start at the fourth employee, falling in bands above 750
• Too light for larger employers, as payroll is capped at 300 employees at standard pricing

Pick Eddy if

• Fits if you run a small US team and want HR and payroll in one place
• Makes sense if you want time off and records handled alongside payroll

Look elsewhere if

• Pricey if you add payroll, as it is on top of the HR base fee and per-person charge
• Not for you if you pay staff outside the US, as payroll is US only
• Watch out: the hiring tool is another add-on at $199 a month
• Watch out: next-day pay costs extra, and support runs on limited live hours
• Skip it if you need to know the trial length first, as it is not stated

BrightPay

• Prices are in pounds and shown plus VAT; the entry price is for one employer and one employee.
• Per-employee charges start at the fourth employee: £2.10 each for employees 4 to 10 on monthly billing, falling in bands to £0.12 above 750.
• Payroll is capped at 300 employees per employer at standard pricing.
• Built for UK payroll (HMRC, RTI, auto-enrolment); the vendor also publishes Ireland versions of its pages.

Eddy

• Payroll is a separate add-on at $50 per month plus $6 per person, charged on top of the $50 or $75 HR base fee and its per-person charge.
• Payroll is available in the US only.
• The hiring tool is another add-on at $199 per month.
• Next-day pay costs extra, and phone, chat and email support run on limited live hours.

BrightPay

HMRC submissions

RTI submissions go to HMRC straight from BrightPay on every pay run, and auto-enrolment duties are assessed with alerts for pending actions.

Automatic payroll checks

Flags NI category changes, minimum wage shortfalls for hourly staff and pension contributions below the minimum before a run is finalized.

Employee and manager portals

Employees see payslips and book annual leave, and line managers handle leave requests and team details in their own portal.

AI assistants

Oscar collects new-starter details for approval, BrightAsk answers UK payroll questions, and a payslip comparator explains changes between payslips.

Payments and accounting journals

Pays through a Modulr account and exports payroll journals to Xero, QuickBooks, Sage, Zoho Books, BrightBooks and other packages.

Eddy

Full-service payroll

Unlimited payrolls per month, including bonus and off-cycle runs, with direct deposit and automatic federal, state and local tax filing and payment.

Year-end forms

Builds digital W-2s for employees and 1099s for contractors, and files forms such as 940, 941 and 8974.

Time tracking and time off

Clock in and out from the web or the mobile app, with overtime rules, geo-tagging, a tablet kiosk app, PTO policies and a who's-out calendar.

Employee records and documents

A single employee database with e-signature documents, W-4 and W-9 collection, new-hire task lists and training or license tracking.

Hiring add-on

Posts jobs to a career page and major job boards, with candidate messaging, hiring team reminders and offer letters.

BrightPay

• BrightPay Cloud£7.00

  per month, billed annually (£8.25 billed monthly)

  Entry price shown for one employer and one employee, plus VAT; per-employee charges apply from the fourth employee.

Eddy

• Starter$50

  per month, plus $4 per person

  Core HR: records, document storage (up to 50 documents), onboarding, time tracking, time off and basic reporting. Payroll is not included.

• Growth$75

  per month, plus $8 per person

  Everything in Starter, plus training tracking, custom signature documents, onboarding templates, custom data fields, an org chart and manager approval flows.

• PremiumCustom

  Everything in Growth, plus Eddy Payroll, hiring, premium support and a dedicated support representative. Priced by quote.

• Payroll add-on$50

  per month, plus $6 per person

  Unlimited payrolls, 2-day or 4-day direct deposit, quarterly and annual tax filings, and W-2 and 1099-NEC preparation. Added on top of a base HR plan.

BrightPay

• Annual discount

  Save 15% with annual billing

  The pricing calculator shows a 15% saving on annual billing against monthly billing, so the entry price is £84 a year plus VAT.

Eddy

No public discounts listed.