Head to head
Payroll Online vs SimplePay
Both products assessed against the same checklist, with ratings drawn from 462 verified reviews.
Payroll Online
Payroll Software
3.9
104 verified reviews
R19
per month, from, excl VAT
- Rating gap
- 0.5
- Reviews behind this
- 462
- Monthly price gap
- R7
- Features they share
- 1
Side by side
How they compare
Ratings computed from published reviews, and the specifications that change what a product costs to run. The washed column is the higher rated of the two.
| Compared on | Payroll Online | Higher rated overall |
|---|---|---|
| What reviewers say | ||
| Overall rating | 3.9 | 4.4, higher |
| Ease of use | 3.8 | 4.3, higher |
| Value for money | 3.8 | 4.3, higher |
| Customer service | 3.7 | 4.2, higher |
| Functionality | 3.9 | 4.3, higher |
| Verified reviews | 104 | 358 |
| What it costs | ||
| Starting price | R19per month, from | R26per month, from |
| VAT basis | Excl VAT | Excl VAT |
| Free trial | Yes | Yes |
| Free plan | No | No |
| Published plans | 1 | 1 |
| Vendor and support | ||
| Vendor | Payroll Online | SimplePay |
| Founded | 2013 | 2010 |
| Support channels | Email, Knowledge base | Email, Telephone, Knowledge base, Guided onboarding |
| Integrations listed | 1 | 6 |
| Local bank feeds | 4 | 5 |
The local yardstick
South African compliance
Amber marks a gap rather than a feature. This is usually where the decision is actually made.
Payroll Online
- EMP201
- EMP501
- IRP5 and IT3(a)
- e@syFile export
- UIF declarations
- SDL
- ETI
- BCEA leave entitlements
- No COIDA return of earnings
- No bargaining council support
SimplePay
- EMP201
- EMP501
- IRP5 and IT3(a)
- e@syFile export
- UIF declarations
- SDL
- ETI
- BCEA leave entitlements
- POPIA operator agreement
- Data hosted in South Africa
What they cost
Pricing, compared properly
Check the VAT basis on each. Vendors are not consistent, and the difference is 15%.
Payroll Online
Listed excluding VAT
- R19/mo
Per employeePopular
Per employee per month excluding VAT, with a monthly minimum equivalent to five employees.
SimplePay
Listed excluding VAT
- R26/mo
Per employeePopular
Unlimited administrators
Charged per employee per month excluding VAT, with no minimum and no company base fee. The rate steps down as employee numbers rise.
Capability
The full feature matrix
Every feature either product offers, and whether the other one has it.
| Compared on | Payroll Online | Higher rated overall |
|---|---|---|
| 24 features across both products | ||
| ACB payment file | Included | Not included |
| ACB payment file for Absa, FNB, Standard Bank, Nedbank and Capitec | Not included | Included |
| Basic employee self service | Included | Not included |
| BCEA compliant leave | Included | Not included |
| BCEA compliant leave accrual | Not included | Included |
| Bonus, commission and overtime handling | Not included | Included |
| CSV export to accounting | Included | Not included |
| e@syFile compatible export | Not included | Included |
| e@syFile export | Included | Not included |
| EMP201 and EMP501 | Included | Not included |
| EMP201 monthly declaration | Not included | Included |
| EMP501 biannual reconciliation | Not included | Included |
| Employee self service portal | Not included | Included |
| ETI | Included | Not included |
| ETI with sliding scale | Not included | Included |
| Garnishee and maintenance orders | Not included | Included |
| IRP5 and IT3(a) | Included | Not included |
| IRP5 and IT3(a) certificate generation | Not included | Included |
| Medical aid and retirement fund deductions | Not included | Included |
| Multiple pay frequencies | Not included | Included |
| Payslip email and download | Included | Included |
| SDL calculation | Not included | Included |
| UIF and SDL | Included | Not included |
| UIF declaration file | Not included | Included |
Our verdict
Which one you should buy
We name a winner. Listing differences and leaving the decision to the reader is not a verdict.
We have not written a full verdict for this pairing yet, so here is the position from the data.
SimplePay holds the higher rating at 4.4 against 3.9, from 358 reviews against 104. Reviewers rate it 4.3 for ease of use and 4.3 for value for money, against 3.8 and 3.8.
Read the compliance comparison below before deciding on the rating alone. A product that scores well overall can still be missing the one statutory output your business cannot do without.
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