State of Payroll Software in Australia, Q3 2026

We track 10 payroll software providers in Australia: 7 with a published price and 3 quoting on request. Every price below comes from the vendor's own pricing page as our records stood on 1 Oct 2026, and this page will not be updated as those prices change.

How many payroll software providers publish a price?

A provider counts as publishing a price when its pricing page gives enough to estimate a monthly bill without contacting sales. One that shows a headline or starting rate and quotes for the rest is counted as quoting on request. On that test, 70% of this market can be priced without asking.

Each figure above counts every provider that publishes that one number, including any that quote for the rest of their pricing, so the sample behind each figure differs.

What does payroll software cost in Australia?

Estimated monthly bill at each business size in the table, from the same cost engine as our live comparison table. Providers that quote on request are left out; an unknown price is never counted as zero.

For the largest business size in the table (growing business), the dearest option with a published price costs 6.2 times the cheapest, $808.40 against $130 a month.

How we compiled this report

Prices come from vendors' own pricing pages only, never from review sites or directories, and no commercial relationship with a vendor changes a figure here. Definitions, limitations and corrections: how we compile these reports.

Conclusion

Payday Super arrived on the first day of this quarter. From 1 July 2026 an employer's super contributions have to reach the fund within seven business days of each payday rather than by the end of the quarter, which turns four compliance deadlines a year into one every pay run. This report does not test how well any platform handles that. It records what the platforms charge, and that charge is now attached to a more frequent obligation.

Seven of the ten providers publish a price, a better showing than the Australian payments market, where a third do. The published per-employee fee runs from $2 to $40.42 a month, with a median of $10, and the monthly base fee from nothing to $78. The per-employee fee is the part that grows with every hire.

At one employee the modelled bill is $15 to $100, with a median of $40.42. At four it is $15 to $161.68, median $107. At twenty it is $130 to $808.40, median $200, and the top of that range is simply twenty employees at $40.42. A fee that looks modest on a one-person payroll is the whole bill at twenty.

Four providers also publish an Employer of Record price, $277.35 to $974.20 a month per person, for staff employed without a local entity. That is a different product and belongs apart from the domestic figures above.