Payroll · head to head
Clair vs Refyne
Clair
Payroll
On demand pay advances funded by a partner bank with no fee to the employee
- From
- On request
- Rated
- -
Refyne
Payroll
Earned wage access for Indian employers, with a per withdrawal convenience fee
- From
- On request
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Each has a real cost: Clair advance limits start around $100 per advance and roughly $200 between paydays, so it covers a shift level cash gap and not a genuine emergency.; Refyne the employee pays a convenience fee on every withdrawal and Refyne does not publish the schedule, so an HR buyer approving it as a free benefit is approving a cost that lands on the lowest paid staff.
- They diverge on capability: Clair covers Embedded enrolment, Refyne covers Payroll and attendance integration.
- Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Clair and Refyne actually diverge.
Identical on both: starting price (On request), pricing model (quote), free tier (No), platforms (Web, iOS, Android), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Payroll).
What each one covers
Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.
Only in Clair
- Embedded enrolment
- Bank issued advances
- Clair spending account and card
- Free standard delivery
- Instant delivery option
- Progressive limits
- Automatic repayment
- No interest or late fees
Only in Refyne
- Payroll and attendance integration
- Employer policy controls
- Instant withdrawal
- Automatic payroll recovery
- Employee app
- Employer dashboard
- Savings and insurance add ons
- Multi entity support
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Clair
- A restaurant group already on 7shifts wanting on demand pay without adding another vendor contractnot Refyne
- A small business on QuickBooks Payroll enabling early wage access inside its existing payroll productnot Refyne
- An employer that wants a fee free option to be the default rather than a paid upgradenot Refyne
- A shift based operator using early pay access as a shift fill incentive without changing payroll timingnot Refyne
Refyne
- A manufacturer with high attrition among shift workers who leave over payday cash gapsnot Clair
- A staffing company wanting a retention benefit that costs the employer little to deploynot Clair
- An employer replacing informal salary advances processed manually by finance every monthnot Clair
- A large retail or logistics operator standardising early wage access policy across many sitesnot Clair
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Clair
- Advance limits start around $100 per advance and roughly $200 between paydays, so it covers a shift level cash gap and not a genuine emergency.
- Instant delivery to an existing bank account costs the employee $4.99, so the free path in practice means opening a Clair account and card that the employee did not previously want.
- The business depends on interchange from the Clair spending account, which means the design nudges workers to move their pay to a new account rather than keep their existing bank.
- Availability is tied to payroll and scheduling partners, so an employer on an unsupported payroll system cannot buy Clair directly.
- Advances are issued by Pathward, N.A. rather than Clair, so the terms and eligibility rules for the product ultimately sit with a bank that the employer has no contract with.
Refyne
- The employee pays a convenience fee on every withdrawal and Refyne does not publish the schedule, so an HR buyer approving it as a free benefit is approving a cost that lands on the lowest paid staff.
- A flat fee on a small withdrawal a few days before payday is expensive when annualised, which means the product can be more costly per rupee than the informal advances it replaces.
- Because usage generates revenue, the provider's incentives favour higher withdrawal frequency, which runs against the financial wellbeing framing used to sell it internally.
- It depends on accurate live attendance and payroll data, so employers with monthly batch payroll or unreliable attendance capture get conservative accrual limits that frustrate employees.
- Earned wage access in India sits in an unsettled regulatory space between payroll advance and credit, and a Reserve Bank of India view that reclassifies it would change the product for existing customers mid contract.
Pricing, plan by plan
Clair
On request- Clair on demand pay$undefined/year
- No published employer cost; delivered through payroll and scheduling partners
- Standard one to three business day advances are free to the employee
- Instant transfer to an external bank account costs $4.99
Refyne
On request- Refyne for employers$undefined/year
- Employer cost quoted per customer and often nil
- Employees pay a flat convenience fee on each withdrawal
- No interest charged, but the per withdrawal fee is not published
Which should you pick?
Choose Clair if
- You need embedded enrolment.
- You work on Web, iOS, Android.
- You also want bank issued advances.
Choose Refyne if
- You need payroll and attendance integration.
- You work on Web, iOS, Android.
- You also want employer policy controls.
Questions people ask
- Is Clair or Refyne better?
- Neither clearly leads. Clair starts at On request and Refyne at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Clair or Refyne?
- Clair starts at On request and Refyne at On request.
- Does Clair or Refyne run on more platforms?
- Both run on Web, iOS, Android, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
- What is Clair best used for?
- Clair is most often used for a restaurant group already on 7shifts wanting on demand pay without adding another vendor contract, a small business on quickbooks payroll enabling early wage access inside its existing payroll product, an employer that wants a fee free option to be the default rather than a paid upgrade, a shift based operator using early pay access as a shift fill incentive without changing payroll timing. Of those, a restaurant group already on 7shifts wanting on demand pay without adding another vendor contract and a small business on quickbooks payroll enabling early wage access inside its existing payroll product are not what Refyne is typically brought in for.
- What can Clair do that Refyne cannot?
- Clair covers Embedded enrolment, Bank issued advances, Clair spending account and card, Free standard delivery. Refyne covers Payroll and attendance integration, Employer policy controls, Instant withdrawal, Automatic payroll recovery.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
Clair: Does the employee pay a fee?
Not for standard one to three business day advances, and not for instant access into the Clair spending account. Instant transfer to an outside bank account costs $4.99.
Refyne: Does the employee pay to withdraw?
Yes. There is no interest, but a flat convenience fee is deducted per withdrawal. Get the exact schedule in writing before rollout.
Clair: How much can an employee advance?
Up to about $100 per advance and roughly $200 between paydays to start, with limits rising after consistent repayment.
Refyne: Does the employer pay anything?
Often little or nothing, which is precisely why the cost sits with the worker. Employers who want a genuinely free benefit must negotiate to absorb the fee.
Clair: Can I buy Clair if I do not use a partner payroll system?
Generally no. It is distributed through payroll and scheduling platforms such as Gusto, QuickBooks Payroll and 7shifts.
Refyne: Is this a loan?
It is structured as access to already earned wages recovered at payroll, not as lending, but the regulatory classification in India is not fully settled.
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