Best Free Software For Business Of 2024

We selected Payroll4Free.com for its comprehensive suite of features that cater exceptionally well to the needs of small businesses and freelancers, even within its free plan. What stood out was the platform’s ability to process payments for both employees and contractors, its aptitude for tax calculations and forms, its inclusion of fundamental HR management tools, its 401(k) and other deduction capabilities, and its ability to track employee vacation time.

The platform provides detailed payroll reports and facilitates an employee portal, rounding off a holistic payroll solution. The fact that companies can use these services for up to 25 employees at no cost, with the minor trade-off of small ads displayed within the software, amplifies the value proposition offered by Payroll4Free.com.

While the core services are free, Payroll4Free.com offers a couple of paid services that significantly augment its functionality. The Payroll Tax Services feature is particularly noteworthy, allowing businesses to delegate the complex task of depositing and filing payroll taxes to Payroll4Free.com.

Similarly, the option to use Payroll4Free.com’s bank account for processing direct deposit payments provides businesses with a safe, reliable and convenient solution for employee payments. These services, although carrying a cost, offer substantial benefits, especially to freelancers and small businesses operating without personal accountants.

Learn more: Read our Payroll4Free review.

We chose monday.com as the top pick for free project management software primarily due to its adaptability and extensive set of capabilities. Originally designed as a collaboration tool, it has expanded its scope to accommodate various workflows such as project management, customer relationship management (CRM), software development, HR and marketing.

From role assignments and timelines to Gantt charts, software integrations, task dependencies and budgeting tools, it ensures streamlined project management and clear visibility. Further, its CRM and content marketing features help businesses manage leads, customers, deals and content marketing campaigns efficiently.

The platform offers an extensive array of templates for different workflows. Users can customize these templates to fit their specific needs, enhancing its flexibility. In essence, monday.com caters to teams that value a customizable and feature-rich project management software.

Learn more: Read our monday.com review.

Zoho CRM emerged as our top pick for free customer relationship management (CRM) due to its comprehensive functionality and seamless integration capabilities for up to three users. Being a cloud-based CRM solution, Zoho CRM provides effective tools for sales teams to manage customer relationships, convert leads and ultimately drive revenue growth. The CRM’s compatibility with other Zoho business applications creates a seamless workflow, particularly beneficial for businesses already embedded in the Zoho ecosystem.

One of the standout features of Zoho CRM is its omnichannel solution. This feature allows sales teams to manage customer interactions across diverse channels including phone, email, social media and live chat, delivering a unified customer experience. Additionally, the CRM equips businesses with a robust suite of tools for managing deals and opportunities, including a sales pipeline, forecasting and reporting functionalities.

Given its extensive feature set and its compatibility with other Zoho products, Zoho CRM is an ideal fit for businesses already leveraging Zoho’s suite of business tools. Its omnichannel capabilities make it particularly suitable for businesses seeking to streamline and unify their customer interactions across various channels. The free tier makes it a cost-effective choice for small businesses and startups venturing into CRM use.

Learn more: Read our Zoho CRM review.

GoDaddy is our top pick for free website builders because it’s easy to use, has social media marketing tools and works great for online shops. Known for its domain services, GoDaddy takes a step further by providing a robust website builder that enables brands to effectively establish their online presence.

The platform’s free plan includes a drag-and-drop editor and built-in themes, simplifying the website creation process. You can even create an online store and take PayPal payments, perfect for businesses selling stuff online. Although the free website comes with a subdomain (yoursite.godaddysites.com), upgrading to a paid account includes a custom domain free for the first year, starting at an annual cost of $119.88 (second year is more expensive).

On-platform email, social media marketing and access to limited templates and images through GoDaddy Studio come included with the free website. These features provide a foundation for marketing efforts and give users a range of options to customize their site.

GoDaddy’s website builder is versatile enough for various types of online businesses, but its e-commerce features and customer service functionalities make it particularly suitable for online stores. The ability to set up an online store for free (with PayPal as a payment method) makes it a compelling choice for businesses keen on minimizing costs while exploring e-commerce opportunities.

Learn more: Read our GoDaddy review.

We’ve selected PayPal Zettle POS as the best free POS (point-of-sale) software, given its comprehensive features designed to maximize sales, streamline day-to-day business operations and drive long-term success.

PayPal Zettle POS excels in providing an easy-to-use and reliable in-store POS system, coupled with versatile payment solutions. It aims to enhance the sales experience and facilitate smooth operations by efficiently managing staff, orders, inventory and cash flow.

It offers critical insights to assist businesses in future planning and leverages the additional features that a PayPal Business account provides. From tracking returning customers and sales metrics to managing stock levels, this point-of-sale software is designed to manage all crucial aspects of your business in one place.

One standout feature is the flexibility in taking payments. With options of either a card reader or a terminal, businesses can accept payments virtually anywhere they choose to sell, be it a food truck, farmer’s market booth or a physical storefront. The POS software also provides businesses the ability to customize their setup with additional accessories such as receipt printers, barcode scanners and cash registers.

One of the most appealing aspects of PayPal Zettle POS is its inclusive approach to payment types. Customers can use a wide variety of methods including credit cards, debit cards, gift cards and various contactless payments—all under secure, safely encrypted transactions.

Learn more: Read our PayPal Zettle POS review.

NCH has been selected for its unique blend of accessibility, efficiency and comprehensive functionality specifically tailored for small businesses with fewer than five employees. Its robust capabilities provide businesses with an accounting tool that helps them streamline their financial management processes without incurring any cost.

The software allows users to generate an extensive array of key financial documents. These include income statements, balance sheets, profit and loss (P&L) statements and detailed sales analyses, which can be tailored by item, customer or salesperson. These features enable businesses to maintain accurate records, track sales performance and ultimately make informed decisions to drive growth and profitability.

Another advantage of NCH is its cross-platform compatibility. Regardless of whether you operate on a Mac or PC, this software works seamlessly, providing a layer of convenience for diverse users. This adaptability ensures that businesses are not bound by their technological choices and can use the software effectively.

While it’s true that the free version omits some features designed for larger corporations, it is by no means a lightweight tool. Despite being free, NCH offers a powerful suite of capabilities that can meet the financial management needs of smaller entities, thereby providing them with an economical, yet effective, solution for managing their finances.

Clockify is a versatile and robust cloud-based time tracking app, empowering businesses to accurately track and manage time spent across diverse projects, clients and devices. However, its capabilities extend beyond just time tracking. The platform also incorporates attendance monitoring for precise payroll calculation, productivity optimization tools to enhance employee performance and features for overseeing billable hours and expenses, making it an all-in-one solution for businesses.

Moreover, Clockify provides an intuitive and efficient way to share progress reports with clients. This feature facilitates transparency and ensures clients are always updated on the project’s progress and timelines.

One of the most striking features of Clockify is its report generation capabilities. The software can produce both summary and detailed reports, catering to different needs within a business. The availability of filters in the summary report feature—including client, project, billed hours and project status—provides businesses with a high level of flexibility, allowing them to customize reports based on their specific requirements.

An additional consideration is Clockify’s scalability. As businesses grow and their needs evolve, they can upgrade to Clockify’s paid tiers for additional features. This scalability ensures that Clockify remains a viable solution for businesses, regardless of their stage of growth or complexity of operations. Thus, Clockify stands as a comprehensive, adaptable and scalable solution for time tracking, attendance monitoring and project management.

Learn more: Read our full Clockify review.

Square Invoices stands out as a top choice for virtually any business that requires invoice billing. Its free plan offers remarkable versatility, allowing businesses to collect payments in person using Square’s mobile app and card reader, online or through automated clearing house (ACH) bank transfers. This flexibility in payment collection methods helps businesses adapt to the diverse preferences of their clients.

To further facilitate on-time payments, Square Invoices includes a feature to set up automatic payment reminders for each invoice. Businesses can stick to the default schedule—one day and three days after the due date—or customize their own reminder schedule. This feature helps reduce the chance of delayed payments and streamlines cash flow management.

Learn more: Read our Square Invoices review.

Avira is an excellent option for free antivirus software, with impressive independent test results for virus and malware protection, as well as a variety of additional features. It ensures browser safety, provides a free VPN for secure browsing, manages passwords, removes trackers and optimizes scans, while also offering a junk remover to enhance the device performance. With one Avira subscription, you can protect multiple devices across different platforms including Windows, Mac, Android and iOS.

Avira’s free antivirus software is an excellent choice for users seeking robust, multi-device protection. Its suite of features addresses various security needs, making it suitable for individuals and businesses alike.

Learn more: Read our Bitdefender review.

We’ve chosen 2ndLine as a top pick in the free voice-over-internet-protocol (VoIP) software category for its unique proposition of offering a secondary business line using just your smartphone’s internet connection. This is an ideal solution for freelancers and micro-businesses, who can now separate personal and professional communications with no added hardware expenses.

2ndLine allows for unlimited calls and texts within the U.S. and Canada, an offering that meets the needs of a vast user base. It does provide international calling, although these come with an added cost.

A noteworthy feature that enhances 2ndLine’s appeal is its commitment to user privacy. All communication is routed through your internet connection, ensuring that these professional exchanges don’t appear on your phone bill, adding an element of discretion and privacy to your business interactions. While the service includes advertisements, 2ndLine offers users the ability to upgrade to a premium, ad-free version that also includes additional features.