Payroll · United Kingdom
Sage Payroll pricing: what it actually costs per employee at 5, 10, 25 and 50
At 10 employees, the cheapest plan Sage Payroll publishes is Payroll Essentials: £24 a month — £2.40 per employee per month, base fee included.
- Price statusPublished formula or tiers
- Prices read onchecked 2026-09-07
- Last recorded changenone recorded since we started checking
No vendor we hold publishes a cheaper monthly total at this headcount.
On its cheapest published plan, Sage Payroll costs £24 a month for 10 employees, which is £2.40 per employee per month.
What the vendor publishes
| Plan | Base / month | Per employee / month | Eligibility as published | What the vendor states |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Payroll Essentials | £12 | — | Up to 150 employees. First 5 included in the base fee. Per-employee rate falls in published bands | "£12.00 per month", includes 5 employees; additional employees £2.40 (6-10), £1.70 (11-25), £1.40 (26-150) each. "These prices exclude VAT." Standard price recorded; promo is "90% off for 3 months". |
| Payroll Standard | £23 | — | Up to 150 employees. First 5 included in the base fee. Per-employee rate falls in published bands | "£23.00 per month" (Most Popular), includes 5 employees; additional £4.40 (6-10), £3.70 (11-25), £3.40 (26-150) each. Ex VAT. Standard price recorded; promo is "90% off for 3 months". |
| Payroll Premium | £34 | — | Up to 150 employees. First 5 included in the base fee. Per-employee rate falls in published bands | "£34.00 per month", includes 5 employees; additional £6.40 (6-10), £5.70 (11-25), £5.40 (26-150) each. Ex VAT. Standard price recorded; promo is "90% off for 3 months". |
Per employee monthly (tiered by band, not a flat rate): not stated in the vendor's published documentation (checked 2026-09-07).
What that works out at per employee
Vendors quote a per-employee fee and a base fee separately. What you actually pay per employee is both of them divided by your headcount, so the smaller your team, the further the real figure sits above the advertised one. This table is Sage Payroll's published prices put through that division.
| Plan | 1 | 5 | 10 | 25 | 50 | 100 | 250 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Payroll Essentials | £12.00 | £2.40 | £2.40 | £1.98 | £1.69 | £1.54 | n/a |
| Payroll Standard | £23.00 | £4.60 | £4.50 | £4.02 | £3.71 | £3.56 | n/a |
| Payroll Premium | £34.00 | £6.80 | £6.60 | £6.06 | £5.73 | £5.57 | n/a |
Columns are employee counts. Scroll sideways on a phone.
No other adjustment is applied. We do not add estimated tax-filing fees, discounts, or promotional pricing. The full method is at Method.
Where the base fee stops mattering
On Payroll Essentials, the £12 base fee is 100% of the monthly bill at 5 employees and 14% at 50. That is the whole of why the effective figure falls as a team grows: the fee does not change, the number of people carrying it does.
Against Xero — the cheapest published alternative at 10 employees — the ordering turns over at 114 employees: below that Sage Payroll has the lower monthly total, from there Xero does. That is arithmetic on two published prices, not a recommendation; the comparison shows both at every headcount.
Who this suits, and who it does not
- If price is the only thing you are deciding on, Sage Payroll is the cheapest published option we hold for payroll in this market at 10 employees.
- If your headcount is under 5, the base fee of £12 dominates the bill. Check the per-employee column at your actual size before comparing anything.
- If you are not ready to decide, wait. Published prices change without notice and the figures here are only as current as 2026-09-07. Confirm on the vendor's own page before you sign.
Where each figure comes from
Every figure above is either a number Sage Payroll publishes or a gap it leaves. Field by field: what we hold, which of the vendor's own pages it was read from, the day it was read, and the vendor's wording where we have it. Nothing in this table comes from a third party, and no blank is filled with an estimate.
Show the source of every figure on this page (19 fields)
| Plan | Field | What we hold | Read from | Read on | The vendor's wording |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | Free trial | 30 days | the pricing page | 2026-09-07 | |
| Payroll Essentials | Monthly base fee | £12 | the pricing page | 2026-09-07 | |
| Payroll Essentials | Per-employee fee | Published as headcount bands, below | the pricing page | 2026-09-07 | |
| Payroll Essentials | Per-employee fee by headcount band | 6–10: £2.40; 11–25: £1.70; 26–150: £1.40 | the pricing page | 2026-09-07 | |
| Payroll Essentials | Eligibility | Up to 150 employees. First 5 included in the base fee. Per-employee rate falls in published bands | the pricing page | 2026-09-07 | |
| Payroll Essentials | Direct deposit | Included | the pricing page | 2026-09-07 | "Salary payments" — listed for all three plans |
| Payroll Essentials | Conditions on the price | — | the pricing page | 2026-09-07 | "£12.00 per month", includes 5 employees; additional employees £2.40 (6-10), £1.70 (11-25), £1.40 (26-150) each. "These prices exclude VAT." Standard price recorded; promo is "90% off for 3 months". |
| Payroll Standard | Monthly base fee | £23 | the pricing page | 2026-09-07 | |
| Payroll Standard | Per-employee fee | Published as headcount bands, below | the pricing page | 2026-09-07 | |
| Payroll Standard | Per-employee fee by headcount band | 6–10: £4.40; 11–25: £3.70; 26–150: £3.40 | the pricing page | 2026-09-07 | |
| Payroll Standard | Eligibility | Up to 150 employees. First 5 included in the base fee. Per-employee rate falls in published bands | the pricing page | 2026-09-07 | |
| Payroll Standard | Direct deposit | Included | the pricing page | 2026-09-07 | "Salary payments" — listed for all three plans |
| Payroll Standard | Conditions on the price | — | the pricing page | 2026-09-07 | "£23.00 per month" (Most Popular), includes 5 employees; additional £4.40 (6-10), £3.70 (11-25), £3.40 (26-150) each. Ex VAT. Standard price recorded; promo is "90% off for 3 months". |
| Payroll Premium | Monthly base fee | £34 | the pricing page | 2026-09-07 | |
| Payroll Premium | Per-employee fee | Published as headcount bands, below | the pricing page | 2026-09-07 | |
| Payroll Premium | Per-employee fee by headcount band | 6–10: £6.40; 11–25: £5.70; 26–150: £5.40 | the pricing page | 2026-09-07 | |
| Payroll Premium | Eligibility | Up to 150 employees. First 5 included in the base fee. Per-employee rate falls in published bands | the pricing page | 2026-09-07 | |
| Payroll Premium | Direct deposit | Included | the pricing page | 2026-09-07 | "Salary payments" — listed for all three plans |
| Payroll Premium | Conditions on the price | — | the pricing page | 2026-09-07 | "£34.00 per month", includes 5 employees; additional £6.40 (6-10), £5.70 (11-25), £5.40 (26-150) each. Ex VAT. Standard price recorded; promo is "90% off for 3 months". |
The same record, for every vendor, is the sources column of plans.csv on the data page.
Where to check this yourself
Go to Sage Payroll and open its pricing page. Everything above comes from https://www.sage.com/en-gb/sage-business-cloud/payroll/pricing/, read on 2026-09-07.
Related
- Sage Payroll compared with Xero
- Sage Payroll compared with Staffology
- Alternatives to Sage Payroll
- Put your own headcount against Sage Payroll in the calculator
- What payroll software costs, and where the money goes
Written by Kaz, independent publisher.
Page last updated: 2026-10-03. Sources: vendor pricing pages only. Figures checked between 2026-08-20 and 2026-10-03. I have not used these products. Nothing here is a personal test result.
Ranking method and formulas: Method. Listing position on this site is not for sale.
Corrections: contact form.