First paystub free

Online Paystub Generator Built for Real Proof of Income

No employer on payroll to call? Our online paystub generator turns your real earnings into a clean pay stub that a landlord, lender or loan officer can read at a glance. Enter your numbers, watch the live preview update, then download a finished PDF. Your first paystub is free, and every one after that is $1.99.

No credit card. No account needed.

Sample Company Inc.

123 Business Ave, New York, NY 10001

EIN: 12-3456789

(555) 123-4567

Earnings Statement

Pay Period: 2026-03-14 – 2026-03-27

Pay Date: 2026-04-03

Employee

Jane Employee

456 Enterprise St, New York, NY 10002

SSN: ***-**-5678ID: EMP-001

Pay Information

Pay Period:2026-03-14 – 2026-03-27
Pay Date:2026-04-03
Frequency:Bi-Weekly
EarningsRateHrsCurrentYTD
Salary$2,500.00N/A$2,500.00$17,500.00
Gross Pay$2,500.00$17,500.00
DeductionsCurrentYTD
Federal Income Tax$216.15$1,513.05
State Income Tax$171.25$1,198.75
Social Security (OASDI)$155.00$1,085.00
Medicare$36.25$253.75
Roth 401(k)$100.00$700.00
Total Deductions$678.65$4,750.55
YTD Gross

$17,500.00

YTD Taxes/Ded

$4,750.55

YTD Net Pay

$12,749.45

Gross

$2,500.00

Taxes/Ded

$678.65

Net Pay

$1,821.35

This is a computer-generated document. No signature is required.

Modern Clean contemporary design with gradient accents.

Free to start

Free Online Paystub Generator: Your First Stub Costs Nothing

PayStubVault is a free online paystub generator for your first stub. There is no account to open and no card to enter. Pick one of our pay stub templates, type in your pay period and earnings, and the built-in calculator works out federal withholding, state withholding, Social Security and Medicare, with year-to-date totals. It is a paystub generator with a calculator, so you never type a tax figure by hand.

If you have been searching for a free paystub generator online, or a paycheck stub for free that still does the tax math, this is how it works: one free paystub to see the result before you spend anything. A paystub generator free online should be that simple.

After the free stub, each paystub is $1.99 with no subscription, and corrections before you download are free. See the full pricing.

Your first paystub$0.00

Calculated for you

  • Federal withholding
  • State withholding
  • Social Security
  • Medicare
  • Year-to-date totals
Every stub after: $1.99 · no subscription

What Is a Pay Stub?

A pay stub, also called a paycheck stub, check stub or earnings statement, is the record of what a person earned in one pay period. It shows gross pay, the taxes and deductions taken out, net pay and year-to-date totals. Landlords, lenders and mortgage brokers ask for one to confirm income. A pay stub maker like PayStubVault builds the document for you from the numbers you enter. Need a simpler form for a one-off check? Try our free check stub maker.

Also called
Paycheck stubCheck stubEarnings statement
Shows
  • Gross pay
  • Taxes & deductions
  • Net pay
  • Year-to-date totals
3 easy steps

How to Create a Paystub Online in 3 Steps

You should not need an accounting background to document your income correctly. Our online paystub generator breaks it into three plain steps.

  1. 1Step 1

    Enter Company Details

    Business name, worker details, pay period and pay date. Simple fields, no jargon.

  2. 2Step 2

    Enter What Was Earned

    Log hours or salary. The system calculates federal and state tax withholding, Social Security and Medicare for you, using current IRS tables. Gross pay is logged, taxes are calculated and net pay is totaled automatically.

    • Gross pay logged
    • Taxes calculated
    • Net pay totaled
  3. 3Step 3

    Preview, Confirm, Download

    Check the numbers once more, then download your printable PDF pay stub instantly. Print it, save it or upload it wherever it is needed.

    Ready as a PDF

No credit card required. No account needed.

Watch the demo
Real-world use

Where a Pay Stub Is Asked For

A pay stub is a financial record that a stranger will read closely. These are the places it comes up most.

  • Rental applications

    Landlords usually want recent pay stubs to confirm you can cover the rent. If you are self-employed or paid per job, a clear stub with year-to-date totals gives them what they need. See how it works for self-employed people.

  • Mortgage pre-approval and auto loans

    Lenders look at income history, so year-to-date totals matter. Ask your lender which documents they need, because many also want bank statements or tax returns.

  • Credit cards and personal loans

    Applications often ask for proof of income. A pay stub that lists pay period, gross pay, taxes and net pay answers that question in one page.

  • Gig and platform income

    Rideshare and delivery apps do not issue pay stubs. See our page for gig workers.

  • Your own records

    Even when nobody asks, a dated record of what you earned keeps your finances in order at tax time.

  • A pay stub is one document in a file, not a promise of approval. Every figure must reflect income you really earned; see our Appropriate Use Policy.

See it first

What Every Pay Stub Includes

If you have never had to put one together yourself, here is what each section of a PayStubVault pay stub tells the reader, in plain language.

PayStubVault pay stub builder showing company info, earnings, deductions, taxes, YTD totals and net pay

A Worked Example

Riverbend Design Co. → Jordan T. Ellis

Pay period
08/18/26 – 08/24/26
Gross pay
$880.00
Federal withholding
$96.80
State withholding
$26.40
FICA (Social Security & Medicare)
$67.32
Year-to-date total
$27,340.00
Net pay$689.48
  1. Company & Employee Info

    Who paid, and who got paid. This is the basic identity of the document.

  2. Pay Period & Pay Date

    The exact dates the earnings cover, and when payment was issued.

  3. Gross Pay

    What was earned before anything is taken out.

  4. Tax Withholding

    Federal and state income tax withheld for that pay period.

  5. Other Deductions

    Social Security and Medicare (FICA), plus any benefits or garnishments that apply.

  6. Year-to-Date Totals

    Running totals for the calendar year, often the first number a lender checks.

  7. Net Pay

    What you actually take home after every deduction.

Because it is a pay stub generator with YTD totals, item six updates on its own each time you add a new pay period, so your running numbers stay in sync.

Built for

Pay Stubs for Every Kind of Income

Not everyone gets a pay stub from an employer. If your income arrives as invoices, platform payouts or business profits, our online paystub generator turns those earnings into a document a landlord or lender can read: pay period, gross pay, taxes and year-to-date totals.

  • Freelancers

    Project income arrives in lumps, and nobody hands you a pay stub. Build one for each pay period from your invoices, with year-to-date totals that make your earnings easy to follow. Learn more about paystubs for freelancers.

  • Independent Contractors

    Paid on a 1099 with no employer behind you? Our independent contractor pay stub generator lays out your earnings, deductions and year-to-date total on one clean page that lenders and landlords already know how to read.

  • Self-Employed Individuals

    When you work for yourself, you are both the employer and the employee. Document what you pay yourself with consistent stubs, so your income history is clear instead of a pile of bank deposits. Start with self-employed pay stubs online.

  • Gig Workers

    Rideshare, delivery and platform apps pay you out, but they rarely give you a pay stub. Turn each pay period's earnings into a stub that is easy to attach to a rental or loan application. Details on pay stubs for gig workers.

  • Small Business Owners

    Running payroll for a few people should not mean spreadsheets and manual tax math. Enter hours or salary and the calculator works out withholding and totals for each employee. See the paystub generator for small business.

What's included

The Features That Actually Matter

  • Fast turnaround

    A finished stub in about three minutes, live preview included.

  • Real tax math

    Federal and state withholding calculated with current-year IRS tables.

  • Professional pay stub templates

    Clean, print-ready designs. Browse the templates.

  • Automatic YTD tracking

    Earnings, taxes and deductions totaled for you every time.

  • Free corrections before you download

    Spot a typo in the preview? Fix it at no charge.

  • Instant PDF download

    Your print-ready PDF is available the moment it is ready.

All 50 states

Your State's Tax Rules, Not a One-Size-Fits-All Formula

Withholding rules vary a lot from state to state. As a pay stub generator with state tax calculator logic built in, PayStubVault applies your state’s withholding automatically, whether that is a flat rate or no state income tax at all. Pick your state and the math happens behind the scenes.

State guides: CaliforniaTexasNew YorkGeorgiaAlabamaOhio pay stub generatorNorth Carolina pay stub generatorMichigan pay stub generator

Browse all 50 states
Simple pricing

One Free Paystub. Then Just $1.99. That's It.

No monthly plan. No account required to get started. No charge you did not see coming.

Start here

First stub

$0

No credit card required.

  • Full access to every template
  • Automatic federal and state tax calculations
  • Instant PDF download

Each one after

$1.99

Per stub, no subscription.

  • Same accuracy, same templates
  • No account needed to reorder
  • Free corrections before you download

Generate one, or generate fifty for your whole crew.

How we compare

How PayStubVault Compares

Pay stub generators vary a lot on price, account requirements and what is included. Here is how we line up. For a fuller side-by-side, see our pay stub generator comparison.

FeaturePayStubVaultTypical online generatorPayroll software
Price per stub$1.99Often $3.99 or moreMonthly subscription
First stub freeYesVariesUsually no
Account requiredNoVariesYes
Free corrections before downloadYesVariesNot applicable
State tax tablesAll 50 statesVariesYes

Comparison reflects commonly observed pricing in the category. Individual providers vary.

Our story

Why We Built a Better Way to Document Income

Most payroll tools were designed around one assumption: that everyone gets a W-2 and an HR department handling their paperwork. That is not how a large share of the workforce earns a living now.

PayStubVault was built for the freelancer between contracts, the driver running three delivery apps at once, the small business owner doing payroll on a Sunday night, and everyone else who needs an accurate record of what they earned, without paying for software built for a 200-person company. We keep our federal and state tax data current every year, we do not lock anyone into a subscription, and we do not help anyone document income that is not real.

Methodology

How We Calculate Your Numbers

Every PayStubVault stub follows the withholding method in IRS Publication 15-T. For 2026 we use the federal standard deduction of $16,100 for single filers, $32,200 for married filing jointly and $24,150 for head of household, and the Social Security wage base of $184,500. Social Security and Medicare use their standard rates, and state withholding follows your state’s rules.

The math is only as accurate as what you enter, so double-check hours, pay rate and dates in the preview before you download. Read our Appropriate Use Policy to see what the tool is for and what it is not.

Last updated:

2026 federal figures

IRS Publication 15-T method

Standard deduction, single
$16,100
Standard deduction, married filing jointly
$32,200
Standard deduction, head of household
$24,150
Social Security wage base
$184,500
Social Security / Medicare rates
6.2% / 1.45%
FAQ

Common Questions, Answered Plainly

An online paystub generator is a web tool that builds a pay stub from the details you enter. You add the company, the worker, the pay period and the earnings, and it calculates taxes and totals and gives you a PDF. PayStubVault does this in about three minutes with no account.

Your Details Don’t Belong to Anyone but You

Payroll information is sensitive: names, addresses, pay figures and partial ID numbers. We protect it with an encrypted SSL connection and a firm no-third-party-sharing policy.

  • Encrypted connection (256-bit SSL)
  • Never sold or shared
  • Read our Privacy Policy

Document What You Earned, Not What You Wish You Earned

This platform is meant to document income you have genuinely earned, not to help anyone invent numbers. Using a generated stub to mislead a lender, landlord or government agency counts as income fraud, which carries serious federal penalties. Keep every figure accurate, and the stub does exactly what it is supposed to do.

Read our full use policy

Your First Paystub Is Free. Go Get It.

Mortgage broker asking for documentation? New landlord running a background check? Want a clean record of what you earned? Your first paystub from our online paystub generator is free, and there is no account to open. Start in under three minutes.