BrightPay vs Payfit (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 Payfit if

• Fits if you want a provider to run your UK payroll
• Works for firms from 25 employees up to 300 or more

Look elsewhere if

• Watch out: no prices are published, so cost cannot be compared in advance
• Skip it if you pay staff outside the UK, as the pages read describe UK payroll only
• Skip it if you want a free plan or a trial, as neither is listed
• Watch out: sizes described run from small firms of up to 25 employees to 300-plus

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.

Payfit

• No prices are published; the site offers a demo and a Try now button, so cost cannot be compared in advance.
• The pages read from this location describe UK payroll; availability and features in other countries are not shown on them.
• Payfit says it takes legal responsibility for HMRC compliance on the payroll it runs.
• Pages describe sizes from small businesses of up to 25 employees to mid-market firms of 300 or more.

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.

Payfit

Payroll run by Payfit's team

UK payroll experts, described as CIPP-qualified, prepare and check each pay run; the client reviews and approves before payday.

HMRC and pension submissions

Sends Full Payment Submissions and Employer Payment Summaries to HMRC, applies tax code changes, and submits to pension providers including NEST, Smart Pension, Aviva, NOW Pensions and People's Pension.

Starters, leavers and statutory pay

Handles new-starter notifications, P45s, notice-pay calculations and statutory pay entitlements, and generates P11Ds at no extra cost.

Payments

Pays staff through Telleroo or produces a BACS file for upload to the company's bank.

Connected HR modules

Leave and absence, expenses, performance reviews and reporting sit on the same platform as payroll.

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.

Payfit

Pricing could not be confirmed. See payfit.com.

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.

Payfit

• Other savings

  First month free for new clients until 30 November 2026

  A site banner offers a free first month to new clients who subscribe on or before 30 November 2026.