PayScale and Payfactors announced their combination on March 1, 2021, aiming to pair compensation data with software for employers navigating pay-equity concerns, remote work and changing market-pricing needs. The companies said the combined business would have more than 600 employees and 10,000 customers, keep the PayScale name and be based in Seattle. Those were company-reported figures at announcement, not independently audited measures.
What happened in the 2021 combination?
PayScale and Payfactors were privately held compensation-data and software businesses serving employers. On March 1, 2021, PayScale CEO Scott Torrey told GeekWire that the companies were combining, with the transaction expected to close that day. The report said a confidential filing to complete the transaction had been made on December 21 and that the Department of Justice had completed an informal review on February 22, according to Torrey.
The combined company was to continue under the PayScale name, with Seattle as its base. Torrey was to serve as CEO, while Payfactors CEO Jeff Laliberte was to become chief strategy officer. The transaction terms were not disclosed. GeekWire reported Francisco Partners as majority owner and said Insight Partners would roll over its equity and make a new investment of undisclosed size.
Why did the companies see a large market for compensation data?
Their stated case was that employers needed stronger data and technology to make compensation decisions as questions about pay equity and remote work grew more prominent. Remote work complicated the question of which labor markets should guide pay, while pay-equity scrutiny increased the importance of understanding and explaining compensation differences. The companies presented the combination as a way to bring PayScale’s compensation data and technology together with Payfactors’ compensation-data management and industry expertise.
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Both businesses sold software to corporate customers on a software-as-a-service basis. In the GeekWire interview, Torrey said of Payfactors, “They’ve been a great competitor,” and argued that joining forces could be preferable to continued competition. The report also quoted a joint customer letter from Torrey and Laliberte saying the businesses would initially operate as usual while assessing products, organization and strategy. That language described an integration still to be worked out, not a claim that the merger had already delivered its intended results.
What scale did the companies report at announcement?
Torrey told GeekWire in 2021 that the combined company had more than 600 employees and 10,000 customers. He also said those customers included more than half of Fortune 500 companies and represented more than 35 million employees. He characterized the combined compensation dataset as covering about 30% of the U.S. working population. These are historical company figures and Torrey’s description, as reported by GeekWire; they should not be read as independently verified or audited statistics.
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What changed after the deal?
2022: a combined Payfactors platform
In June 2022, Payscale said it was providing customers with a rebranded Payfactors platform that combined capabilities from both businesses. The company described the platform’s compensation information as drawing on three sources: employee-reported data, company-sourced data and traditional survey data. That product announcement showed one concrete integration step, but it does not establish how much revenue or customer growth the merger produced.
2024: further product and data updates
In a July 2024 company release, Payscale listed Payfactors among its flagship products and reported updates to Payfactors and MarketPay, alongside expansions to data and product capabilities. These are Payscale’s own descriptions of its products and updates, not an independent assessment of product performance.
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Torrey told GeekWire in 2021 that the company was targeting $200 million in revenue by 2022, describing that goal as 20% growth. That was a forecast, not a reported result. The cited coverage and Payscale materials do not establish whether the company reached it, so the outcome remains unverified in these sources. No comparable standalone revenue figures or audited post-merger performance data are provided there.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What the announcement does—and does not—show
- It shows the strategic thesis: the companies wanted to combine compensation data, software and expertise for employers facing evolving pay decisions.
- It documents reported scale: the employee, customer and reach figures came from the companies and Torrey in 2021, rather than an independent audit.
- It records an integration milestone: Payscale described the combined Payfactors platform in 2022 and continued to list the product in 2024.
- It does not prove the financial outcome: the reported $200 million target is not verified as achieved, and transaction terms were not disclosed.
For Payscale’s later corporate history and current company context, see its company history and overview. Its current claims should not be mistaken for merger-era results.
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