2 employees
Full product for up to 2 employees. Price includes VAT.
R90/mo
per month
- Automatic legislative updates
- Unlimited companies and users
- Email payslips
- UIF declarations
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Verified ratings, feature-by-feature comparison and rand pricing — everything a South African business needs to pick between these two.

Online payroll from R90 a month with legislation that updates itself

The payroll most established South African employers still call Sage VIP
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Ratings
Verified user ratings across every dimension — Sage Business Cloud Payroll against Sage Payroll Professional, nothing weighted.
Dimensions won
1 – 2
Sage Business Cloud Payroll vs Sage Payroll Professional, across 5 rating dimensions
Widest rating gap
+0,2
Sage Payroll Professional leads on ease of use
Verified reviews
296
238 for Sage Business Cloud Payroll, 58 for Sage Payroll Professional

238 verified reviews

58 verified reviews
Overall
Ease of use
Value for money
Customer service
Functionality
Who South African reviewers actually write about.
Cheapest paid plan, shown per month.
Sage Business Cloud Payroll
R90/mo
Sage Payroll Professional
Custom pricing
Head to head
Row by row, with the stronger score highlighted. Straight from verified reviews.
| Sage Business Cloud Payroll | Sage Payroll Professional | |
|---|---|---|
| Overall rating | 4,1 | 4,1 |
| Reviews | 238 | 58 |
| Ease of use | 4,0 | 4,2 |
| Value for money | 4,1 | 4,0 |
| Customer service | 4,0 | 4,0 |
| Functionality | 4,0 | 4,1 |
| Starting price | R90/mo | Custom pricing |
| Free trial | Yes | No |
Features
Everything each product ships, side by side. No marketing gloss.
| Feature | Sage Business Cloud Payroll | Sage Payroll Professional |
|---|---|---|
| Automatic PAYE, UIF and SDL updates | ||
| Guided pay run process | ||
| Weekly, fortnightly and monthly pay cycles | ||
| Email payslips | ||
| UIF declarations | ||
| Leave management | ||
| ACB bank payment files | ||
| Real time calculations | ||
| Unlimited companies and users | ||
| Predefined legislative and payroll reports | ||
| PAYE, UIF and SDL calculations at current rates | ||
| EMP201 and EMP501 statutory reporting | ||
| IRP5 and IT3(a) certificate generation | ||
| e@syFile and ACB bank file exports | ||
| Employment Tax Incentive automation | ||
| Multiple pay frequencies and companies | ||
| Retrospective and pro rata calculations | ||
| Leave and loan management | ||
| Custom payslip and report layouts | ||
| General ledger integration with Sage accounting |
Pricing
Every plan from both vendors, priced as South African teams actually pay.
Full product for up to 2 employees. Price includes VAT.
R90/mo
per month
Up to 10 employees. Price includes VAT.
R401/mo
per month
Up to 25 employees. Price includes VAT.
R951/mo
per month
Up to 50 employees. Larger tiers run to 200 employees at R4,182 per month.
R1 712/mo
per month
Straight from the vendor
These are list prices in rand and vendors adjust them from time to time. Check with Sage for the figure you'll actually pay.
Verdict
Sage Business Cloud Payroll edges this comparison on verified user ratings (4,1 vs 4,1), but the right choice depends on your workflows: Sage Payroll Professional remains a strong pick where its strengths — Full SARS statutory compliance maintained automatically and e@syFile exports for EMP501 reconciliation season — match your priorities. Shortlist both, take the free trials where offered, and test against a real month of your own data.