6 Best Free Payroll Software for 2021

TimeTrex is the best free payroll software for small businesses because it does more than the rest. It allows time tracking, scheduling, payroll, and some HR management features. It does tax calculations, including local taxes, something none of the other free software do. It also offers free direct deposit and automatic payroll runs.

This service earned an impressive 4.5 out of 5 stars. It lost some points due to users rating the software 4.34 out of 5 stars for ease of use and features.

Payroll4Free.com is a popular free payroll program for businesses with fewer than 25 employees. It calculates payroll, including taxes, and can print checks or handle direct deposits for free if you are using your own bank. The software can handle salary, hourly, and contract employees and print your W-2s and 1099s. It gives you pre-formatted forms to send to the government. If you want Payroll4Free.com to handle filing your tax forms, it costs an extra $15 per month.

The software is not as easy to use as paid programs, often taking extra steps to complete what a paid program can do in a single click. Nonetheless, users across multiple sites rated it an average of 3.1 out of 5 stars.

HR.my is a free, multilingual HR software that is crowdfunded. The company also works with interested people to translate the software into additional languages. It offers many good payroll and HR features, such as leave management, time tracking, expense claims, and more. Tax calculations are done manually; you need to have the current tax tables and input the percentages for calculations. The user guide is more of FAQs and not especially complete, and support is handled in comments or via social media.

Overall, the software earns 3.03 out of 5 stars. It has a few more features than some of the free payroll software, but the tax calculations took a hit, and it does not file for you. Users say the interface is dated but not too difficult to use.

If you are familiar with Excel or other spreadsheet programs, then ExcelPayroll is a good option for running basic payroll. This free VBA payroll program has already programmed the important formulas and tools you need and keeps numbers updated for the current tax year. You’ll need to input your employees’ information into the spreadsheet, but it can print out checks, W-2s, and other tax forms, track deductions such as 401(k)s, and customize timecards. It offers reports on vacation accrual and workers’ compensation, and being Excel-based, should allow for customizations and downloading data to other programs.

Overall, we gave ExcelPayroll.org 2.25 out of 5 stars. It doesn’t have automatic pay runs nor can it pay employees through direct deposit or file taxes. It’s a good alternative for those who like working with spreadsheets but would like to have the formulas in place.

Both Paycheck Manager and eSmart Paycheck are run by C&S Technologies and are very similar in functionality. Both have free 3-month trials of their paid plans and provide a paycheck calculator for printing paychecks one at a time. Paycheck Manager is the better interface if you have overtime calculations, as eSmart Paychecks cannot calculate these automatically.

Overall, this service earned 2.11 out of 5 stars. It’s only good for payroll officers who just want a quick and easy way to calculate and print a paycheck. We recommend it for businesses with fewer than five employees or those with temporary workers.

If you need to write only a few paychecks or you hire employees on an intermittent basis, then eSmart Paycheck’s free paycheck calculator and printer might fit the bill. Its paycheck calculator lets you put in salary or hours, notes dependents and withholdings such as 401(k)s, and calculates the taxes and paychecks. Then, you can print the check. eSmart has a paying program and a 3-month free trial.

This service earned 1.99 out of 5 stars. It does not file taxes, keep records, or do any of the other basic functions found in the other payroll software on our list.