"Cheap" in payroll software depends on three things: how many people you pay, whether you need payslips and pension handling built in, and whether you already pay for accounting software that includes payroll. This list sorts the products whose prices we could read on their own websites on 4 October 2026, for an employer paying one to five people. It is a price list, not a review: we haven't tested the products and don't rate them.
UK payroll software sorted by yearly cost
| Product | Price | Yearly, 1 employee | Yearly, 5 employees | Payslips |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HMRC Basic PAYE Tools | Free, fewer than 10 employees | £0 | £0 | Yes, saved as a PDF |
| Moneysoft Payroll Manager (20) | £95 a year, up to 20 employees, Windows | £95 | £95 | Yes, print and email |
| Sage Payroll Essentials | £12 a month, up to 5 employees | £144 | £144 | Yes, portal |
| Xero Ignite + payroll | £18 a month + £1.50 per person | £234 | £306 | Yes, Xero Me app |
| Staffology Payroll | £43 a month, up to 19 payslips | £516 | £516 | Yes, e-payslip portal |
| BrightPay Cloud | Quote on request | Quote | Quote | Ask |
| QuickBooks Payroll Core | £5 a month + £1.50 per employee, added to a QuickBooks plan | £78 + plan | £150 + plan | Yes, print or email |
The Xero figure includes its Ignite accounting plan, which the payroll-only products don't. If you'd pay for accounting software anyway, the extra cost of payroll in Xero is the £1.50 per person, or nothing on Grow and above for the people included in the plan. Several of these products advertise large introductory discounts (90% off for 3 or 6 months on Sage, Xero and QuickBooks); the table uses the price you pay afterwards. QuickBooks' help article lists its payroll fees without a VAT note.
What the cheapest options leave out
- Basic PAYE Tools: no pension features, and the payslip is a PDF you save from the tool, then print or email yourself (email needs the employee's agreement). Its user guide describes no layout choices. Not for agents or bookkeepers.
- Moneysoft Payroll Manager: a Windows 11 program; Moneysoft says it isn't designed for Mac. The £95 licence is for one company and up to 20 employees or subcontractors, leavers included, in a tax year, and runs for 12 months from purchase.
- Sage Payroll Essentials: the £12 price covers up to 5 employees; more employees cost from £2.40 a month each.
- Xero Ignite: limited to 20 invoices and 10 bills, so a growing business moves to Grow at £39 a month.
- Staffology: the flat fee makes it the dearest here for one person, but it scales to 19 payslips a month for the same price.
GOV.UK's guidance on choosing payroll software lists features that some products lack: producing payslips, recording pension deductions and making pension payments, paying people on different schedules, and sending an Employer Payment Summary or Earlier Year Update. Check the ones you need before choosing on price; an EPS, for example, is how you claim Employment Allowance.
When the cheapest option costs more
Software price is a small part of the cost of getting payroll wrong. HMRC can charge a penalty each month a Full Payment Submission is late without a valid reason: £100 a month for an employer with 1 to 9 employees, rising with headcount. The first failure in a tax year is normally let off, except for employers registered as an annual scheme. A tool you find hard to use, or that you forget to open on payday, can cost more than the difference between the products above.
The same goes for time. Basic PAYE Tools and a desktop licence ask more of you each payday than a cloud product that remembers last month's figures, emails payslips and handles pensions. For one employee on a fixed salary the difference is a few minutes; for weekly-paid staff with changing hours, it adds up.
The cheapest complete set-up for one or two employees
Every employer needs three things: software that reports PAYE to HMRC, a payslip for each employee on or before payday, and workplace pension handling for staff who qualify. The cheapest way to cover them depends on what you already have:
| Set-up | Reporting to HMRC | Payslips | Yearly software cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic PAYE Tools on its own | Yes | Yes, saved as a PDF | £0 |
| Basic PAYE Tools + a separate payslip tool | Basic PAYE Tools | Separate tool | £0 + payslip cost |
| Moneysoft Payroll Manager | Yes | Yes | £95 + VAT |
| Sage Payroll Essentials | Yes | Yes | £144 + VAT |
| Your accounting plan's payroll (Xero Grow and above) | Yes | Yes | £0 extra within the plan's included people |
Basic PAYE Tools on its own covers both: its user guide (updated 21 July 2026) has a Create payslips step, which shows the employee's payslip and saves it as a PDF to print or email. If you want a different layout or lines you edit yourself, GOV.UK allows using different software for payslips, which is the second set-up. Pensions still need handling through your pension provider's own website if your software doesn't do it.
Where PayDocs fits
PayDocs is the separate payslip tool in that second set-up, for employers who want more than the PDF Basic PAYE Tools saves. You report through Basic PAYE Tools, then make each payslip from the same figures in PayDocs, in one of six layouts with every line editable. PayDocs works out PAYE income tax, National Insurance and supported deductions for 2026/27 pay dates. It is priced per payslip: £3.99 each once checkout opens, or less in a pack of 12, which covers a year of monthly payslips for one employee. Preview is free.
PayDocs isn't payroll software: it doesn't send Full Payment Submissions or Employer Payment Summaries, or handle pension enrolment.
Questions
What is the cheapest payroll software in the UK?
HMRC's Basic PAYE Tools is free for employers with fewer than 10 employees, and it can save payslips as PDFs. The cheapest paid product with a published price we found is Moneysoft Payroll Manager at £95 a year plus VAT for up to 20 employees (checked 4 October 2026).
Is there free payroll software that makes payslips?
Yes. HMRC's Basic PAYE Tools, free for employers with fewer than 10 employees, can create a payslip for each employee and save it as a PDF to print or email (GOV.UK user guide, updated 21 July 2026). If you want a different layout, GOV.UK allows separate payslip software alongside it.
Do I need payroll software for one employee?
If you need to run PAYE for them, yes: you must report to HMRC online with software, unless you're exempt. Basic PAYE Tools covers that for free.
Sources
- GOV.UK: Find payroll software
- GOV.UK: Running payroll
- GOV.UK: How to use Basic PAYE Tools, Create payslips (updated 21 July 2026)
- GOV.UK: What happens if you don't report payroll information on time
- Moneysoft: Prices (checked 4 October 2026)
- Sage UK: Sage Payroll pricing (checked 4 October 2026)
- Xero UK: Pricing plans (checked 4 October 2026)
- IRIS: Staffology Payroll pricing (checked 4 October 2026)
- Bright: BrightPay Cloud payroll software (checked 4 October 2026)
- QuickBooks UK: Pricing (checked 4 October 2026)
- QuickBooks UK, payroll billing change and fees (checked 4 October 2026)
Sources checked 8 October 2026. This article explains how pay documents work; it is not tax or legal advice.
