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Payroll · head to head

DailyPay vs Openwage

DailyPay logo

DailyPay

Payroll

On demand pay integrated with United States payroll and time systems

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Openwage logo

Openwage

Payroll

UK earned wage access charging a transparent 1 percent transfer fee, free for employers

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: DailyPay instant transfers cost the employee roughly $2.49 to $3.99 each, deducted from the transfer, so a worker taking money twice a week pays a meaningful share of a low wage over a year.; Openwage it is UK-only, tied to UK payroll cycles and regulation, so it is not usable for international workforces.
  • They diverge on capability: DailyPay covers Payroll and time integration, Openwage covers On-demand pay.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which DailyPay and Openwage actually diverge.

Attributes where DailyPay and Openwage differ
AttributeDailyPayOpenwage
Pricing modelquotePer-transfer fee, paid by the employee

Identical on both: starting price (On request), 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 DailyPay

  • Payroll and time integration
  • Instant and standard transfers
  • DailyPay prepaid card
  • Off cycle payments
  • Employer controls
  • Automatic payroll reconciliation
  • Savings features
  • Adoption reporting

Only in Openwage

  • On-demand pay
  • Transparent per-transfer fee
  • Payroll and T&A integration
  • No credit impact
  • Automatic payday reconciliation
  • Employer-free deployment

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

DailyPay

  • A national restaurant or retail chain using same day pay as a recruitment claim in a tight hourly labour marketnot Openwage
  • A staffing agency paying temporary workers immediately after a completed shiftnot Openwage
  • A healthcare employer covering nurse and aide shift gaps with instant pay incentivesnot Openwage
  • An employer eliminating manual payroll advances and off cycle cheque runs for final paynot Openwage

Openwage

  • A UK employer with shift or hourly staff wanting an on-demand pay benefit at no cost to the businessnot DailyPay
  • An employee wanting to know the exact cost of an advance before requesting one, rather than an opaque feenot DailyPay
  • A company already running standard UK payroll and time and attendance systems wanting straightforward integrationnot DailyPay
  • An HR team comparing earned wage access providers on published unit economics rather than sales quotesnot DailyPay

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

DailyPay

  • Instant transfers cost the employee roughly $2.49 to $3.99 each, deducted from the transfer, so a worker taking money twice a week pays a meaningful share of a low wage over a year.
  • The fee free route pushes workers onto the DailyPay prepaid card as their direct deposit destination, which monetises them through interchange instead, so no path is genuinely free of cost to the worker.
  • The employer usually pays little, which removes the internal pressure to negotiate down a fee that falls entirely on staff.
  • Integration touches payroll and time and attendance systems, so employers with fragmented or on premise time capture face a slow implementation and inaccurate accrual until data quality is fixed.
  • United States state level earned wage access laws now differ on disclosure, fee caps and whether the product counts as credit, so multi state employers must track a moving compliance picture rather than a single federal rule.

Openwage

  • It is UK-only, tied to UK payroll cycles and regulation, so it is not usable for international workforces.
  • Even a published, low fee still means employees effectively pay to access their own earned money, and frequent use compounds that cost over a year.
  • The 50% cap on gross (not net) earned pay can overstate what an employee can actually draw once tax and deductions are accounted for, creating confusion at the point of request.
  • As with all earned wage access, dependency on the product is a symptom of insufficient pay cadence or amount that the advance itself does not fix, and can mask a deeper compensation problem an employer should address directly.
  • Accuracy is entirely dependent on the employer's payroll and time and attendance data being current, so errors upstream produce incorrect available-balance figures for employees.

Pricing, plan by plan

DailyPay

On request
  • DailyPay for employers$undefined/year
    • Employer cost quoted per customer and often minimal
    • Employee pays approximately $2.49 to $3.99 per instant transfer
    • Standard next business day transfers are free to the employee

Openwage

On request
  • Openwage$undefined/month
    • Free for employers to offer
    • 1% fee per transfer, minimum £1, paid by the employee
    • No interest and no credit check

Which should you pick?

Choose DailyPay if

  • You need payroll and time integration.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want instant and standard transfers.
DailyPay review

Choose Openwage if

  • You need on-demand pay.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want transparent per-transfer fee.
Openwage review

Questions people ask

Is DailyPay or Openwage better?
Neither clearly leads. DailyPay starts at On request and Openwage at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, DailyPay or Openwage?
DailyPay starts at On request and Openwage at On request.
Does DailyPay or Openwage run on more platforms?
Both run on Web, iOS, Android, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
What is DailyPay best used for?
DailyPay is most often used for a national restaurant or retail chain using same day pay as a recruitment claim in a tight hourly labour market, a staffing agency paying temporary workers immediately after a completed shift, a healthcare employer covering nurse and aide shift gaps with instant pay incentives, an employer eliminating manual payroll advances and off cycle cheque runs for final pay. Of those, a national restaurant or retail chain using same day pay as a recruitment claim in a tight hourly labour market and a staffing agency paying temporary workers immediately after a completed shift are not what Openwage is typically brought in for.
What can DailyPay do that Openwage cannot?
DailyPay covers Payroll and time integration, Instant and standard transfers, DailyPay prepaid card, Off cycle payments. Openwage covers On-demand pay, Transparent per-transfer fee, Payroll and T&A integration, No credit impact.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

DailyPay: Does the employee pay a fee?

Yes for instant transfers, roughly $2.49 to $3.99 each depending on the employer programme. Next business day transfers are free.

Openwage: Who pays the fee?

The employee, at 1% of the amount transferred with a minimum of £1; the employer benefit itself is free.

DailyPay: Can employees avoid the fee entirely?

Yes, by using the DailyPay prepaid card as their direct deposit account, which gives instant access without the transfer fee but earns DailyPay interchange instead.

Openwage: Is it a loan?

No, Openwage states it is not a loan or credit product; there is no interest and no credit score impact.

DailyPay: Does the employer fund the advances?

No. DailyPay funds transfers and recovers them at the payroll run, so employer cash flow is unchanged.

Openwage: How much can an employee access?

Up to 50% of gross wages already earned in the current pay period.

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