SimplePay vs Talenox (2026): which should you pick?

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

SimplePay

No public discounts listed.

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.