Payroll Engine vs PHPPayroll

Payroll Engine is an open-source framework for embedding payroll processing into larger software platforms. Released under the MIT License, it provides a backend that processes payroll data through a REST API and configurable regulation layers; country regulations are commercial. It supports time-stamped payroll data, recurring and non-recurring payruns, and reports for payslips, legal filings, or data exchange. Its API covers tenant and employee management, payrun jobs, result queries, report output, and backend event webhooks. A browser application manages tenants, employees, regulations, case data, payruns, reports, tasks, and developer logs. The .NET Client SDK includes typed REST clients, test runners, local script tools, and JSON schemas for regulation validation. A built-in test framework supports case validation, payrun assertions, and regression testing. The backend is designed for local or Docker Compose deployment, and a database must be provided separately. API key and OAuth authentication are supported but disabled by default; audit trails are also disabled by default unless configured. The maker says the backend is a service and should not be used on the public Internet.

PHPPayroll is a PHP and MySQL payroll and HR system for salary calculations, attendance tracking and leave management. It supports daily, weekly, task-based and monthly pay arrangements, as well as full-time and part-time employees. Listed modules include employee records, attendance, holidays and leave, payslips, biometric attendance, performance, assets, documents, expenses, work, grievances, recruitment and loans. Attendance can connect to biometric devices, RFID cards and mobile tracking, with real-time reports. Employees can update personal details, request leave, access payslips and raise grievances through a self-service portal. Payslips can show earnings and deductions for monthly, hourly or project-based pay. The cloud edition is vendor-hosted and includes 256-bit SSL encryption, technical support and onboarding; its plans include unlimited employees and payslips, with storage limits of 5 GB, 15 GB or 20 GB. The open-source edition provides source code for self-hosting and customization, but server security, permissions and backups remain under the customer's control. Cloud plans start at $9.99 per month.