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Payroll · head to head

OnPay vs Refyne

OnPay logo

OnPay

Payroll

Single-plan United States payroll with unlimited pay runs and support for awkward tax situations other providers avoid

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Refyne logo

Refyne

Payroll

Earned wage access for Indian employers, with a per withdrawal convenience fee

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: OnPay onPay operates only in the United States, so the first international hire means a second payroll vendor and a separate compliance model.; 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: OnPay covers Single plan, 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 OnPay and Refyne actually diverge.

Attributes where OnPay and Refyne differ
AttributeOnPayRefyne
PlatformsWebWeb, iOS, Android

Identical on both: starting price (On request), pricing model (quote), free tier (No), 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 OnPay

  • Single plan
  • Tax filing and payment
  • Vertical payroll support
  • Benefits brokerage
  • Workers compensation
  • Contractor payments
  • Basic HR tools
  • Accounting integrations

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.

OnPay

  • A farm running agricultural payroll that needs Form 943 rather than the standard quarterly filingnot Refyne
  • A church or nonprofit with clergy compensation rules that mainstream providers decline to handlenot Refyne
  • A restaurant group needing tip credit and minimum wage make-up calculated correctly each pay periodnot Refyne
  • A small business that wants one price for payroll rather than a tiered plan it has to keep upgradingnot Refyne

Refyne

  • A manufacturer with high attrition among shift workers who leave over payday cash gapsnot OnPay
  • A staffing company wanting a retention benefit that costs the employer little to deploynot OnPay
  • An employer replacing informal salary advances processed manually by finance every monthnot OnPay
  • A large retail or logistics operator standardising early wage access policy across many sitesnot OnPay

Where each one falls short

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

OnPay

  • OnPay operates only in the United States, so the first international hire means a second payroll vendor and a separate compliance model.
  • There is no native mobile application, only a responsive web interface, which employers with field or shift-based staff notice immediately.
  • The HR functionality is administrative and does not replace an HRIS, so performance, learning and any real workflow automation need another product.
  • Time and attendance is handled through integrations rather than natively, meaning hours arrive from a third-party system that has to be reconciled when it disagrees with payroll.
  • Reporting is functional but limited, and companies that want cost analysis by department, project or location generally export to a spreadsheet rather than build it in the product.

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

OnPay

On request
  • OnPay$undefined/month
    • One published plan combining a flat monthly base fee with a per person charge
    • No feature tiers, upgrades or add-on modules
    • Unlimited pay runs and multi-state filing included

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 OnPay if

  • You need single plan.
  • You also want tax filing and payment.
OnPay review

Choose Refyne if

  • You need payroll and attendance integration.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want employer policy controls.
Refyne review

Questions people ask

Is OnPay or Refyne better?
Neither clearly leads. OnPay 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, OnPay or Refyne?
OnPay starts at On request and Refyne at On request.
Does OnPay or Refyne run on more platforms?
OnPay runs on Web. Refyne runs on Web, iOS, Android.
What is OnPay best used for?
OnPay is most often used for a farm running agricultural payroll that needs form 943 rather than the standard quarterly filing, a church or nonprofit with clergy compensation rules that mainstream providers decline to handle, a restaurant group needing tip credit and minimum wage make-up calculated correctly each pay period, a small business that wants one price for payroll rather than a tiered plan it has to keep upgrading. Of those, a farm running agricultural payroll that needs form 943 rather than the standard quarterly filing and a church or nonprofit with clergy compensation rules that mainstream providers decline to handle are not what Refyne is typically brought in for.
What can OnPay do that Refyne cannot?
OnPay covers Single plan, Tax filing and payment, Vertical payroll support, Benefits brokerage. Refyne covers Payroll and attendance integration, Employer policy controls, Instant withdrawal, Automatic payroll recovery.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

OnPay: How is OnPay priced?

As a single published plan with a flat monthly base fee plus a charge per person paid, with no feature tiers. Contractors are charged at the same per person rate as employees.

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.

OnPay: Does it handle payroll outside the United States?

No. It is US-only, in all fifty states, including multi-state filing at no extra cost.

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.

OnPay: Why do farms and churches use it?

It supports Form 943 agricultural filing, clergy housing allowance and Social Security exemption rules, and 501(c)(3) nonprofit payroll, which several larger providers do not.

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.

OnPay: Is there a mobile app?

No. Employers and employees use a responsive web interface, which is a genuine gap for shift-based workforces.

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