INTRODUCTION
Payroll Software for Small Business Download – When it comes to running a successful small business making sure everything is done as efficiently as possible is absolutely crucial. From choosing the right payroll software to deciding which employee tracking system would best suit your needs, being able to streamline daily operating processes is a must.
You’re looking for payroll software for small business download and that can be tricky. Unless you’re a CPA or have a background in HR or management, you may have no idea where to start. But I’m here to tell you that it’s not hard at all. In fact, the hardest part will probably be sorting through all the options available!
Download Payroll – Best Software & Apps
- Wave Accountingvaries-with-device
- 4.1
- (55 votes)Free Download
- Cheque Printing Software6
- 2.7
- (65 votes)Download
- Paywings Payroll4.2.1
- 3.3
- (56 votes)Download
- HR Cube – The HRIS Software3.0.5817.23141
- 2.9
- (49 votes)Download
- Payroll Calculator2003 v3.7a
- 3.7
- (11 votes)Download
- ezPaycheck Payroll Software3.5.1
- 2.2
- (5 votes)Download
- QuickBooks Time Tracker3.27.2.20210908.1.RELEASE
- 5
- (1 vote)Free Download
- PayWindow 20075.0.5.0.0
- 0.8
- (4 votes)Download
- Easy Payslip Payroll STP2.0.19
- 2
- (No votes yet)Free Download
- Ramco Global Payrollvaries-with-device
- 2
- (No votes yet)Download
- Payroller Free Single Touch Payroll Payslip app0.3.0.0
- 2
- (No votes yet)Free Download
- Corona3.8
- 3.6
- (2 votes)Download
- My Job Details2.2.5
- 2
- (No votes yet)Free Download
- Thankyou Payroll Employee App1.1.15
- 2
- (No votes yet)Free Download
- Payroll by Nethris2.9.3
- 2
- (No votes yet)Free Download
- Paycheck Lite : Mobile Payroll4.0
- 2
- (No votes yet)Free Download
- Roll by ADP Chat-based Payroll App3.0.8
- 2
- (No votes yet)Free Download
- Reckon Single Touch Payroll STP1.13.5
- 2
- (No votes yet)Free Download
- Datacom MyPay4.1.22
- 2
- (No votes yet)Free Download
- Agrismart – Timesheet Payroll Health Safety10.0.0
- 2
- (No votes yet)Free Download
Top Payroll Software Employers Can Use And Download For Free
| Payroll SoftwareWith 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 |
| TimeTrex Review | Payroll4Free Review | HR.my Review | Gusto Review | Paychex Review | QuickBooks Payroll Review |
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
Overall Score: 4.70 OUT OF 5
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
- 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
Read Full Review Visit TimeTrex
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
Overall Score: 3.55 OUT OF 5
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
- 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
Read Full Review Visit Payroll4Free
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
Overall Score: 3.53 OUT OF 5
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
- 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% Payroll features 20% Pricing 20% Ease of use 10% Reporting 10% Popularity *Percentages of overall score
CONCLUSION
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.
Sometimes it can be difficult to choose business software to use. Whether you run a large company or you’re just starting out, there are a lot of tools and applications out there. Payroll software is one part of the larger HR conjugation, so before you begin searching for payroll software, it helps to research human resources. By doing this, you will gain a better understanding of what sort of functionality your new payroll software will need to have.