Payscale vs Pequity (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Payscale and Pequity share a 1.6 GPA, neither has a free plan and their prices can't be set side by side, so the choice depends on which features you need.
Checked Nov 12, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 · graded Nov 12, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
They get the same grade on all five counts.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Which one is for you
Pick Payscale if
- Fits if you set pay bands from market data
- Works for HR teams running a yearly compensation cycle
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want a price: every plan says Contact Sales
- Pricey if you want peer datasets or custom reporting, which are add-ons
- Watch out: some Elite features, including Smart Reporting and Compass Lite, are marked Coming Winter 2026
- Not for you if you want to try it free, as no trial is listed
Pick Pequity if
- Fits if you run annual pay review cycles and want approvals in one place
- Works for HR teams that already have an HR records system and only need comp planning
Look elsewhere if
- Not for you if you want to see a price first, because none is published
- Skip it if you want to try before buying, as there is no free plan or trial
- Too light for HR records or payroll, since it is compensation software only
- Watch out: the homepage says Pequity has joined ADP, so plans and sales may change
- Watch out: no integrations are listed on its pages
How we grade them
| 1.6GPAPayscaleWeak | 1.6GPAPequityWeak | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CNo price is published, so there's nothing to set against the $2 to $9 a seat a month this category charges. That leaves it at C. | CNo price is published, only a custom quote, so it sits at the middle of the category by default. |
| Free plan and trial | FNo free plan and no trial is listed. You start with a demo request. | FNo free plan and no trial. The pricing page is a quote request. |
| Features | CBenchmarking and comp planning, but the pricing page marks Peer Industry data and Custom Reporting as add-ons and some Elite features as coming Winter 2026. | CComp cycles, market data, approvals, range management, employee portals and a salary board. It is compensation software only and does not replace an HR records or payroll system. |
| Ease of use | CNo store rating on record, and you'd set it up with your own people data first, so it's an ordinary C. | CNo store rating on record. A comp cycle needs your pay data loaded and ranges built before it does anything. |
| Platforms and integrations | CWeb only on record, with no integrations listed. | CWeb only, with no integrations or apps on record. |
| Best for | pay benchmarking and compensation planning | pay bands and comp cycles, by quote |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Payscale and Pequity. How we grade
Where they differ
In commonWebAI featuresWorkflow automationReports
At a glance
| Payscale | Pequity | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Paid | Paid |
| Starts at | Not published | Not published |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Made by | Payscale, Inc. | Pequity |
| Price read from | Not confirmed | Not confirmed |
| Checked | Nov 13, 2026 | Nov 12, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Payscale
- No prices are published: every plan, Core, Premier and Elite, says Contact Sales.
- Several datasets, such as Peer Industry and Peer Markets, and Custom Reporting are add-ons.
- Some Elite features, including Smart Reporting and Compass Lite, are marked Coming Winter 2026.
Pequity
- No prices are published; Pequity asks for a custom quote, so this listing has no price.
- The homepage says Pequity has joined ADP, so packaging and sales may change.
- It is compensation software only and does not replace an HR records or payroll system.
Key features
Payscale
- Benchmarking
- Explore and Smart Price look up market pay for a role, with Price at Scale on Premier for pricing many jobs at once.
- Job and pay structures
- All plans include tools to build and maintain job and pay structures, with bulk structure modeling listed for the Elite plan.
- Reporting
- Standard reports come on every plan, and Smart Reporting with AI-assisted insights is on Core and Premier.
- Survey management
- Premier includes 20 survey loads and Elite unlimited, along with self-service participation management.
- HRIS connection
- Core and Premier offer a one-way sFTP or API feed from an HRIS, and Elite adds a two-way sFTP sync. SSO is on every plan.
Pequity
- Comp Cycle
- Runs pay review cycles such as merit and bonus rounds with automation at scale, in a spreadsheet-like interface.
- Market Pulse
- Market data used to price roles and check pay against benchmarks.
- Approvals
- Routes compensation changes through approval steps so cycle decisions are recorded in one place.
- Range management
- Pay bands and ranges that can be managed centrally and shared across the compensation program.
- Employee portals and visual offers
- Employee-facing views of pay and visual offer documents, as listed in the platform menu.
- Salary Board
- Lets a company publish salary ranges to candidates directly or inside job posts, to support pay transparency.
Plans
Payscale
Pricing could not be confirmed. See payscale.com.
Pequity
Pricing could not be confirmed. See pequity.com.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Payscale or Pequity?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Payscale has no price we could confirm, and Pequity has no price we could confirm.
Which has a free plan, Payscale or Pequity?
As of Nov 13, 2026, neither Payscale nor Pequity has a free plan.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.