IRIS Staffology Payroll vs BrightPay
Verified ratings, real UK pricing and the compliance detail, weighed side by side — with a written verdict at the end.
IRIS Staffology Payroll
Payroll Software
- United Kingdom
- Phone
- Knowledge Base
- Forum
BrightPay
Payroll Software
- United Kingdom
- Ireland
- Phone
- Knowledge Base
- Forum
Evenly matched on verified reviews — 4.1 against 4.1. Price and fit will decide this one, not the score.
The short version
What each one costs and how each one rates, side by side. Only the rows where leading means something are marked; vendor and availability are in the overview above.
| Detail | IRIS Staffology Payroll | BrightPay |
|---|---|---|
| What it costs | ||
| Starting priceLowest paid tier, excluding VAT | £43/mo | On request |
| Free version | NoNo | NoNo |
| Free trial | YesYes | YesYes |
| How it rates | ||
| Overall ratingMean of verified Assaylist reviews | 4.1 | 4.1 |
| Verified reviewsVolume is evidence, not a score — this row is not a contest | 223 reviews | 235 reviews |
How reviewers score them
Across the four dimensions we ask every reviewer about — and, below, the star split each average is built from.
- IRIS Staffology Payroll
- BrightPay
| Dimension | IRIS Staffology Payroll | BrightPay | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ease of use | 3.9 | 4.0 | 0.1 to BrightPay |
| Value for money | 4.0 | 3.9 | 0.1 to IRIS Staffology Payroll |
| Customer support | 4.0 | 4.0 | Level |
| Functionality | 4.0 | 4.0 | Level |
What each average is made of
Two products can share an average and not share a reputation. These bars show the star split behind each score.
| Product | 5 star | 4 star | 3 star | 2 star | 1 star |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IRIS Staffology Payroll | 44% (99 reviews) | 32% (71 reviews) | 13% (30 reviews) | 8% (17 reviews) | 3% (6 reviews) |
| BrightPay | 44% (104 reviews) | 31% (72 reviews) | 14% (34 reviews) | 9% (20 reviews) | 2% (5 reviews) |
Feature by feature
Everything either vendor publishes, split into what separates them and what they share.
- Both products
- 319%
- Only IRIS Staffology Payroll
- 638%
- Only BrightPay
- 744%
16 features listed across both products.
What only one of them does
IRIS Staffology Payroll
6- Employee self serve payslips
- Multi payroll support
- Open API
- Payslip based pricing
+ 2 more in the table below
BrightPay
7- Batch and multi employer processing
- Bureau and practice workflows
- CIS where relevant
- Employee payslip and document app
+ 3 more in the table below
Showing 16 of 16 features
| Detail | IRIS Staffology Payroll | BrightPay |
|---|---|---|
| Where they differ · 13 | ||
| Employee self serve payslips | YesYes | NoNo |
| Multi payroll support | YesYes | NoNo |
| Open API | YesYes | NoNo |
| Payslip based pricing | YesYes | NoNo |
| Pension provider connections | YesYes | NoNo |
| Statutory payments | YesYes | NoNo |
| Batch and multi employer processing | NoNo | YesYes |
| Bureau and practice workflows | NoNo | YesYes |
| CIS where relevant | NoNo | YesYes |
| Employee payslip and document app | NoNo | YesYes |
| Multi user collaboration | NoNo | YesYes |
| Secure cloud hosting | NoNo | YesYes |
| Statutory sick and parental pay | NoNo | YesYes |
| Where they match · 3 | ||
| Automatic enrolment and assessment | YesYes | YesYes |
| Automatic legislative updates | YesYes | YesYes |
| RTI submissions to HMRC | YesYes | YesYes |
A dash means the vendor has not published a feature list — which is not the same as the feature being unavailable.
How they handle UK obligations
Checked against the vendor's own documentation or HMRC's published list. A dash means we have not verified it — never that it is missing.
| Detail | IRIS Staffology Payroll | BrightPay |
|---|---|---|
| Verified against vendor documentation | ||
| RTI-compliant payroll | YesYes | YesYes |
| Pension auto-enrolment | YesYes | YesYes |
| CIS support | Not listedNot listed | YesYes |
| UK-based support | UK support team | UK and Ireland support |
What each tier costs
Both line-ups on one ladder, so the middle tier on one side sits next to the middle tier on the other.
IRIS Staffology Payroll
BrightPay
From 1 to 19 payslips
£43/mo
- Up to 19 payslips a month
- RTI submissions
- Automatic enrolment
BrightPay Cloud
Contact vendor
- Cloud only from the 2026/27 tax year
- HMRC recognised
- Multi employer and bureau workflows
20 to 50 payslips
Contact vendor
- Additional payslips around £2.15 each
- Quoted on volume
- Everything in the base tier
No comparable tier listed
Rungs are matched by position in each vendor’s own line-up, not by what the tiers include — an entry plan on one side may cover more than the other. Prices exclude VAT unless stated, and per-seat plans are quoted per seat. Always confirm on the vendor’s own site.
Which should you choose?
Two answers, because there are two right ones depending on what you need.
Choose IRIS Staffology Payroll if
- It lists 6 features BrightPay does not, including employee self serve payslips.
Choose BrightPay if
- It lists 7 features IRIS Staffology Payroll does not, including batch and multi employer processing.
- It covers more of the UK obligations we check — 4 of them against 3.
Both are respected UK payroll tools. BrightPay is a bureau favourite with strong multi employer workflows, while IRIS Staffology prices by payslip volume and offers a strong API for embedding payroll. Choose BrightPay for bureau depth, Staffology for variable headcounts or building payroll into a wider system.
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