BrightPay vs Talenox (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 Talenox if

• Fits if you run a team in Singapore, Malaysia or Hong Kong and want payroll cheap
• Works for businesses of 5 to 50 who want payroll, leave and claims together

Look elsewhere if

• Not for you if you are outside its localised countries: it is a manual, basic system there
• Tight if you pay monthly: $10 for 5 people and $2 each, double the annual price
• Skip it if you have over 50 staff: you are sent to a custom-priced Pro plan
• Watch out: Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong each have separate local-currency plans

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.

Talenox

• Prices are listed in US dollars; Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong each have separate local-currency plans.
• The site says it is localized for selected countries only and works as a manual, basic HR system elsewhere.
• Teams above 50 employees are pointed to the custom-priced Pro plan.
• Annual billing is half the monthly price on the pricing page.

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.

Talenox

Payroll processing

Single or multiple pay runs a month, with pay items adjustable to each country's requirements and payslips that employees can view online.

Payroll reports and exports

Management payroll, variance and pay-item reports, plus bank file exports and payroll entries pushed to Xero or QuickBooks Online.

Leave management

Pre-loaded statutory leave types, custom leave types, different policies per employee group and a calendar view.

Expense claims

Employees submit receipts for approval, and approved claims sync into payroll.

Employee profiles

Employee and company records with job history, salary details, custom fields and cost centers, across multiple entities.

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.

Talenox

• Payroll$5

  per month for 5 employees, then $1 each, annual

  Payroll with country-specific pay items, custom payslips and reports, and Xero or QuickBooks Online entries. Monthly billing: $10 base, $2 per extra employee.

• Leave$5

  per month for 5 employees, then $1 each, annual

  Leave requests and approvals with custom types, per-group policies and several approvers. Monthly billing: $10 base, $2 per extra employee.

• Suite$15

  per month for 5 employees, then $3 each, annual

  Payroll, Leave and Claims together, with unpaid leave and claims syncing into payroll. Monthly billing: $30 base, $6 per extra employee.

• ProCustom

  For teams of 50 to 1,000 or more people that want more customizable, enterprise-grade HR and payroll; sold through a demo.

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.

Talenox

• Annual discount

  50% off with annual billing

  The pricing page shows annual billing at half the monthly price, for example Payroll at US$1 per employee per month against US$2 billed monthly.

• Startups

  Startup pricing for 1 to 5 employees

  The pricing page says affordable options exist for new businesses with 1 to 5 employees, subject to eligibility, and asks you to contact sales.