The Best Free Payroll Software For Small Businesses

If you want to use Payroll4Free to pay 26 or more employees, you’ll need to pay a monthly fee that starts at $35/month.

Employers that don’t want to deal with depositing and filling out payroll taxes need to pay a $25/month or $250/year fee for Payroll4Free to take care of it for them. However, Payroll4Free does offer free tools as a basic service that you can use to make this process easier.

If you don’t want to rely on your own bank to transfer direct deposit funds to your employees, you will need to pay another $25/month or $250/year for Payroll4Free to complete these transfers using their bank.

You can save by bundling Payroll4Free’s tax and direct deposit services for $30/month or $300/year.

The free version of Payroll4Free places no limits on payroll or direct deposit processing and doesn’t require upgrading to a higher-tier plan to enjoy its basic features.

Features that Payroll4Free offers at no additional cost include:

• Multiple Payment Methods: Pay via direct deposit of paper check; print paystubs.
• Pay Multiple Worker Types: Pay your employees and contractors at no extra cost.
• Employee Management: Employees can view their payroll data via an employee dashboard portal and owners can manage employee time off.
• Tax Support: Free tax calculation at the federal, state, and local levels; completed tax form generation.
• Data Management: Import or export payroll data (into QuickBooks, for example; import time clock data).
• Customer Support: Payroll4Free also offers extensive customer support, including US-based phone support and free account set-up.

• Payroll4Free is only compatible with Windows. However, if you have a Mac running the Windows operating system, the software will work on your Mac.
• Payroll4Free is ad-supported. To generate the revenue needed to operate Payroll4Free, the software hosts ads that users see when navigating the system. Fortunately, the ads shouldn’t be a hindrance.
• Only 25 paid employees or contractors are supported when using Payroll4Free. If your business exceeds this number, you’ll no longer be eligible for Payroll4Free’s no-cost services and will need to pay $35/month per additional batch of 25 employees starting with your 26th employee. For example, you’ll pay $35/month for employees 26-50, and another $35 for employees 51-75 (total $70/month), and so on.

ExcelPayroll sells up-to-date state tax tables for $50 each or $100 each for Alabama and New York’s tax tables. You’ll likely need to purchase renewals each year unless you prefer to save money and update the tax tables yourself.

To run ExcelPayroll, you’ll need a license for Excel 2007, 2010, or 2013. Unfortunately, Microsoft has discontinued support for all the versions listed, so you’ll need to already have a product key/license for an older version of Excel or scour the internet for a reputable reseller with valid licenses at a reasonable price.

It may be possible to run ExcelPayroll with Microsoft 365, but the program’s macros or VBA code may be blocked from use. We ran into that problem when trying to run ExcelPayroll with the latest version of Excel.

According to its program mission, ExcelPayroll strives to create a Microsoft Excel-based payroll application that includes no monthly fees and zero costs attached to using it. Best of all, ExcelPayroll offers a full set of reliable payroll tools, including:

• Payroll Tax Support: Set custom tax rates at the federal, state, and local levels; print out W-2 and W-3 tax forms and data.
• Customizable Payroll: Set multiple pay rates and schedules, cut checks at any time, customize paycheck designs, pay out supplemental earnings, and set deductions.
• Employee Management: Keep up to 1,000 employees in your employee database, set employee status, and track and manage vacation time accrual.
• Strong Reporting: Run a wide variety of payroll reports using data entered in ExcelPayroll.

ExcelPayroll is designed for use by accounting students and very small businesses. Therefore, the creator has placed strict technical limitations on the software that prevent it from being used by larger businesses.

ExcelPayroll’s technical limitations include limiting the software to 57 active employees, setting the maximum single-employee hourly earnings to $4807.69, and setting the maximum single-employee annual earnings to $458,300. Non-profits paying more than 57 active employees may reach out to the creator directly to have these limits increased or removed.

Additionally, it may be challenging to run ExcelPayroll on the latest versions of Microsoft Excel and you may need to find an older version (2007, 2010, or 2013) to get the program to work for you.

HR.my users may opt to pay a minimum $5/month sponsorship fee in exchange for an ad-free experience, additional file storage, one additional HR role, and early access to new features.

That said, the subscription price isn’t compulsory and doesn’t gate any of the service’s core features behind a paywall.

HR.my accomplishes its free service through crowdfunding from its user community, so you just need to sign up to start using it. HR.my’s free features include:

• Comprehensive Payroll Options: Set custom pay rates, multiple schedule options, custom deductions, set employee status, and track employee time with built-in time tracking.
• Employee Management: Employee self-service portal where employees can view and edit records, time off request management and tracking, expense management, document workflows, and scheduling.
• HR Tools: Employee collaboration forum, document storage, announcement boards, set custom access roles, and employee credential tracking.
• Mobile app: Run payroll on the go, remote time clocks for employees, leave management, and more.

• HR.my does not have built-in US labor law compliance or tax support. If you’re going to use HR.my, you’ll need to ensure that you’ve brushed up on the payroll tax liabilities and labor laws that are applicable to your business and its employees. You can set custom tax rates, but the software does not provide any relevant guidance on payroll taxes or labor law compliance, such as minimum wage laws in your state.
• HR.my has limited customer support options. Businesses using HR.my shouldn’t expect much by way of customer support. Issues can take days to resolve and are generally posted to a public support forum, so you’ll need to be careful about the information you post, should you ever need support.

TimeTrex does not have any fees on its free plan. TimeTrex offers paid plans, but doesn’t include any further pricing details, so you’ll need to request a quote with them to learn more about which paid plan makes sense for your business, should you choose to upgrade.

TimeTrex’s paid plans include other services, such as a mobile app and on-site service in addition to its web portal support. However, customers on TimeTrex’s free plan still have access to the service’s basic features.

TimeTrex offers its most basic payroll features for free under its Community Edition service plan. The TimeTrex Community Edition is exclusively cloud-hosted, doesn’t require any downloads or software installations, and comes with free features:

• Payroll: Pay employees and contractors via direct deposit of paper check integrated attendance and scheduling.
• Employee Management: Track employee time and attendance, manage schedules, and manage employee time off.
• Payroll Tax Support: Generate tax reports, including W-2, W-3, 1099, 940, and 941-specific reports; free payroll tax calculator (federal, state, and local taxes).

• TimeTrex’s customer support is very limited. On its free plan, TimeTrex offers support by way of its community-led forum. Otherwise, you’re essentially on your own.
• TimeTrex’s free plan doesn’t offer any tax filing support. This solution is best for businesses that have some familiarity with payroll tax filing or those who will be filing taxes with the aid of a tax professional.
• TimeTrex’s interface is a bit clunky. Although the software was surprisingly easy to use, it’s definitely missing the smoothness and fluidity of modern paid payroll software.

eSmart Paycheck is free to use and even offers a free account for businesses that wish to save their paychecks. Businesses using eSmart Paycheck can pay for paid access to federal and state payroll forms and tax filing support at various prices.

eSmart Paycheck – Home Dashboard

eSmart Paycheck’s free plan is more of a payroll calculator than it is a full-fledged payroll software solution. Small business owners can use eSmart Paycheck to input employee wages and withhold information to run payroll themselves. Standout free features include:

• Paycheck and pay stub downloads and printing
• State-specific payroll calculators (no local tax support)
• Adjustable pay cycles
• Web-based access from anywhere with an internet connection
• Federal and state withholding calculator

• eSmart Paycheck doesn’t automatically calculate local taxes. You’ll need to add customized deductions when using eSmart Paycheck. For example, eSmart Paycheck doesn’t automatically calculate the various personal income taxes in Portland, Oregon.
• Don’t expect quick customer support when using eSmart Paycheck. While eSmart Paycheck offers some customer support, you’re generally limited to email, fax, or snail mail, as eSmart Paycheck itself even adds a disclaimer about its very limited phone support.
• eSmart Paycheck isn’t good for much outside of paycheck calculation and printing. You’re not going to get time tracking, third-party integrations, or really much of anything beyond paycheck calculation when using eSmart Paycheck. It’s a solid solution for what it does, but it should only be a supplement to businesses that are able to manage all other payroll functions, including tax filing, time tracking, benefits administration, and more using another solution (or manually).