Last updated: October 2026

Gusto payroll review 2026

Gusto publishes its rates on its own plan cards, which is unusual among payroll providers and is the most useful thing about it when you are comparing options.

This review covers what Gusto does, what it does not do, and where the plan tiers force an upgrade.

Who Gusto is built for

If you have 1 to 25 employees in one or two states, pay people on a simple salary or hourly structure, and want benefits administration bundled with payroll, Gusto is your answer. The sweet spot is a company with 5 to 15 employees that needs full service payroll with automatic tax filing, direct deposit, W2 and 1099 preparation, PTO tracking, and employee self service access to pay stubs and tax documents.

Gusto also handles contractor payments on all plans. You can pay 1099 contractors alongside W2 employees without a separate system, and Gusto files the 1099 forms at year end automatically. Gusto bills US contractors at your plan's per person rate and only in the months you actually pay them, which matters if your contractor count moves around.

Gusto pricing in 2026

Gusto publishes five plans, not three. Three sit under a Pay My Team tab: Simple at $49 per month plus $6 per employee, Plus at $80 per month plus $12 per employee, and Premium at $180 per month plus $22 per employee. A fourth, Contractor Only, is listed at $35 per month plus $6 per person, for businesses that have not hired W2 employees yet. A fifth, Solo, sits under a separate Pay Myself tab at $49 per month plus $6 per person and is aimed at S corp owners paying themselves.

Contractor Only carries a promotional rate. Gusto's pricing page, read on 18 September 2026, offers a discounted base price of $0 per month for the first six months against a $35 list price, with terms applying. The $6 per contractor fee is not discounted. Budget on $35 plus $6 per contractor, because the discount ends on a stated schedule.

Check the pay speed before you pick a tier. That matters most on an off cycle run to fix an error, pay a bonus, or process a termination check. Gusto's plan tables list next day pay as a standard feature on Plus and Premium and as a paid add on on Simple, at $15 per month plus $3 per person. Upgrading to Plus instead costs $80 plus $12 per employee, which is a 63% jump in base fee and a 100% jump in per employee cost.

The faster options Gusto publishes are Same Day pay at $90 per payroll and Instant pay at $100 per payroll. For a detailed breakdown of what each Gusto plan costs at different company sizes, see the full pricing analysis.

Gusto does not charge setup fees or per payroll run fees. On Gusto, corrections are free. A provider that bills per payroll run charges again for every off cycle correction, every bonus run, and every termination payroll, so check your own contract for a per run line before you compare monthly figures.

What Gusto does well

Gusto auto-files quarterly 941 returns, annual 940 forms, state withholding returns, and W2s at year end.

Gusto's plan tables list health insurance broker integration as an add on at $6 per eligible employee per month on Plus, and included on Premium. Workers comp is available as pay as you go, listed as an add on starting at $14 per month, syncing premiums with actual payroll each period.

Gusto lists a custom onboarding checklist on Plus and Premium and not at all on Simple, so on Simple the onboarding flow is whatever Gusto ships. Nothing in the published tables lists custom fields beyond what Gusto provides, or conditional steps based on role or department, at any tier.

What Gusto does poorly

Customer support is where the plan tier bites hardest. Gusto's plan tables put priority support as an add on for Simple and Plus and included on Premium. Phone support exists, and Gusto publishes support hours of Monday through Friday with a Help Center available at all times. Gusto publishes no wait time. When your payroll is stuck on a Friday afternoon because of a tax filing issue, that gap is the thing to price.

Multi state payroll requires the Plus plan at minimum. Simple does not support it at all. If you hire your first remote employee in another state while on Simple, you must upgrade your entire plan before you can process their paycheck.

Gusto's published feature tables list no general workflow automation. There is nothing in them for if/then rules that trigger actions across departments, and nothing for auto assigning training by role. Software provisioning is the exception: Gusto lists software provisioning on Plus and Premium, and not on Simple, alongside team directory, org chart and applicant tracking. Whether that matters depends on how much cross department process you are trying to automate.

Who should skip Gusto

Skip Gusto if you need certified payroll for government contracts. Gusto's published feature tables list no certified payroll reporting. If you are a construction company bidding on public works projects, confirm certified payroll support in writing before you sign with any provider, Gusto included.

Skip Gusto if you need global payroll for more than a handful of international employees. Gusto offers an employer of record service. Price it against a dedicated EOR provider before you commit, because the convenience of keeping everything on one platform is only worth what the quote turns out to say. Gusto publishes a rate for global contractor payments, at $5 per payment to US bank accounts with no monthly per contractor fee.

How Gusto compares

Against Rippling: Gusto publishes its rates and Rippling does not publish a complete price list, so the two cannot be compared on price without a Rippling quote. What Gusto includes is on its plan tables and stops there.

Against ADP: Gusto publishes a rate and ADP publishes none, which makes Gusto the easier of the two to evaluate before a sales call. Which one costs less at your headcount is not knowable until ADP quotes you. Choose Gusto if a published price is what you are optimising for.

Against OnPay: Gusto publishes five plans. OnPay publishes one plan, Payroll Essentials, at $49 base plus $6 per worker per month on its own pricing page.

Which Gusto plan to start on

Start on the Plus plan if you have employees in more than one state or need next day direct deposit. Start on Simple if you are single state with basic needs and want to save $31 per month on the base fee. Either way, set up your tax accounts and worker classifications before signing up so your first payroll runs without surprises.

Frequently asked questions

This is not legal or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional for your specific situation.