Top 10 Best Free Payroll Software for Small Business in 2024

Do you need help with tax calculations and employee payments? If yes, this article is for you! We’re introducing the Best Free Payroll Software for Small Businesses.

Just think that you’re the owner or CEO of your company, and you don’t have a separate department for payments and taxes. Then you have to control this with your existing work, right? We don’t need to tell you how much of a headache process this is!

Here’s the roleplay of payroll software: it helps to decrease the stress in payment calculations and taxes of small businesses. 

In this article, we will see what payroll software is and the best 10 free payroll software programs with key features and plans. We’re also comparing the effectiveness of the software. It helps you understand payroll software.

So, without any delay, Let’s get started!!

FeatureEmployee limitFree TrialPricing
Payroll4free10 EmployeesContact sales team
HR.myUnlimitedContact sales team
TimeTrexUnlimited$30/mo
ExcelpayrollUnlimitedContact through Website
Wave10 Employees$40/mo
Gusto10 Employees$40/mo
Onpay1 Employees$40/mo
QuickBooks1 Employees$15/mo
HomebaseUnlimited employees$20/mo
Zoho payroll10 Employees$40/mo

What is Payroll Software?

In very simple terms, Payroll software is cloud-based software that helps organisations manage their employees’ payments and payroll processes.

It helps small businesses or organisations save time, calculate taxes, track expenses, monitor employee hours, etc.

The best payroll software can easily integrate with existing company processes, so choosing the best software according to our requirements is essential!

To help you in the process of selecting the best software, we listed the top best 10 free payroll software below with its features and plans, Evaluate it as per your needs and choose the best fit for you.

What is Payroll Software

Top 10 Free Best Payroll Software for Small Business

Now we know what payroll software means, but choosing the best software according to your needs and its wide availability can overwhelm you!

No need to worry!

We’re here to help. Check out the top 10 free payroll software listed below and choose the best option.

🕛TL;DR

Payroll4free – Best Free Payroll for Small Business
HR.my – Unlimited Free Employee Management
TimeTrex – Free Workforce Management
Excelpayroll– How to Make Payroll In Excel
Wave –  Easy payroll software for small business
Gusto – Run Payroll In Minutes With Gusto Smart Technology.
Onpay – Smart Businesses Rely on OnPay
QuickBooks – Plans for Every Kind of Business
Homebase – Simplify Scheduling, Time Clocks, and Payroll
Zohopayroll – Payroll Experience Redefined to be Stress Free

Let’s dive deeper into it!

1. Payroll4free – Best Free Payroll for Small Business

best free payroll software

Payroll4free is one of the best free payroll software programs. It helps small businesses with payroll processing. It includes basic payroll services, such as paying employees and calculating taxes. You can also generate tax forms and create detailed payroll reports with this. It is specially targeted for small businesses that have 10 or fewer employees.

Payroll4free is entirely free of cost; it provides basic services for small businesses in forever free mode with full features.

Features of payroll4free can be listed as follows:

Key Features

  • Quick and easy enrollment: It guides you through step-by-step setup and enrollment in an easy way.
  • Pay employees and contractors: In addition to paying employees payroll4free, you can pay 1099 contracts and create a file year-end of 1099 forms.
  • Tax Calculations and Forms: Payroll4free helps you calculate and maintain taxes and their forms.
  • Employee portal: Give your employees the option to access their payment information from any device.
  • Friendly customer service: Friendly customer service helps you solve all your queries.

Pricing

Payroll4free is free forever for basic modes; there are also paid plans. Users can contact them directly through their official website to learn more.


2. HR.my – Unlimited Free Employee Management

Hr.my Free Payroll software

HR.my is multilingual, free payroll software. It offers expense claims, leave management, time clocks, attendance tracking, and document workflow. It targets small—to medium-sized businesses looking for cost-effective, feature-rich HR solutions. It also helps with team collaboration and document sharing.

HR.my payroll software is forever free for all basic mode users. It also does not charge any onboard costs and offers a wide range of features.

Let’s delve into its significant features:

Key features

  • Incident management: Report, track, and investigate related to employee misconduct.
  • Free payroll processing: simplify and automate payroll processing with automated payslips.
  • Powerful approval workflow: You can empower employees and do away with paperwork with powerful workflows.
  • Free leave management: You can manage and approve employee leave applications
  • Free attendance management and time clock: you can know your employee attendance with their working time.

Pricing

HR.my payroll software is forever free in basic modes, and users can contact them directly through their website to learn more.


3. TimeTrex – Free Workforce Management

timtrex payroll software

TimeTrex is known to be one of the best free payroll software programs. It provides free attendance and time clock-based payroll services and helps you pay your employees directly based on their hours worked. It mainly targets businesses looking for an all-in-one scheduling, attendance management, and accounting software solution.

TimeTrex is also known as work management software; it includes so many features;

See the features of TimeTrex:

Key features

  • Direct deposit: Funds will be delivered automatically, with this feature of direct deposit by Time Trex.
  • Government compliance: Time Trex provides you with government compliance; it’s all automated, from remittance to year-end tax forms.
  • Multi-source debiting: Multi-source debiting allows employees to debit money from several bank accounts.
  • Electronic pay stubs: Electronic pay stubs are  Secure, detailed, and accessible online, which helps to enhance performance.

Pricing

TimeTrex provides a 30-day free trial for new users. For demos and custom users, they can directly contact the sales team.

$30/month$50/month$80/month
Professional EditionCorporate EditionEnterprise Edition
Comprehensive payroll solutions Detailed job costingExpense management and tracking

4. ExcelPayroll – How to Make Payroll In Excel

Excell Payroll Software

Excel payroll is a cost-free payroll software specially designed for small businesses. It seamlessly integrates with Microsoft Excel and offers more structured tools. It helps with payments, tax calculations, printable tax forms, and PTO management. It mainly targets nonprofits, small companies, and educators looking for free payroll processing software.

However, ExcelPayroll includes more than 30 employees but not more than 50, so it is highly recommended for small businesses.

Let’s see its features;

Key Features

  • Free: Excel payroll is completely free; you do not need to pay a monthly or payroll fee to use it.
  • Easy to use: It welcomes you with a user-friendly interface, so there is no need for installations. It runs on Excel.
  • Accurate data: Excel payroll provides you with accurate data with no errors; all data will be accurate with Excel solutions
  • Scalable: It provides you with scalable resources, and it allows you to upgrade or downgrade its resources according to your needs.

Pricing

ExcelPayroll is a free-of-cost software; users can contact them directly through their website to learn more.


5. Wave – Easy payroll software for small business

Wave Payroll software

Wave is cloud-based accounting software that helps you manage your bookkeeping, invoicing, and tax-payment processes in one place. It allows you to create and send unlimited bills and invoices. It mainly targets small businesses looking for a reliable service in a cost-effective mode. It provides you with a user-friendly interface that helps to manage everything easily.

Wave payroll software provides you with a complete picture of your business’s health. It provides so many features.

Check its features:

Key Features

  • Invoicing: The invoicing feature of Wave helps save time, get you paid, and manage customer information.
  • Mobile receipts: you can make easy receipts with mobile, capture the full picture in a flash and make tax time
  • Payments: Unlike traditional payments, it allows for online payments; online payments allow you to pay quickly
  • Accounting: Wave keeps your books organised and allows tax payments to be made easily.

Pricing

Wave provides two plans;

  • 30-day free trial for new users 
  • Premium paid plan for $16/month

6. Gusto – Run Payroll In Minutes With Gusto Smart Technology

Gusto Payroll Software

Gusto is an online payroll and HR software that mainly targets startups and small businesses. It helps simplify payroll processing, tax management, leave management, attendance management, and other related tasks. It also offers features like charitable giving, financial wellness tools, and a wallet for employee financial management.

Gusto offers a wide range of features at an affordable range of prices; it can be listed as:

Key Features

  • Time and attendance: Gusto helps track attendance and requests, as well as time and time-off requests.
  • Hiring and Onboarding: Like HR, Gusto helps hire employees and set up to make the process easy.
  • Talent management: Gusto provides tools for thoughtful performances and performance evaluations.
  • Insights and reporting: It provides with data-backed guidance and reports to make the process simple and easy.

Pricing

For demo and custom, users can directly contact to the sales team.

SimplePlusPremium
$40/month$60/monthExclusive pricing
Full servicesFull services with direct depositFull services with HR resources

7. OnPay – Smart Businesses Rely on OnPay

onpay payroll software

OnPay is small business payroll software that helps with payroll, employment taxes, and basic HR tasks. The software is completely web-based and can even be accessed on mobile phones or tablets. It mainly targets small businesses, especially those who need a payroll system that goes beyond hours. With its user-friendly interface and affordable pricing, OnPay is a great option for small business owners who need a reliable and efficient payroll software solution.

Onpay features can listed as follows:

Key Features

  • Full-service payrolls: It includes unlimited monthly pay, all tax filings and payments, single sign-on, etc.
  • Special payroll services: it provides services to all kinds of small businesses, including agriculture, restaurants, nonprofits, etc.
  • Employee self-service: saves time by allowing employee to do their own services.
  • Deep software integrations: it integrates with your favourite software like QuickBooks Online, QuickBooks Desktop, etc.

Pricing

Users can get Onpay’s basic plan with just $40/month. For more detailed plans, contact the sales team.


8. Quickbooks Payroll – Plans for Every Kind of Business

quickbooks payroll software

Quickbooks payroll software is one of the best solutions for small businesses. It offers streamlined payroll management in one platform, tax penalty protection from W-2 automation, paid time off tracking, and free direct deposit. It mainly targets small businesses looking for cost-effective, reliable services.

Check out its features:

Key Features

  • Track expenses: Quickbooks payroll provides a track expenses feature. This feature helps you save time by tracking your expenses.
  • Manage bills: You can manage all in one place Quickbooks payroll helps you manage all your bills in one place.
  • Manage projects: It helps to manage projects by noticing which projects can make money and which ones will break the bank
  • Free trial: For new users, Quickbooks payroll welcomes a 30-day free trial to explore all its features.

Pricing

See the table for plans and pricing:

Simple StartEssentialsPlus
$15/month$30/month$45/month
Connect 1 sales channelConnect 3 sales channelConnect all sales channel

9. Homebase – Simplify Scheduling, Time Clocks, and Payroll

Homebase Payroll Software

Homebase payroll is cloud-based software that streamlines payment processes and tax calculations. It offers payroll automation, time-tracking integration, tax compliance, and more. It is also mobile-friendly; you can even use it on mobiles and tablets. It mainly targets small businesses and startups.

Homebase offers a free trial to explore and learn about its features for new users. It’s features we can list as:

Key Features

  • Scheduling: Homebase helps you to schedule employees freely online, it helps to decrease your hassle of work.
  • Time tracking: You can track the time of working hours effortlessly with Homebase, it helps you to track your employee’s exact working time.
  • Hiring and onboarding: Homebase assists you in hiring and onboarding employees, saving you time and decreasing the hassle of work.
  • Team communication: it provides a free communication gap to ensure team communication

Pricing

Users can learn about the Plans and pricing structure of Homebase from below:

BasicEssentialPlus
$0$20/month$48/month
Basic schedulingAdvanced scheduling Hiring 

10. Zoho Payroll – Payroll Experience Redefined to be Stress Free

zoho payroll software

Zoho Payroll is one of the best free payroll software. It helps you to manage your payroll online. Also, you can customise your employee pay runs, configure benefits and withholdings, comply with the latest tax regulations, and pay accurate wages every time. It mainly targets small organisations or businesses with employees less than 50.

Zoho payroll is a free forever platform for its basic mode. Also, it provides you with a wide range of features;

Key features

  • Fast employee onboarding: Manage your employees and stay on top of your onboarding process with Zoho payroll.
  • Powerful Administration: Zoho payroll helps you to streamline your administration and stay like a pro in payroll.
  • Effortless payroll processing: You can automate and complete your payroll in minutes, it helps to save your time.
  • Employee self-service portal: This provides an employee self-service portal, so they can manage and evaluate their working, and salary themselves.

Pricing

FreeStandardProfessional
$0$40/month$60/month
All basic featuresMinimum employees 25Minimum employees 50

Comparing the best free payroll software

Take an easy look at the best top 10 payroll software, it helps you to evaluate the difference between each one properly,

Check below:

FeatureAutomated Payroll calculations Payroll tax filings and direct depositsEmployee self-service portalTime tracking and attendancemanagementComprehensive reporting
Payroll4free
HR.my
TimeTrex
Excelpayroll
Wave
Gusto
Onpay
QuickBooks
Homebase
Zoho payroll

How do you choose the right free payroll for your small business?

Before choosing the right free payroll for your small business, you need to confirm that it satisfies your requirements; also, you can check if it is the best one for you or not by evaluating it with the below-mentioned factors:

  • Ensure that the software can handle different types of employee pay
  • It should calculate and track payroll taxes 
  • Its user-friendly interface
  • Check their customer support
  • Ensure that it can integrate easily with your existing work
  • Always look for its additional features 

Choosing the best free software for your small business is completely according to your needs and requirements. Evaluate the software properly before choosing a paid plan. Also, if they’re providing free plans, don’t hesitate—just try it and make it clear whether it suits you or not!

Tips for using free payroll software:

While using free payroll software, you need to know about that software properly first and follow the following tips mentioned below:

  • Choose the best free software according to your needs
  • You should understand that the free plans may last for some time only; also, they’ll not offer that much customer support
  • Always try to opt for software that has an automation feature
  • Always stay compliant and check all its features thoroughly
  • Check its integration capability
  • Do regular backups to secure your data

By following the tips mentioned above, you can make the most of free payroll software.

FAQs

What is the best free Payroll software for small businesses?

Several free payroll software programs for small businesses are available; some of the best are payroll4free, TimeTrex, Wave, etc.

What does free payroll software include?

Free payroll software typically includes all kinds of features that’ll help to enhance the small business without a fee. Such as payroll processing, tax calculations, direct deposit, etc.

Can I use free payroll software for my small business?

Yes, there are many payroll software programs available, especially for small businesses, such as Zohopayroll, payroll4free, Wave, etc.

Is free payroll software secure?

Yes. It is secure, but the security of the software can vary sometimes. However, most software offers good security.

How do I get started with free payroll software?

The first thing you need to consider before starting to use free payroll software is choosing the software that fits your needs and then evaluating its features accordingly.

How do I file payroll taxes with payroll software?

Complete your tax setup, run payroll, review tax calculations, and submit payment.

How do I use my payroll software to pay my employees?

To use payroll software to pay your employees, you just need to set up your account and choose payroll processing; the process can vary from software to software.

What If I have questions about using free payroll software?

If you have questions related to using free payroll software, then you can contact customer support and check out their features as well.

Conclusion 

We evaluated the best 10 free payroll software that can help you with your small businesses. We saw its key features and plans, and we also saw tips on choosing the best software.

Now, it’s your turn to assess your needs, evaluate them with the above-mentioned software, and choose the best fit for you.

Don’t take this kind of headache activity yourself; let the technology do it rest!

We hope this article helps you understand payroll software. We would also like to hear your valuable opinions about this article through the comment section.

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    Top 10 Best Free Payroll Software for Small Business in 2024

    best free payroll software for small business