Best Payroll Software Australia 2026: Compared (from $0)

For most small employers, the best payroll software is the payroll inside the accounting software you already use: Xero (payroll included, from $37 a month) or MYOB ($5 per employee from 1 November 2026). Award-based, rostered teams should compare Employment Hero, QuickBooks Advanced Payroll, Deputy and Microkeeper. Payroller and Reckon are the cheapest compliant options for micro employers. Prices are as at 18 October 2026.

Quick picks

Standard prices, no promotions. Xero, MYOB and QuickBooks quote including GST; Deputy and Microkeeper quote excluding GST; the others don't say.

Compare payroll software at a glance

Vendors' Australian pages checked 18 October 2026. "Yes" for STP Phase 2 means the vendor says so or the product appears on the ATO's product register with the 2020 payroll event used for Phase 2. Deputy says its payroll is "designed to support" STP Phase 2; we couldn't find it on the register by name.

What it costs at 1, 4, 10 and 25 employees

Standard monthly prices, no promotions, as at 18 October 2026. MYOB figures use the $5 per-employee fee that applies from 1 November 2026.

Accounting and payroll together (GST included)

Payroll only, or payroll with rostering

Deputy and Microkeeper include rostering and timesheets in these prices (Microkeeper on Standard only). Employment Hero's rostering is a $4 per employee add-on. MYOB Lite on annual billing works out at $26.25 a month plus payroll. QuickBooks Simple Start has one user; bills and suppliers start on Essentials ($60).

Three things stand out:

• Xero's plan steps cost most at small sizes. Paying a third person moves you from Grow ($78) to Comprehensive ($107), and an eleventh person from Ultimate 10 ($143) to Ultimate 20 ($180). Our Xero pricing guide shows every step.
• MYOB's November rise adds $24 a year per employee. Ten employees on Pro cost $240 a year more. From about 20 employees on monthly billing, AccountRight Plus ($165, unlimited payroll) costs less than Pro; see our MYOB pricing guide.
• Minimums change the order. Employment Hero's 10-user minimum makes it the dearest option for a small team, and Deputy's $30 minimum matters below three people.

The eight options in detail

Xero Payroll

Xero doesn't sell payroll separately in Australia. Every business plan includes payroll and automated super, and the plans differ in how many people you can pay. You can't buy an extra payroll seat below Ultimate 100, so hiring one more person can mean a plan upgrade.

Staff submit timesheets and leave and see payslips in the Xero Me app, STP filing happens at the end of the pay run, and super is paid from Xero. Xero doesn't interpret awards. You set pay templates and rates, and hospitality and retail businesses often add a rostering tool such as Deputy or Tanda for award rules. Its strongest argument is that most Australian bookkeepers work in it.

MYOB payroll

MYOB charges payroll per employee on Business Lite ($35 a month or $315 a year) and Business Pro ($70 or $630): $3 per employee paid in a month now, rising to $5 including GST from 1 November 2026, with the new fee on invoices from 1 December. Lite is capped at two employees; Pro is unlimited. AccountRight Plus ($165 a month) and Premier include unlimited payroll. Payroll Only, for up to four employees with no accounting, rises from $15 to $20 a month.

You pay the fee once per employee per month however many pay runs you process, and an owner paid through payroll counts. The MYOB Team app gives staff rosters, timesheets, clock-on, leave and payslips on Pro and AccountRight. MYOB doesn't advertise award interpretation; you set up pay items and rates yourself. Budget on the standard price, because offers of 50% to 70% off the base plan expire and don't cover payroll fees.

QuickBooks Payroll

QuickBooks Online payroll in Australia is powered by Employment Hero. Standard Payroll costs $6 per active employee a month on top of a QuickBooks plan. Advanced Payroll costs $10 a month plus $6 per employee and adds automated modern award interpretation, rostering, time and attendance and a pay conditions engine. QuickBooks plans cost $33 (Simple Start), $60 (Essentials), $84 (Plus) and $125 (Advanced) a month including GST.

Super is paid through Beam, a clearing house QuickBooks has partnered with, and staff use the EH Work app. Payroll isn't discounted by QuickBooks offers. The current banner advertises 70% off QuickBooks for 6 months, but the offer terms describe the discount applying "for the first 3 months of your subscription", so read the terms before you budget. The trade-off is a second system with its own login behind your accounting file.

Employment Hero Payroll

Employment Hero Payroll (formerly KeyPay) is built around award interpretation. Its pricing page lists Payroll at $10 ("conditions apply") with a minimum of 10 users. Read as $10 per user a month, that is at least $100 a month, so confirm the basis in writing. Rostering and time and attendance are an add-on at $4 per employee a month (minimum $40). There's no free trial, only a demo.

You get award interpretation, rostering and timesheets that flow into pay, the Employment Hero Work app, and HeroClear embedded for super, where "super processing charges may apply". It's more than three salaried staff need. It fits a cafe with fifteen casuals and a roster full of penalty rates. If your bookkeeper is an Employment Hero partner, ask about partner pricing.

Deputy Payroll

Deputy is best known for rostering, and in Australia it sells payroll as a $5 per user a month add-on on any plan (excluding taxes). Rostering plans cost $6.75 (Lite), $8.75 (Core) or $13 (Pro) per user a month, and an All-in-One bundle of Core, payroll and HR costs $13.95. Monthly plans have a $30 minimum spend.

Lite includes award interpretation and Core adds advanced award interpretation, so shifts are costed against the award before payroll runs. Deputy says its payroll is designed to support STP Phase 2 and covers payday super, though its page doesn't name a clearing house. Our rostering software comparison covers Deputy's clock-in and award features in detail.

Microkeeper

Microkeeper is an Australian payroll, rostering and HR system priced per user. Essential costs a flat $25 a month for payroll, STP and super for up to 10 users. Standard costs $6 per user a month (minimum $60, for 10 to 100 users) and adds HR, rostering and timesheets. Enterprise is priced on request. Prices exclude GST.

Microkeeper lists automated award interpretation in its payroll engine, with prebuilt awards marked "coming soon", so ask how your award is set up. Staff clock in and out from a mobile app or browser, and super is paid through Beam. There's a 30-day free trial.

Payroller

Payroller is the budget option. Lite is free on mobile and STP Phase 2 enabled, but Payroller's pricing page limits mobile payroll on Lite to app users who pay a single person. Standard costs $3.99 per employee a month on yearly billing or $5.50 monthly, with a minimum spend of $15.96 or $22 a month, and new subscriptions get $0.99 per employee for six months. Timesheets and rosters are an add-on at $3.99 (yearly) or $6 (monthly) per employee.

Ten employees on Standard cost $39.90 a month on yearly billing. Payroller says super is calculated, lodged and paid as part of each pay run. It doesn't mention award interpretation, so penalty rates are up to you. There are mobile, employee and kiosk apps, a 7-day free trial and a 30-day money-back guarantee. Its pricing page doesn't say whether prices include GST.

Reckon Payroll

Reckon prices payroll in bands rather than per head: Payroll Essentials $16 a month for up to four employees, Payroll Plus $32 for up to ten and Payroll Premium $60 for unlimited employees. It's available standalone or alongside Reckon One accounting. Ten employees for $32 is one of the cheapest paid options here.

Reckon says it is STP Phase 2 compliant and payday super compliant, and employees get free access to the Reckon Mate app. It doesn't mention award interpretation. There's a 30-day free trial and, until 31 October 2026, an offer of $1 a month for six months whose terms refer to the first Reckon One book. Fewer bookkeepers work in Reckon than in Xero or MYOB. Our Reckon One guide covers the accounting side.

What payroll software has to do in 2026

Three things are non-negotiable.

STP Phase 2 reporting. Every pay run must be reported to the ATO through Single Touch Payroll on or before payday, with allowances, overtime and salary sacrifice reported as separate items. Micro employers with one to four employees can find products on the ATO's product register. Our Single Touch Payroll guide explains the reporting.

Payday super. Since 1 July 2026, super must be received by each employee's fund within 7 business days of payday, with some exceptions such as new employees. The ATO's Small Business Superannuation Clearing House closed to new users on 1 October 2025 and stopped working on 30 June 2026. Paying super from the pay run, in the same sitting, is now the most important payroll feature. Our payday super guide covers the rules.

Correct pay rates. Payroll software applies the rates you give it. If your staff are on a modern award with penalty rates, overtime and loadings, the gap between software that interprets the award and software that doesn't is the gap between a five-minute pay run and a spreadsheet. Sort out which award covers your people first with our guide to finding your employees' modern award, then check rates against the 2026-27 minimum wage and penalty rates.

Payroll software vs an outsourced payroll service

An outsourced payroll service (a payroll bureau or a bookkeeper who runs pays) processes each pay run, lodges STP and pays super for you. You still approve the pay and stay legally responsible for paying correctly. These are published prices from providers' own websites.

Published prices checked 18 October 2026. Pay Cat and Employment Hero show different figures on different pages ($462 minimum and $8 software at Pay Cat; "from $600" at Employment Hero), so ask for a written quote. Digit's price excludes GST; the others don't say unless noted.

What it costs for 5 and 15 employees paid fortnightly

Illustrative. Fortnightly pay means 26 pay runs a year, or about 2.17 a month. Five employees produce about 10.8 payslips a month; fifteen produce 32.5.

When outsourcing is worth it

Software is cheaper per payslip, but it doesn't run itself. Work out the break-even: (bureau monthly cost − software monthly cost) ÷ pay runs a month = what the bureau must save you per pay run. For five fortnightly staff, Digit ($148.96) against Microkeeper ($25) is $123.96 ÷ 2.17 = about $57 per pay run. If a pay run, the STP lodgement and the super payment take you an hour, and your hour is worth more than $57, outsourcing pays.

Outsourcing tends to suit you if:

• your staff are on complex awards and you don't want to own the penalty-rate rules,
• you're too busy to run pays on time, which matters more under payday super, or
• you want a second person checking every pay run before it's paid.

Software tends to suit you if your pays are simple, your bookkeeper already works in Xero or MYOB, or you have fewer than five staff and the bureau minimums would dominate. Many bookkeepers and BAS agents also run payroll; compare their quotes using our BAS agent fees guide and how to choose a BAS agent. Ask every provider what's included: STP lodgement, super payments, new starters and terminations, year-end finalisation and off-cycle pays.

Which payroll software fits your team size?

One or two employees. If you already run Xero or MYOB for your books, use what's built in. If you don't, Reckon Payroll ($16) or MYOB Payroll Only ($15, rising to $20 on 1 November) covers up to four staff, and Payroller Standard costs $15.96 a month at its minimum. Hiring for the first time? Start with the first employee checklist.

Three to ten staff on salaries or simple hourly rates. Xero or MYOB, decided by whichever your bookkeeper uses, which saves more than any price difference. On price alone, MYOB Pro costs $90 a month at four staff and $120 at ten from November, against Xero's $107 and $143. Our Xero vs MYOB comparison covers the rest.

Rostered, award-based teams of any size. Employment Hero Payroll, or QuickBooks Advanced Payroll if you're a QuickBooks shop. Deputy (rostering plus a $5 payroll add-on) and Microkeeper ($6 per user with rostering) put rosters, timesheets and pay in one system. The other route is Xero or MYOB with a rostering tool handling award rules; see our rostering software comparison for prices.

Ten to fifty staff. MYOB AccountRight Plus ($165, unlimited payroll) if you want accounting and payroll in one system; Employment Hero, Deputy or Microkeeper if awards and rostering dominate; Reckon Payroll Premium ($60, unlimited) if your payroll is simple and price matters most.

How to choose without regretting it

1. Ask your bookkeeper or BAS agent first. Their familiarity is worth more than $20 a month in either direction, and they'll be the one fixing a failed STP submission.
2. Count employees twelve months out. Tiered products (Xero, Reckon) get expensive at the boundaries; per-employee products (MYOB, Payroller, QuickBooks, Microkeeper) scale smoothly.
3. Be honest about awards. If you pay penalty rates, overtime or shift loadings to more than a handful of people, budget for award interpretation somewhere in the stack.
4. Test the super flow before the first live pay run. Authorise super on payday itself, because the 7 business days run until the fund receives the money.
5. Check the payslips. Make sure the software produces payslips with everything the law requires; see payslip requirements.
6. Switch at a clean break. The start of a financial year is easiest; the start of a quarter is workable. You'll need year-to-date figures for each employee and an STP finalisation from the old system.
7. Budget on the standard price. Introductory discounts of 50% to 80% are common, expire within three to twelve months and usually exclude payroll fees.
8. Keep the records. Before you cancel, export pay records and payslips; time and wages records must be kept for seven years. See record keeping for small business.

For everything else that changed for employers this year, including minimum wage, tax tables and the extra pay period, see payroll changes for 2026-27 and 27 fortnightly pays in 2026-27.

How we compared

• Sources: each vendor's own Australian pricing, product and offer-terms pages, checked on 18 October 2026, MYOB's notice of its 1 November 2026 price change, the ATO's payday super and STP pages, and the ATO product register. Bureau prices come from each provider's own website.
• What we compared: price per employee and plan limits, STP Phase 2 status, award interpretation, rostering and timesheets, super payment method, employee apps, free trials and GST treatment.
• Costs: standard published prices, no promotions, at the headcounts shown. GST treatment follows each vendor's page and is flagged where it differs.
• What we didn't do: we didn't test the products, run pays or request quotes, and no provider paid for inclusion. There are no affiliate links. Picks follow the criteria above; there are no scores.
• Benchmarks reviewed: equalpaytoday, top10payroll, e-PayDay, ClockOn and MYOB's payroll page. Finder and Canstar have no payroll software comparison, and Forbes Advisor AU blocked access.

Key takeaways

• All eight products report through Single Touch Payroll and support paying super each payday; the 7-business-day payday super deadline is met by workflow, not by product choice.
• If you already use Xero or MYOB, their built-in payroll suits most simple payrolls. MYOB's per-employee fee rises from $3 to $5 on 1 November 2026, and Payroll Only from $15 to $20.
• For award-based, rostered teams, Employment Hero, QuickBooks Advanced Payroll ($10 a month plus $6 per employee), Deputy (a $5 payroll add-on) and Microkeeper ($6 per user) include award interpretation.
• Payroller ($3.99 per employee on yearly billing) and Reckon ($16 for up to four employees) are the cheapest compliant options for micro employers.
• Outsourced payroll costs $7 to $50 per payslip on published bureau prices, often with a monthly minimum, against about $2 to $10 per payslip for software.

Where to get help

• ATO: Single Touch Payroll: the rules, Phase 2 reporting and reporting options for micro employers: ato.gov.au: STP reporting options
• ATO: product register: check a product's STP listing, with a filter for employers with one to four employees: softwaredevelopers.ato.gov.au: product register
• ATO: payday super: the 7-business-day rule, qualifying earnings and the changeover: ato.gov.au: About payday super
• Fair Work Ombudsman: Pay and Conditions Tool: check the award rates your software should apply: calculate.fairwork.gov.au. Fair Work Infoline 13 13 94.
• Your bookkeeper, BAS agent or accountant: for choosing between products, migrating year-to-date balances and setting up pay items correctly for STP Phase 2.

Related tasks

Find more guides on pay, leave and rosters in the pay, leave and rosters hub.