Payroll · head to head
Hastee vs Payactiv
Hastee
Payroll
United Kingdom earned wage access, now part of the Zellis group
- From
- On request
- Rated
- -
Payactiv
Payroll
Earned wage access and financial wellness benefit, free to employers and free for standard transfers
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Only Payactiv has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
- Each has a real cost: Hastee beyond the free £100 monthly allowance the employee pays 2.5 per cent per withdrawal, so a worker drawing weekly funds the benefit themselves unless the employer opts to subsidise it.; Payactiv heavy repeat use of wage advances by an employee is a sign that base pay does not cover living costs, and offering the benefit does not address that underlying compensation problem.
- They diverge on capability: Hastee covers Earned wage withdrawals, Payactiv covers Earned wage access.
- Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Hastee and Payactiv actually diverge.
Identical on both: 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 Hastee
- Earned wage withdrawals
- Free monthly allowance
- Payroll and time integration
- Employer policy controls
- Financial wellbeing content
- Employer subsidy option
- Employer reporting
- Code of practice alignment
Only in Payactiv
- Earned wage access
- Payactiv Card
- Free standard transfers
- Bill pay and marketplace
- Financial wellness tools
- Broad HCM integration
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Hastee
- A care provider offering shift workers early access to pay to reduce reliance on high cost creditnot Payactiv
- A hospitality employer using early pay access as a recruitment and retention claimnot Payactiv
- A Zellis or Moorepay payroll customer adding wage access without a separate payroll integration projectnot Payactiv
- An employer replacing ad hoc manual salary advances processed by finance each monthnot Payactiv
Payactiv
- A hourly-wage employer in retail, healthcare or hospitality wanting to reduce payday-loan reliance among staffnot Hastee
- An HR team wanting earned wage access with no employer subscription feenot Hastee
- A company already on ADP, Paychex or another supported HCM system wanting minimal integration effortnot Hastee
- An employer wanting bundled financial wellness and bill pay features alongside wage advancesnot Hastee
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Hastee
- Beyond the free £100 monthly allowance the employee pays 2.5 per cent per withdrawal, so a worker drawing weekly funds the benefit themselves unless the employer opts to subsidise it.
- A 2.5 per cent charge on money the employee has already earned is expensive when annualised over frequent small withdrawals, which undercuts the financial wellbeing framing used to sell it internally.
- Earned wage access is not directly regulated as consumer credit in the UK, so protections rest on a voluntary code of practice rather than FCA rules, and employees have weaker recourse than with a regulated credit product.
- Zellis acquired Hastee in June 2025, so employers on non Zellis payroll systems face roadmap uncertainty about how long standalone integrations remain a priority.
- Accrual accuracy depends on payroll and time data quality, so employers with monthly batch payroll or weak attendance capture get conservative limits that disappoint the staff the benefit was sold to.
Payactiv
- Heavy repeat use of wage advances by an employee is a sign that base pay does not cover living costs, and offering the benefit does not address that underlying compensation problem.
- The product depends entirely on accurate, timely data from the employer's time-and-attendance and payroll systems, so errors upstream translate directly into wrong advance calculations for employees.
- Free tiers apply to standard delivery only, and employees who need funds immediately outside the free instant-transfer conditions pay expedited fees that are easy to trigger without realising it.
- Employer coverage and card acceptance skew toward the United States, so it does not serve multinational workforces without a country-specific alternative.
- As an intermediary sitting between payroll and the employee, it introduces another vendor with access to sensitive payroll and time data, which adds a data governance and vendor risk conversation many employers underestimate before rollout.
Pricing, plan by plan
Hastee
On request- Hastee for employers$undefined/year
- Free for the employer to offer in the standard model
- Employee gets one free withdrawal per month up to £100
- Further withdrawals charged to the employee at 2.5 per cent of the amount
Payactiv
Free- PayactivFree
- No employer subscription cost
- Free standard 1 to 3 day ACH and qualifying instant transfers
- Fees apply only to expedited delivery options
Which should you pick?
Choose Hastee if
- You need earned wage withdrawals.
- You work on Web, iOS, Android.
- You also want free monthly allowance.
Choose Payactiv if
- You need earned wage access.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Web, iOS, Android.
- You also want payactiv card.
Questions people ask
- Is Hastee or Payactiv better?
- Neither clearly leads. Hastee starts at On request and Payactiv at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Hastee or Payactiv?
- Payactiv has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for Hastee and Free for Payactiv.
- Does Hastee or Payactiv run on more platforms?
- Both run on Web, iOS, Android, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
- Can I use Payactiv for free?
- Yes. Payactiv has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Hastee starts at On request.
- What is Hastee best used for?
- Hastee is most often used for a care provider offering shift workers early access to pay to reduce reliance on high cost credit, a hospitality employer using early pay access as a recruitment and retention claim, a zellis or moorepay payroll customer adding wage access without a separate payroll integration project, an employer replacing ad hoc manual salary advances processed by finance each month. Of those, a care provider offering shift workers early access to pay to reduce reliance on high cost credit and a hospitality employer using early pay access as a recruitment and retention claim are not what Payactiv is typically brought in for.
- What can Hastee do that Payactiv cannot?
- Hastee covers Earned wage withdrawals, Free monthly allowance, Payroll and time integration, Employer policy controls. Payactiv covers Earned wage access, Payactiv Card, Free standard transfers, Bill pay and marketplace.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
Hastee: Does the employee pay?
Yes. One withdrawal per month up to £100 is free; after that the employee pays 2.5 per cent of the amount withdrawn.
Payactiv: Does it cost the employer anything?
No, the core benefit is free to employers, and standard employee transfers are also free; only expedited delivery options carry a fee.
Hastee: Can the employer make it genuinely free for staff?
Yes. Hastee offers employer paid terms where the company absorbs the transaction fee, but this is a negotiated option rather than the default.
Payactiv: How is the advance calculated?
From wages already earned according to the employer's time and attendance or payroll data, not a loan against future unearned pay.
Hastee: Who owns Hastee now?
Zellis, the UK payroll group that also owns Moorepay and Benefex, acquired Hastee in June 2025.
Payactiv: Which payroll systems does it integrate with?
More than 70, including ADP, Paychex, Kronos, Workday and UKG.
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