Head to head
SimplePay vs PaySpace
Both products assessed against the same checklist, with ratings drawn from 645 verified reviews.
- Rating gap
- 0.1
- Reviews behind this
- 645
- Priced on scope
- Quoted
- Features they share
- 0
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 | Higher rated overall | PaySpace by Deel |
|---|---|---|
| What reviewers say | ||
| Overall rating | 4.4, higher | 4.3 |
| Ease of use | 4.3, higher | 4.2 |
| Value for money | 4.3, higher | 4.1 |
| Customer service | 4.2, higher | 4.1 |
| Functionality | 4.3 | 4.3 |
| Verified reviews | 358 | 287 |
| What it costs | ||
| Starting price | R26per month, from | Custom pricingquoted on request |
| VAT basis | Excl VAT | Excl VAT |
| Free trial | Yes | No |
| Free plan | No | No |
| Published plans | 1 | 1 |
| Vendor and support | ||
| Vendor | SimplePay | PaySpace by Deel |
| Founded | 2010 | 2004 |
| Support channels | Email, Telephone, Knowledge base, Guided onboarding | Dedicated consultant, Telephone, Email, Knowledge base, Training academy |
| Integrations listed | 6 | 6 |
| 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.
SimplePay
- EMP201
- EMP501
- IRP5 and IT3(a)
- e@syFile export
- UIF declarations
- SDL
- ETI
- BCEA leave entitlements
- POPIA operator agreement
- Data hosted in South Africa
PaySpace
- EMP201
- EMP501
- IRP5 and IT3(a)
- e@syFile export
- UIF declarations
- SDL
- ETI
- COIDA return of earnings
- BCEA leave entitlements
- Bargaining council agreements
- POPIA operator agreement
- Data hosted in South Africa
What they cost
Pricing, compared properly
Check the VAT basis on each. Vendors are not consistent, and the difference is 15%.
SimplePay
Listed excluding VAT
- R26/mo
Per employeePopular
Unlimited administrators
Charged per employee per month excluding VAT, with no minimum and no company base fee. The rate steps down as employee numbers rise.
PaySpace
Listed excluding VAT
- Quoted
Quoted
Quoted per employee per month on volume, plus a platform fee and an implementation project. Expect a scoping call rather than a price list.
Capability
The full feature matrix
Every feature either product offers, and whether the other one has it.
| Compared on | Higher rated overall | PaySpace by Deel |
|---|---|---|
| 32 features across both products | ||
| ACB payment file for Absa, FNB, Standard Bank, Nedbank and Capitec | Included | Not included |
| Bargaining council submissions | Not included | Included |
| BCEA compliant leave accrual | Included | Not included |
| Bonus, commission and overtime handling | Included | Not included |
| COIDA return of earnings | Not included | Included |
| Custom report writer | Not included | Included |
| e@syFile compatible export | Included | Not included |
| e@syFile export | Not included | Included |
| EMP201 and EMP501 | Not included | Included |
| EMP201 monthly declaration | Included | Not included |
| EMP501 biannual reconciliation | Included | Not included |
| Employee and manager self service | Not included | Included |
| Employee self service portal | Included | Not included |
| ETI | Not included | Included |
| ETI with sliding scale | Included | Not included |
| Garnishee and maintenance orders | Included | Not included |
| IRP5 and IT3(a) | Not included | Included |
| IRP5 and IT3(a) certificate generation | Included | Not included |
| Learning management | Not included | Included |
| Leave and absence management | Not included | Included |
| Medical aid and retirement fund deductions | Included | Not included |
| Multi company consolidation | Not included | Included |
| Multi country African payroll | Not included | Included |
| Multiple pay frequencies | Included | Not included |
| Open API | Not included | Included |
| Org chart and position management | Not included | Included |
| Payslip email and download | Included | Not included |
| Performance management | Not included | Included |
| Recruitment and onboarding | Not included | Included |
| SDL calculation | Included | Not included |
| UIF and SDL | Not included | Included |
| UIF declaration file | Included | Not 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.
These serve different businesses and the crossover point is roughly two hundred employees, or the moment you employ people in a second African country.
Below that, SimplePay is the clear recommendation. Per employee pricing with no minimum, complete South African statutory coverage, a local support desk and nothing to implement. A fifty person employer gets everything they need without a project.
PaySpace earns its cost through breadth. Statutory rules maintained across more than forty African countries, payroll and HR sharing one employee record, bargaining council submissions, COIDA returns and an audit trail built for organisations that get audited. For a group running four country payrolls and consolidating by hand, that removes real risk.
The cost is an implementation project measured in weeks, a platform fee on top of per employee pricing, and an interface that assumes you know payroll. Below a few hundred staff that is difficult to justify.
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