Employment Hero vs Frontier Software – how they compare for AU/NZ payroll

For: Payroll Managers, HR Leaders, Finance Directors|11 min read|Last updated: August 2026

This comparison is published by Affinity. Vendor information is based on publicly available sources. Contact each provider directly for their current capabilities.

Summary

Employment Hero is a broad SME “Employment OS” spanning HR, payroll, benefits and hiring. Frontier Software is an AU/NZ HCM suite with payroll reach across 26 countries. Affinity is shown here as a separate column: an AU/NZ enterprise payroll specialist for organisations whose complexity is concentrated in Australia and New Zealand.

How Employment Hero and Frontier Software differ

Employment Hero is an Australian-founded (2014) ‘Employment Operating System’ spanning HR, payroll, benefits, recruitment and workforce management, reportedly used by 300,000+ businesses across AU, NZ, the UK, Canada, Singapore and Malaysia. Its payroll engine originated as KeyPay (acquired 2022), and it holds ISO 27001/27017/27018 certification and SOC 2 Type II compliance.

Frontier Software is an established AU/NZ HCM vendor with 40+ years of history and local offices in Auckland, Wellington, Melbourne and Sydney. Its ichris payroll engine covers 26 countries, and its modules span recruitment, talent, learning and HR, alongside HCI21 analytics and IWF21 workflow tools.

The core distinction for a buyer is what each platform was built to optimise for: Employment Hero is a broad SME “Employment OS” spanning HR, payroll, benefits and hiring, while Frontier Software is an AU/NZ HCM suite with payroll reach across 26 countries. AU/NZ payroll sits within each vendor's broader focus rather than as the sole product, which is where a specialist platform like Affinity differs from both.

Feature comparison

A neutral comparison of Employment Hero and Frontier Software across payroll and workforce capabilities, with Affinity shown as a separate AU/NZ specialist column. Vendor capabilities should be confirmed directly with each provider.

Native / strong Available / partial Not offered

Capability	Employment Hero	Frontier Software	AU/NZ specialistAffinity
AU award & EBA interpretation	Native / strong: Native award/EBA interpretation via Employment Hero Payroll (formerly KeyPay)	Native / strong: Established AU/NZ award interpretation (ichris)	Native / strong: Configurable engine – modern awards, EBAs, shift penalties, allowance stacking
NZ compliance (Holidays Act, KiwiSaver, IRD)	Native / strong: Dedicated NZ product – Holidays Act, KiwiSaver, IRD payday filing	Native / strong: NZ compliance (Holidays Act, Payday Filing) – depth to confirm	Native / strong: Purpose-built Holidays Act engine, KiwiSaver, Payday Filing, NZ team
STP Phase 2 & superannuation	Native / strong: ATO-recognised STP Phase 2; Payday Super readiness via HeroClear (vendor-stated)	Native / strong: Supported	Native / strong: Full STP Phase 2 & super, Pay Day Super ready
Pre-payslip intelligence	Available / partial: Hero AI assistant and anomaly-detection claims – accuracy to be confirmed	Available / partial: HCI21 analytics (workforce trend analysis, not transaction-level pre-payslip checking)	Native / strong: Payroll IQ – anomaly & variance checking before the payslip runs
Global / multi-country coverage	Native / strong: AU, NZ, UK, Canada, Singapore, Malaysia; EOR services	Native / strong: 26 countries (ichris)	Not offered: AU/NZ focus – not multi-country
Workforce management	Native / strong: Rostering, time & attendance, geofencing, shift swapping	Available / partial: Available	Native / strong: Integrated WFM with real-time labour costing
Delivery / managed payroll	Available / partial: Primarily self-service SaaS; separate managed/outsourced payroll option	Native / strong: Software licensing, hosted, outsourced payroll	Native / strong: SaaS, Supported & Fully Managed on one platform
Named local AU/NZ support	Available / partial: Phone support on top-tier plans only; lower tiers AI-bot/email – confirm response times	Native / strong: Local offices – Auckland, Wellington, Melbourne, Sydney	Native / strong: Named AU/NZ contacts who know your configuration
HR, benefits & hiring breadth	Native / strong: Broad SME suite – recruitment, onboarding, benefits marketplace, earned wage access	Available / partial: Not a stated focus – confirm directly	Not offered: Not offered – integrates with specialist HRIS/benefits providers

Where Employment Hero fits

Employment Hero is built for small-to-medium AU/NZ businesses that want HR, payroll, benefits and hiring bundled into one broad, self-service platform with AI-assisted tooling (Hero AI). Its benefits marketplace, recruitment and onboarding modules, and multi-country reach make it a strong fit for SMEs that value breadth and self-service over dedicated, high-touch AU/NZ enterprise payroll support.

Where Frontier Software fits

Frontier Software is built for organisations that want a full HCM suite – payroll, recruitment, talent and learning – from a vendor with genuine long-standing AU/NZ offices and multi-country reach through its ichris platform. Its 40+ years of local history, 26-country coverage, and HCI21/IWF21 tooling make it a strong fit for organisations consolidating HCM breadth with a vendor that still has real local presence.

Where Affinity fits

For organisations whose payroll complexity is concentrated in Australia and New Zealand, a specialist engine with pre-payslip intelligence, delivery-model flexibility, local data residency, and named local support is a different proposition to either Employment Hero or Frontier Software. Some organisations run Employment Hero or Frontier Software for their broader positioning and Affinity for a complex AU/NZ operation; others choose Affinity specifically because they need genuine cross-Tasman depth that neither platform is built to prioritise.

Frequently asked questions

Is Employment Hero or Frontier Software better for Australian payroll?

Employment Hero is a broad SME “Employment OS” spanning HR, payroll, benefits and hiring. Frontier Software is an AU/NZ HCM suite with payroll reach across 26 countries. Which fits better for Australian payroll depends on which of those is closer to what your organisation actually needs. Confirm current AU award and EBA depth directly with both providers. For organisations whose complexity is concentrated in Australia and New Zealand, a specialist engine like Affinity is built specifically for that depth.

Do Employment Hero and Frontier Software handle New Zealand payroll?

Employment Hero: Dedicated NZ product – Holidays Act, KiwiSaver, IRD payday filing. Frontier Software: NZ compliance (Holidays Act, Payday Filing) – depth to confirm. Confirm current NZ depth directly with each provider – Holidays Act, KiwiSaver and IRD payday filing all require genuine local engine work, not just tax-table updates. Affinity runs a purpose-built NZ payroll engine with 40+ years of Holidays Act experience and an NZ-based support team.

What is the main difference between Employment Hero and Frontier Software?

Employment Hero is a broad SME “Employment OS” spanning HR, payroll, benefits and hiring, while Frontier Software is an AU/NZ HCM suite with payroll reach across 26 countries. They overlap on core payroll compliance but differ in scope, ownership model, and the customer base each was built to serve.

How does Affinity compare to Employment Hero and Frontier Software?

Affinity is an AU/NZ enterprise payroll specialist. It does not try to match Employment Hero or Frontier Software on their own ground; it competes on depth of AU/NZ award and Holidays Act compliance, pre-payslip intelligence, delivery-model flexibility, local data residency, and named local support.

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