Search for free payroll software and most results are 30-day trials of paid services or calculators that stop at the arithmetic. That's fine if you know what you are getting. This post sorts what is genuinely free, what is free with conditions, and what you still have to pay for or do yourself, so a small employer can put together a payroll that costs little or nothing.
The three kinds of "free"
- Free software with limits: the software itself costs nothing within stated limits, and the provider earns money another way, such as advertising or paid add-ons.
- Free government tools: the IRS and the Social Security Administration provide free ways to pay employment taxes and file W-2s. They don't calculate payroll for you.
- Free trials and free calculators: paid payroll services offer a trial period, and many sites offer a free paycheck calculator. Useful, but not a payroll system.
Free payroll options compared
| Payroll4Free | IRS EFTPS | SSA W-2 Online | Spreadsheet + IRS Publication 15-T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cost | Free for 9 or fewer people paid no more than monthly | Free | Free | Free |
| Calculates paychecks | Yes, including tax calculations | No | No | You do, using the IRS tables |
| Pays and files payroll taxes | Paid Payroll Tax Service, or you do it with its tools | Pays federal taxes; you file returns | Files W-2s with the SSA | No |
| W-2s | Year-end forms included | No | Up to 50, with copies to print for employees | No |
| Pay stubs | Printed checks with stub data | No | No | You build them |
| How it is funded | Ads shown in the software | U.S. Treasury | Social Security Administration | Not applicable |
Checked October 4, 2026. Payroll4Free details from its own home page and FAQ; EFTPS and W-2 Online from eftps.gov and ssa.gov (sources below). Payroll4Free's direct deposit is free through your own bank; deposits through its bank are a paid service.
Free payroll from government tools
An employer can run a complete payroll without paying for software, using what the government already provides. It is more manual, but every piece is free.
| Job | Free tool | What it does not do |
|---|---|---|
| Work out federal income tax withholding | IRS Publication 15-T tables and the employee's Form W-4 | Calculate state tax or produce a pay stub |
| Pay federal employment taxes | EFTPS, provided free by the U.S. Treasury; IRS Direct Pay and your IRS business tax account are also free | File Form 941 or 940 |
| File Form 941 and Form 940 | IRS forms, filed on paper or through e-file | Calculate the figures for you |
| File W-2s and give employees their copies | SSA Business Services Online, W-2 Online (up to 50 forms) | Track year-to-date pay during the year |
The gaps are state taxes, which each state handles through its own website, and the pay stub, which none of these tools produce. Publication 15 also reminds employers that federal tax deposits must be made by electronic funds transfer, so a free EFTPS enrollment is worth setting up early.
What free payroll software usually leaves out
- Tax filing. Free tiers calculate tax but expect you to deposit it and file returns. Having the provider file is usually the paid part.
- More than one pay run a month, or more than a handful of people. Payroll4Free's free tier, for example, covers 9 or fewer people paid no more than once monthly.
- Multi-state payroll, benefits, time tracking and next-day direct deposit.
- Support beyond email or help pages, though Payroll4Free says its free tier includes live customer service.
If you pay weekly or biweekly, check the pay-frequency limits first. A free tier that allows one pay run a month doesn't fit a weekly payroll.
Free payroll for a household employer
Families paying a nanny or carer report federal employment taxes on Schedule H with their own Form 1040 rather than on Form 941, so the free route is simpler still: calculate each paycheck, keep records, give a W-2 through SSA's W-2 Online and file Schedule H. Our post on paying a nanny legally walks through it.
Where PayDocs fits
PayDocs fills the pay stub gap in a free or do-it-yourself payroll. The paycheck calculator is free and estimates federal withholding, Social Security, Medicare and state income tax in the states it covers. The pay stub generator is free to use and preview; the finished PDF without the draft watermark is $4.99 once checkout opens, or less per document in packs of 4 or 12. So PayDocs is not free payroll software, and it doesn't claim to be.
For W-2s, SSA's W-2 Online already gives you printable employee copies for free. PayDocs' W-2 generator makes employee copies laid out to the IRS rules for substitute forms if you'd rather keep everything in one place, but you still file Copy A with the SSA yourself.
PayDocs does not file returns, deposit tax or pay employees, and its documents are not proof of income.
Questions
Is there completely free payroll software?
Yes, with limits. Payroll4Free is free for 9 or fewer people paid no more than once a month and is funded by ads; having it file your taxes costs extra. The IRS's EFTPS and SSA's W-2 Online are free government tools.
Can I do payroll myself for free?
Yes. Use IRS Publication 15-T to work out withholding, EFTPS to pay federal taxes, IRS forms for returns and SSA's W-2 Online for W-2s. State taxes go through each state's own site.
Does free payroll software make pay stubs?
Some does, often as printed check stubs. Government tools don't. A pay stub tool fills that gap if you run payroll by hand.
Is PayDocs free?
Creating and previewing a pay stub is free, and the paycheck calculator is free. The finished PDF is $4.99 per pay stub once checkout opens, or less in packs.
Sources
- IRS, Publication 15 (2026), Employer's Tax Guide
- IRS, Publication 15-T (2026), Federal Income Tax Withholding Methods
- U.S. Treasury, EFTPS
- Social Security Administration, What you can do online (W-2 Online)
- IRS, Publication 926 (2026), Household Employer's Tax Guide
- Payroll4Free, home page (checked 4 October 2026)
- Payroll4Free, FAQ (checked 4 October 2026)
Sources checked October 4, 2026. This article explains how pay documents work; it is not tax or legal advice.
