Sage Payroll and BrightPay are the two payroll platforms that come up most often when UK small businesses start comparing options. They both handle PAYE, National Insurance, pension auto-enrolment, RTI submissions, CIS, statutory payments, and year-end processing. They are both HMRC-recognised. They both work. But they are built on fundamentally different models — and the one that is right for your business depends on what you value most.

Sage Payroll is cloud-native, subscription-based, and designed to work as part of the Sage ecosystem. BrightPay is desktop-based, sold as an annual licence, and designed to be the cheapest per-head payroll option on the market. This guide compares them honestly across pricing, features, integration, compliance, and usability so you can make the right choice without discovering the trade-offs after you have already committed.

Pricing Comparison

This is where the two platforms look most different, because they use completely different pricing models.

Sage Payroll pricing

Sage Payroll is a monthly subscription with three tiers. Each plan includes five employees in the base price, with additional employees charged per head per month.

Plan	Monthly Price	Extra Employee Cost	Key Additions
Essentials	£10/mo	£2/employee	Pay runs, PAYE, NI, RTI, payslips, P60s
Standard	£20/mo	£4/employee	+ pension auto-enrolment, CIS, enhanced reports
Premium	£30/mo	£6/employee	+ HR, timesheets, document management, self-service

BrightPay pricing

BrightPay uses an annual licence model. You pay once per year and the licence covers the full tax year. There are no monthly fees and no per-employee monthly charges.

Edition	Annual Price	Employee Limit
Micro	£69/year	Up to 3
Small	£139/year	Up to 10
Medium	£209/year	Up to 25
Unlimited	£289/year	Unlimited

BrightPay Connect — the optional cloud add-on for remote access, dashboards, and employee self-service — costs extra at approximately £0.60 per employee per month.

What you actually pay at different team sizes

The table below shows the real monthly cost of each platform at common team sizes. For Sage, the Standard plan is used because it includes pension auto-enrolment, which most real businesses need. For BrightPay, the annual licence is divided by 12 for monthly comparison.

SaaS editorial illustration comparing Sage Payroll and BrightPay dashboards

Team Size	Sage Payroll Standard	BrightPay (monthly equivalent)
3 employees	£20/mo	~£5.75/mo
5 employees	£20/mo	~£5.75/mo
10 employees	£40/mo	~£11.58/mo
25 employees	£100/mo	~£17.42/mo
50 employees	£200/mo	~£24.08/mo

On pure payroll cost alone, BrightPay is dramatically cheaper at every team size. A 50-employee business saves roughly £2,111 per year by choosing BrightPay over Sage Standard. That cost difference is real and significant — but it does not tell the whole story.

Cloud vs Desktop

This is the most fundamental difference between the two platforms and it affects everything else — access, backup, collaboration, and how your data is stored.

Sage Payroll: cloud-native

Sage Payroll runs entirely in the cloud. You access it through a web browser on any device with an internet connection. Your data is stored on Sage's servers, backed up automatically, and accessible from anywhere. Multiple users can log in simultaneously. Updates happen automatically — you never need to download or install anything.

This means your payroll data is available when you need it, from wherever you are. If your laptop breaks, your data is safe. If you want your accountant to review a pay run, they can log in remotely. If HMRC releases a mid-year threshold change, Sage applies it without you doing anything.

BrightPay: desktop application

BrightPay is installed on your computer. Your payroll data is stored locally on that machine. You are responsible for backing it up. If the computer fails and you have no backup, your payroll data is gone. BrightPay only runs on the device where it is installed — you cannot access it from another location unless you add BrightPay Connect.

BrightPay Connect adds cloud functionality — remote access, a web dashboard, and employee self-service — but it is a paid add-on, not part of the core product. Even with Connect, the core processing still happens on the desktop application. Connect is a cloud layer on top of a desktop product, not a cloud-native architecture.

For some businesses, desktop works perfectly well. If payroll is always processed from the same office computer by the same person, the desktop model is not a limitation. But for businesses that need remote access, multi-user collaboration, or the security of automatic cloud backups, the difference matters.

Sage Payroll vs BrightPay comparison

Accounting Integration

This is where the comparison shifts in Sage's favour, and for many businesses, it is the deciding factor.

Sage Payroll → Sage Accounting

If you use Sage Accounting, payroll journals are created automatically when you run payroll and posted directly to your accounting records. Staff costs, employer National Insurance, pension contributions, and PAYE liabilities all appear in your books instantly — no export, no import, no manual re-entry. Your profit and loss report, cash flow view, and balance sheet reflect payroll costs in real time.

This native integration means your financial data is always consistent. There is no gap between what your payroll says you owe and what your accounting records show. For businesses where payroll is one of the largest expense categories — which it is for most employers — this accuracy matters every month.

BrightPay → Your accounting software

BrightPay does not integrate natively with any accounting platform. To get payroll data into your accounts, you export a journal file from BrightPay and import it into your accounting software — Sage, Xero, QuickBooks, or whichever platform you use. This is a manual step that needs to happen after every pay run.

The export works, and for businesses comfortable with the process, it is not complicated. But it is an extra step that introduces a risk point. If the export is forgotten, delayed, or imported incorrectly, your accounting records will not match your payroll records. Over time, especially with weekly pay runs, these gaps can create reconciliation headaches.

Compliance Features

Both platforms are HMRC-recognised and handle UK payroll compliance thoroughly. The core compliance features are broadly comparable.

Compliance Feature	Sage Payroll	BrightPay	Notes
PAYE & NI calculations	Yes	Yes	Both handle all standard calculations
RTI submissions (FPS/EPS)	Yes	Yes	Direct to HMRC from both platforms
Automatic tax code updates	Yes — automatic from HMRC	Manual — user applies new codes	Sage receives HMRC notices and applies automatically
Pension auto-enrolment	Standard + Premium	All plans	Both integrate with NEST, NOW, People's Pension, Smart Pension
CIS returns	Yes	Yes	Both handle CIS deductions and monthly returns
Statutory payments (SSP, SMP, etc.)	Yes	Yes	Both calculate qualifying criteria and payment rates
Payslips and P60s	Digital via app + portal	PDF + via Connect (extra)	Sage includes mobile access; BrightPay needs Connect add-on
Year-end processing	Guided step-by-step + auto update	Guided + manual update download	Sage updates automatically; BrightPay requires a new licence/download each April

The most important compliance difference is tax code management. Sage Payroll receives HMRC tax code change notices and applies them automatically — this is one of the most common sources of payroll errors, and automating it removes the risk of someone forgetting to apply a new code or entering the wrong one. BrightPay requires you to apply tax code changes manually when you receive a P6 or P9 notice from HMRC.

Year-end is also handled differently. Sage releases an automatic update that prepares the software for the new tax year with updated thresholds, rates, and statutory pay figures. BrightPay requires you to purchase a new annual licence for the new tax year and download the updated version. This is not a flaw — it is part of the annual licence model — but it means you need to actively renew and update each April.

HR and Employee Self-Service

Sage Payroll

On the Standard plan, employees can access payslips and P60s through a secure mobile app. On the Premium plan, this extends to full employee self-service including holiday requests, sick leave logging, timesheet submissions, and document storage. Premium also includes HR features like new starter onboarding workflows, staff development tracking, and absence management.

For businesses with 15 or more employees, the Premium plan can replace a separate HR tool entirely, which offsets some of the higher per-employee cost.

BrightPay

The core desktop application does not include employee self-service or HR features. BrightPay Connect adds a web portal where employees can view payslips, request leave, and submit timesheets — but it costs extra (approximately £0.60 per employee per month) and requires the separate Connect subscription alongside the desktop licence.

There are no built-in HR features in BrightPay. If you need holiday management, document storage, or onboarding workflows, you need separate tools.

Support

Support	Sage Payroll	BrightPay
UK phone support	Yes — included on all plans	No — email and chat only
Email support	Yes	Yes
Knowledge base	Extensive	Good
Community forum	Yes	Limited

For businesses running payroll for the first time, UK phone support can be the difference between resolving a problem in 15 minutes and spending half a day searching for answers. Sage includes phone support on all plans. BrightPay relies on email and chat, which is effective but not immediate when you have a deadline-sensitive payroll issue.

Pros and Cons Side by Side

Sage Payroll

Pros:

Cloud-native — access anywhere, automatic backups, no installation
Native integration with Sage Accounting — payroll journals post automatically
Automatic HMRC tax code updates
Pension auto-enrolment with major UK providers
CIS returns built into the workflow
HR features and employee self-service on Premium
UK phone support included
Guided year-end with automatic rate updates

Cons:

Significantly more expensive per employee than BrightPay
Essentials plan lacks pension management — most businesses need Standard
Integration advantage only applies if you also use Sage Accounting
Per-employee costs scale linearly — no volume discount at larger team sizes

BrightPay

Pros:

Dramatically cheaper — unlimited employees for £289/year
Pension auto-enrolment on all plans
CIS support included
Trusted by accountants and payroll bureaus
Comprehensive compliance — RTI, statutory payments, year-end
One-off annual cost with no per-employee monthly charges

Cons:

Desktop-only — no cloud access without paid Connect add-on
Data stored locally — you manage your own backups
No native accounting integration — export/import required
Tax code changes must be applied manually
No built-in HR features
No phone support — email and chat only
Requires new licence purchase and download each tax year

Which One Should You Choose?

Choose Sage Payroll if:

You use or plan to use Sage Accounting and want one connected financial ecosystem
You value cloud access — working from anywhere, automatic backups, no installation
You want HMRC tax code changes applied automatically without manual intervention
You need HR features like holiday management, timesheets, and employee self-service
You prefer UK phone support for payroll questions
You are a construction business wanting CIS handled in a single cloud workflow alongside your accounting

Choose BrightPay if:

Your top priority is paying the absolute lowest price for payroll
You are comfortable with desktop software and managing local backups
You do not need native accounting integration — manual export works for you
You are an accountant or payroll bureau running payroll for multiple clients
You do not need HR features or built-in employee self-service
You are confident applying HMRC tax code changes and year-end updates manually

The Real Decision

If you evaluate Sage Payroll and BrightPay purely on payroll subscription cost, BrightPay wins at every team size and it is not close. But payroll cost in isolation is not the full picture for most businesses.

The question that actually decides this comparison is: what happens after the pay run? If the answer is that payroll journals need to flow into your accounting records accurately and automatically every period, and you want one login, one ecosystem, and one support team for both — Sage Payroll and Sage Accounting together deliver that in a way BrightPay cannot match.

If the answer is that you just need HMRC-compliant payroll at the lowest price and you are happy to export a journal file once a month — BrightPay gives you comprehensive payroll at a fraction of the cost, and the money you save is real.

Neither platform is universally better. The right choice depends on whether you are buying payroll software or buying a connected financial system. Once you know which one you need, the answer is clear.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial, tax, or payroll advice. Pricing and features are accurate as of March 2026. Visit each provider's website directly for the most current plan details.