Employment Hero vs Payfit (2026): which should you pick?

Pick Employment Hero if

• Fits if you run payroll in Australia and need award interpretation and STP
• Works for teams of 10 or more with staff in Australia, the UK, New Zealand or Singapore

Look elsewhere if

• Skip it if your staff are in the US, as there's no US edition
• Tight if you have fewer than 10 people, since every plan bills for at least 10
• Pricey if you want payroll run for you: Managed Payroll is A$20 an employee a month, A$400 at least
• Watch out: rostering with time and attendance is A$4 an employee a month on top
• Watch out: prices are in Australian dollars, and there's no free plan or trial on record

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

Employment Hero

• Runs payroll in Australia, New Zealand, the UK, Singapore, Malaysia and Canada, each on its own site; there is no US edition.
• Prices here are the Australian site's, in Australian dollars; the UK site lists HR Essentials at £6 and HR Engage at £9 a user from 1 November 2026.
• Every plan has a 10-user minimum, billed on the higher of the agreed number of users or the active users.
• Managed Payroll costs A$20 per employee a month (A$400 minimum), and rostering with time and attendance A$4 per employee a month.

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.

Employment Hero

AI Payroll Agent

Hero AI prepares pay runs and flags anomalies for a person to approve, using the timesheet, leave and employee data already in the platform.

Australian payroll compliance

Handles Single Touch Payroll Phase 2, SuperStream, award interpretation and penalty rates, and pays super every pay run through HeroClear.

Payroll in other countries

Regional editions file UK RTI submissions with HMRC, New Zealand payday filing with Inland Revenue, Singapore CPF reports and Malaysian EPF and PCB.

Rostering and time and attendance

An add-on builds rosters, records hours with time clocks and geofencing, allows shift swaps and feeds approved hours into pay.

HR and recruitment

HR plans cover leave, records, onboarding and performance reviews, and job posts reach Employment Hero's own pool of more than 2.3 million candidates.

Employment Hero Work app

Employees view payslips and timesheets, apply for leave and check upcoming shifts from the iPhone and Android app.

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.

Employment Hero

• PayrollA$10

  per user / month, minimum 10 users

  Unlimited pay runs, tax calculations, award interpretation, payroll reports and employee self-service. Australian site price.

• HR EssentialsA$11

  per user / month, minimum 10 users

  HR only, without payroll: leave, employee records, documents, onboarding and offboarding, and policy tools.

• HR EngageA$15

  per user / month, minimum 10 users

  HR Essentials plus recruitment, expenses, performance reviews, learning management and the recruitment agent. No payroll.

• Employment UnlimitedCustom

  Payroll with HR Elite, the Employee Assistance Program, HR advisory, a learning bundle, team chat and priority support. Sold through sales.

Payfit

Pricing could not be confirmed. See payfit.com.

Employment Hero

No public discounts listed.

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.