Payroll software · Ireland · Head-to-head
BrightPay Ireland vs Thesaurus Payroll Manager
Two Ireland payroll software options, compared side by side for Ireland trades.
Which should you choose?
BrightPay Ireland and Thesaurus Payroll Manager 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.
Thesaurus Payroll Manager
Tier S · Published pricesIrish desktop payroll software for employers and payroll bureaus, from €239 per tax year
Thesaurus Payroll Manager is Windows desktop payroll software for Irish employers and payroll bureaus, sold by Thesaurus Software Ltd, trading as Bright Software Group, in Duleek, Co. Meath. Thesaurus Software started in the early 1990s, and the same group now also sells BrightPay. It is payroll-only, with an optional paid Thesaurus Connect add-on for cloud backup and a web self-service dashboard for employees or clients.
Pros
- + Published annual prices from €239 per tax year (excl. VAT)
- + ROS real-time reporting and RPN import, according to Thesaurus
- + MyFuture Fund auto-enrolment support
- + 60-day free trial and free telephone support
Cons
- − Windows desktop software; cloud features need the paid Connect add-on
- − Connect is charged per active employee per month on top of the licence
- − Licence is per tax year, so it must be renewed each year
- − Payroll only, not accounting or job management
Ireland note
Thesaurus says Payroll Manager is fully PAYE Modernisation compliant and ROS-enabled for real-time reporting, can set up employees from a ROS RPN file, handles PRSI class selection, USC and PAYE exclusion orders, produces SEPA payment files and is compliant with MyFuture Fund auto-enrolment.
More Ireland options
See all Ireland payroll software vendors and the rest of the Ireland directory.