A List of Small Business Payroll Software Offering a Free Trial

Test. Compare. Buy with Confidence.

Professional payroll software helps businesses make the process of paying their employees a simple and easy one that is also efficient, accurate and completed promptly.

Running a small business requires owners to deal with many time-consuming related tasks, such as endless paperwork hassles, calculating the correct salary amounts, managing deductions and employee benefits, handling complex payroll tax responsibilities, signing paychecks and taking care of a variety of other routine payroll related obligations.

A good system can streamline all of these processes and tasks, by offering a comprehensive, automated, and well-organized solution that saves time and money.
However, how do you discover which service offers the best solution for your unique requirements?

Signing up to free trials can help your business to find the right online solution.
They also give you a chance to test their services completely free of charge, before subscribing to a paid plan.

The list below contains free trial offers from different online payroll providers.
Each listing includes the company’s name, how long their trial period lasts, and whether signing up requires users to enter payment details or not.

OnPay

Free 1-Month Trial

Credit Card Info is Required (Why?)

QuickBooks Online Payroll

Free 30-Day Trial

Credit Card Info is Required (Why?)

Patriot Software

Free 30-Day Trial

Credit Card Info is Required (Why?)

Choosing Payroll Software: Why Should You Try It Before You Buy?

Proper payroll processing and submission of taxes and filings to the IRS and other relevant taxing agencies are some of the most critical aspects of operating any organization.
However, household employers, sole proprietors, S corporations, small business owners and larger companies all have different needs.

There are many competing cloud-hosted payroll options on the market, and every package has its unique mix of technological features, functionalities, and capabilities coupled with their own set of pros and cons.
So how can you determine which platform is ideal for your specific ongoing payroll demands?

The best thing you can do is try some of them for yourself to obtain your independent insight on which SaaS product deserves your hard-earned money, because there are so many alternatives available.

The no-obligation testing period allows you to review all of the components hands-on for a given system (without needing to download or install the software) and get a feel for how it works.
It helps to form an independent opinion about the service, discover its strengths and weaknesses, and reach a research-based conclusion, whether a long-term paid subscription is worth it or not.

How to Make the Most of an Online Payroll Service Trial Period?

Using an initial trial period allows you to try out a premium service for free before committing to a monthly or annual subscription and without spending a penny.

It’s a great way to verify that the web-based software package you consider delivers on everything you’re looking for before actually putting money down.
Research, reviews, and customer recommendations are extremely useful, but it’s not the same as actually taking a platform for a test drive.

Unlike a demo version or a freemium, free trial accounts come with significantly fewer limitations or restrictions, and in many cases, none at all.
In such cases, users gain complete access to the entire software for a certain period and enjoy the same benefits and privileges of a paid subscriber.

This time window enables you to fully explore the payroll software’s features, evaluate its ease of use, assess its value for money, and experience the provider’s customer service and support departments.

In addition, the trial enables you to check how compensation management works, how federal, state, local, and payroll taxes are calculated (and if the service offers a solid tax guarantee), what payment options are supported (checks, direct deposit, paycards, etc.) and how the employee self-service portal works.

You can also test the timekeeping system, try out the paid time off management features, understand what the integration options with other software are, explore the new hire reporting capabilities and see what complementary HR add-ons are available.
All of this without paying anything and with no obligation to join the service as a paying customer.

After starting your free trial, play around for a little bit with the system: create several employee profiles (full time, part-time, contractors, etc.) to test out various components of the program.
Enter demo payroll data and employee information, calculate wages and run a few reports.

Ask yourself: do you like using this software? If you’re happy with what you saw and experienced, then feel free to purchase a paid subscription.
If the software did not meet your expectations or needs, simply cancel the trial and look for better online payroll alternatives.

Frequently Asked Questions

Trying out and comparing a number of potential payroll software options is a vital step before choosing a provider and selecting a relevant plan.
Here’s a list of common questions (and answers) that often come up during this process.