Best Free Payroll Software in 2025

Whether it’s a small company or a large organization, businesses need to make sure that payroll management runs smoothly. Delays in paychecks and problems related to deductions and taxes can have a negative impact on the morale of employees. This is where free payroll management software comes in. Payroll management software helps speed up payroll processes and reduce errors so businesses can ensure people get paid on time and with no hassles. Start your search from our list of best free payroll software solutions.

It’s always good to take advantage of free trial offers when you’re shopping for software products. The same goes for free payroll software. You’ll be able to test the features and tools included in the product and see how they can help address your requirements for payroll management. Some businesses might find that free plans are already good enough for what they’re trying to achieve but some might realize the limitations of free plans and opt for an upgrade. To know what product will work for your business, start your free trial with the free payroll software solutions on our list. Go for the ones that have the highest ranking on our SmartScore and Customer Satisfaction Rating. These are Gusto, Wave, and SumoPayroll.

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Free payroll software is ideal for freelancers, startups and small businesses. Although not recommended for mid-sized companies and larger enterprises, they can use free payroll software for product evaluation and, should they prefer, subscribe to its premium plan. Free payroll software may charge per-transaction fees, which, essentially, renders the use of the app as not entirely free.

• Gusto: A cloud-based HR services platform. It has features for payroll and benefits and helps businesses provide timely payroll processing, 401(k), and employee’s comp insurance.
• Wave: An integrated business platform that offers solutions for accounting, payroll, invoicing, and tax deductions. It’s an excellent free app for small businesses with less than 10 employees.
• SumoPayroll: An easy-to-use payroll and HR management software. SumoPayroll simplifies payroll management by making it easy for businesses to transition from paper-based processes to digital workflows.
• Microkeeper: A cloud-based accounting software that combines features for payroll, timesheet management, and budgeting. Microkeeper automates payroll preparation and saves time by eliminating tedious manual data entry.
• PaymentEvolution: An online payroll service that simplifies payroll matters such as payroll processing, deductions, and timesheet entries. It also handles tax calculations, benefits, and includes employee self-service, payslips, and tax forms.
• NolaPro: A cloud-based accounting software that simplifies accounting and payroll processes. NolaPro is highly customizable and allows users to create workflows based on how their departments run.

Choosing a payroll software can be confusing since there are literally hundreds of products in the market. The features are also abundant, from basic tools like benefits and time tracking to automatic tax filing. A good approach on how to decide which type of payroll software to use is to look at how you would like to implement your software. Here are three options: 

• Cloud-based payroll software. These are platforms that can be accessed on any web browser regardless of the operating system or device you’re using. It’s a very convenient way to use a software product since you can access it anytime, from any location. 
• On-premise payroll software. These products often require a one-time licensing fee to use the software. It will be installed on the local server of the company. So, expect to do some level of software and hardware installation and maintenance for on-premise software.
• Software-as-a-service (SaaS) payroll software. These are products that customers use by subscribing to monthly or yearly paid plans. Some vendors offer free forever plans with basic features and customers can upgrade to paid plans once their business requirements demand more advanced features. 
• Payroll services. Some companies might be interested in hiring professionals to take care of their payroll management rather than using software products. Payroll services are companies that can handle payroll tasks for businesses in a variety of industries. Clients are usually onboarded to a database where they can send their files and the payroll services company will handle the rest. 

Here are the most essential features you should look for in free payroll software, although keep in mind that most of these freemiums have a lightweight feature set:

• Paycheck preparation. One of the most basic features that you can expect from payroll software is paycheck preparation. Look for a product that can handle salary management, keep track of employee leaves, salary transfer, and bonus systems.
• Benefits. A good payroll management system includes tools that can handle employee benefits. With automation tools, deductions, overtime pay, sick leaves, and other benefits can be calculated faster with little to no errors.
• Employee records. Ensuring employee records are up-to-date is an important aspect of payroll management; thus look for payroll software that has features for managing employee records. Choose platforms that use automation to quickly update employee personal data, employment history, and can be customized to add other relevant fields as needed.
• Time-off tracking. This feature is really helpful in monitoring the salaries of employees. Time-off tracking keeps tabs on used and remaining vacations, sick leaves, and absences so that HR and payroll teams can easily prepare paychecks with correct deductions or compensations.
• Tax preparation and filing. Payroll systems include tax preparation features so it’s easy to prepare taxes for employees. They can store employee information that’s easy to retrieve, which is very helpful in filing payroll taxes.
• Reports and Analytics. Reports are very important for HR and payroll. Reporting tools help monitor direct deposits to employee accounts, payments, taxes, and the like. Meanwhile, analytics tools refer to data visualization such as customizable graphs, tables, and charts.
• Time worked tracking. Good payroll software should be able to track the work hours rendered by employees. This feature eliminates time cards and makes it easy for HR to check the actual total hours that should be included in the month’s salary.

Using free payroll software can bring many benefits to businesses. Not only will they be able to make processes more efficient but also reduce errors, increase compliance, and make timely payments to employees.

• Save time. One of the most immediate benefits of using payroll software is the amount of time your HR and payroll team can save. Since most software of this kind now offers some level of automation, users can eliminate tasks such as manual data entry of employee information and manual tax computations. Your team can be freed from the burden and spend their time on more high-value tasks.
• Security. Payroll software products implement cutting-edge technology to make sure that your data is secure. Multi-factor authentication, multi-level management, user passwords, and approvals are just a few of the tools that ensure only users with proper permissions can access payroll information.
• Easier Tax Filing. Payroll software includes features for tax computation. This allows payroll professionals to easily check if taxes for each employee is correct. No more time-consuming and error-prone tax computations.
• Improved Compliance. With more accurate tax filing, benefits management, and processing of other payroll-related transactions, businesses can better comply with business regulations.
• Detailed Reports. Payroll software keeps an accurate record of all payroll data. This means it is easier to review transactions and calculations for audits.

• Integrated HR and finance tech stack: Many vendors now are integrating payroll software into HR software products. You can also see products that are aimed mainly at accounting and budgeting but may include some features for basic payroll management. To allow more flexibility in using these different types of software solutions, vendors offer custom APIs for their products.
• Intuitive payroll software: In a very busy business environment, more and more companies are looking for software products that don’t have steep learning curves. The easier and more user-friendly the software, the more users will stick to it since it helps them accomplish their work faster. Easy-to-use payroll software also means fewer delays and fewer times needed to contact technical support.
• Use of AI: Artificial intelligence has really become a powerful tool in many software products, payroll software included. Businesses are looking for advanced features like AI and machine learning since they allow for increased automation and efficiency in completing payroll activities.

• Difficulty integrating with other apps. It’s a common issue that some payroll apps might not connect seamlessly with other apps. Users usually need to integrate payroll with their accounting, budgeting, HR, or time tracking tools. If there are problems with integration, you might need to develop your own API or find another product that already has the integrations you need.
• Security issues. With the prevalence of cyberattacks today, it’s best to research the security measures that your vendor is using for its payroll app. Data encryption, Single-Sign-On protocol, secure file exchange, and user access control are just some of the security features you should look for in payroll software.
• Complex tech features. Not all users of payroll software are tech-savvy or have backgrounds in IT. Once features become too complex, it takes a longer time to onboard users and this can slow down their work. Worse, complicated interfaces can also result in increased errors.