{"id":25365,"date":"2026-09-04T13:16:47","date_gmt":"2026-09-04T13:16:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/akriviahcm.com\/blog\/?p=25365"},"modified":"2026-09-04T13:16:47","modified_gmt":"2026-09-04T13:16:47","slug":"payrollpanda-alternatives-malaysia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/akriviahcm.com\/blog\/payrollpanda-alternatives-malaysia","title":{"rendered":"PayrollPanda Alternatives in Malaysia (2026)"},"content":{"rendered":"


\nPayrollPanda has earned a genuinely loyal following among Malaysian microbusinesses and early-stage startups by doing one thing well: making statutory payroll simple, LHDN-approved, and affordable, with a free base plan that gets a small team off spreadsheets in hours, not weeks. If you’re searching for PayrollPanda alternatives in Malaysia, the reason is rarely that the payroll calculations are wrong. It’s that the business around the payroll has grown into needs the platform was never built to cover.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This guide covers exactly where PayrollPanda stops being enough, an honest comparison of the realistic alternatives, and which one fits which stage.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Why Malaysian businesses actually search for PayrollPanda alternatives<\/h2>\n

The pattern is specific and consistent across reviews and switching behavior. PayrollPanda is payroll-only software, with no recruitment, onboarding, performance management, or people analytics, so a growing business ends up running three or four separate tools around it rather than one system. Multi-user payroll processing isn’t supported, which creates real friction the moment payroll approval needs to sit across more than one person, a common requirement once a business hires a dedicated finance or HR lead. Several users have also flagged difficulty editing submitted payroll runs, a real operational risk during a correction. There’s no multi-entity support, so a business operating more than one Malaysian legal entity cannot manage them from a single dashboard. And PayrollPanda is a focused payroll product (now part of Jibble Group) rather than a full HR platform, so a business that needs recruitment, performance, or analytics is looking at additional tools regardless. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

None of this makes PayrollPanda a poor choice for what it’s built for. It makes it the right tool for a very small, single-admin, single-entity business, and the wrong one the moment that business needs a genuine HR system or a second person touching payroll.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

At a glance: PayrollPanda alternatives in Malaysia 2026<\/h2>\n
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Platform<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\nEPF, SOCSO, EIS, PCB<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\nMulti-user payroll<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\nMulti-entity<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\nFull HR suite<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\nMulti-country<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\nBest fit<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Akrivia HCM<\/span><\/i><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\nNative<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\nYes<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\nYes, no per-entity fee<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\nYes<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\nMalaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Philippines, India, GCC<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\nMid-market to enterprise, regional growth<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
PayrollPanda<\/span><\/i><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\nNative<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\nNo<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\nNo<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\nNo, payroll only<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\nNo, Malaysia only<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\nMicrobusinesses, single admin<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Kakitangan<\/span><\/i><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\nNative<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\nYes<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\nLimited<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\nPayroll and basic HR<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\nNo, Malaysia only<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\nSmall businesses under 150 employees<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
BrioHR<\/span><\/i><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\nNative<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\nYes<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\nYes<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\nYes<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\nMalaysia, Singapore<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\nSMEs wanting fast, affordable full-suite HR<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
SQL Payroll<\/span><\/i><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\nNative, desktop-first<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\nLimited<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\nManual, per-entity<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\nPayroll and accounting only<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\nNo, Malaysia only<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\nBusinesses embedded in SQL Account<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Employment Hero<\/span><\/i><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\nNative, via partner<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\nYes<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\nLimited<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\nYes<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\n6 core markets, Australia-anchored<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\nRegional groups anchored in Australia<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table><\/div>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Read more: <\/span><\/i><\/b>Best payroll software in Malaysia<\/span><\/i><\/b><\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Akrivia HCM<\/h3>\n

Akrivia HCM is worth evaluating once a business has outgrown what Kakitangan, BrioHR, or SQL Payroll are each built around, whether that’s genuine multi-entity complexity, a full employee lifecycle need, or expansion beyond Malaysia and Singapore.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It’s a unified hire-to-retire platform where<\/span> recruitment<\/span><\/b><\/a>, onboarding, core HR, payroll, performance, learning, and AI-powered people analytics all live in one system. EPF, SOCSO, EIS, and PCB compliance are native with automatic rate updates, and multiple Malaysian entities are managed from one dashboard without per-entity pricing penalties. The same platform extends natively into Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines, India, and the broader GCC, a path none of PayrollPanda, Kakitangan, or SQL Payroll offer, and a broader Southeast Asian footprint than Employment Hero’s Australia-anchored coverage provides for a Malaysian business specifically.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Where it’s honestly not the fit: a five-person business that just needs PayrollPanda’s free plan to stay compliant does not need this depth, and moving to Akrivia HCM at that stage would be solving a problem the business doesn’t have yet.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Kakitangan<\/h3>\n

Kakitangan is one of the most trusted names in Malaysian small-business payroll, with strong statutory compliance across EPF, SOCSO, EIS, PCB, HRDF, and EA Form generation, plus direct integration with major Malaysian banks. Pricing starts from roughly RM10 per employee per month, modular so a business pays only for what it uses, and it supports multi-user payroll processing, a direct fix for PayrollPanda’s biggest limitation.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Where it creates friction: there’s no custom report builder, people analytics, or headcount dashboard, and companies consistently report needing additional tools within 12 to 18 months of growing past 150 employees. Rotating shift scheduling also isn’t supported.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

BrioHR<\/h3>\n

BrioHR has built genuine credibility as an all-in-one HRMS for growing Malaysian and Singaporean companies, used by more than 1,000 organizations across globally. It handles EPF, SOCSO, EIS, PCB, and HRDF natively, supports multi-user and multi-entity payroll, and reviewers consistently note fast support response during payroll processing weeks.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Where it creates friction: BrioHR’s native coverage stops at Malaysia and Singapore, so any business expanding further into the region needs a second local vendor.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

SQL Payroll<\/h3>\n

SQL Payroll remains widely used in Malaysia because of its deep integration with SQL Account, a genuine advantage for businesses already running their accounting on that ecosystem, with full statutory coverage and CP39, EA, and Borang E generation.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Where it creates friction: the core architecture is Windows-based and desktop-first, and it’s fundamentally a payroll module bolted onto accounting software, with no recruitment, performance, or learning capability, and no multi-country payroll.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Employment Hero<\/h3>\n

Employment Hero offers a broad HR, payroll, and benefits suite with genuine regional presence across Australia, New Zealand, the UK, Singapore, and Canada, and SOC 2 Type II and ISO certifications that matter for larger organizations.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Where it creates friction for a business coming from PayrollPanda: Malaysian EPF, SOCSO, and PCB compliance runs through a partner integration rather than a fully native engine, support operates primarily during AEST hours, and per-employee tiered pricing with a 10-user minimum can escalate quickly.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The<\/span><\/b> walls that trigger a switch<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

Across businesses that move off PayrollPanda, the trigger is almost always one of three specific walls.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n