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Payroll · head to head

DailyPay vs Paylocity

DailyPay logo

DailyPay

Payroll

On demand pay integrated with United States payroll and time systems

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Paylocity logo

Paylocity

Payroll

HR and payroll solutions to drive employee engagement

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.; Paylocity the Internet Archive's capture of Paylocity's homepage on 3 January 2021 named a wide suite of modules, including Payroll, On Demand Payment, HR Edge, Recruiting, Performance Management, Compensation Management and a Learning Management System, all sold via 'Request a Demo' with no price figures published.
  • They diverge on capability: DailyPay covers Payroll and time integration, Paylocity covers Payroll.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which DailyPay and Paylocity actually diverge.

Attributes where DailyPay and Paylocity differ
AttributeDailyPayPaylocity
FoundedUnknown1997

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 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 Paylocity

  • Payroll
  • HR Management
  • Benefits Administration
  • Time and Labor
  • Talent Management
  • Employee Engagement
  • Slack
  • Microsoft Teams

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 Paylocity
  • A staffing agency paying temporary workers immediately after a completed shiftnot Paylocity
  • A healthcare employer covering nurse and aide shift gaps with instant pay incentivesnot Paylocity
  • An employer eliminating manual payroll advances and off cycle cheque runs for final paynot Paylocity

Paylocity

No use cases recorded yet. See the Paylocity review.

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.

Paylocity

  • The Internet Archive's capture of Paylocity's homepage on 3 January 2021 named a wide suite of modules, including Payroll, On Demand Payment, HR Edge, Recruiting, Performance Management, Compensation Management and a Learning Management System, all sold via 'Request a Demo' with no price figures published.

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

Paylocity

On request
  • Core Payroll$undefined/month
    • Payroll Processing
    • Tax Services
    • Direct Deposit
  • Complete HCM$undefined/month
    • All Core features
    • HR
    • Benefits

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 Paylocity if

  • You need payroll.
  • You work on Web, Ios, Android.
  • You also want hr management.
Paylocity review

Questions people ask

Is DailyPay or Paylocity better?
Neither clearly leads. DailyPay starts at On request and Paylocity at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, DailyPay or Paylocity?
DailyPay starts at On request and Paylocity at On request.
Does DailyPay or Paylocity run on more platforms?
DailyPay runs on Web, iOS, Android. Paylocity runs on Web, Ios, Android.
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 Paylocity is typically brought in for.
What can DailyPay do that Paylocity cannot?
DailyPay covers Payroll and time integration, Instant and standard transfers, DailyPay prepaid card, Off cycle payments. Paylocity covers Payroll, HR Management, Benefits Administration, Time and Labor.

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.

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.

DailyPay: Does the employer fund the advances?

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

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