BrightPay review (2026): is it worth £7.00 a month, billed yearly?
UK cloud payroll with HMRC submissions and auto-enrolment
Black Friday: is there a BrightPay sale?
BrightPay report card
Good · out of 4.0 · graded Nov 12, 2026
Best for UK payroll for small businesses and their accountants
BrightPay Cloud is UK payroll software at GBP 7 a month plus VAT for one employer and a few employees, with HMRC submissions and an employee app. It is built for UK payroll, with a cap of 300 employees, and its trial length is not stated.
Who BrightPay is for
- Fits if you run payroll for a UK small business
- Works for accountants who want links to Xero, QuickBooks or Sage
Who BrightPay is not for
- 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
Why BrightPay gets a 2.6
Five grades, each with its reason. The GPA is their average: an A is 4 points, an F is none.
- BValue for moneyGBP 7 a month billed annually for one employer, with per-employee charges from the fourth employee at GBP 2.10. Five employees come to roughly $14, inside the cheapest quarter ($20).
- CFree plan and trialA free trial with full access, but the page does not state its length or whether a card is needed. There is no free plan.
- BFeaturesHMRC submissions, automatic payroll checks, employee and manager portals, AI assistants, payments and accounting journals.
- CEase of useNo store rating on record. Payroll setup means entering employees, pensions and tax details.
- BPlatforms and integrationsWeb, an employee app and links to Xero, QuickBooks, Sage and Zoho Books.
What these grades rest on. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from BrightPay's own pages on 12 November 2026. Not based on using the product, and shorter than our full reviews. How we review and grade.
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<a href="https://toolgpa.com/tools/brightpay#review"><img src="https://toolgpa.com/badge/brightpay.svg" alt="BrightPay: 2.6 GPA on ToolGPA" width="196" height="56"></a>Where BrightPay stands among payroll services
BrightPay's GPA of 2.6 is higher than 35 of the 40 other payroll services we grade, and level with 3.
It stands best on value for money (B, above 28 of 40) and worst on ease of use (C, above 1).
Its paid plans start at about $9.38 a month, against a middle price of $29 for the category: 3 of the 24 others that charge start lower.
On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 2.7 out of 4. 1 tool scores higher and costs less.
Each grade against the category
Every bar is all 41 payroll services we grade, cut by the letter each got. BrightPay’s own letter is outlined.
- BValue for moneyAbove 28 of 40, level with 7
- CFree plan and trialAbove 30 of 40, level with 9
- BFeaturesAbove 17 of 40, level with 23
- CEase of useAbove 1 of 40, level with 25
- BPlatforms and integrationsAbove 11 of 40, level with 29
Price against what you get
Each dot is one of 25 payroll services. Further left costs less, and higher up scores better on features, ease of use and platforms. Point at a dot to see which tool it is.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Keep BrightPay, or make your own?
Keep it
To replace BrightPay you would be making payroll taxes worked out and filed with the government for you. That is not a weekend's work, with an AI app builder or without one.
It is one of the better ones too: its GPA of 2.6 is higher than 35 of the 40 other payroll services we grade. It costs $112.55 a year.
What you could make
- Time off and employee records: an app builder makes these well.
What you could not
- Payroll taxes worked out and filed with the government for you.
- It plugs into other products, Xero, QuickBooks and Sage among them.
- AI features, unless you pay a model provider for each request yourself.
- The depth: we grade its features B, which means it covers the whole job.
What this rests on. BrightPay’s listing: what it does, where it runs, what it plugs into and what it costs. It is a judgement about the kind of software this is. We have not built a replacement for it, and making your own means looking after it too. How we decide, and every tool’s verdict.
What is BrightPay?
BrightPay is UK payroll software, now sold by Bright from brightsg.com, that sends RTI submissions to HMRC and manages auto-enrolment pension duties. It processes payroll for up to 300 employees per employer and has employee and manager portals. Pricing is a published calculator based on team size, with a free trial.
Worth knowing
- 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.
Key features
- 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.
BrightPay pricing
As of Nov 12, 2026, BrightPay is a paid product with a free trial, starting at £7.00 per month, billed annually (£8.25 billed monthly), + VAT.
- Starts at
- £7.00 per month, billed annually (£8.25 billed monthly), + VAT
- Free plan
- None
- Free trial
- Free trial with full access for your business
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| BrightPay Cloud | £7.00per 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. |
Read from brightsg.com on Nov 12, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with BrightPay before you buy.
Ways to pay less
- Annual discountSave 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.
Stated on brightsg.com
Works with
- Xero
- QuickBooks
- Sage
- Zoho Books
- BrightBooks
- Modulr
- TimeKeeper
- BrightCIS
BrightPay alternatives
- BrightPay vs OnPay
Free trial · from $49/mo
- BrightPay vs Wagepoint
Free trial · from $20/mo
- BrightPay vs Eddy
Free trial · from $50/mo
- BrightPay vs Employment Hero
From $10/mo
Common questions
Does BrightPay have an Android app?
No Android app was listed when its pages were read on Nov 12, 2026. BrightPay is listed for Web.
Does BrightPay have an iPhone app?
No iPhone app was listed when its pages were read on Nov 12, 2026. BrightPay is listed for Web.
Is BrightPay open source?
BrightPay is not described as open source on its own site, as read on Nov 12, 2026.
Sources for this page
The prices, plans, platforms and features above were read from these pages on Nov 12, 2026.