Payday is the one deadline nobody gets to move. So the payroll software you choose has one job above all others: get every number right, every time, with a clear record of how it got there.
This guide puts Ciphr and Staffology Payroll by IRIS side by side. Both are cloud-based, HMRC-recognised UK payroll software. Where they differ is who they're built for, their pricing structure, and how closely payroll sits with the rest of your people data. Use it to see which payroll system fits your organisation – whether your priority is control over every pay run, one shared record for HR and payroll, or a low entry cost.
These comparisons relate to Ciphr's cloud payroll software and Staffology Payroll from IRIS.
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Comparing Ciphr and Staffology Payroll: UK payroll software side by side
(*Ciphr-to-Ciphr)
Both Ciphr and Staffology Payroll are cloud-based, HMRC-recognised payroll systems for UK employers. Both calculate pay in real time, both offer employee self-service for payslips, and both describe themselves as API-first.
Related reading: Compare Ciphr HR with other UK HR systems
Ciphr and Staffology Payroll: key differences and suitability
Payroll on its own, or one record shared with HR
Staffology Payroll connects to other systems through its open API and pre-built connectors, including IRIS's own Staffology HR. That suits teams who want payroll to stand alone and link out to the tools they already run.
Ciphr Payroll is native to Ciphr HR. When HR updates a role, salary or benefit, payroll updates with it. New starters, leavers, bank details, address changes, and job and pay changes all sync in real time. Your payroll team can freeze, pause and restart that sync during a pay run, and every exchange sits in a searchable audit log. One record, two teams, no re-keying.
Size and scale
IRIS designs Staffology Payroll for businesses with 50 to 1,000 employees, and says 53,000+ employers use it. Its published pricing starts with very small payrolls.
Ciphr payroll is designed for UK organisations with 200 to 2,000 employees that need a payroll system able to keep pace with growth. Expert UK payroll specialists are on hand when you need them.
Published pricing or a tailored quote
Staffology publishes prices up to 50 payslips a month: a £43 flat fee for 1 to 19 payslips, then £43 plus £2.15 per payslip from 20 to 50. Above 50 payslips, IRIS gives a bespoke quote. All prices are subject to VAT.
Ciphr tailors pricing to your organisation's size, complexity and support needs. So if you pay 200 people or more, expect a tailored quote from either provider. Get Ciphr pricing here.
Specialist pay types
Staffology Payroll lists CIS payroll, umbrella company payroll, holiday pay for ad-hoc workers, P11D reporting and a white-label option. That makes it a natural shortlist for construction firms, umbrella companies and payroll providers.
Ciphr payroll is built around UK obligations for mid-sized employers, with automated backpay and average holiday pay that take one of the more error-prone manual calculations off your team. If a specialist pay type sits at the heart of your business, ask any provider to show it with your own data in a demo.
Software, bureau or both
With Ciphr, you can run in-house payroll software or hand payroll to our UK-based outsourced payroll team, all from one provider. IRIS splits this across Staffology Payroll, Staffology Bureau (software for payroll providers) and its separate IRIS Payroll Services.
The right fit depends on your headcount, the pay types you run, and how much you want payroll and HR to share one source of truth. If you're a smaller business, or your payroll is CIS or umbrella-heavy, Staffology Payroll is well worth a look. If you're a mid-sized UK organisation that wants HR and payroll on one connected record, with an implementation team that's done it many times before, Ciphr is built for you.
Accurate payroll starts in HR
Most payroll errors don't begin in payroll. They begin with a change that reached HR and never made it to payroll: a promotion, a new bank account, a leaver still on the payrun.
That's why Ciphr's integrated HR and payroll software puts both teams on the same people data. A pay change in HR shows up in payroll without double entry. Real-time calculations show the impact on screen, so your team spots a problem while there's still time to fix it, not after salaries are paid.
AI comes after that groundwork, not instead of it. Ciphr payroll already connects to HR data in real time, and our agentic AI roadmap builds on it, with the first agent due in 2027. We'll tell you exactly what's shipped and what's coming, and never blur the two.
Resources to help you choose the right payroll solution
The choice is yours. We're here to help you make the right one
Speak to one of Ciphr's HR and payroll experts to see if we're the right fit for you. Or download one of our resources to learn more.
All information has been gathered directly from review sites and the vendor’s website. Any information contained is subject to change without notice, at the vendor’s discretion. Ciphr does not take responsibility for any inaccurate or outdated information contained herein; it is accurate at the time of publication. To request a correction, email marketing@ciphr.com