Comparison

SmartPayroll vs Zeal Payroll

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

SmartPayroll

Automate payroll for small to medium New Zealand businesses. This secure system handles employee payments, deductions, and tax filings, saving time and reducing hassle. The mobile app allows for easy pay run approvals and due date tracking.

Highlights
  • Automated payroll processing
  • Direct employee wage payments
  • Deduction management (PAYE, KiwiSaver)
  • Tax filing with Inland Revenue
  • Pay run due date tracking
  • Mobile pay run approval
Features
Read full description

SmartPayroll is an easy to use and cost-effective online payroll / wages system for small-to-medium sized New Zealand businesses. Its highly secure payroll processing saves you time, money and hassle by automating your payroll tasks. SmartPayroll pays your employees’ wages directly to their bank accounts, deducts PAYE, KiwiSaver and all other deductions, and then files the necessary schedules and returns with the Inland Revenue Department for you. Easy. SmartPayroll Mobile will let you: - See when your employees' next pay run is due - Approve a pay run that that has been processed via the SmartPayroll website

About

Zeal Payroll

Access and manage your pay information, including paystubs, tax documents, and personal details, from anywhere. Update your information to ensure accurate and timely payments. View detailed paycheck breakdowns and payment history.

Highlights
  • View pay history
  • Access paystubs and tax documents
  • Update personal information
  • View paycheck details
  • Manage bank and tax information
Features
Read full description

With the Zeal employee mobile app you have the freedom and flexibility to access and manage everything related to pay anywhere, anytime, right on your phone. VIEW PAY HISTORY. Quickly view your most recent pay and easily see all of the payments you’ve received. ACCESS INFORMATION.Find all of your important information including paystubs, pay frequency, and year end tax documents as well as bank, tax, and personal information. Get detailed information about each paycheck including shifts, deductions, taxes, benefits, and more. UPDATE INFORMATION. Make sure you always get paid on-time and accurately by editing your personal information right in the app. Puzzl Group Inc (Zeal) is a financial technology company, not an FDIC insured depository institution. Banking services provided by Bangor Savings Bank, Member FDIC. FDIC insurance coverage protects against the failure of an FDIC insured depository institution. Pass-through FDIC insurance coverage is subject to certain conditions.We’re constantly releasing more features, please make sure to always have the latest version of the app.

Screenshots

SmartPayroll2 screens
Zeal Payroll4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Zeal Payroll at 50% against SmartPayroll's 0%. Zeal Payroll also leads on update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 3 months). SmartPayroll's advantage is iOS requirement (7.0 vs 16.4). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

SmartPayroll ships an update every 3 months, Zeal Payroll every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 13, 2026 and October 18, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
SmartPayroll versus Zeal Payroll: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSmartPayrollZeal Payroll
PriceFreeFree
Rating—4.5 (16 ratings) — better
Positive reviews0.0% of reviews50.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings—16 — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 monthsEvery 3 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPod — betteriPhone
Requires iOS7.0 — better16.4
Further details — not scored
Size61 MB126 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperSmartPayrollPuzzl Group Inc.

Customer experience

SmartPayroll

Written reviews3 reviews
Positive0.0%
Neutral33.3%
Negative66.7%

Zeal Payroll

All ratings16 ratings
Positive87.5%
Neutral0.0%
Negative12.5%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive50.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative50.0%

In-app purchases

None

SmartPayroll

No in-app purchases

None

Zeal Payroll

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is SmartPayroll free?
SmartPayroll is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Zeal Payroll free?
Zeal Payroll is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do SmartPayroll or Zeal Payroll have ads?
Neither SmartPayroll nor Zeal Payroll shows ads.
Which is updated more often, SmartPayroll or Zeal Payroll?
SmartPayroll ships an update every 3 months, and Zeal Payroll every 3 weeks. Most recently, SmartPayroll was updated on October 13, 2026 and Zeal Payroll on October 18, 2026.

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