Enter your business details to see what each option would cost you. Prices are live from our database and shown in Australian dollars.
Payroll is where small business compliance gets real: get a pay run or an award wrong and you have underpayments, unhappy staff and potential penalties. The right software automates Modern Award interpretation, superannuation and Single Touch Payroll so you do not have to think about them. The main decision is whether to use a dedicated payroll tool or the payroll built into your accounting software. Below are our ranked picks, then a live calculator to cost each at your headcount.
How we chose
Small businesses weigh payroll on compliance accuracy first, then cost per employee and fit with their existing tools. We ranked on the quality of Australian Modern Award interpretation (the thing most likely to cause underpayments), STP Phase 2 and superannuation handling, the real monthly cost once you count employees and any minimum, and whether the payroll integrates with the accounting software you already use. Pricing is live from our database in Australian dollars.
What small businesses should prioritise
Award interpretation is the feature that earns its keep. If you employ staff under a Modern Award, especially in hospitality, retail or care, software that applies the award rules automatically prevents the underpayment mistakes that catch out manual or spreadsheet payroll. After that, weigh the real cost, and pay close attention to where each plan stops. MYOB's $15 a month Payroll Only tier is the cheapest option on this page, but only to 4 employees: that is a hard cap, not an included allowance, so a fifth hire moves you to Business Pro at $70 plus $3 an employee and the bill jumps from $15 to $85 in one step. A platform with a monthly minimum tied to headcount, like Employment Hero's $10 an employee with a 10-user floor, works the other way round: it only makes sense once you have enough staff to spread the floor across. The lesson for a small business is to cost the software at the headcount you expect in a year, not the one you have today.
One date worth diarising: MYOB has told us in writing that its Payroll Only pricing is current until 31 August 2026. The plan as we store it today is $15/mo (Payroll Only, up to 4 emp), so if you are reading this after that date, take the live figure from the table above rather than this paragraph, because we re-verify at the source and the table moves first.
Built-in versus dedicated payroll
If your accounting already lives in Xero or MYOB, their payroll may be all you need: Xero includes it, MYOB adds it for a low per-employee fee, and both keep your pay runs and books in one place. A dedicated tool like Employment Hero is the better call when you want the strongest award interpretation, run payroll separately from accounting, or have award-covered staff where accuracy is critical.
Compliance is non-negotiable
Every contender here lodges Single Touch Payroll Phase 2 to the ATO and handles superannuation, including the move toward Payday Super. That baseline is covered across the board, so let award-interpretation quality, cost per employee and integration with your accounting decide it. If award compliance is your main concern, our dedicated guide to the best award interpretation software goes deeper on the engines behind it.
The verdict
Headcount decides this one. Up to 4 employees MYOB wins outright, because Payroll Only is a flat $15 a month and the next cheapest option is more than three times that. Between 5 and about 12 staff, MYOB's cap pushes you to Business Pro ($85 at 5, $100 at 10) and QuickBooks Payroll is cheaper ($63 and $93). From around 13 staff MYOB is in front again. Choose Employment Hero if you need the strongest Modern Award interpretation, or want HR and onboarding bundled with payroll, and your team is large enough to absorb its $100 a month minimum. If your accounting is already in Xero, Xero Payroll is the seamless, no-extra-bill option. Use the calculator above to cost each at your employee count.
Hiring outside Australia?
These picks are built for Australian staff, and local payroll tools stop at the border. If you also need to hire or pay people overseas, platforms like Deel handle Employer of Record and contractor hiring across many countries. See our guide to the best payroll software for global teams for that case.
Running a trades or construction business?
Award payroll works differently on a job site: you are usually paying wage staff under an award while your subcontractors get paid through accounts payable, not payroll, at all. Our guide to the best software for Australian builders and tradies covers award interpretation for crews, job costing and progress claims, and where subcontractor payments and TPAR fit in.