Free payroll software makes it easier to run paychecks without adding to your budget. The best options can calculate pay for hourly and salary workers, handle tax calculations and deductions, and print checks and pay stubs. Some of the software even file taxes and offer direct deposits. In this guide, we reviewed six free payroll services and then narrowed it down to our top three recommendations.
If you’re looking for a paid payroll solution that automatically updates payroll tax rates and files taxes (most free payroll software don’t), is easy to use and affordable, and offers a free trial, consider Gusto. It’s an all-in-one payroll and HR solution for small businesses that helps save you time and money by calculating, filing, and paying your payroll taxes automatically. It’s free for up to 30 days.
- TimeTrex: Best overall free payroll software for small businesses
- Payroll4Free.com: Best for companies with 25 or fewer employees looking for a free platform
- HR.my: Best for startups needing basic HR and payroll tools at zero cost
If you need software with more functionality but aren’t ready to spend money, you should consider affordable payroll software that comes with a free trial so you can make sure it’s worth it, risk-free.
- Gusto: 30-day free trial
- Paychex: Three-month free trial
- QuickBooks Payroll: 30-day free trial
Top Payroll Software Employers Can Use Free
Payroll Software With Free Plans | Payroll Software With Free Trials | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |  |  |  |  |  | |
Starting Prices | $0 | $0 | $0 | $39 + $6/ employee monthly | $39 + $5/ employee monthly | $45 + $4/ employee monthly |
Number of Employees Included in Free Plan | Unlimited | Up to 25 | Unlimited | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Files and Pays Taxes | N/A | With add-on fees | N/A | ✔ | With add-on fees | Yes, but local filings available only in highest plan |
Preps Year-end Tax Forms | ✔ | ✔ | N/A | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Benefit Options | N/A | N/A | N/A | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Modern Interface | N/A | N/A | N/A | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Live Support | ✔ | ✔ | N/A | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Free Direct Deposit | ✔ | Free if using your bank account | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Unlimited Pay Runs | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | N/A | ✔ |
Calculates Taxes and Payroll | ✔ | ✔ | Limited; manual tax rate entry | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Free Time Tracking | ✔ | N/A | ✔ | Included in higher tiers | With add-on fees | Included in higher tiers |
Free Scheduling Tools | ✔ | N/A | N/A | N/A | Included in time tracking solution | N/A |
Free Performance Management | ✔ | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Multilingual | N/A | N/A | ✔ | N/A | N/A | N/A |
If you need more payroll software options and are open to some that aren’t free (yet reasonably priced), check out our buyer’s guides on the best payroll services and the best payroll software for small businesses.
TimeTrex: Best Overall Free Payroll Software for Small Businesses
TimeTrex
What We Like
- Has automatic pay runs with free direct deposits
- Offers a feature-rich free plan (comes with payroll, time tracking, scheduling, and HR management tools)
- Integrates with other payroll tools like QuickBooks, ADP, and Paychex
What's Missing
- Dashboard looks somewhat dated
- Details about the free option and paid plans are difficult to find on its website; pricing isn’t transparent
- Doesn’t handle payroll tax filings
TimeTrex Pricing
- Free version: Payroll software free forever with no employee minimums
- Paid options: Three custom-priced product editions (Professional, Corporate, and Enterprise) that include basic HR, recruiting, time tracking, scheduling, payroll, invoicing, and expense tracking functionalities
TimeTrex is our top-recommended free payroll software for small businesses because it does more than Payroll4Free and HR.my. Aside from pay processing, it has time tracking, scheduling, paid time off (PTO) monitoring, and HR management solutions that you can access at no cost. You even get an online time clock that lets your employees clock-in/out through web browsers.
Scoring an overall 4.7 out of 5, with perfect marks in nearly all our criteria, TimeTrex would have gotten a 5 out 5 in our evaluation if not for its limited payroll tax services. While it calculates federal, state, and local taxes in addition to generating tax forms (like W-2s and 1099s), TimeTrex doesn’t remit and file taxes for you. However, users still appreciate its user-friendly platform that makes pay processing easy. If you need tax filing services, you may want to consider Payroll4Free.com, but it isn’t free—you have to pay $15 per month.
TimeTrex has a payroll wizard to help guide you through the process.
TimeTrex Pricing
You can access TimeTrex’s free payroll software through its Community Edition solution, which is a downloadable open-source workforce management platform. What’s great about it is that there are no employee limits, and you get basic HR and payroll tools for free.
TimeTrex offers three paid product editions (Professional, Corporate, and Enterprise) with additional features like facial recognition tablet time clocks, document management, applicant tracking, invoicing, and expense monitoring. However, pricing isn’t transparent—you have to call the provider to request a quote.
The representative we contacted said that pricing is based on the number of employees you have and the system deployment option selected (cloud-hosted or on-site). For a cloud-based version of its Professional Edition, you have to pay $3 per employee monthly for 10 employees. There’s also an account activation fee of $99.
TimeTrex Features
- Feature-rich free tier: Even at its free level, TimeTrex grants you access to several integrated solutions designed to help you manage your workforce. You get online tools to create schedules, capture clock-ins/outs, track attendance, monitor PTO, pay employees, conduct performance reviews, and record staff information in a centralized database. This is more than what Payroll4Free.com offers (it doesn’t have free HR tools) and what HR.my provides as part of its forever-free solution (which doesn’t have performance reviews).
- Online time tracking: TimeTrex has robust time tracking capabilities—making it one of our leading time and attendance software for small businesses. Its web browser-based time clock allows you to turn computers into employee time tracking devices. However, geofencing capabilities, facial recognition time clocks, and mobile time tracking apps aren’t included in its free Community Edition. If you require geolocation and face verification tools to prevent buddy punching, we recommend HR.my as it offers those functionalities for free.
- Efficient pay processing: With TimeTrex’s efficient payroll tools, you don’t have to worry about doing payroll yourself. In addition to automatic payroll runs, it automatically calculates taxes and custom deductions like garnishments, PTO accruals, and benefits. It also offers electronic pay stubs, free direct deposits, and pay checks that you can print in several formats.
- Third-party software integrations: TimeTrex seamlessly integrates with other payroll software like QuickBooks, ADP, Paychex, Ceridian, and Sage. Note that HR.my doesn’t have this functionality, while Payroll4Free.com has limited options and connects with other software through payroll data exports and time data imports.
- Custom reporting: Aside from standard payroll, HR, and employee reports, TimeTrex has built-in templates that you can customize.
TimeTrex’s Drawback
- Basic payroll tax services: With TimeTrex’s free payroll software, you have to handle tax payments and filings yourself. If you don’t want do-it-yourself (DIY) taxes and you’re willing to pay extra, consider Payroll4Free as it offers automated tax filing services for $15 monthly.
Payroll4Free: Best for Companies With 25 or Fewer Employees
Payroll4Free
What We Like
- Free-forever payroll services with essential online tools (including an employee portal)
- Email and phone support with access to payroll and tax experts
- Tax filings and direct deposits (not using own bank) are affordable add-ons
What's Missing
- Free only for 25 or fewer employees
- Limited system compatibility (Windows only)
- Payroll software comes with ads; interface looks outdated
Payroll4Free Pricing
- Free version: Payroll software free for those with 25 or fewer workers
- Add-ons:
- Payroll tax payments and filings: $15 monthly
- Direct deposit transfers using Payroll4Free’s bank account: $15 monthly
Payroll4Free is a popular free payroll software for businesses with 25 or fewer employees. It calculates payroll and taxes, tracks PTO accruals, prints paychecks, and provides free direct deposits if you use your own bank. The software can also handle year-end tax reports (W-2s and 1099s), providing you with pre-formatted forms to send to the government. If you want Payroll4Free.com to file your tax forms, you have to pay $15 per month.
In our evaluation, Payroll4Free earned a score of 3.55 out of 5. It would have ranked higher if it didn’t have an employee limit (for 25 and fewer employees only) and if it offered tax filings for free. Some users even said that its platform is unintuitive, often taking extra steps to complete what a paid program can do in a single click. They also don’t appreciate the ads that appear while using the tool.
Payroll4Free Pricing
Payroll4Free.com is free to use—if your business has 25 or fewer employees. While it earns money through small ads placed inside the software, it also collects fees from the following payroll services that you can purchase as add-ons.
- Payroll tax deposits and filings, including year-end reporting: $15 per month
- Direct deposits using Payroll4Free.com’s bank*: $15 per month
*This requires a security deposit equal to the highest estimated net payroll you plan to process in a seven-day period.
Payroll4Free Features
- Efficient pay processing: In addition to paying employees and calculating taxes (federal, state, and local) for free, it allows you to set up any kind of deduction, contribution, and earning. Payroll4Free.com will automatically compute it—provided you have specified how these items should be calculated. Note that it doesn’t have the integrated time tracking tools that both TimeTrex and HR.my provide for free. You have to manually import time data into its system before you can run payroll.
- Check printing setup assistance: If you prefer to pay employees via checks, Payroll4Free.com can help set up its software to add any data you want to appear on the check. You won’t get the said free service with both HR.my and TimeTrex.
- Access to payroll and tax experts: Aside from unlimited customer support, Payroll4Free.com has a team of experienced payroll and tax specialists that you can contact if you have queries or need payroll advice. However, it doesn’t have the community forum that TimeTrex and HR.my offer, which allows you to get input from other business owners and HR professionals.
- Custom reporting: You get custom and detailed reports, enabling you to stay up-to-date with payroll information, tax details, PTO accruals, and employee deductions. It has several reporting options, but the choices aren’t as robust as HR.my and TimeTrex—simply because these two providers’ free packages include other HR solutions, so you may run non-payroll reports.
Payroll4Free’s Drawbacks
- 25 employee limit: Unless you have a workforce that doesn’t exceed Payroll4Free’s limit, you can continue using its software for free. For companies that have more than 25 staff, consider either TimeTrex and HR.my—both allow you to process payroll for unlimited employees at no cost.
- Paid payroll tax filings: Payroll4Free only calculates taxes and provides filled-out tax forms that you can use to file taxes. While it can remit the payments and file the forms (including year-end tax forms) for you, this service costs $15 per month.
HR.my: Best for Startups Needing Basic HR & Payroll Tools
HR.my
What We Like
- Feature-rich free HR solution
- Multilingual platform with free access to payroll, time clocks, and basic HR tools
- Additional paid features are only $5 per month
What's Missing
- Dashboard is basic and looks outdated
- User guide isn’t robust
- Limited customer support
HR.my Pricing
- Free version: Payroll software free for unlimited employees; includes free online storage
- Add-on: $5 monthly sponsorship that includes ad-free web accounts, early access to new features, additional online storage, and advanced email notifications
HR.my is a free multilingual HR software that is crowdfunded. The company works with those interested in translating the software into additional languages. It has basic payroll and HR features (such as employee information management, time tracking, and expense claims) that you can use for free.
Overall, it earned 3.53 out of 5 in our evaluation, with high marks for pricing and popularity. What pulled its score down is the lack of custom reporting and payroll tax filings. It also doesn’t offer phone support, nor does it have a support team. If you need help with a feature, you can visit its community forum and access its online user guide, which is more of an FAQ page but with limited information.
This is HR.my’s dashboard for adding new employees.
HR.my Pricing
HR.my is completely free, plus you get unlimited storage and can add unlimited employees. Unlike TimeTrex that collects fees through its paid tiers, HR.my has a crowdfunding campaign that you can opt to join. For a $5 monthly sponsorship, you get the following additional features:
- Early access to newly developed features
- Ad-free employer and employee web accounts
- Additional 3,500MB of file storage (or 6,000MB for an annual sponsorship) for employer accounts with every $5 unit of sponsorship
- Email notifications for HR.my managers in addition to those sent to the HR.my administrator
- More advanced email notifications, including for expense claims, leave requests, and announcements
HR.my Features
- Cloud-based software: If you’re always on the go, HR.my has a cloud-based system that you can access 24/7 and from any device (such as Windows and Mac computers, Android tablets, and the iPad). There’s no software installation needed—unlike TimeTrex’s free Community Edition that you need to download.
- Multilingual platform: Of the three free payroll software that we reviewed, only HR.my has a platform that is multilingual. While its default language is English, you can change it directly from the system and choose from 65 options that include Chinese, Korean, French, Spanish, Japanese, and Vietnamese.
- Feature-rich free HR solution: HR.my doesn’t only provide free payroll tools—you also get time tracking, PTO management, expense claim management, and self-service solutions for employees. However, it doesn’t have the scheduling and performance review tools that TimeTrex offers for free.
- Robust time clocks: Compared to TimeTrex’s free time clock, HR.my’s free time tracking solution offers more features, such as geolocation tracking, facial verifications of clocking in employees, and mobile time-ins/outs for field staff.
- Efficient pay processing: HR.my’s payroll tools are designed to simplify and automate employee pay processing. It has automatic pay runs and pay slips, and you can remit employee salaries through direct deposits or print paychecks. What it doesn’t support are payroll tax filings and year-end reporting—you have to fill out W-2 forms yourself.
HR.my’s Drawbacks
- Lacks phone support: HR.my doesn’t have a support team that you can contact via phone if you have questions or need assistance. You can access its user guide (but the content isn’t robust) and post queries on its community forum and then wait for other HR.my users or the system administrator to respond.
- Doesn’t file payroll taxes: Similar to TimeTrex, HR.my won’t pay and file payroll taxes on your behalf. Payroll4Free also doesn’t include this in its free services but can handle it for you if you pay $15 monthly.
If you need help selecting from our list of best free payroll services, follow our step-by-step guide on choosing payroll services.
Alternative Free Payroll Software
The three free payroll services that we recommend provide you with the essential pay processing tools you need. However, if you’re looking for a simple payroll calculator with check printing options, then consider Paycheck Manager. Not only does it compute employee pay, but it calculates taxes and overtime for free. A downside is that it can print only one paycheck at a time, so it’s only good for businesses with fewer than five employees.
For those who are more comfortable using spreadsheets to handle basic payroll, ExcelPayroll.org is a great alternative. With its free VBA payroll program, you don’t need to manually input formulas to calculate pay. It’s already programmed with the essential formulas and payroll tools you need, plus it keeps numbers updated for the current tax year.
We also have Excel templates for payroll that you can download for free. Check out our guide that contains 15 free payroll templates, including tips on how to use them.
How We Evaluated the Best Free Payroll Software
We started our research with six providers that offer free payroll services rather than merely free trials. Then, we examined the features and ease of use, focusing on paycheck processing and tax preparation.
To view our full evaluation criteria, click through the tabs in the box below.
40% of Overall Score
20% of Overall Score
20% of Overall Score
Free is no good if you have to fight the program. We looked for software with an intuitive interface, checked how easy it was to learn, and compared support options. We also considered whether it integrates with other programs or at least allowed CSV file downloads. TimeTrex received perfect marks here since it has an intuitive interface, integrates with third-party software, and offers how-to guides. With HR.my and Payroll4Free, you get limited integration options—plus their platforms aren’t as user-friendly as TimeTrex.
10% of Overall Score
We gave points based on the reports available and whether you could customize them. While the three software that we reviewed offer standard payroll reports, only TimeTrex and Payroll4Free have customized reporting.
10% of Overall Score
We considered online user reviews from third-party sites (like G2 and Capterra) based on a 5-star scale, wherein any option with an average of 4+ stars is ideal. Both TimeTrex and HR.my scored well under popularity, whereas Payroll4Free received an average score of 3.85 out of 5 on online review sites.
Bottom Line
Businesses that are on a tight budget or have limited payroll needs may find free payroll software as a way to save time and help prevent mistakes that can cost money and even legal problems. The free payroll services on our list offer online tools to make your pay processing tasks easier.
Overall, we found TimeTrex to be the best free payroll software because of its wide range of useful features that include tax calculations, automatic pay runs, and free direct deposits. Its free version provides you with efficient payroll and HR tools, while its paid plans offer even more HR functions. Sign up for a TimeTrex plan today.
