Last updated 27 March 2026
Top UK Take-Home Pay Calculators Compared
People check take-home pay calculators when they are negotiating a salary, switching jobs, or working out whether they can afford a change. If the calculator gets the number wrong, the decision that follows is based on a figure that does not reflect reality.
For a simple PAYE salary with no pension or student loan, most calculators agree. The differences appear once pensions are involved. Whether a calculator uses NET pay, relief at source, or salary sacrifice changes how much tax, NI, and student loan you pay — and not every calculator handles or labels these methods correctly.
This comparison tests six widely used UK calculators across four scenarios designed to expose these gaps, focusing on pension handling, student loan coverage, and whether the results match HMRC tax rates and NI thresholds.
Disclosure: This review is produced by Casomo UK, which builds take-home pay calculators. We do not have a general UK calculator in this comparison. All data and methods are shared so readers can check the findings.
At a Glance
A high-level view of how each calculator scores across six areas. Full feature grids and accuracy tables are in the dataset.
- Accuracy — how close results are to values calculated from HMRC tax rates and NI thresholds
- Pension — correct handling of NET pay, relief at source, and salary sacrifice
- Features — range of inputs: tax year, income types, tax code, allowances
- Student Loans — coverage of Plans 1, 2, 4, 5, and Postgraduate
- Privacy — third-party scripts, ads, tracking, consent model
- Usability — breakdowns, rates shown, documented assumptions, access model
| Accuracy | Pension | Features | Student Loans | Privacy | Usability | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MSE | ||||||
| HMRC | ||||||
| Salary Calc | ||||||
| UK Tax Calc | ||||||
| UK Salary Calc | ||||||
| ANNA |
Calculator Reviews
Money Saving Expert
Money Saving Expert is a consumer finance site founded by Martin Lewis. Its tax calculator is one of the most widely used in the UK. It handles basic PAYE and NET pay pension well, and results match other calculators for simple cases.
The limitations are in scope. There is no salary sacrifice, no Plan 5 or Postgraduate loan, and the tax code field accepts any input without checking. For anyone with a salary sacrifice pension or a newer student loan plan, MSE will not give a complete picture.
Strengths
- Trusted brand with large audience
- NET pay pension support
- Blind person’s allowance
- Ad-free
Weaknesses
- No salary sacrifice
- No Plan 5 or Postgraduate loan
- Tax code input not validated
- Newsletter popup on page
Best for: Quick estimate for simple PAYE with NET pay pension.
HMRC
HMRC is the UK government department responsible for tax collection. This is their official PAYE take-home pay estimator. It validates tax codes, documents its assumptions, and has no ads or third-party scripts.
The main gap is pension flexibility. It only supports salary sacrifice, which means it cannot test NET pay or relief at source cases. It also only accepts a pension percentage, not a fixed amount, so matching an exact £20,000 sacrifice required working backwards to 14.81%.
Strengths
- Official government calculator
- Tax code validated
- Assumptions documented
- No ads or tracking scripts
Weaknesses
- Only salary sacrifice pension (no NET pay)
- No Plan 5 or Postgraduate loan
- No tax year selection
- Percentage pension only (no fixed £)
Best for: Official reference for salary sacrifice cases.
The Salary Calculator
The Salary Calculator is a long-running independent site dedicated to UK pay calculations. It is the most feature-rich general-purpose calculator in this comparison, and the only one that supports employer pension contributions. It covers all three pension methods: NET pay, relief at source, and salary sacrifice.
The student loan control lets multiple plans be selected at once, which is not how repayments work. The percentage pension input also appears to read the value as a fixed amount. Despite these issues, accuracy is good for cases where inputs are entered correctly.
Strengths
- All three pension methods supported
- Employer pension contribution
- Overtime and bonus inputs
- Marriage and blind person’s allowance
Weaknesses
- Multiple student loan plans selectable at once
- Percentage pension input treated as £
- Tax code not validated
- Displays ads
Best for: Complex cases needing salary sacrifice and employer pension.
UK Tax Calculators
UK Tax Calculators is an independent tax information site that offers calculators for income tax, self-employment, and capital gains. Its personal tax calculator covers more ground than most, including all five student loan plans, documented assumptions, and export/print.
The pension handling is opaque. The calculator appears to use salary sacrifice rules but does not label it as such, which makes it hard to know which method is being applied. No NET pay option is available, limiting its use for workplace pension schemes that use that method.
Strengths
- All five student loan plans
- Self-employment support
- Marriage allowance
- Export/print
- Assumptions documented
Weaknesses
- Salary sacrifice not labelled clearly
- No NET pay pension option
- Tax code not validated
- Displays ads
Best for: Self-employed users or those needing Plan 5 support.
Listen to Taxman (UK Salary Calc)
Listen to Taxman is an independent UK salary site that has been running since the early 2000s. It supports all five student loan plans and shows an effective tax rate, which most calculators omit. Results are close to others for supported cases.
The pension option is labelled “auto enrolment” but uses NET pay rules without saying so. There is no salary sacrifice support and no way to enter a fixed £ pension amount. The tax code field accepts any input.
Strengths
- All five student loan plans
- Effective rate shown
- Marriage and blind person’s allowance
Weaknesses
- Pension labelled ‘auto enrolment’ but uses NET pay
- No salary sacrifice
- No fixed £ pension input
- Tax code not validated
- Displays ads
Best for: Student loan plan coverage with effective rate display.
ANNA Money
ANNA Money is a business banking provider that offers a free tax calculator. The interface is clean and ad-free, and the tax code field is validated.
The pension handling is the weakest in this comparison. Pension is deducted from take-home pay only, without changing taxable income — a method that does not match any HMRC pension scheme. In testing, a 5% input produced £1,938 instead of the expected £2,250, and a 10% input was capped at £4,403 instead of £11,000. No component breakdown is shown.
Strengths
- Clean interface
- No ads
- Tax code validated
Weaknesses
- Pension deducted from take-home only (wrong method)
- Pension amount does not match percentage entered
- No component breakdown
- No Plan 5
- No hourly rate input
Best for: Very rough estimate only. Pension figures are unreliable.
How UK Take-Home Pay Works
Every UK take-home pay result follows the same basic steps: gross salary, pension, taxable income, income tax, National Insurance, student loan, and take-home pay. Where calculators differ is in how — and at which step — they take off pension, which changes every number that comes after it. For a full walkthrough, see how UK take-home pay is calculated.
With salary sacrifice, your pension comes out of your pay before tax and NI are worked out. With NET pay, pension lowers your taxable income but not your NI. With relief at source, pension comes out after tax and your provider claims back the basic-rate tax for you. These gaps explain why two calculators can show different take-home figures even when the pension amount is the same. See UK pension types explained for more detail on each method.
Key Findings
- Simple PAYE results align across calculators
- Pension method is the main source of different results — labels often do not match behaviour
- Salary sacrifice changes NI and student loan figures; calculators that skip this step overstate both
- Plan 5 and Postgraduate loan support is patchy
- Tax code input is widely offered but rarely validated
- Capital gains tax is not supported by any calculator reviewed
- No calculator displays a last-updated date
How We Tested
Four test cases were run through all six calculators: a baseline PAYE case, a personal allowance taper case, a salary sacrifice stress test, and a capital gains tax scenario (unsupported by all).
Each calculator was also checked against a feature grid covering core features, income inputs, pension handling, student loans, and UX. All test data and feature grids are published in the artefacts repository.
| Case | Description | Gross | Pension Type | Pension Amount | Student Loan | CGT | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | Baseline PAYE | £45,000 | NET Pay | 5% | Plan 2 | — | Control |
| B | Personal Allowance Taper | £110,000 | NET Pay | 10% | — | — | ANI + taper test |
| C | Salary Sacrifice Stress | £135,000 | Salary Sacrifice | £20,000 | Plan 2 | — | Scope transparency |
| D | CGT Scenario | £50,000 | — | — | — | £20,000 | CGT rate and tax band interaction |
Tax year tested: 2025/26. Tested March 2026. This comparison reflects the state of each calculator at the time of testing.