BrightPay vs SimplePay (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 SimplePay if

• Fits if you run payroll for a South African business of up to 500 people
• Works for owners who want one plan with every feature included

Look elsewhere if

• Not for you if you run payroll outside South Africa: it is built around SARS rules
• Pricey if you add VAT: the prices shown exclude VAT
• Watch out: accountants, bureaus and firms over 500 employees must request a quote
• Watch out: each extra company is billed separately and needs its own quote

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.

SimplePay

• Prices are in South African rand and exclude VAT.
• Companies with more than 500 employees, and accounting firms or bureaus running payroll for clients, must request a quote.
• Multiple companies are billed separately, each needing its own quote.
• The site says its ISO 27001 certification is still in progress.

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.

SimplePay

Payroll processing

Calculates salaries, wages and tax from employee data and produces payment files to upload to your bank.

Statutory calculations and filing

Handles PAYE, UIF and SDL, with EMP201 and UIF declaration data, and tax certificate exports for eFiling or e@syFile.

Leave management

Custom annual leave policies, built-in sick and family responsibility leave, and approvals through self-service.

Employee self-service

Employees see payslips, request leave, log expense claims and submit banking and address changes through the website or the mobile app for iOS and Android.

Flexible pay structures

Supports variable pay rates, bonuses, commissions and unlimited custom income and deduction items.

Accounting integrations and API

Connects to Xero and QuickBooks and offers an API for other systems.

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.

SimplePay

• The One PlanR70

  per month, plus R19.50 per employee (first 5)

  All features. Per-employee rate falls to R13.60 for employees 6 to 10, R11.00 for 11 to 300 and R8.75 from 301; 10 employees come to R235.50 a month, excluding VAT.

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.

SimplePay

No public discounts listed.