Compare HR & payroll software
ADP, Sage Payroll, Xero Payroll and BrightPay — scored on the things payroll is actually judged by: compliance handling, ledger integration, deadline-week support and honest per-employee cost.
| Product | Score | Best for | From | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ADP | 8.5/10 | Growing, multi-country or complex employers wanting proven payroll at scale | Quote-based — typically per payslip or per employee | Read review |
| BrightPay | 8.2/10 | UK & Ireland payroll bureaus and small employers wanting bureau-grade depth at annual-licence prices | From ~£99–£219/year (small employers); bureau licences tiered by employer count | Read review |
| Xero Payroll | 8.1/10 | Small UK employers already running their books on Xero | Add-on from ~£7/mo plus ~£2/employee (bundled in some plans) | Read review |
| Sage Payroll | 8.0/10 | UK small businesses in the Sage accounting ecosystem | From ~£10/mo plus per-employee tiers | Read review |
Payroll first, HR second
Most products in this category do both, but the buying risk is asymmetric: a mediocre HR module is annoying, a mediocre payroll engine is a compliance failure. Our scores weight payroll accuracy, HMRC recognition and statutory-change handling above everything else — including interface polish.
The three honest tiers
Small UK employers are best served by ledger-integrated payroll (Xero, Sage) or specialist tools (BrightPay). Growing and multi-country businesses graduate to platforms like ADP. Matching your tier — rather than over-buying — is the core decision, and our verdicts name the employer size each product truly fits.
Integration with your ledger matters
Payroll journals, pension files and HMRC payments all flow into accounting. Native integration (Xero Payroll with Xero; Sage Payroll with Sage) removes a manual step every pay run, forever. Boring? Yes. Worth real money monthly? Also yes.