KeyPay vs Employment Hero — Australia 2026

KeyPay vs Employment Hero for AU payroll. Same award engine, different scope — compare HR features, pricing, super clearing & compliance.

Last verified 2026-03-16

Quick Verdict

Same payroll engine, but Employment Hero adds HR

Employment Hero acquired KeyPay, so both share the same Modern Award engine (5/5) and Payday Super readiness. The key difference is Employment Hero bundles HR — onboarding, leave management, employee self-service portal, and compliance documents. KeyPay at $4/employee/mo is cheaper than Employment Hero's $8-12/employee/mo, making it better for accountants running multi-client payroll. Choose Employment Hero if you need HR workflows alongside payroll.

Feature Comparison

Feature	KeyPay	Employment Hero
Headquarters	Sydney, NSW	Sydney, NSW
Entry Price	$4/mo	$20/mo
BAS Lodgement	Payroll-only — BAS via accounting integration (Xero, MYOB, QuickBooks)	HR/Payroll platform — BAS via accounting integration (Xero, MYOB, QuickBooks)
STP Phase 2	compliant	compliant
Payday Super	ready	ready
Modern Awards	Industry-leading Modern Award auto-interpretation with pre-built Awards covering hospitality, retail, healthcare, aged care, cleaning, manufacturing, and more. Automatically calculates correct base rates, penalty rates, overtime, allowances, and leave loading based on employee classification and hours. Auto-updates when Fair Work changes Award rates. Requires Plus plan ($6/employee/month).	50+ pre-configured Modern Awards with auto-interpretation of penalty rates, overtime, allowances, and leave loading. Rates auto-update when Fair Work Commission publishes changes. Powered by KeyPay award engine.
Data Hosting	AU	AU
AU Support Hours	Mon-Fri 9am-5pm AEST	Mon-Fri 8am-6pm AEST
Phone Support	No	Yes
Integrations	30+ apps	50+ apps

Pricing Comparison (AUD, Mar 2026)

KeyPay Plans

Standard

$4/mo

per employee

✓Employees: unlimited
✓Clients: unlimited

Employment Hero Plans

Lite

$20/mo

per employee

✓Employees: unlimited

AU Compliance Scores

How we scoreScores are out of 5 and reflect depth of compliance support, ease of setup, and ongoing reliability for Australian businesses. Assessed March 2026.

KeyPay

BAS Lodgement

0/5

STP Phase 2

5/5

Payday Super

5/5

Modern Awards

5/5

GST Handling

0/5

Bank Feeds

0/5

Employment Hero

BAS Lodgement

0/5

STP Phase 2

5/5

Payday Super

5/5

Modern Awards

5/5

GST Handling

0/5

Bank Feeds

0/5

Pros & Cons

KeyPay

Pros

Best-in-class Modern Award auto-interpretation covering 100+ Awards with auto-rate updates — eliminates the #1 source of payroll errors
STP Phase 2 compliant (ATO-certified since June 2022) and confirmed Payday Super ready for July 2026
Multi-client dashboard purpose-built for accountants/bookkeepers managing 20+ client payrolls from a single login
Automated super payments to all major AU funds via built-in KeyPay Super clearing house — no third-party gateway
Transparent per-employee pricing: $4/employee (Standard) or $6/employee (Plus with Awards) — no hidden fees or minimums
AU-made, AU-hosted (AWS Sydney), ISO 27001 certified, with mandatory 2FA and encrypted data at rest

Cons

Payroll-only — no invoicing, BAS lodgement, or general accounting; requires Xero/MYOB/QuickBooks alongside
No phone support on any plan — email and chat only during Mon-Fri 9am-5pm AEST business hours
Per-employee pricing adds up for larger teams: 50 employees on Plus = $300/month, 100 employees = $600/month
UI is functional but dated compared to modern SaaS design — the interface prioritises capability over aesthetics
Now part of Employment Hero — long-term product direction and potential feature consolidation creates strategic uncertainty for standalone KeyPay customers

Employment Hero

Pros

All-in-one HR + Payroll eliminates multiple subscriptions — onboarding, leave, rostering, payroll, and compliance in one platform
Best-in-class Modern Award auto-interpretation: 50+ pre-configured awards with automatic Fair Work rate updates (powered by KeyPay engine)
STP Phase 2 compliant (ATO-recognised since Sept 2022) and Payday Super ready via HeroClear real-time NPP payments
AU-made (Sydney, 2014), AU-hosted (AWS Sydney), SOC 2 Type II (Oct 2025) and ISO 27001 certified
Native integrations with Xero, MYOB, and QuickBooks Online — payroll journals sync automatically
Employee self-service app for payslips, leave requests, and personal detail updates — reduces HR admin
Digital onboarding with paperless contracts, TFN declarations, and super choice forms
300,000+ businesses globally — one of Australia's largest HR tech platforms

Cons

Per-employee pricing with high minimums: Lite $200/month minimum means businesses under 10 employees pay more per head
Significantly more expensive than standalone payroll: $20/employee vs KeyPay $4/employee or Payroller free for 1 employee
Prices exclude GST — actual cost is $22-66/employee/month incl. GST
Phone support locked to Unlimited plan ($60/employee/month) — Lite and Plus get email and chat only
Rostering described as basic — lacks staff list views, advanced filtering, and live budget forecasting compared to Deputy or RosterElf
No accounting, invoicing, or BAS lodgement — requires separate accounting software (Xero, MYOB, QuickBooks)
HR features (performance management, recruitment) may be overkill for businesses that only need payroll
Support limited to AEST business hours (Mon-Fri 8am-6pm) — no 24/7 support

Who Should Choose KeyPay

KeyPay is best suited for businesses that need accountant bookkeeper, multi client payroll, complex modern awards.

Choose KeyPay if you are:

Accountant Bookkeeper
Multi Client Payroll
Complex Modern Awards
Hospitality Payroll

Who Should Choose Employment Hero

Employment Hero is best suited for businesses that need growing business 10 plus, hospitality, retail.

Choose Employment Hero if you are:

Growing Business 10 Plus
Hospitality
Retail
Healthcare
Hr And Payroll Combined
Modern Award Compliance