BrightPay vs Payworks (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 Payworks if

• Fits if you run a Canadian business of 1 to 75 employees
• Works for firms that want a specialist to handle set-up

Look elsewhere if

• Skip it if you pay staff outside Canada, as it serves Canadian employers only
• Watch out: no prices are published, so cost cannot be compared before contact
• Not for you if you want self-serve signup, as onboarding goes through a specialist
• Too light for larger employers, who are pointed to corporate solutions

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.

Payworks

• No prices are published; the site offers an instant quote form, so cost cannot be compared before contact.
• Serves Canadian employers only.
• The small business offering is aimed at 1 to 75 employees; larger employers are pointed to corporate solutions.
• Onboarding is handled through a five-step implementation with a dedicated specialist rather than self-signup.

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.

Payworks

Payroll with remittances

Automatic overtime and statutory pay calculations, preset provincial rules, and government remittances submitted for the client at no extra charge, according to the site.

Year-end filing

Tax form information is submitted to the CRA and Revenu Quebec on the client's behalf, with year-end checklists.

Employee and manager self service

Staff and managers can see pay statements and shared calendars and punch in and out from anywhere.

Shared payroll and HR database

Payroll and HR products share one database, so employee data is entered once.

Franchise and accountant offerings

Separate solutions cover franchises with multiple locations and POS data import, and accountants and bookkeepers who manage a book of clients.

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.

Payworks

Pricing could not be confirmed. See payworks.ca.

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.

Payworks

No public discounts listed.