Sage PayrollPayroll
vs
WaveClear books. Confident decisions.
Comparison · Payroll · weekly run Nov 3
Sage Payroll vs Wave
Which one do AI engines recommend, and how do they differ on price, fit and features?
The short answer
Wave is the stronger AI pick in Payroll: it has a visibility score of 2.3 versus 0 for Sage Payroll.
Choose Sage Payroll if…
- You need ISO 27001 coverage
- You prefer a larger, established vendor (5,000+ employees)
Choose Wave if…
- You want the brand AI engines rank higher (2.3 vs 0)
- Free accounting and invoicing for micro-businesses
- Well suited to freelancers and very small businesses
- Ongoing free plan rather than a time-limited trial
AI visibility side by side
Latest weekly run · Nov 3
| Metric | Sage Payroll | Wave |
|---|---|---|
| Visibility score | 0% | 2.3% |
| Change vs last week | New | New |
| Rank in Payroll | #45 | #23 |
| Share of voice | 0% | 0.9% |
| Mentions this run | 0 | 4 |
| Positive in AI answers | — | 38% |
The stronger value in each row is marked with a ✓.
Visibility score trend
Weekly runs over the last 60 days
Sage Payroll 0pp · Wave 0pp over 0 weekly runs.
Engine by engine
Wave leads on 3 of 3 engines
ChatGPT
AI Mode
Perplexity
Sage PayrollWave
Head to head in AI answers
0 engine answers name both brands
0Sage Payroll ranked higher
0Wave ranked higher
Features, pricing & fit
| Dimension | Sage Payroll | Wave |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | — | Flat tiers |
| Entry price | — | Free; paid from $19 / mo |
| Free plan | — | Yes |
| Deployment | Cloud (Sage Business Cloud Payroll, Sage HCM) and on-premise (Sage 100 Payroll) | Cloud-based web application with a mobile app |
| Compliance | ISO 27001 | — |
| Support | — | Live chat and email support, Monday to Friday 9 AM to 4:45 PM Eastern, Wave Advisors bookkeeping and coaching (paid add-on) |
| Founded | — | 2009 |
| Headquarters | Newcastle upon Tyne, England, UK | Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
| Employees | 5,000+ | 201–500 |
| Funding | — | Series D |
| Best for | — | Freelancers, solopreneurs, contractors and consultants who run small businesses and want simple books and invoicing without accounting expertise |
Plans side by side
Sage Payroll
Pricing not available.
Wave
Starter$0month
Pro$19month per business (billed monthly); $190/year billed annually
Wave Advisors$149month (starting at)
Pros and cons
Themes from the AI answers that mention each brand
Sage Payroll
Profile in progress.
Wave
- Free accounting and invoicing for micro-businesses
- Well suited to freelancers and very small businesses
- Ongoing free plan rather than a time-limited trial
- Affordable and reliable for small businesses
- Clear public pricing
- Free plan mainly suits a single user, not teams
- Free products offer fewer controls and growth features
Data collected ·ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Mode·coverage 100%·next run
Cite as: SlateIndex, “Sage Payroll vs Wave”, https://slateindex.ai/compare/sage-payroll-vs-wave, data of Nov 3, 2026. Licence: CC BY 4.0.