Payroll is the bill every employer has to pay, and best free payroll software sounds like the answer to a tight budget. The honest picture is more mixed. Fully free payroll for a team is rare, because tax filing and direct deposit cost the provider real money, so most tools in this guide are free in part and paid where the work gets serious.
That split is still useful. A free tier can cover time tracking, scheduling and the first employee, while the paid payroll add-on only starts when the team grows. A solo owner with one helper can often run for months without paying, and a five person team can see the real monthly cost before committing to any provider.
This guide reviews ten tools on what is genuinely free, what the paid payroll costs, and where each one fits a small business. The prices below come from vendor pages checked in November 2026, and where a price could not be confirmed the guide says so rather than printing a guess.
Quick jump
- Best Free Payroll Software Compared at a Glance
- What Free Payroll Software Really Costs Each Month
- The 10 Free Payroll Tools, One by One
- Best Pick by Job
- How to Choose the Right Free Payroll Tool for Your Team
- Payroll Mistakes That Cost Small Businesses Real Money
- Your First Week Running Payroll on a New Tool
- How to Keep Payroll Costs Down Without Cutting Corners
- How We Verified Every Payroll Price in This Guide
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Habits That Keep Your Payroll Running Smoothly
- The Free Payroll Tool Most Small Teams Should Pick
Best Free Payroll Software Compared at a Glance
The table below puts the ten tools side by side, and best free payroll software becomes easier to judge once the free tier and the paid payroll price sit in the same row. A tool with a generous free tier and a fair payroll price beats a tool that is free only for a trial week.
Two patterns stand out at once. The payroll specialists charge a base fee plus a per person rate, while the all rounders give away scheduling and time tracking and charge only for the payroll itself. The right choice depends on whether the business needs payroll alone or payroll inside a wider system.
| Tool | Best for | Free tier | Paid from |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gusto | Small teams wanting full-service payroll | No free plan | $49/mo + $6 per person |
| Square Payroll | Businesses already using Square | No free plan | $35/mo + $6 per person |
| Wave Payroll | Owners who want payroll beside free accounting | Free accounting, payroll paid | $40/mo + $6 per person |
| Patriot Software | Very small teams on a tight budget | No free plan | Check the vendor pricing page before you pay |
| OnPay | Growing teams needing multi-state payroll | No free plan | $40/mo + $6 per person |
| Homebase | Hourly teams needing scheduling plus payroll | Free basic plan | Payroll add-on, check the price before you pay |
| SurePayroll | Household employers and tiny teams | No free plan | Check the vendor pricing page before you pay |
| Paychex Flex | Businesses wanting a large provider behind payroll | No free plan | Custom pricing, ask for a quote |
| Deel | Paying contractors in many countries | No free plan | Check the vendor pricing page before you pay |
| Rippling | Teams wanting payroll inside a wider HR platform | No free plan | From $8 per user per month |
What Free Payroll Software Really Costs Each Month
The cost of best free payroll software depends on what free actually covers, and the answer is rarely the whole job. Gusto Simple costs $49 a month plus $6 per person, with no free plan at all, while OnPay charges $40 a month plus $6 per person. A five person team pays $79 a month on Gusto Simple and $70 on OnPay, before any add-ons.
The free tiers that do exist sit beside the payroll rather than inside it. Homebase gives away scheduling and time tracking on its free basic plan and charges separately for payroll, while Wave gives away its accounting software and charges for payroll as an add-on. That structure suits owners who want the surrounding tools free and only pay for the payroll run itself.
Watch the per person rate as closely as the base fee, because it is the number that grows with the team. A base fee of $35 looks cheap until six people add $36 a month on top, and a provider that charges per contractor as well as per employee can double the bill for a mixed team. Price the team you will have in six months, not the team you have today.
The 10 Free Payroll Tools, One by One
The ten tools below are reviewed in the same order as the table, with what each one gives away free, what the paid payroll costs, and where it usually disappoints a small business that expected more for nothing.
1. Gusto. Best for small teams wanting full-service payroll
Gusto is the payroll most small American businesses meet first, because it handles tax filing, direct deposit and new hire paperwork in one place. The Simple plan runs single state payroll with unlimited runs, and the Plus plan at $80 a month plus $12 per person adds multi state payroll, time tracking and next day direct deposit.
There is no free plan and no free tier to test with, which is the main drawback for a business watching every dollar. The bill is a base fee plus a per person rate, so a five person team on Simple pays $49 plus $30, or $79 a month, before any benefits or add-ons are counted.
Gusto still earns the top spot here because the payroll itself is the most complete of the ten, and the price is published openly on its own page. A team that wants payroll done properly, with taxes filed and forms handled, gets what it pays for from the first run.
2. Square Payroll. Best for businesses already using Square
Square Payroll suits shops, cafes and salons that already take card payments through Square, because the payroll pulls hours and tips from the same system. The monthly base is $35 plus $6 per person, and contractors can be paid without the base fee on some plans, which keeps a mixed team affordable.
The free side of Square is its point of sale and its basic reporting, not the payroll, so a business that only wants payroll pays the full rate from day one. Tax filing is included in the states Square supports, and the setup walks a new owner through employer registration step by step.
The fit is narrow but genuine. A business already living inside Square saves hours a week by keeping payroll in the same place, while a business with no Square hardware gains little from choosing it over a cheaper specialist.
3. Wave Payroll. Best for owners who want payroll beside free accounting
Wave gives away its accounting software free, which makes its paid payroll an easy add-on for owners who already run the books there. Payroll costs $40 a month plus $6 per person in the United States, and it handles direct deposit, tax filing and year end forms without a separate login.
The free accounting is the real draw, because invoicing, expense tracking and reports cost nothing while the payroll stays paid. A solo owner with one employee pays $46 a month for payroll on top of free books, which is a fair trade when the alternative is two separate subscriptions.
Wave Payroll is not available in every state, and the tax service is thinner than Gusto in some regions, so check coverage before moving the books. For owners already on Wave, though, the payroll add-on is the simplest path to paying staff properly.
4. Patriot Software. Best for very small teams on a tight budget
Patriot Software keeps its payroll deliberately simple, with a basic plan for straightforward payroll and a full service plan that adds tax filing. The interface suits owners who run payroll themselves and want the numbers visible without a training course, and the company is known for plain pricing and responsive support.
Patriot offers no free plan, so the cost starts from the first pay run, and the exact monthly figure should be checked on the vendor pricing page before you pay, because the company adjusts its rates from time to time. The per person charge stays low, which matters more than the base fee for a team of two or three.
The trade-off is a smaller feature set than Gusto or Rippling, with fewer HR extras and a plainer employee portal. A business that wants payroll and little else will find that a fair exchange for the lower bill.
5. OnPay. Best for growing teams needing multi-state payroll
OnPay charges $40 a month plus $6 per person and includes multi state payroll, tax filing and benefits administration in that single price, with no tiered upsell for the basics. A team spread across three states pays the same structure as a team in one state, which makes budgeting simple.
There is no free tier, and the one month free trial is the only way to test the system before paying. The trial covers a full pay run, so an owner can see the tax filings and the employee portal working before the first invoice arrives.
OnPay suits teams that outgrow a single state payroll but do not want the price ladder of the bigger platforms. The flat structure is its best feature, and it is the reason growing businesses pick it over cheaper tools that charge extra for every new state.
6. Homebase. Best for hourly teams needing scheduling plus payroll
Homebase is the only tool here with a genuinely free basic plan, covering scheduling, time tracking and team messaging for one location. Payroll is a paid add-on, so an hourly team can run the daily operations free and add payroll only when the headcount justifies it.
The payroll add-on price should be checked on the vendor pricing page before you pay, because Homebase prices it by team size and bundles it with other features. The scheduling alone saves a manager hours a week, which is why cafes, shops and clinics adopt it before they ever run payroll through it.
The limit is scope. Homebase is built for hourly workers at one or a few locations, and salaried staff, contractors and multi state tax rules sit outside its comfort zone. For an hourly team, though, the free tier plus a payroll add-on is the cheapest honest route in this guide.
7. SurePayroll. Best for household employers and tiny teams
SurePayroll, owned by Paychex, aims at the smallest employers, including households paying a nanny or a carer, as well as tiny businesses with one or two staff. The setup is short, the tax filing is included, and the interface avoids the jargon that makes payroll feel harder than it is.
There is no free plan, and the monthly price should be checked on the vendor pricing page before you pay, because SurePayroll runs promotions that change the first year cost. The per person charge is modest, which keeps a one person payroll affordable where a base fee alone would look steep.
The tool is too small for a growing company, with limited HR features and no real benefits administration. For a household or a two person business that wants payroll handled correctly without learning the subject, it is a sensible pick.
8. Paychex Flex. Best for businesses wanting a large provider behind payroll
Paychex Flex is the payroll arm of one of the largest payroll companies in the United States, and it suits businesses that want a provider who has seen every edge case. The platform covers payroll, tax filing, benefits and HR, and the support team can answer questions that smaller tools route to a help article.
Pricing is custom and quoted per business, so there is no published monthly figure to compare here. Ask for a quote with the headcount and the states involved, and expect the quote to reflect the size of the team rather than a flat rate.
The cost is usually higher than the tools above, and the sales process takes longer than a self serve signup. A business that values a large provider and a named support contact will accept that, while a five person team on a budget will find cheaper payroll elsewhere.
9. Deel. Best for paying contractors in many countries
Deel is built for teams that pay people across borders, and it handles contractor payments, local compliance and tax forms in more than 150 countries. A business with an editor in one country and a designer in another can pay both from one dashboard, in local currency, without opening a foreign entity.
There is no free plan for contractor payroll, and the per contractor price should be checked on the vendor pricing page before you pay, because Deel prices by the type of worker and the country involved. The fee is higher than a domestic payroll tool, but the alternative is usually a lawyer and a local accountant.
Deel is overkill for a team that all lives in one country, and its domestic payroll is not its strength. For a business with even two overseas contractors, it is the most practical way to pay them properly.
10. Rippling. Best for teams wanting payroll inside a wider HR platform
Rippling starts at $8 per user per month and builds payroll into a platform that also handles HR, IT and spend management, so a new hire gets payroll, a laptop and app access from one workflow. That breadth suits teams that want one system for the whole employee lifecycle rather than a payroll tool beside an HR tool.
There is no free plan, and the $8 figure is a starting point, because most teams add paid modules for time tracking, benefits or device management. The real monthly cost depends on which modules the team switches on, so price the modules you need rather than the headline rate.
Rippling is too much system for a three person business that only needs payroll, and the setup takes longer than the simpler tools here. For a team heading toward twenty people, the single platform repays the effort quickly.
Best Pick by Job
Each row below pairs a business situation with the tool that fits it best, so an owner can skip the full reviews and go straight to the match for their team. The reasons stay to a line, and the reviews above hold the longer argument.
| Job / Need | Pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Solo owner, one helper | Homebase free plan plus payroll add-on | Daily scheduling costs nothing and payroll starts only when needed |
| Five person team, one state | Gusto Simple | Full-service payroll at $79 a month with taxes handled |
| Shop already on Square | Square Payroll | Hours and tips flow straight from the till into payroll |
| Team across three states | OnPay | Multi-state payroll included at one flat structure |
| Household employer | SurePayroll | Built for one or two staff with tax filing included |
| Contractors in other countries | Deel | One dashboard pays people in more than 150 countries |
How to Choose the Right Free Payroll Tool for Your Team
Start with the headcount you will have, not the one you have. The best free payroll software decision begins with the team in six months, because a per person rate that looks cheap for two people doubles by the time the team reaches five. Write down the expected headcount, then price every candidate against that number.
Separate the free parts from the paid parts. A tool can be free for scheduling and paid for payroll, or free for accounting and paid for tax filing, and the split matters more than the headline. List which parts of the job each tool gives away, and only then compare the monthly bill for the rest.
Check tax coverage in your state before anything else. A payroll tool that does not file taxes in your state is not a payroll tool for your business, whatever its price. Confirm the states covered, then look at features, because a cheap tool that leaves tax filing to you is the most expensive option of all.
Run one real pay cycle before committing. A trial that covers a full pay run shows the tax filings, the payslips and the employee portal working together. A demo that only shows screenshots hides the parts that break, so insist on a real run with real numbers.
Payroll Mistakes That Cost Small Businesses Real Money
The best free payroll software search fails most often when an owner picks a tool for its free tier and discovers the payroll itself is paid, or worse, that tax filing costs extra. Read the pricing page to the bottom, add the base fee and the per person rate together, and only then compare the monthly total.
A second error is choosing a payroll tool that does not cover every state where the team works. An owner who hires across a state line and finds the tool cannot file there ends up running two systems or filing by hand, which costs more than the dearer tool would have cost from the start.
A third error is letting a contractor be treated as an employee, or the reverse, because the tax consequences differ sharply. Check the worker classification with the tool support team or an accountant before the first payment, since fixing a misclassification after a year of payments is slow and expensive.
Your First Week Running Payroll on a New Tool
The best free payroll software choice proves itself in the first week on one real pay run, so pick a single pay cycle and run it from setup to payslip. A tool that survives a real deadline is worth keeping, and one that only works in a demo will show its limits quickly.
Keep the first run small and honest, because a small test reveals the setup time, the tax filing steps and the employee portal in one pass. An owner who tests small can switch to another payroll tool without losing a week of work, while a big first migration makes switching painful.
At the end of the week, check whether the tax filings landed and the direct deposits arrived on time. If both happened without a phone call to support, the tool has earned its place, and if either needed chasing, that is the signal to try the next candidate.
A payroll trial should include a real tax filing, because a system that runs the numbers but never files leaves the owner doing the hardest part by hand. Ask the support team which states the trial covers and whether the filing is included, then watch the confirmation arrive after the test run. A filing confirmation is the proof the tool works.
How to Keep Payroll Costs Down Without Cutting Corners
The best free payroll software bill stays small when an owner treats payroll as a service to earn its keep, not a subscription to collect. Most small teams can run the surrounding work on free plans for months, and the tips below keep the paid bill low when the time to pay finally comes.
Use the free tiers around the payroll. Scheduling, time tracking and accounting all have free plans, so keep those free and pay only for the payroll run itself. The saving over a year can cover the payroll bill for a month or two.
Pay the base fee only when the team justifies it. A solo owner with one helper should not pay a $49 base fee for a payroll that a free scheduling tool and a manual transfer could handle, but the same fee is a bargain once the team reaches five. Let headcount, not habit, decide when to start paying.
Review the per person rate every quarter. A provider that raises its per person charge by a dollar quietly adds $60 a year for a five person team, and owners who never check the invoice miss it. A quarterly look at the bill catches the creep before it becomes a habit.
Keep contractors on a separate track. Paying contractors through an employee payroll system often adds a per person fee for people who do not need tax filing, so use a contractor payment tool for them and keep the employee payroll lean.
Avoid paying for HR extras you do not use. Benefits administration, performance reviews and learning modules all add to the bill, and a small team that never opens them is paying for shelfware. Switch those modules off and revisit them when the team actually needs them.
Ask for the annual price before renewing monthly. Some providers discount a yearly prepayment, and the saving is worth asking about even when the website only shows the monthly figure. A single email to support can cut a fifth off the yearly bill.
Keep the payroll calendar visible to the whole team, because a pay date that everyone knows prevents the questions that eat a morning each month. Post the dates where the team already looks, and update them the moment a bank holiday moves a run. A shared calendar costs nothing and saves a weekly interruption.
How We Verified Every Payroll Price in This Guide
The payroll prices here were read from vendor pricing pages and from comparison pages that cite those pages, with the check done in November 2026. Gusto Simple at $49 a month plus $6 per person, OnPay at $40 plus $6, and Square Payroll at $35 plus $6 are the figures those pages published, and the guide repeats them as published.
Where a price could not be confirmed, the guide says so in plain words instead of printing a number, because an owner who budgets on a wrong figure discovers the error on the first invoice. The tools were judged on the work a small business actually does, not on a list of features it will never open.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is there really free payroll software for a small team?
Fully free payroll for a team is rare, because tax filing and direct deposit cost the provider money. What exists is free around the payroll, such as Homebase free scheduling and Wave free accounting, with the payroll itself paid. A solo owner with one helper can sometimes run free, but a team of five should expect a monthly bill.
How much does payroll software cost for five employees?
On the published rates in this guide, five employees cost $79 a month on Gusto Simple, $70 on OnPay, and $65 on Square Payroll, before add-ons. Those figures are the base fee plus the per person rate, so the total rises with every hire. Always price the team you expect in six months, not the team you have today.
Does free payroll software file taxes for me?
Some paid payroll tools file taxes in the states they support, while free tiers usually leave tax filing to the owner. Gusto, OnPay and Square Payroll include tax filing where they operate, but the free scheduling or accounting beside them does not. Confirm tax coverage in your state before choosing, because that is the feature that saves the most time.
Can I pay contractors with the same payroll tool?
Most payroll tools handle contractors, but the price and the paperwork differ from employee payroll. Gusto charges $6 per contractor on its contractor plan, Deel specialises in cross border contractor payments, and Square Payroll can pay contractors without a base fee on some plans. Keep contractors on a separate track when the tool charges a per person fee for them.
What happens if I pick the wrong payroll tool?
Switching payroll tools is possible but slow, because tax registrations, employee records and year to date figures all have to move. Run one real pay cycle on a trial before committing, and check that the tool files taxes in every state where the team works. A careful trial week saves a painful migration month.
Habits That Keep Your Payroll Running Smoothly
Keep a short note after each pay run, because the record of what worked and what did not is what makes the next run faster. Owners who write down the filing deadlines and the support answers will not waste an hour rediscovering them next month.
Review the payroll bill once a quarter and remove the add-ons that are no longer used. Owners who let clutter build up pay for modules and seats that nobody needs, while a clean payroll setup keeps the work fast and the bill low.
Teach one other person how the payroll runs, because a shared skill outlasts a single user and the teaching itself reveals the gaps in the setup. An owner who can explain the pay cycle in five minutes understands it well enough to trust it.
File the year end forms as soon as they arrive, because a W-2 or a 1099 that waits until January becomes a rush job. Check the totals against the monthly runs while the year is still fresh, and fix any mismatch before the forms go out. An early check is quicker than a late correction.
The Free Payroll Tool Most Small Teams Should Pick
The best free payroll software answer for most readers is Homebase for the free daily operations, with Gusto Simple as the payroll once the team reaches five people. Homebase covers scheduling and time tracking at no cost, and Gusto at $79 a month for five people handles the taxes and the filings properly.
Start this week, on a real pay cycle, and judge the tool by whether payday runs without a phone call to support. Payroll should serve the business, not the other way round, and the pick in this guide is the one that does that most reliably.