Hire without hitting the billing wall.

KeyPay charges per employee.
XIntelliSync charges per business.

STP Phase 2 payroll included — plus accounting, CRM, BAS prep, inventory, marketing, and 150+ AI agents. Hiring doesn't move your invoice. No per-employee penalty.

Flat tier — any headcount

150+ AI agents

Setup in 10 mins

The Real Cost of a KeyPay-Centred Stack

KeyPay / Employment Hero Payroll (20 staff)

~$5/employee/mo

$100/mo

Xero (accounting — KeyPay doesn't replace)

Accounting only

$97/mo

HubSpot Starter CRM

CRM + marketing

$90/mo

Tanda / Deputy (workforce rostering)

Scheduling

$80/mo

Inventory tool

Cin7, DEAR, etc.

$60/mo

Project management

Asana / Monday

$50/mo

Total KeyPay stack (20 staff)

$477/mo

XIntelliSync Growth (replaces all of the above)

$297/mo

You save $180/month — $2160/year

Feature by Feature

Feature	KeyPay	XIntelliSync
Starting price (AUD)	~$4–6/employee/mo	$97 flat (any headcount)
Pricing model	Per-employee	Flat per-business
20 employees cost	~$100/mo payroll only	$97 Starter (includes 16 other categories)
STP Phase 2 payroll	Yes (core product)	Yes (1 of 17 categories)
Award interpretation	Yes (their depth)	Fair Work agent + classification
Accounting / BAS / GST	None	AI agents + prepared lodgement
CRM with deal pipeline	None	Full CRM + pipeline + LTV
Invoice generation	None	AI agent + auto follow-up
AI agents included	Limited rule-based automation	50–150 included
Inventory & supply chain	None	Included
Project management	None	Included
Marketing automation	None	Included
Australian compliance	AU-native (their strength)	Sydney-built, AU-native
Cancel anytime	✓	✓ + no lock-in
SOC 2-aligned security controls	✓	✓ + RLS
Setup time	Days–weeks	Under 10 minutes
Workforce rostering	Add-on (Tanda/Deputy)	Included
Headcount-billing penalty	50 staff = $200–300/mo	50 staff = $97/mo

What They Don't Put in the Comparison Tables

KeyPay is payroll. Your business needs 17 things.

KeyPay (now Employment Hero Payroll) is excellent at STP Phase 2 payroll, super, and award interpretation. It is not your accounting, your CRM, your invoicing, or your BAS prep. Payroll is one workflow — XIntelliSync covers all 17.

Per-employee pricing punishes you for hiring.

Hire 20 staff: ~$100/mo. Hire 50: $250+/mo. Each new employee bills you more — for the same software. XIntelliSync's flat tier means a hire doesn't move your monthly invoice.

The rest of your stack still needs Xero + a CRM + invoicing.

KeyPay only solves payroll. Real Australian SMBs still need accounting, customer management, AR follow-up, and BAS prep. XIntelliSync includes all of it in the same tier as the included payroll.

Acquired by Employment Hero — the bundling is starting.

KeyPay was acquired by Employment Hero in 2020 and is being merged into the Employment Hero suite. Roadmap, branding, and pricing changes are ongoing. XIntelliSync's roadmap and identity are owned by one team in Sydney — no acquisition-driven repositioning to manage around.

Hiring shouldn't be a billing event.

First month 50% off ($48.50). No setup fees. No lock-in. Cancel anytime. Your KeyPay employee records and pay history come with you.

*KeyPay (now Employment Hero Payroll) pricing sourced from publicly available information and correct at time of publication. Per-employee pricing approximately $4–6/employee/month AUD as of early 2026, varies by tier and add-ons. Verify current pricing at employmenthero.com. Last reviewed: March 2026.

Common Questions

What is the best KeyPay alternative in Australia for SMBs?

XIntelliSync is an Australian AI Business OS that includes STP Phase 2 payroll alongside accounting, CRM, invoicing, BAS prep, inventory, and 150+ AI agents — starting at $97/month flat regardless of headcount. KeyPay (Employment Hero Payroll) focuses exclusively on payroll workflows; XIntelliSync runs the whole business in the same subscription.

Does XIntelliSync handle STP Phase 2 like KeyPay?

Yes. XIntelliSync includes STP Phase 2 payroll preparation, superannuation guarantee (SGC) calculation, PAYG withholding, leave management, and award compliance scaffolding. Final lodgement happens externally via the ATO portal or your registered tax agent — same external pattern as KeyPay.

Is XIntelliSync cheaper than KeyPay?

For most Australian SMBs, yes — substantially. KeyPay charges per employee per month. At 20 staff that's approximately $100/month for payroll alone. XIntelliSync Starter at $97/month flat includes payroll PLUS 16 other feature categories — and the price doesn't change as you hire.

Does XIntelliSync replace KeyPay's award interpretation?

XIntelliSync includes Fair Work modern award classification, automated pay-rate calculation per award classification, and underpayment detection. The depth covers the award compliance needs of most Australian SMBs. For specialised multi-EBA workforces, KeyPay's depth in award interpretation remains class-leading — XIntelliSync handles standard awards plus the rest of your business.

Can I import my KeyPay employees and pay history?

Yes. Employee records, pay rates, leave balances, super fund details, and historical payslips can be imported during onboarding. Most businesses complete the switch in under 10 minutes.

Does XIntelliSync have AI agents that KeyPay doesn't?

XIntelliSync includes 50–150+ AI agents covering BAS prep, bank reconciliation, customer health scoring, revenue forecasting, invoice follow-ups, payroll variance detection, underpayment alerts, and 140+ other tasks. KeyPay's automation is rule-based payroll workflows.

Does XIntelliSync handle Fair Work compliance like KeyPay?

XIntelliSync's payroll agent checks award classifications, flags underpayments, prepares Fair Work-ready payslips, and tracks STP Phase 2 reporting. Final responsibility for compliance remains with the business owner — both XIntelliSync and KeyPay are scaffolding, not legal opinion.

Is XIntelliSync an Australian company?

Yes. XIntelliSync was founded in Sydney, New South Wales in 2024 and built for Australian SMBs. KeyPay was Australian-founded but is now owned by Employment Hero (also Australian).

All Features What $97/mo Gets Payroll & HR AI & Automation 150 AI Agents Apps You Replace Pricing

Finance & Accounting — what XIntelliSync replaces

Finance Automation Agents BAS Preparation Agent Invoice Follow-Up Agent Bank Reconciliation Agent Expense Categorisation Agent

Industry: Construction SMBs Read: BAS Lodgement Guide — Australia 2026

Learn the compliance regime — XIntelliSync Learn Centre

BAS / GST / TPAR Compliance Payroll Compliance Australia All 8 clusters in the Learn Centre

Compliance + workflow guides this comparison touches

The Learn Centre pillars covering the obligations and workflows where KeyPay stops and XIntelliSync keeps going. Each pillar tells you upfront what XIntelliSync prepares vs what stays your obligation.

Payroll Compliance Australia STP Phase 2 Deadlines Fair Work Award Classification Superannuation Guarantee 12%All 8 clusters in the Learn Centre

Built for your industry — 22 industries supported

All 22 industries

The Trust Stack

388 phases deeper. They ask you to do the work. We did the work, then built the system that proves it right.

IntelliX Omega runs 388 reasoning paths per question. XAVS scores every agent on 10 dimensions. Horizon supervises every run live. XGVS — 42 layers, 6 stages, 356+ gates across 34 compliance frameworks; every action passes every gate that applies or halts with reason.

IntelliX OmegaHorizonXAVSXGVS

KeyPay charges per employee.XIntelliSync charges per business.