Sage hikes Payroll prices across all plans, trims free trial to 2 months
What happened
Between the Jul 1, 2026 and Jul 6, 2026 captures of Sage's pricing page, Pulse recorded one change: All 3 Payroll plans' monthly prices rose ($23.50→$24.50, $31→$32, $37→$38); free trial cut from 3 to 2 months; footnote per-employee add-on cost also rose ($3.50/$11/$17→$4.50/$12/$18). Pulse files it as a pricing change (price increase) with an upward direction. Pulse's latest capture (Aug 31, 2026) lists Payroll Premium at CAD 18, Payroll Essentials at $24.5, Payroll Standard at $32, Performance at CAD 4.25 and Shift planning at CAD 4.25.
It lands 2 days after Sage's previous change, "Sage Payroll: promo switched from 90% off/5mo to 3 months free" (Jul 4, 2026). Sage has been tracked since 2024-10-01.
In the same window Xero, Microsoft, Freshbooks and SAP SE also changed their Finance & Accounting pricing pages. Those moves are listed further down, and the Pulse Agent can compare them side by side.
- Payroll · Price−33%32 months
| Plan | Field | Before | After | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Payroll | Price | 3 | 2 months | −33% |
Values as written on Sage's public pricing page in the two captures Pulse compared; where the page states no number, the cells give the wording before and after.
Evidence
The two captures Pulse comparedFull-page captures of Sage's pricing page (sage.com) from Jul 1, 2026 and Jul 6, 2026; the change is marked near the top of the page, where payroll price reads 3 and then 2 months.
Sign in to see the evidence
The two full-page captures with this change marked up are free with an account.
Sage, the last 90 days
Full history- Aug 31, 2026packagingSage Payroll: intro promo changed to 75% off 6 months
- Aug 24, 2026increaseSage: Payroll per-employee overage price increase ($3.50→$4.50 + more)
- Aug 11, 2026packagingSage Payroll: free-trial promo cut from 2 months to 1 month
- Jul 6, 2026increaseSage hikes Payroll prices across all plans, trims free trial to 2 months · this change
- Jul 4, 2026packagingSage Payroll: promo switched from 90% off/5mo to 3 months free
Across Finance & Accounting in the same window
All Finance & Accounting changes- XeroJul 6Xero shrinks new-customer discount, hikes intro pricing to $5/$11/$18
- MicrosoftJul 6Microsoft Copilot bundles Business Premium, Standard plans with Copilot access
- FreshbooksJun 29Freshbooks doubles free trial to 6 months, launches $40 Payroll
- SAP SEJun 2SAP SE scraps HCM pricing plans, replaces with generic ERP quote page
Questions about this change
Did Sage raise prices in July 2026?
Yes. Pulse captured Sage's pricing page on Jul 1, 2026 and again on Jul 6, 2026 and recorded 1 price increase: Payroll: 3 → 2 months (−33%).
What changed on Sage's pricing page between Jul 1, 2026 and Jul 6, 2026?
Payroll price: 3 → 2 months (−33%). Pulse compared the captures it took on Jul 1, 2026 and Jul 6, 2026; the before/after table above lists each item as written on the page.
How often does Sage change its pricing?
Pulse recorded 1 other pricing-page change for Sage in the 90 days before this one; the previous change was "Sage Payroll: promo switched from 90% off/5mo to 3 months free" on Jul 4, 2026; Sage has been tracked since 2024-10-01.