Head to head
SimplePay vs Sage Business Cloud Payroll
Both products assessed against the same checklist, with ratings drawn from 589 verified reviews.
Sage Business Cloud Payroll
Payroll Software
4.1
231 verified reviews
R30
per month, from, excl VAT
- Rating gap
- 0.3
- Reviews behind this
- 589
- Monthly price gap
- R4
- Features they share
- 3
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 | Higher rated overall | Sage Group plc |
|---|---|---|
| What reviewers say | ||
| Overall rating | 4.4, higher | 4.1 |
| Ease of use | 4.3, higher | 4.0 |
| Value for money | 4.3, higher | 4.1 |
| Customer service | 4.2, higher | 3.9 |
| Functionality | 4.3, higher | 4.2 |
| Verified reviews | 358 | 231 |
| What it costs | ||
| Starting price | R26per month, from | R30per month, from |
| VAT basis | Excl VAT | Excl VAT |
| Free trial | Yes | Yes |
| Free plan | No | No |
| Published plans | 1 | 1 |
| Vendor and support | ||
| Vendor | SimplePay | Sage Group plc |
| Founded | 2010 | 2015 |
| Support channels | Email, Telephone, Knowledge base, Guided onboarding | Telephone, Email, Live chat, Knowledge base |
| Integrations listed | 6 | 4 |
| Local bank feeds | 5 | 5 |
The local yardstick
South African compliance
Amber marks a gap rather than a feature. This is usually where the decision is actually made.
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
Sage Business Cloud Payroll
- EMP201
- EMP501
- IRP5 and IT3(a)
- e@syFile export
- UIF declarations
- SDL
- ETI
- BCEA leave entitlements
- POPIA operator agreement
What they cost
Pricing, compared properly
Check the VAT basis on each. Vendors are not consistent, and the difference is 15%.
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.
Sage Business Cloud Payroll
Listed excluding VAT
- R30/mo
Per employeePopular
Unlimited administrators
Charged per employee per month excluding VAT, usually with a small monthly minimum. Bundled discounts apply when purchased with Sage Accounting.
Capability
The full feature matrix
Every feature either product offers, and whether the other one has it.
| Compared on | Higher rated overall | Sage Group plc |
|---|---|---|
| 24 features across both products | ||
| ACB payment file for Absa, FNB, Standard Bank, Nedbank and Capitec | Included | Not included |
| ACB payment files | Not included | Included |
| BCEA compliant leave | Not included | Included |
| BCEA compliant leave accrual | Included | Not included |
| Bonus, commission and overtime handling | Included | Not included |
| Direct posting to Sage Accounting | Not included | Included |
| e@syFile compatible export | Included | Not included |
| e@syFile export | Not included | Included |
| EMP201 and EMP501 | Not included | Included |
| EMP201 monthly declaration | Included | Not included |
| EMP501 biannual reconciliation | Included | Not included |
| Employee self service portal | Included | Included |
| ETI | Not included | Included |
| ETI with sliding scale | Included | Not included |
| Garnishee and maintenance orders | Included | Not included |
| IRP5 and IT3(a) | Not included | Included |
| IRP5 and IT3(a) certificate generation | Included | Not included |
| Medical aid and retirement fund deductions | Included | Included |
| Multiple pay frequencies | Included | Included |
| Payslip email | Not included | Included |
| Payslip email and download | Included | Not included |
| SDL calculation | Included | Not included |
| UIF and SDL | Not included | Included |
| UIF declaration file | Included | Not 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.
Both handle the full South African statutory set correctly. EMP201, EMP501, IRP5 and IT3(a), e@syFile, UIF, SDL, ETI and BCEA leave are all present and reliable in each. There is no compliance argument between them.
The difference is everyday clarity and support. Our review corpus is consistent that SimplePay's interface is easier for a non specialist, that the ETI screens in particular are clearer, and that support responds faster because it is a small team on a single product rather than a large organisation covering many.
Sage wins on one thing: if you already run Sage Accounting, the payroll journal posts straight through with no export step, on one invoice, from one support desk. For a business with a complex departmental allocation that integration is worth real money. For a business posting one journal a month it saves fifteen minutes.
We recommend SimplePay for most employers. Trial both with your own payroll and let your administrator decide.
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