UK · Comparisons · The Salary Calculator
PayslipIQ vs The Salary Calculator — an honest comparison
The Salary Calculator (thesalarycalculator.co.uk) is probably the most configurable typed take-home calculator in the UK — the one to reach for when your situation involves a bonus, two overtime rates, salary sacrifice or a second job. PayslipIQ starts from the other end: the payslip your employer actually issued. This page sets out which tool fits which question, without pretending either one does the other’s job.
The short answer
If your question starts with “what if” — what if I take the job, drop to four days, sacrifice more into my pension — The Salary Calculator is the better tool, and its input depth is genuinely unmatched among free UK calculators. If your question starts with “is this right” — a payslip in your hand and a net figure that looks off — PayslipIQ reads the document itself and tells you which line disagrees with the expected 2026/27 maths.
Where The Salary Calculator wins
These are real strengths, and if they match your question you should use The Salary Calculator rather than us.
- Input depth. Pension by type (auto-enrolment, employer, salary sacrifice, personal), a one-off bonus, two separate overtime rates, taxable benefits, childcare vouchers, pre- and post-tax deductions. No other free UK calculator we have reviewed lets you model this much detail.
- Life-event variants. Dedicated calculators for pro-rata working, maternity and sick pay, comparing two jobs, comparing two salaries and working out the salary a lifestyle needs. These are questions PayslipIQ simply does not answer.
- Multiple tax years. Selectable years from 2022/23 to 2026/27, which makes it the easier tool for checking how a change of rules affected you across a year boundary.
- Nothing to upload. You only ever type numbers, so there is no document handling to weigh up at all. If that matters to you, it is a clean advantage.
Where PayslipIQ wins
PayslipIQ’s advantages all come from one design decision: it starts from the document, not from a form.
- No retyping, no transcription errors. To check a real payslip with a typed calculator you have to copy every figure across correctly — the exact step where mistakes creep in. Uploading the payslip removes it.
- A verdict, not just a model. The Salary Calculator gives you the expected numbers; you still do the comparison yourself. PayslipIQ does the comparison — tax code, NI, pension and student loan lines each get an expected-vs-observed check with the variance.
- Focused follow-up checkers. If the verdict flags something, dedicated checkers for wrong tax codes, emergency tax refunds and P60 reconciliation take you to the next step rather than leaving you with a number.
Side-by-side comparison
Feature by feature, as factually as we can put it.
| Feature | The Salary Calculator | PayslipIQ |
|---|---|---|
| How you put your numbers in | You type them. Salary, tax code, pension type, student loan plan, bonus, overtime, benefits — a detailed form. | You upload the payslip itself (photo or PDF). Figures are extracted automatically, so there is no retyping step. |
| Scenario modelling depth | Exceptional. Pension type including salary sacrifice, one-off bonus, two overtime rates, taxable benefits, childcare vouchers, pre- and post-tax deductions. | Not the focus. PayslipIQ checks the payslip you already have rather than modelling a hypothetical one. |
| Calculator variants | Many — hourly wage, pro-rata, two jobs, two-salary comparison, maternity / sick pay, required salary, plus mortgage and debt tools. | Per-scenario checkers instead — wrong tax code, emergency tax refund, pension deduction, student loan, P60 reconciliation and more. |
| Historic tax years | Selectable years from 2022/23 through 2026/27 — useful for back-checking an old payslip or comparing years. | The verdict is checked against the current 2026/27 PAYE, NI, pension and student loan rules. |
| Verdict on a real payslip | Indirect. You compare its modelled output with your payslip by eye, line by line, yourself. | Direct. Each parsed deduction is shown with the expected figure, the observed figure and the variance. |
| Student loan coverage | All plans — Plan 1, Plan 2, Plan 4 (Scotland), Plan 5 and Postgraduate. | Student loan lines on the payslip are checked against the expected plan deduction. |
| Scottish taxpayers | Yes — a dedicated toggle applies the Scottish bands. | Yes — S-prefix tax codes are recognised and checked against the Scottish bands. |
| Privacy approach | Nothing is uploaded — you only type numbers into a form. | A payslip image is uploaded, processed for the check and not stored. Methodology and data handling are published. |
| Price | Free, no signup. | Free check, no signup. A £19 Pro Report is planned at launch (currently waitlist only). |
Use them when / use us when
- Weighing up a job offer with a bonus or benefits. Use The Salary Calculator — its bonus, benefits and salary-sacrifice inputs exist for exactly this.
- Going part-time, on maternity leave or juggling two jobs. Use The Salary Calculator’s dedicated variants; they are built for those scenarios.
- A payslip whose net figure surprised you. Use PayslipIQ — upload it and see which line moved against the expected maths.
- Checking a tax code, NI or student loan deduction. Use PayslipIQ for the per-line verdict, then The Salary Calculator if you want to model what the corrected payslip should look like going forward.
Frequently asked questions
- Is The Salary Calculator accurate?
- Yes, for its stated job. thesalarycalculator.co.uk models a typed salary through UK income tax, National Insurance and student loan rules, with unusually fine-grained inputs — pension type (including salary sacrifice), bonus, two overtime rates, taxable benefits and more — and supports tax years back to 2022/23. Like any typed-input calculator it models the numbers you give it; it does not read the payslip your employer actually issued.
- What is the difference between The Salary Calculator and PayslipIQ?
- The Salary Calculator answers "what should my take-home be under these settings?" from typed inputs. PayslipIQ answers "is the payslip in front of me correct?" — you upload a photo or PDF, the figures are extracted automatically, and each deduction (tax code, NI, pension, student loan) gets a line-by-line verdict against the expected maths. One models a scenario; the other audits a document.
- Can The Salary Calculator check a payslip photo?
- No — it works from typed inputs only, and that is by design. To check an actual payslip with it, you retype the figures yourself and compare the output by eye. PayslipIQ removes that retyping step: upload the payslip image, and gross pay, tax code, NI, pension and student loan lines are extracted and reconciled automatically. The image is processed for the check and not stored.
- Are both tools free?
- The Salary Calculator is free with no signup, including its pro-rata, two-jobs, maternity and comparison variants. The PayslipIQ payslip check is also free with no signup; a £19 Pro Report is planned at launch and is currently waitlist only. Neither tool charges for the headline result.
Related checkers and guides
- Free payslip check
Upload a photo or PDF — get a line-by-line verdict.
- All comparisons
PayslipIQ vs the other UK tax tools, honestly compared.
- Methodology, DPIA & sub-processors
How the parsing works, where data is processed, what is logged.
- Take-home pay calculator
PayslipIQ’s own typed-input calculator for a quick model.
Last reviewed
Last reviewed:
Next review:
Reviewed each tax year and sooner if either tool changes materially.
Educational guidance only — not regulated tax, financial or payroll advice. Independent comparison; not endorsed by, or affiliated with, The Salary Calculator. Always verify with HMRC or your payroll team before acting.