Tax season is always a source of fear and anxiety. It’s confusing, with a myriad of forms, schedules and worksheets to fill out. And it exposes the flaws and gaps in our record keeping, as we suddenly realize that we’ve lost every receipt we thought we had stored away in a safe place, and completely forgotten why we were so sure we could deduct that trip to visit the folks.

That’s why so many people use tax preparation software and services to file their taxes: to avoid costly mistakes. But that tax preparation doesn’t come cheap: It costs an average of about $251 to have someone prepare a relatively simple federal tax return, and that cost can skyrocket as your tax situation becomes more complex.

But don’t despair. There are plenty of options for filing your taxes these days, ranging from surprisingly robust free options to some great tax prep deals that cost a little but deliver.

Paying taxes is bad enough. Paying to pay taxes just adds salt to the wound. If doing so is an abomination to you, remember that there is never a fee to file your taxes, so you can always use the IRS’s free fillable forms to file your federal taxes, and anyone making under $72,000 can most likely use IRS Free File to file their state taxes as well. Not all states participate, though, although many also have their own tax filing portals where you can file for free, so it’s worth checking. The biggest downside here is the lack of guidance and advice, beyond the (often inscrutable) instructions on the forms.