By: Money Navigator Research Team
Last Reviewed: 03/02/2026
FACT CHECKED
Quick Summary
Tide Payroll pricing is mainly a monthly subscription: a base fee that includes a set number of people and a small allowance of “payroll-related payments”, plus an incremental fee for each additional person.
The subscription is typically billed in the first week of the following month for the month in which payroll was run, and it sits alongside (not instead of) Tide membership plan fees and any separate bank transfer charges that may apply.
This article is educational and not financial advice.
What Tide Payroll charges for
Tide presents Payroll as a subscription tool within its platform, with pricing shown on its public payroll and pricing pages. The headline rate is described as £12 + VAT per month, with the subscription including payroll for two people and a per-person add-on for additional people (commonly presented as £2 per additional person). See Tide’s payroll software page and Tide’s pricing page.
Separately, Tide’s payroll terms describe the subscription in more “billing-mechanics” language:
Base subscription: £12 + VAT per month
Included: two individuals and two payroll-related payments
Additional individuals: £2 + VAT each, and each additional individual includes one additional payroll-related payment
Billing timing: first week of the next month for the month in which payroll was run (typically around the 4th)
These mechanics are set out in Tide Payroll Terms and Conditions and Tide’s broader membership/product terms (for general subscription billing mechanics) in Tide Membership and Product Terms (PDF).
The three buckets to keep separate
When people feel “surprised” by Payroll costs, it’s usually because different fee types are being blended together:
Tide membership plan fee (if on a paid plan)
Tide Payroll subscription fee (the payroll tool itself)
Payment execution costs (for example, bank transfer charges depending on plan and payment type)
Payroll subscription pricing is only the second bucket.
When Tide Payroll is charged
Tide Payroll’s terms describe a “payroll month” model: payroll activities performed in one calendar month are billed in the first week of the next month (typically around the 4th). In other words, the subscription charge is often after the relevant payroll run, not at the moment payroll is processed. See Tide Payroll Terms and Conditions.
Worked examples of billing timing
Payroll run in March: the Payroll subscription fee for March activity is typically billed in early April.
Last payroll month is March: cancellation by 31 March avoids further months; March’s fee is still typically billed in early April (because it relates to March activity).
The same terms also describe how cancellation is handled “to avoid being charged for the next month” (i.e. cancel by the end of the current month) and note that Tide can suspend access to Payroll if fees are not paid when due. See Tide Payroll Terms and Conditions.
Summary Table
| Scenario | Outcome | Practical impact |
|---|---|---|
| Payroll run in a month (any number of pay events) | Payroll subscription for that month becomes payable | The subscription often appears in the following month’s billing cycle |
| Two people on Payroll | Base subscription applies | Cost remains at the base subscription (plus VAT where stated) unless headcount changes |
| Add a third person | Monthly subscription increases | Ongoing monthly cost increases by the per-person add-on |
| Cancel during a month after running payroll | Next month is avoided, but the current month’s activity is still billed | “Cancelled” does not necessarily mean “no more charges” if payroll already ran in that month |
| Not enough balance when fee is debited | Amount is still owed; access may be suspended | Operational risk: Payroll access may be restricted until payment is made |
| Payroll included in a membership tier | Payroll add-on fee may not apply | Subscription line-item can differ by plan, but payment execution costs can still exist |
Tide’s payroll pages describe pricing in “people” language, while the payroll terms use “individuals” and “payroll-related payments”. The key practical point is that the subscription is sensitive to how many distinct people are being paid through the tool, not how many times payroll is clicked.
A second practical point is that Tide’s payroll terms distinguish between (a) calculating payroll and filing information and (b) actually sending money out.
The terms describe the tool providing estimates and reporting after confirmation, but also state it remains the customer’s responsibility to initiate and execute payments to employees, HMRC and pension schemes (where applicable).
See Tide Payroll Terms and Conditions and HMRC’s overview of payroll reporting on or before payday in Payroll information to report to HMRC.
This is where “payroll-related payment” allowance becomes relevant: it is designed to cover a limited number of payment actions associated with payroll, but it is not the same thing as an unlimited “free transfers” promise across all payment types.
What’s separate from Tide Payroll pricing
“Tide Payroll pricing” is often read as “the full cost of paying staff”. In reality, several cost categories sit outside the Payroll subscription:
1) Tide membership plan fees and other add-ons
Payroll sits alongside Tide membership plans (free or paid). Membership plan billing mechanics are not the same as Payroll’s “billed for the payroll month in the following month” approach, and plan fees can have their own VAT treatment depending on product category and date.
See Tide’s plan help content such as How much does Tide Smart cost? and Tide’s general plan information on Tide’s pricing page. For how Tide billing commonly appears to members in practice, see our guide on Tide membership billing.
If Tide Accounting is used alongside Payroll (Tide describes sync/integration), its pricing and billing cycle are separate from Payroll’s subscription. See our breakdown of Tide accounting add-on pricing and billing cycles and Tide’s description of sync on Tide’s payroll software page.
2) Payment execution and any transfer fees
Payroll software can calculate net pay, deductions and submissions, but paying staff still involves outgoing payments.
Whether there are additional charges for those outgoing payments depends on the business account plan and the payment type (and how the provider counts the payment). Payroll subscription pricing does not automatically mean “all salary payments are free”.
3) Statutory and employer costs are not “fees”
Employers’ payroll costs can include gross pay, employer National Insurance, pension contributions and other statutory items.
These are not Tide “fees”; they are underlying obligations/costs that payroll software helps calculate and record. HMRC’s high-level payroll overview is set out in Running payroll, and reporting expectations for PAYE/RTI are described in Payroll information to report to HMRC.
4) Workplace pension obligations sit outside the Payroll subscription
Tide’s payroll page references pension integration (for example, NEST), but the legal duty and minimum contribution framework comes from pensions regulation, not the payroll tool’s subscription fee.
The employer duty framework is described by The Pensions Regulator’s automatic enrolment guidance. A scheme provider explanation of minimum contributions is set out in NEST’s contributions guidance.
Scenario Table
| Scenario-level | Process-level | Outcome-level |
|---|---|---|
| Start using Tide Payroll | Subscription model applies; a payroll month is created once payroll is run | Charges relate to the month of payroll activity, not necessarily the calendar date of billing |
| Add a person mid-month | Headcount change increases the subscription fee | Next billing reflects the higher monthly subscription (proration can exist in wider subscription terms, depending on product rules) |
| Run payroll, then cancel before month-end | Cancellation prevents the next month being billed as a payroll month | The month already run is still billed in the following month |
| Payroll approved | Payroll calculations and submissions follow the tool’s workflow | Payments still need to be executed through the relevant payment method(s) |
| Fee debit fails due to insufficient funds | Amount remains due; access may be suspended | Operational impact: Payroll access can be restricted until payment is made |
| Payroll included in plan tier | Plan feature inclusion changes the subscription line-item | “Included” can remove the Payroll add-on fee, but not the underlying payroll obligations or other product fees |
Tide Payroll statement lines, invoices and VAT
Two common “separation” points help reconcile what appears on statements and invoices:
Subscription fees vs transfers: Payroll subscription fees are product subscription charges. Salary/HMRC/pension payments are payment flows and can be counted differently depending on the payment channel and plan rules.
VAT treatment can differ by product: Tide’s public pages and product terms show Payroll as a “+ VAT” subscription, while some membership plan fees are described as not having VAT applied (from a stated effective date) in Tide’s plan help content. See Tide’s payroll software page and How much does Tide Smart cost?.
For how Tide billing dates, invoices and VAT presentation commonly show up for members, see our practical guide on Tide membership billing.
Tide Business Bank Account
Tide Payroll is accessed through the Tide platform and is designed to sit alongside a Tide business account. The Payroll subscription is a separate product line-item from the business account plan fee, and it’s priced in a way that scales with the number of people being paid through the tool.
For a broader, neutral overview of Tide’s business account positioning and costs (separate from Payroll), see our review page: Tide business account overview.
Frequently Asked Questions
Tide describes Payroll as a subscription priced at £12 + VAT per month, and also shows “Payroll software” as included in at least one membership tier on its pricing comparison.
That means the Payroll line-item can differ depending on plan tier and how Tide is currently packaging features. See Tide’s pricing page and Tide’s payroll software page.
Even where Payroll is shown as “included”, it is still useful to separate “Payroll subscription fee” from “payments and other product fees”.
Inclusion changes the subscription line-item, but does not change the underlying payroll obligations (tax, pensions) or guarantee that all outgoing payment actions will be free under every plan and payment method.
Tide’s public payroll page explains that the monthly subscription includes payroll for two people, with additional people priced per person. The payroll terms use “individuals” language and describe each additional individual as increasing the monthly subscription. See Tide’s payroll software page and Tide Payroll Terms and Conditions.
In practice, “person” is best understood as a distinct payee/worker record within the payroll tool. Whether someone is a director, employee or otherwise, the relevant distinction for pricing is typically whether they are added and paid through the payroll tool as an individual record.
Tide’s payroll terms state the base subscription covers “two payroll-related payments”, with additional individuals including “one additional payroll-related payment”.
This suggests Tide is not only pricing for payroll calculations and submissions, but also tracking a limited number of payment actions associated with payroll. See Tide Payroll Terms and Conditions.
It is also important that the same terms describe a separation between calculating/reporting and initiating/executing payments. That separation makes it plausible for a provider to limit included payment actions while still offering the calculations/submissions as the core subscription.
Tide’s payroll terms describe billing in the first week of the following month for the month in which payroll was run, “typically on or around the 4th day”. The example in the terms states March activity is billed in the first week of April. See Tide Payroll Terms and Conditions.
This timing can feel counterintuitive because the payroll run itself is a process step in the prior month, while the subscription charge is a billing step in the next month. That difference is one reason a business might see a Payroll fee after believing Payroll has already been “finished”.
Yes, depending on timing. Tide’s payroll terms describe cancellation rules that prevent being charged for the next month, but still charge for the month already used.
The example given is cancelling by 31 March to avoid April charges, while March activity is billed at the start of April. See Tide Payroll Terms and Conditions.
That means “cancelled” does not necessarily mean “no further fee debits ever”; it can simply mean no new payroll months will be billed after the last month in which payroll was run.
Tide’s payroll pricing and payroll terms describe the Payroll subscription as “+ VAT”. Separately, Tide’s plan help content describes certain paid plan fees as having “no VAT applies” from a stated date. See Tide’s payroll software page and How much does Tide Smart cost?.
The practical implication is that VAT treatment can differ by product line-item. A statement or invoice can therefore show a plan fee without VAT while still showing VAT on a Payroll subscription line, because they are separate products.
Tide’s payroll terms distinguish the payroll tool’s functions (calculations, estimates, reporting workflows) from the responsibility to initiate and execute payments. That suggests the subscription is not simply “all payments included”. See Tide Payroll Terms and Conditions.
Whether a particular payment is included, counted against an allowance, or charged under account transfer rules depends on how the provider defines “payroll-related payments” and how the business account plan treats outgoing payments. Payroll subscription pricing alone is not a complete description of transfer charging.
Tide describes Payroll as “HMRC-recognised” and refers to automatic filing as part of the tool’s functionality. That functionality is part of what the subscription pays for, rather than a separate per-filing charge on Tide’s published pages. See Tide’s payroll software page and the workflow descriptions in Tide Payroll Terms and Conditions.
However, HMRC still expects PAYE/RTI information to be submitted correctly and on time, typically on or before payday. The subscription is not a substitute for employer obligations. HMRC’s reporting expectations are outlined in Payroll information to report to HMRC.
Tide’s payroll page references pension integration (for example, NEST), which can streamline payroll-to-pension administration. But the legal duties arise from pensions regulation, not from the payroll subscription. See The Pensions Regulator’s automatic enrolment guidance.
Pension contribution amounts (and who must be enrolled) are governed by the automatic enrolment framework and scheme rules. A provider explainer of minimum contribution concepts is set out in NEST’s contributions guidance. Those pension contributions are business costs, not Tide subscription fees.
Tide’s payroll terms state that subscription fees are debited from the Tide business account and that if there are not enough funds, the amount becomes due immediately upon demand, with Tide reserving the right to suspend access to Tide Payroll if monies are not paid on time. See Tide Payroll Terms and Conditions.
The practical impact is operational: even if payroll calculations have been prepared, access to the payroll tool can be affected by unpaid subscription fees. This is distinct from the underlying obligation to pay staff and make HMRC/pension payments where applicable.
Tide Payroll pricing makes the most sense when it’s viewed as two layers:
- Software capability (calculations, payslips and reporting workflows) priced as a subscription
- Money movement (salary and authority payments) that remains a separate operational step and may be counted or charged differently depending on the plan and payment rails.
That separation reduces ambiguity about what a “payroll tool” can realistically include: payroll software can automate calculations and submissions, but it cannot eliminate employer obligations or guarantee that every payment action sits inside a single flat subscription price.
Understanding which parts are subscription fees, which parts are transfers, and which parts are statutory costs is the simplest way to reconcile invoices and statements.
Sources & References
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