Payroll Africa vs SimplePay
SimplePay is a popular South African cloud payroll product. Payroll Africa includes auto payroll runs and WhatsApp payslips (which SimplePay does not), and includes an AI payroll assistant on every plan.
Payroll Africa Editorial · SARS Payroll Compliance Team
The Payroll Africa editorial team is composed of registered tax practitioners, payroll administrators and BCEA specialists who maintain the SARS PAYE, UIF, SDL and ETI engines that power the platform. Every article is reviewed against the current SARS BRS and Basic Conditions of Employment Act before publication.
- SARS registered tax practitioners
- SAPA-affiliated payroll administrators
- BCEA and LRA compliance reviewers
Last updated 01 Oct 2026
SimplePay vs Payroll Africa — feature comparison
How the two products compare on the features South African employers actually use monthly.
How to migrate from SimplePay to Payroll Africa
Migration is free. Our team handles every step and reconciles YTD balances to the cent.
- Export employees, YTD earnings and payslip history from SimplePay
- Send the CSV to our migration team (or upload it yourself)
- We reconcile every YTD figure to the cent within 24 hours
- Run your first Payroll Africa payslip and compare — free
- Cancel SimplePay after your first successful run
SimplePay vs Payroll Africa on pricing
Both products are cloud, both keep up with SARS, and both are priced per employee. The difference is what is bundled. Payroll Africa publishes fixed monthly bands — R90 for up to 2 employees, R401 for 10, R1,712 for 50, R3,014 for 100, R4,182 for 200 — with migration, support, WhatsApp self-service and the AI payroll assistant included rather than sold separately.
What Payroll Africa adds
The features SimplePay users most often move for:
- WhatsApp employee self-service — payslip, leave balance, IRP5 and profile on request
- Automatic scheduled payroll runs instead of starting each run by hand
- An AI assistant that explains a run, compares it to last month and flags variances
- Consolidated weekly payslips for daily-paid and shift-based staff
- Bank-ready payment files, including Standard Bank CSV
- Free, reconciled migration rather than a self-service import
Where SimplePay holds up well
SimplePay is a solid, well-supported South African product with a large accountant network. If your bookkeeper already runs a practice on it and you have no need for WhatsApp self-service, automated runs or daily-paid consolidation, there is no urgent reason to move.
Is Payroll Africa a good SimplePay alternative?
For South African SMBs (1–500 employees), yes. Payroll Africa is built in South Africa for South African tax law, priced per employee with no lock-in, and includes every SARS artefact SimplePay produces — plus WhatsApp payslips, auto runs and an AI payroll assistant.
Compare
| Feature | Payroll Africa | SimplePay |
|---|---|---|
| SARS PAYE / UIF / SDL tables | ||
| EMP201 and EMP501 export | ||
| IRP5 / IT3(a) generation | ||
| ETI automatic calculation | ||
| Auto payroll runs (unattended) | ||
| WhatsApp payslip delivery | ||
| AI payroll assistant included | ||
| Free migration from other systems | ||
| Xero + QuickBooks integration | ||
| Two-pot retirement system |
Frequently asked questions
Related guides
Stop looking this up. Let payroll do it.
Payroll Africa applies vs SimplePay rules automatically every month — SARS PAYE, UIF and SDL, payslips, EMP201 and IRP5. From R90/month.
- No card required
- 30-day free trial
- Free migration from Sage, SimplePay, PaySpace or Excel
- Cancel anytime
Run Payroll Africa alongside your current system until you're happy to switch.