Gusto payroll pricing
Some payroll providers may pay us a referral fee if you sign up through our links. It never affects the order of results. How we make money.
Last checked by hand:
$49lowest base fee / month
$6per employee / month on Simple
$79for 5 employees, taxes filed for you
#6by price of 13 for that team (tied)
Key facts
- The cheapest Gusto plan that files payroll taxes for you is the Simple plan, at $49 a month plus $6 per employee (one state only), as of October 22, 2026 (source: gusto.com).
- For 5 employees in one state with payroll taxes filed for you, Gusto costs $79 a month on its Simple plan, as of October 22, 2026, tied for 6th among the 13 US payroll services we track that publish prices (source: gusto.com).
- For 10 employees in one state with payroll taxes filed for you, Gusto costs $109 a month on its Simple plan ($10.90 per employee), as of October 22, 2026 (source: gusto.com).
- With 10 employees in two states, Gusto costs $200 a month on its Plus plan ($109 with all 10 in one state), as of October 22, 2026 (source: gusto.com).
- The latest entry in our price change log for Gusto is dated October 1, 2026: Gusto's Contractor Only plan ($35 a month + $6 per contractor) is no longer available to new customers, according to Gusto's Help Center (source: support.gusto.com; change log).
Gusto plans
| Plan | Base / month | Per employee | Per contractor | Limits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Simple | $49 | $6 | $6 | 1 state only |
| Plus | $80 | $12 | $12 | — |
| Premium | $180 | $22 | $22 | — |
What you'd pay by team size
| Plan | 1 employee | 5 employees | 10 employees | 25 employees | 50 employees |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Simple | $55 | $79 | $109 | $199 | $349 |
| Plus | $92 | $140 | $200 | $380 | $680 |
| Premium | $202 | $290 | $400 | $730 | $1,280 |
What each plan includes
| Feature | Simple | Plus | Premium |
|---|---|---|---|
| Files and pays payroll taxes for you | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Employees in more than one state | — | ✓ | ✓ |
| Next-day direct deposit | + | ✓ | ✓ |
| Same-day direct deposit | — | — | ✓ |
| Built-in time tracking | + | ✓ | ✓ |
| Health benefits administration | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Pay-as-you-go workers' comp | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Access to HR advisers | — | — | ✓ |
| HR tools (onboarding, handbook, compliance) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Local (city/county) tax filing | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Pay 1099 contractors | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Pay W-2 employees | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Unlimited payroll runs | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Direct deposit | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Year-end W-2 and 1099 forms included | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Paid-time-off tracking | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Employee self-service portal or app | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Syncs with accounting software | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Phone support | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Pay contractors outside the US | + | + | + |
Fine print
- Simple: Single-state payroll only ("Run basic payroll in one state."). U.S. contractors billed at the same per-person price, only in months they are paid. Same-day pay ($90 per payroll) and Instant pay ($100 per payroll) are available as per-payroll add-ons. Workers' comp is a pay-as-you-go add-on listed as "Starting at $14/mo". Health insurance administration has no Gusto fee (pay premiums only); keeping your own broker costs $6/mo per eligible employee.
- Plus: Multi-state payroll, unlimited next-day pay and time tracking/scheduling included. Same-day pay ($90 per payroll) and Instant pay ($100 per payroll) are per-payroll add-ons. State tax registration in a new state is an add-on ("Pricing varies by state").
- Premium: Includes unlimited same-day and instant pay, Premium Account Support, HR expert guidance ("Ask an HR expert"), employee handbook, Gusto Business Compliance and state tax registration.
Tax filing coverage, in Gusto's words: We file federal, state, and local payroll tax forms on your company's behalf (things like Form W-2, Form 1099, Form 940, Form 941, Form 8974, and others).
Compare Gusto with 12 other services in the calculator
Gusto compared
- Gusto vs QuickBooks
- Gusto vs OnPay
- Gusto vs Square Payroll
- Gusto vs Patriot
- Gusto vs Justworks
- Wave vs Gusto
- Roll by ADP vs Gusto
Sources we checked: Gusto pricing page (plans, add-ons, plan comparison data, pricing FAQs) (checked 2026-10-22); Gusto pricing page, Wayback snapshot (cross-check: identical plan prices) (checked 2026-10-22); Gusto pricing page, Wayback snapshot that still showed the former Contractor Only plan (checked 2026-10-22); Gusto Help Center: Change your Gusto product plan (contractor-only plan discontinued) (checked 2026-10-22)