Free HRIS and payroll for Philippine small businesses with up to 20 employees

OneHRIS is a free Philippine HRIS and payroll platform for small businesses up to 20 employees. Full payroll, attendance, leave, government reports and BIR 2316, with no credit card and no trial expiration.

By OneHRIS Published October 21, 2026 Facts last reviewed October 21, 2026

Philippine payroll should not cost ₱3,000 a month if you only have 5 employees

Running a 5-person startup, a 10-person consultancy, or a 15-person retail store should not require a ₱15,000 per month HRIS contract. Most Philippine payroll software prices by seat from the first employee, which punishes small teams for being small.

OneHRIS is free for up to 20 employees. Not a trial. Not a gated version with branding on payslips. Not a time-limited offer. A real free tier covering the full HRIS, payroll, attendance, leave, and compliance stack for small Philippine businesses.

What small Philippine businesses actually need from an HRIS

For a 5 to 20 person team, the day-to-day HR work is predictable:

Monthly or semi-monthly payroll with SSS, PhilHealth, Pag-IBIG, and withholding tax computed correctly
BIR 2316 at year-end for each employee, aligned to the official form
13th month pay before December 24
SSS R3, PhilHealth RF-1, Pag-IBIG MCRF monthly contribution reports
Alphalist 1604-C annual information return
Bank file export (native formats for BDO, BPI, Metrobank, UnionBank) so you do not type each employee into online banking individually
Leave tracking for service incentive leave, VL, SL, and the statutory leaves (maternity, paternity, solo parent)
Attendance tracking that works on a phone, not just a biometric at the office
Payslips that employees can view themselves without you emailing them each month

OneHRIS does all of these at the free tier.

The 90-day small-business starter plan

For a Philippine startup or small business, OneHRIS onboarding typically runs through three phases:

Days 1 to 7: Setup. Add employees, define shifts, set up leave policies, configure company bank for payroll disbursement.

Days 8 to 30: First payroll cycle. Run the first pay period, generate the SSS R3 and other government reports, remit contributions. The onboarding team walks through each step.

Days 31 to 90: Routine operation. Monthly payroll cycles, leave requests, government report filings. By day 90 the company is operating independently.

What a free-tier small business typically processes

For a 10-person small business, OneHRIS runs about:

24 pay cycles a year (semi-monthly)
120 government report submissions (10 employees × 12 months for SSS R3 and similar)
10 BIR 2316 generations at year-end
1 Alphalist 1604-C annual filing
50 to 100 leave transactions across the year
2 to 4 final pay computations on average for a growing team

All at ₱0 cost on the free tier.

When OneHRIS is the right fit for a small business

You have 2 to 20 employees and want a real HRIS, not a spreadsheet
You want to avoid the Excel payroll pattern that breaks when a new employee joins or when someone resigns mid-cycle
You care about Philippine compliance without hiring a dedicated HR specialist
You want to be ready to scale so when you hit 20 employees the system is already built-in to your workflows
You do not want vendor lock-in or a trial that expires

Try it

OneHRIS is free to sign up and free to use at 20 or fewer employees. No credit card. No trial expiration. The full HRIS, payroll, attendance, leave, and compliance stack.

Get started free or see the pricing details.

Already running payroll on Excel or another system? OneHRIS imports from any format. The onboarding team provides CSV templates and runs a parallel payroll for one cycle before cutover.

Book a 30-minute onboarding consultation to see if the free tier covers your needs.

Questions people ask

Is OneHRIS really free for small businesses?

Yes. OneHRIS is free for up to 20 employees with no credit card required and no trial expiration. The free tier includes the full HRIS, payroll processing, attendance tracking, leave management, government compliance reports (SSS R3, PhilHealth RF-1, Pag-IBIG MCRF), BIR 2316 generation and employee self-service.

What is the catch with the free tier?

There is no catch at the free tier. OneHRIS is funded by customers who grow past 20 employees and upgrade to the paid plan at ₱150 per employee per month. There is no feature downgrade, no required branding on payslips, no required announcements, and no data lock. If you stay at 20 or fewer employees indefinitely, you can use OneHRIS indefinitely for free.

What happens when my team grows past 20 employees?

You get a 60-day grace period and automatic rollover to the paid plan at ₱150 per employee per month. There is no forced migration, no data lock, no vendor interview. The paid plan unlocks everything from the free plan plus higher API limits, more concurrent users, and extended support hours.

What exactly is included in the free tier?

Payroll processing with full government deductions, attendance with face-recognition clock-in on mobile, leave management with workflow approvals, 10+ configurable leave types, employee 201 files, BIR 2316 generation, Alphalist 1604-C, SSS R3, PhilHealth RF-1, Pag-IBIG MCRF, native bank-file export for BDO, BPI, Metrobank and UnionBank, employee self-service web and mobile apps.

Does the free plan have a time limit?

No. The free plan is a true free tier, not a trial. Teams at 20 employees or fewer use it indefinitely at no cost. No credit card is required to sign up or to continue using it.

Can I file BIR 2316 at year-end with OneHRIS?

Yes. OneHRIS generates pixel-aligned BIR 2316 for every employee at year-end as part of the free tier. It also produces Alphalist 1604-C and the monthly 1601-C return. These are the three documents a Philippine small business needs for compliant year-end filing.

Is there any limit on the number of pay runs per month?

No. The free tier supports unlimited payroll runs: regular pay cycles, special runs for 13th month pay, back pay, mid-year adjustments and final pay. All within the up-to-20-employee limit.

What if I only have 2 or 3 employees?

Then OneHRIS is free for you with no restriction on the number of employees you can add later. Many startups begin with 2 to 3 employees and build their payroll process on OneHRIS from day one. By the time they hit 20 employees the system already matches their workflows.

Can I process payroll correctly if I am not an HR specialist?

Yes. OneHRIS is designed to be self-service. The payroll run interface walks through each step with built-in validation. For every government deduction (SSS, PhilHealth, Pag-IBIG, withholding tax), the calculation is shown with the formula so you can double-check it against the agency schedule. First-time users can run a complete pay cycle in under 30 minutes.

What support do I get on the free plan?

Email support and the full help center with 100+ articles covering every common payroll scenario. Chat and phone support are available on paid plans. The onboarding guide and video walkthroughs are free for all users.