Pricing verified on gusto.com on September 3, 2026.
Gusto review
Gusto is the payroll I'd set up for a friend's first employee. It costs $49 a month plus $6 per person on the Simple plan, files every tax form automatically, and takes an afternoon to configure instead of a week. It is not the cheapest option, and the single-state limit on that entry price is the thing most reviews bury.
What Gusto costs
- Simple: $49/mo + $6/person. Single-state payroll, unlimited runs, tax filings, W-2s and 1099s, basic PTO.
- Plus: $80/mo + $12/person. Multi-state, next-day pay, time tracking.
- Premium: quote-based. Adds HR advisory, dedicated support, compliance alerts.
- Contractor-only: $6/contractor, $0 base for 6 months, then $35/mo.
The Priority Support add-on is $30 a month plus $3 per person on Simple or Plus. There is also a flat $200 annual charge if you offer tax-advantaged benefits like HSAs or commuter accounts. Source for all of this: Gusto's own pricing page.
Where Gusto wins
Setup is the selling point. Employees enter their own W-4s and direct deposit details, which saves the owner a stack of paperwork. Benefits administration — health, dental, 401(k), workers' comp — lives in the same interface as payroll, so deductions just work. Gusto says over 500,000 businesses use it, and it holds a 4.6-star average across roughly 4,100 Capterra reviews. Those are Gusto's own numbers; we cite them because scale matters for support quality, but verify anything load-bearing yourself.
Where it doesn't
The Simple plan covers one state only. Hire a remote employee across a state line and Gusto pushes you to Plus, where the per-person fee doubles from $6 to $12. A 10-person, two-state team pays $200 a month on Plus versus $109 for the same team on OnPay's single plan. That gap is the whole reason OnPay exists.
Support is business-hours only on the cheaper plans, not 24/7. And if you want deep HR tools — performance reviews, applicant tracking — they are Plus or Premium features or paid add-ons.
Who should pick something else
Multi-state teams should price OnPay first. Pure price shoppers with one or two employees should look at Patriot. Teams already running their books in QuickBooks should compare QuickBooks Workforce before deciding. Everyone else: Gusto is the safe default, and the cost breakdown shows how it prices out at your headcount. See how it compares across the market in best payroll software for small business.
Frequently asked questions
How much does Gusto cost per month?
Gusto Simple is $49 a month plus $6 per person. Plus is $80 plus $12 per person and adds multi-state payroll, next-day pay, and time tracking. Premium is quote-based. Contractor-only runs $6 per contractor with a $0 base for the first 6 months, then $35 a month.
Does Gusto file payroll taxes for you?
Yes. Federal, state, and local tax filings and payments are included on all plans, along with year-end W-2s and 1099s. Single-state payroll is the limit on the Simple plan.
Is Gusto good for a business with 2 employees?
It works, but at $49 + $12 = $61 a month it is not the cheapest. Patriot Full Service would run the same two people at $47. You pay Gusto for the polish, the benefits tools, and the easiest setup in the category.