Gusto pricing in 2024 (2024)

Gusto is a full-service payroll provider and human resources (HR) platform for startups and small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs). It supports various industries — healthcare, construction, retail, manufacturing and trucking, among others — and can be used by organizations with fully remote or global workforces.

If you’re considering payroll solutions for your small business, you’re probably curious about Gusto’s pricing. We evaluated the costs for the platform’s different plan and feature options to help you determine which works best for your business’s needs and budget.

What is Gusto?

Gusto is software that helps startups and SMBs manage and administer employee compensation and benefits. Its platform also includes features that assist with human resources functions like hiring, onboarding, time tracking and attendance.

Gusto’s platform is built to support startups and SMBs with team members across the globe (or at the very least, state lines). Gusto’s payroll services are available in all 50 US states, and the platform can also be used by businesses with contractors in 120 countries. Gusto Global, an EoR (employer of record) service set to fully launch soon, allows businesses to hire and pay full-time employees in 75+ countries.

Gusto pricing and plans

Simple plan

Base price: $40 per month plus $6 per employee per month

Gusto Simple offers a streamlined set of automated payroll features and benefits integrations for businesses with employees in one state, including unlimited payroll runs. Admins can automate runs with a feature called AutoPilot, or they can process payroll manually based on employee pay rates and schedules. Gusto automatically files and pays federal, state and local taxes and generates W-4s and I-9 forms for customers on the Simple plan.

Simple also includes medical, dental, vision and COBRA insurance administration, all brokered by Gusto. Additionally, there is a reporting feature that analyzes data related to payroll, benefits, time off, employees, contractors and taxes. Lastly, the Simple plan provides access to Gusto’s support team during limited live support hours (callback and live chat hours are between 5 a.m. and 5 p.m. PT Monday through Friday), and users can email Gusto or access the online help center anytime.

Plus plan

Base price: $80 per month plus $12 per employee per month

Gusto Plus includes everything in the Simple plan with a few extra HR features.Its payroll and tax filing offerings mirror the Simple plan with one notable exception: Users on the Plus plan can run payroll in multiple states. Beginning with Gusto Plus, users also can build custom reports and templates.

New features offered with the Plus plan include time tracking and project tracking, as well as hiring tools like job posting, applicant tracking and background checks. Plus customers can also create and manage paid time off policies, reimburse employees for expenses, conduct performance reviews and build an employee directory and team org charts.

Customer support options are the same for the Simple and Plus plans, but Plus customers can add priority support (which gives them access to Gusto’s HR Resource Center) for an extra $8 per employee per month.

Premium plan

Base price: Varies based on business size and needs

Gusto Premium includes everything offered in the Simple and Plus plans, but Premium customers get priority support and regularly meet with a dedicated customer support manager. They also receive more initial payroll setup assistance from Gusto, get compliance alerts for relevant state or federal law changes and have access to certified HR experts with compliance, legal and employment expertise through Gusto’s partnership with Mineral.

Additionally, Gusto will scan customers’ payroll data and apply for research and development (R&D) tax credits — which reduce a business’s tax liability for qualifying expenditures around the development and improvement of products, processes, and more — on their behalf.

Businesses on the Premium plan can integrate their existing broker and health insurance plans into Gusto. It’s worth noting that Plus customers can also add this option to their plan for $6 per eligible employee per month.

Note: Gusto’s website mentions waived fees and exclusive discounts on select integrations and services for Premium customers. For example, priority support is included with Premium at no extra cost.

Contractor Only plan

Base price: $35 per month plus $6 per contractor paid per month

Gusto’s Contractor Only plan is for businesses that exclusively employ 1099 workers and doesn’t include the standard features available with Simple, Plus or Premium. Instead, this plan features a stripped-down version of the tool with a handful of features needed to pay 1099 workers.

Customers on the Contractor Only plan can process unlimited contractor payments across all 50 states. Back-up withholding or other contractor withholding required by state agencies isn’t included in this plan. If new hire reporting is required in your state, Gusto will help provide relevant documentation.

An international contractor payments add-on is available for businesses that need to compensate workers in other countries. There is a fee associated with this add-on, but pricing varies depending on the country and how many contractors you’re paying. Also, Gusto’s standard tax filing services aren’t included in this plan (because they’re not necessary for contractor-only businesses), but Gusto will send customers on this plan 1099-NECs at the end of the year.

Note: As of late 2023, Gusto is offering this plan to new customers for $0 per month for the first six months.

Add-ons and extra fees

Gusto has a few add-ons that customers can choose to customize their plan. Notably, add-ons aren’t available for the Contractor Only plan (except the international contractor payments add-on).

Pricing information for some of the add-ons listed in the table below isn’t available on Gusto’s website. However, the company prides itself on its transparency (promising “no hidden fees or charges”), so we suggest calling the sales line at (800) 936-0383 if you’re interested in learning more about the costs of any of the add-ons listed below.

Free trials and special offers

• Free trial: You can create a Gusto account and use the platform for free until a payroll run is processed. We called Gusto’s sales line to confirm that there is no time limit for the free version of the product, and the sales representative we spoke with verified that users are only charged after they process their first payroll run through Gusto.

• Special offers: At the time of our reporting, Gusto had two special offers available. The first offer — which includes six months of free payroll — is only available to customers who sign up for Gusto using a Gusto venture capital referral partner’s sign-up link and run one or more paid payrolls.

The second offer is for businesses on the Contractor Only plan. Customers who take advantage of this offer get access to Gusto for $0 per month for the first six months.

Gusto pricing vs competitors

Let’s compare Gusto’s pricing and core features to four similar payroll systems.

Read more: Gusto vs QuickBooks

Is Gusto worth the cost?

Considering the unlimited payroll runs, automated tax filing and HR-related features offered by Gusto, this payroll platform is a good value for SMBs. To get a little more specific, Gusto Simple would work well for startups and small businesses that employ workers in a single state. Gusto Plus is better suited for businesses that either employ workers in multiple states or need a platform with additional HR features (such as time tracking, performance management and hiring features).

According to several payroll provider sites, the base price for small business payroll software ranges from $20 to $150 per month, which puts both Gusto Simple and Plus (which cost $40 and $80 per month, respectively) well within the mid-range.