Payroll software · Ireland · Head-to-head
BrightPay Ireland vs Sage Payroll Ireland
Two Ireland payroll software options, compared side by side for Ireland trades.
Which should you choose?
BrightPay Ireland and Sage Payroll Ireland are both Tier S: our check found each one's prices published on its own website, so you can compare their costs before talking to sales. The tier is not a quality ranking: weigh the pros, cons, pricing and Ireland-specific notes below against your trade and region.
BrightPay Ireland
Tier S · Published pricesIrish payroll software from Bright; desktop ends 31 December 2026, cloud continues
BrightPay is payroll software from Bright Software Group (Thesaurus Software Ltd), based in Co. Meath. Bright says 674,000 Irish employees are paid through Bright each month, across 91,000 businesses. BrightPay Desktop is supported until 31 December 2026; from 1 January 2027 BrightPay Cloud is the only version.
Pros
- + Built for Irish payroll: PAYE Modernisation, USC and PRSI
- + Free desktop employer licence for single-employee companies
- + Supports My Future Fund auto-enrolment on the cloud version
- + Published desktop prices; 60-day free trial
Cons
- − Desktop version unsupported from 1 January 2027; desktop users must move to BrightPay Cloud
- − Cloud prices are shown only through an online calculator
- − Payroll only: pair it with separate job-management and accounting tools
Ireland note
Bright says BrightPay is Revenue compliant for PAYE Modernisation: it retrieves Revenue Payroll Notifications and sends payroll submissions, and calculates PAYE, USC and PRSI. Bright also says BrightPay Cloud handles My Future Fund auto-enrolment contributions and submissions.
Sage Payroll Ireland
Tier S · Published pricesCloud payroll from Sage for Irish employers, priced by number of employees, with Revenue reporting and auto-enrolment built in
Sage Payroll is the cloud payroll product on Sage's Irish site, from The Sage Group plc. Sage sells one plan that scales by employee count, with no long-term contract. Its Irish page says the product submits payroll to Revenue in real time, calculates PAYE, PRSI and USC, and handles auto-enrolment under the scheme that started on 1 January 2026.
Pros
- + Published monthly prices by employee tier, with no long-term contract
- + Real-time Revenue submissions and PAYE, PRSI and USC calculations, per Sage
- + Auto-enrolment, multiple pay frequencies and gender pay gap reporting included
- + Phone and live chat support, and shared access for your accountant
Cons
- − The price rises through eight employee tiers as the crew grows
- − Prices exclude VAT
- − Launch offers change: check the current offer before signing up
Ireland note
Sage says Sage Payroll reports to Revenue in real time, calculates PAYE, PRSI and USC, handles auto-enrolment (the scheme started on 1 January 2026) and produces SEPA or paypath bank transfer files.
More Ireland options
See all Ireland payroll software vendors and the rest of the Ireland directory.