Having some form of payroll management can help ensure your employees are paid on time and you pay the right taxes. Payroll4Free is a low-cost option if you have only a few employees and require basic payroll software.

If you’re looking for Payroll4Free reviews to help you decide whether it’s suitable for your needs, this article tells you what you need to know about the service.

If you have employees or contractors overseas, you may also consider a Wise Business account to manage their payments. Wise can help you save on costs by giving you the mid-market rate on currency exchange and integrates with QuickBooks to help you track payments.

Methodology: The team of dedicated content experts at Wise research each provider thoroughly, uncovering the key features, fees, and pros and cons to watch out for. This is then collected into an easily digestible format, to save you time and hassle when looking into a provider.

Payroll4Free Review : Quick Overview

Key features	Basic payroll processing for up to 10 employees Direct deposits or check printing Payroll tax filing service Direct deposit service to automate payments from Payroll4Free’s bank Employee time tracking and portal Pay contractors through the same payroll as employees Detailed reporting
Main fees¹	Payroll tax service: $35 per month or $350 per year Direct deposit service: $35 per month or $350 per year Bundled fee for both services: $40 per month or $400 per year Lifetime service: $1,750
Great for	Small businesses and non-profits that require a simple, low-cost payroll solution with basic features.
Capterra rating²	3.2 out of 5

Payroll4Free: Key Features

Payroll4Free is an easy-to-use online payroll processing service that offers basic features for free to small businesses and startups with up to 10 employees. (This was previously 25 employees.) Businesses with more employees pay incremental fees, and in any case, may need more comprehensive software.

Payroll4Free can offer its service for free as it generates revenue from small advertisements in the software and by charging for additional features. It has increased its prices for its premium options.

The software makes it easy for business owners to enrol and pay employees and contractors, track their paid time off and sick leave, calculate taxes, and generate tax forms. It offers direct deposit or paper check options and provides detailed reporting. Employees can track their time and pay information and print their payslips through an employee portal.

Payroll4Free automates most of the initial configuration, although you do need to manually enter the W-4 details of your staff members. Additionally, you'll need to input the salary or hourly wages and vacation allowances for each employee. You can also import employees’ pay details from any time tracking software that allows data export.³

You can then arrange automatic direct deposits or check payments for each employee through your business bank account with taxes withheld, which you’ll need to report and deposit.

Alternatively, you can use Payroll4Free's direct deposit banking services for a monthly fee of $35. Payroll4Free can automatically calculate federal, state and local taxes, complete tax forms, and make all the necessary deposits and filings on your behalf for a $35 monthly fee.

If you want to use both the Direct Deposit Service and the Payroll Tax Service, you can pay $40 per month or $400 annually for the bundle.

It's important to note that the Payroll4Free platform only runs on Windows – so it isn’t available to Mac users. There is also no mobile app to manage payroll on the move.

🔍 Read on for more:
Ease of Use Customer Service Payroll4Free Fees Payroll4Free Pros and Cons Payroll4Free Alternatives Discover Wise Business Conclusion: Is Payroll4Free the best choice?

Ease of Use

Payroll4Free delivers a range of reports to help business owners stay on top of their payroll, including earnings, tax, benefits, accrued time, and payroll journal reports. The data can be exported to accounting software, banks, and other third parties.

The software is easy to set up as it provides a guided account setup wizard. The fact that it can handle both employee and contractor payments in one place simplifies the process of making sure all your workers are paid.

Positive Payroll4Free com reviews on Capterra state that Payroll4Free is simple to navigate, and the tax calculations make it easy for small businesses to prepare their weekly payroll. The software provides a good range of features for a free service, meeting the needs of small business owners with a small number of employees.

Some negative reviews on Payroll4Free software from Capterra mention not being able to access records once they cancelled their account, causing administrative problems.⁴

Customer Service

Payroll4Free offers customer support over the phone or by email.⁵

Payroll4Free Fees

Payroll4Free provides two premium services in addition to its free offering.⁶

Payroll Tax Service

• Subscription fee: $35 per month or $350 per year
• Bundled fee for payroll tax service and direct deposit service: $40 per month or $400 per year
• Lifetime service option: $1,750
• Service reactivation: $100
• Batch posting: $25 per batch
• Amended deposit: $100
• Amended/prior filing: $350
• Copy of deposit/filing confirmation: $25

Direct Deposit Service

• Subscription fee: $35 per month or $350 per year
• Service reactivation: $100
• File cancellation or adjustment: $100

Other fees

• Payroll processing for 11-25 employees: $10 per posting
• Payroll processing per Increment of 25 employees when more than 25 are paid: $35 per posting
• Adjusting a posted batch: $25 per batch
• Major use of system training: $100 per hour
• Employee data setup or setup reprocessing: $100 per hour
• Automated reverse wire: $50
• Prefund wire: $100
• Direct wire: $50
• Returned item, or non-sufficient funds: $75
• Notification of change: $10

💡 If you make regular transfers to pay employees or contractors abroad, Wise Business can you give you the mid-market rate for payments in various international currencies, saving you on foreign exchange markups and transaction costs.

Payroll4Free Pros and Cons

Benefits	Possible drawbacks
Free and affordable basic payroll software Easy to set up and use Automatic direct deposits to employees Employee time tracking Tax filing services Integration with accounting software, such as QuickBooks	Ads on the software dashboard Software is only available on Windows; not Mac or mobile Limited customization options

What are the benefits of Payroll4Free?

Payroll4Free offers a low-cost payroll processing option for the smallest businesses. It offers basic features for free that you may typically expect to pay for and provides options to manage direct deposits and payroll taxes on your behalf.

Its simple user interface makes the service straightforward and intuitive for startup owners with a straightforward employee structure who may have limited experience running payroll. It also integrates with popular accounting platforms such as QuickBooks to streamline the process of filing accounts.

What are the possible drawbacks of Payroll4Free?

The trade-off of the free service is having to deal with advertisements in the software and a lack of customization options in the user interface. Payroll4Free has reduced the number of employees you can have under the free service from 25 to 10, so larger businesses need to pay supplemental fees to manage all their workers.

Features such as direct deposit and tax filing services cost extra, and there is a range of fees for setup, batch processing, wires and so on.

Importantly, as Payroll4Free is only accessible to Windows users, Mac users can only access the service if they run Windows – otherwise they’ll need to look for an alternative. There is no mobile app and the software isn’t cloud based.

Payroll4Free Alternatives

If you need to look for an alternative to Payroll4Free, Patriot Payroll and Namely Payroll are among the options for processing employee payments.

Patriot Payroll

Patriot Software provides small and medium-sized US businesses with low-cost and easy-to-use online accounting and payroll software. Patriot provides basic and full-service options for business owners to run their own payroll and tax filings or get additional support.

Patriot Payroll enables employers to issue electronic or printable W2 wage and tax statements to employees, and handle processing for independent contractors on the same payroll. Unlike Payroll4Free, the software is mobile-friendly, running reports from any device.⁷

Namely Payroll

For businesses with more than 25 employees, costs can add up using Payroll4Free. An alternative is Namely, a human resources software provider that offers unmanaged and managed HR services, including payroll. Features of the service include benefits administration, payroll, time and expense tracking, and compliance.

The platform provides a Payroll Wizard that takes users through the process in three steps. The managed payroll service assigns a dedicated specialist to process payrolls, set up state tax IDs, verify wages and employment, and so on.

The cost of the software per employee can vary based on specific business needs and features. Namely’s packages start at $9 per employee.⁸

Discover Wise Business: Manage International Payroll with ease

Paying employees and contractors overseas on time is crucial for any international business. A Wise Business account can help you to manage international payments securely, and at low cost.

Wise is not a bank, but a Money Services Business (MSB) provider and a smart alternative to banks. The Wise Business account is designed with international business in mind, and makes it easy to send, hold, and manage business funds in 40+ currencies. You can get major currency account details for a one-off fee to receive overseas payments like a local. You can also Send money to 160+ countries.

You can exchange currencies at the mid-market rate, make easy batch payments to multiple employees and contractors, and manage multiple currencies in one place. Wise Business also connects to QuickBooks, so you can track payments and reduce the workload come accounting time.

Discover how Wise Business payroll
can save you time & money

Or read the guide on how to open a Wise Business account

Conclusion: Is Payroll4Free the best choice for your business?

Whether Payroll4Free is suitable for your business will depend on how many employees you have and the features you need to process paying them.

The software is best suited to businesses with up to 10 employees, as it costs extra to run payroll for 11 or more. Larger businesses may find an alternative provider to be more cost-effective.

About the author:
	Panna is an expert in business finance topics for the US, covering topics from invoicing to international expansion. She creates high-quality reviews on business finance tools and products with the aim to help businesses save time and make informed decisions. You can read more useful business articles on her author profile.

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Sources:

¹Fees
²Payroll4Free.com Reviews 2024 | Capterra
³Features
⁴Payroll4Free.com Reviews 2024 | Capterra
⁵Contact Us
⁶Fees
⁷Online Payroll for Small Business
⁸Payroll Software - Online Payroll Services & Solutions

Sources checked February 2024.