Head to head
Sage Pastel Payroll vs Sage Business Cloud Payroll
Both products assessed against the same checklist, with ratings drawn from 573 verified reviews.
Sage Pastel Payroll
Payroll Software
3.9
342 verified reviews
R410
per month, from, excl VAT
Sage Business Cloud Payroll
Payroll Software
4.1
231 verified reviews
R30
per month, from, excl VAT
- Rating gap
- 0.2
- Reviews behind this
- 573
- Monthly price gap
- R380
- Features they share
- 6
Side by side
How they compare
Ratings computed from published reviews, and the specifications that change what a product costs to run. The washed column is the higher rated of the two.
| Compared on | Sage Group plc | Higher rated overall |
|---|---|---|
| What reviewers say | ||
| Overall rating | 3.9 | 4.1, higher |
| Ease of use | 3.9 | 4.0, higher |
| Value for money | 3.9 | 4.1, higher |
| Customer service | 3.8 | 3.9, higher |
| Functionality | 3.9 | 4.2, higher |
| Verified reviews | 342 | 231 |
| What it costs | ||
| Starting price | R410per month, from | R30per month, from |
| VAT basis | Excl VAT | Excl VAT |
| Free trial | Yes | Yes |
| Free plan | No | No |
| Published plans | 2 | 1 |
| Vendor and support | ||
| Vendor | Sage Group plc | Sage Group plc |
| Founded | 1994 | 2015 |
| Support channels | Telephone, Email, Partner network, Knowledge base | Telephone, Email, Live chat, Knowledge base |
| Integrations listed | 5 | 4 |
| Local bank feeds | 5 | 5 |
The local yardstick
South African compliance
Amber marks a gap rather than a feature. This is usually where the decision is actually made.
Sage Pastel Payroll
- EMP201
- EMP501
- IRP5 and IT3(a)
- e@syFile export
- UIF declarations
- SDL
- ETI
- COIDA return of earnings
- BCEA leave entitlements
- Bargaining council agreements
- Annual statutory update releases
Sage Business Cloud Payroll
- EMP201
- EMP501
- IRP5 and IT3(a)
- e@syFile export
- UIF declarations
- SDL
- ETI
- BCEA leave entitlements
- POPIA operator agreement
What they cost
Pricing, compared properly
Check the VAT basis on each. Vendors are not consistent, and the difference is 15%.
Sage Pastel Payroll
Listed excluding VAT
- R410/mo
Payroll Essentials
Banded by employee count
- R780/mo
Payroll ProfessionalPopular
Banded by employee count
Licensed in employee count bands rather than per employee, so cost steps rather than scales. Prices exclude VAT and modules are licensed separately.
Sage Business Cloud Payroll
Listed excluding VAT
- R30/mo
Per employeePopular
Unlimited administrators
Charged per employee per month excluding VAT, usually with a small monthly minimum. Bundled discounts apply when purchased with Sage Accounting.
Capability
The full feature matrix
Every feature either product offers, and whether the other one has it.
| Compared on | Sage Group plc | Higher rated overall |
|---|---|---|
| 19 features across both products | ||
| ACB payment files | Included | Included |
| Bargaining council submissions | Included | Not included |
| BCEA compliant leave | Not included | Included |
| Cloud backup | Included | Not included |
| COIDA return of earnings | Included | Not included |
| Custom payslip layouts | Included | Not included |
| Direct posting to Sage Accounting | Not included | Included |
| e@syFile export | Included | Included |
| EMP201 and EMP501 | Included | Included |
| Employee self service add on | Included | Not included |
| Employee self service portal | Not included | Included |
| ETI | Included | Included |
| IRP5 and IT3(a) | Included | Included |
| Leave management | Included | Not included |
| Medical aid and retirement fund deductions | Not included | Included |
| Multi company | Included | Not included |
| Multiple pay frequencies | Not included | Included |
| Payslip email | Not included | Included |
| UIF and SDL | Included | Included |
Our verdict
Which one you should buy
We name a winner. Listing differences and leaving the decision to the reader is not a verdict.
We have not written a full verdict for this pairing yet, so here is the position from the data.
Sage Business Cloud Payroll holds the higher rating at 4.1 against 3.9, from 231 reviews against 342. Reviewers rate it 4.0 for ease of use and 4.1 for value for money, against 3.9 and 3.9.
Read the compliance comparison below before deciding on the rating alone. A product that scores well overall can still be missing the one statutory output your business cannot do without.
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