Free Payroll Software for 2026: What Is Really Free

Payroll is the category where a free start can cost the most later. A free tier that runs scheduling but not pay runs, or a trial that ends in a bill, looks cheap until the first payday. This page checks eight payroll products on their own pricing pages, then puts them on one scenario: 10 employees, one state, billed monthly, no contractors.

Full-service platforms beyond this list are covered in our best payroll software guide.

Methodology: every price below was verified on the vendor's own pricing page on October 10, 2026.

We kept only plans with a stated price or a stated free limit, and we priced every payroll plan with tax filing for the same 10-person team.

Toolradar data: Toolradar tracks 73 payroll tools as of October 10, 2026, and 16% of them are free, freemium or open source.

The median cheapest paid plan across the 23 that publish a price is $24 a month. Toolradar's entry price for Patriot, $17 a month, matches Patriot's own page. The full ranking is on Toolradar's payroll page.

A free payroll plan, in this list, means you can run real pay runs, pay people by direct deposit and get tax calculations without paying. Most products that say free do something narrower. They offer a free scheduling or time-clock tier, a trial that ends in a bill, or a contractor plan with no base fee.

Each is a real offer, but none is the same as a free payroll plan. Toolradar keeps profiles for Homebase, OnPay, Patriot Software and Deel.

If you need a free time clock for hourly staff first, see the free time clock apps guide.

Two questions decide whether a free start holds up. The first is who files the taxes, because payroll that calculates withholding but leaves the filing to you is a compliance job.

The second is the employee cap, because a free plan that stops at 9 people becomes a migration the month you hire the tenth. If your team also pays contractors, the contractor management platforms guide covers that side.

Switching payroll mid-year is expensive, because year-to-date tax totals have to move into the new system and the first quarter can reconcile badly. So the free plan has to fit the team you will have in six months, not only the team you have today.

A tool that is free at 5 people and paid at 10 is a different purchase from one that is paid at 5.

Run one realistic hiring month through the list. Payroll4Free charges nothing while the team stays at 9 or fewer, but its page gives no paid price, so the cost of the tenth hire is unknown until you ask.

Homebase's free plan covers up to 10 people, yet it runs scheduling and clock-in, not pay, so the same hire still triggers a paid add-on. A wider buying decision belongs in the small business HRIS guide.

Every price here was verified on the vendor's own pricing page on October 10, 2026. Payroll4Free's homepage lists the free tier for 9 or fewer employees and gives no paid price.

Homebase's pricing page lists Basic at $0 per location a month, and its payroll add-on at a monthly base plus a per-employee fee.

Square's payroll page and Wave's payroll page both charge a monthly base plus a per-person fee, and neither lists a free plan.

Patriot's pricing page lists Basic Payroll at $17 a month and Full Service at $37 a month, each with a per-worker fee. Zoho's pricing page lists Standard at $39 a month, or $29 billed yearly.

OnPay's pricing page lists Payroll Essentials with a base fee and a per-worker fee, and Deel's pricing page prices contractors per contractor per month.

The 10-employee scenario uses the base fee plus ten times the per-person fee, on monthly billing.

Patriot Full Service comes to $87 a month, Square full service to $95, Zoho Standard to $99, Wave to $100, and OnPay and Homebase's add-on to $109 each. Zoho Standard billed yearly comes to $79 a month. For the paid Gusto plans, see Gusto pricing.