Check Take Home Pay and TakeHome API compared
Two APIs for UK pay. What each covers, how each is tested, and what each costs.
The short answer
Both are UK pay APIs with a free tier of 100 calls a month. TakeHome API covers take-home pay (with a comparison endpoint), for 2025/26 and 2026/27, has an MCP server, and lets an agent pay per call in USDC without an account. Check Take Home Pay covers take-home pay and also employer cost, payroll periods, statutory pay, entitlements and contractor calculations, and its income tax, NI and student loans pass HMRC’s own payroll test data; it has 2026/27 only so far.
TakeHome API’s details are as its own site states them on 8 October 2026 (takehomeapi.com, pricing). If anything here is out of date, tell us and we’ll correct it.
Side by side
| Check Take Home Pay | TakeHome API | |
|---|---|---|
| Calculations | Take-home, gross from net, employer cost, payroll periods, statutory sick and family pay, redundancy, notice, holiday, minimum wage, self-employed, director pay, umbrella pay, IR35 compared (all 22 endpoints) | Take-home, and a comparison of 2 to 5 scenarios |
| Tax years | 2026/27 | 2025/26 and 2026/27 |
| Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland | Yes | Yes |
| Student loans | Plans 1, 2, 4, 5 and postgraduate | Plans 1, 2, 4, 5 and postgraduate |
| How accuracy is stated | Tested against HMRC’s payroll test data for income tax, NI and student loans, to the penny; the rest against cases worked from gov.uk (accuracy) | Rates from GOV.UK, with sources on each result; results described as estimates; no testing claim stated |
| MCP server | Not yet | Yes, three tools |
| Without an account | An agent signs itself up for a free key | Pay per call in USDC (x402) |
| Free | 100 calculations a month | 100 calls a month |
| Paid | Pro £14 a month for 5,000 calculations, then £4 per 1,000 more; Scale £49 a month for 50,000 calculations, then £2 per 1,000 more | Starter £15 a month for 5,000 calls; Pro £49 for 50,000; Business £149 for 250,000 |
| Past the plan | Calls go on; the extra are billed | Not stated |
Which to use
- Take-home pay for this year and last: TakeHome API has both years; Check Take Home Pay has this year.
- Employer cost, payroll, statutory pay or contractors: Check Take Home Pay, which has endpoints for each.
- Figures you need to match payroll to the penny: Check Take Home Pay works per pay period as payroll does and passes HMRC’s own test data.
- An agent paying per call with no account: TakeHome API’s x402.