Sage Pastel is a long-established South African desktop accounting product. Bluubin offers the same all-in-one coverage — accounting and payroll together — in a modern cloud platform, from R149/mo with free support and a no-card trial.
Sage Pastel — the Pastel accounting line long popular with South African businesses and their accountants — is a capable, established product with strong local compliance. It's a desktop-installed product (cloud-connected for backup and remote access), and payroll is a separate Pastel product that integrates with the accounting rather than being part of the same package.
Bluubin covers the same ground — accounting and payroll, fully SARS- and Department of Labour-aligned — in one modern cloud platform you reach from any browser. Unlimited transactions on every plan, a free 30-day trial with no credit card, and free local telephone and email support are all included, from R149 a month. If you're weighing up a Sage Pastel alternative in South Africa, that's the trade Bluubin is built to win.
| Feature | Bluubin | Sage Pastel |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly price | From R149/mo | Per-user / edition licence |
| Cloud, access from any browser | Desktop install (cloud-connected) | |
| Accounting + payroll on one platform | Separate products | |
| SA compliance built in (VAT201, PAYE, UIF, SDL, e@syFile, EEA4) | Yes, across separate products | |
| Free local telephone & email support | Business Care plans / partners | |
| Free 30-day trial |
Comparison based on publicly available information and each provider's standard offering at the time of writing. Features and pricing can change — always confirm the latest details with each vendor. Sage Pastel is a trademark of its respective owner; Bluubin is not affiliated with Sage Pastel.
Work from any browser on any device, with your data kept in the cloud, instead of a desktop install tied to a single machine and manual backups.
Run your books and your payroll on the same platform, rather than buying and reconciling separate Pastel products for each.
Plans start at R149 a month with unlimited transactions and free telephone and email support — no per-module licences to add up as you grow.
VAT201, PAYE, UIF, SDL, e@syFile and EEA4 are built in and kept current with SARS and Department of Labour requirements.
Yes — especially if you want to move off a desktop install. Bluubin offers accounting and payroll in one South African-built cloud platform, with unlimited transactions, free local support and a free 30-day trial.
Bluubin is fully cloud-based and combines accounting and payroll in one platform, whereas the Pastel line is traditionally a desktop install with accounting and payroll sold as separate products.
Yes. Bluubin runs in your browser with nothing to install, so you can work from any device and your data is kept in the cloud rather than on a single computer.
Yes. VAT201, EMP201/EMP501, PAYE, UIF, SDL, e@syFile and EEA4 employment equity reporting are all built in and kept up to date with SARS and Department of Labour requirements.
Bluubin's plans start at R149 a month with unlimited transactions and free support included. Sage Pastel is licensed per user and per edition and sold through Sage and its partners, so always confirm current pricing directly with Sage for the edition you need.
Yes. Start a free 30-day trial with no credit card required, and our team will help you get set up.
Start a free 30-day trial — no credit card required, no installation needed.
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