Gusto Review: Payroll and HR for Very Small Businesses
Gusto costs $49 a month plus $6 per person on Simple, $80 plus $12 on Plus, and $180 plus $22 on Premium. Here is what each plan covers and who it fits.
By Galactic News Editorial · Published 2026-11-08T07:22:13+00:00 · Updated 2026-11-08T07:22:13+00:00
Gusto Review: Payroll and HR for Very Small Businesses
Gusto is payroll software built for small employers. It runs payroll, files taxes, handles onboarding, and adds HR tools as you move up its plans. For a business with one to ten employees, it is one of the simplest options on the market. This review covers its pricing, what each plan includes, and where the limits bite. It is based on Gusto's published prices and plan pages, checked in October and November 2026. We did not test the product firsthand.
Gusto payroll review: the pricing
Gusto charges a monthly base fee plus a monthly fee per person. There is no contract, and billing is month to month. The published list prices are:
| Plan | Base fee a month | Per person a month | 10-person team a month |
|---|---|---|---|
| Simple | $49 | $6 | $109 |
| Plus | $80 | $12 | $200 |
| Premium | $180 | $22 | $400 |
A single employee costs $55 a month on Simple, $92 on Plus, and $202 on Premium. A five-person team costs $79 on Simple, $140 on Plus, and $290 on Premium. Benefits premiums, workers' compensation, and add-ons are extra on every plan.
Gusto has raised prices more than once in recent years, so check the pricing page before you sign. The company also gives 30 days' notice before any fee change. Gusto repackaged its plans on October 1, 2026. List prices did not change, but what each plan includes did.
What each plan includes
Simple, $49 plus $6 per person. This is the entry plan. It covers full-service payroll in a single state, unlimited payroll runs, automatic federal, state, and local tax filings, W-2s and 1099s, employee self-service, basic paid time off, and access to benefits. It suits a small team that pays everyone in one state and needs core payroll done right.
Plus, $80 plus $12 per person. Plus adds multi-state payroll, time tracking, next-day direct deposit, hiring and onboarding tools, and performance management. The jump from Simple is large: the base fee rises 63% and the per-person fee doubles. The trigger is usually geography. The moment you hire in a second state, Simple no longer works and Plus becomes mandatory.
Premium, $180 plus $22 per person. Premium adds same-day and instant pay where eligible, custom admin roles, an HR resource center, compliance alerts, and a dedicated service advisor with priority support. It is aimed at larger teams with heavier HR needs. Since the October 2026 repackaging, Premium no longer includes broker integration, which now costs $6 per employee.
Solo, $49 plus $6 per person. Gusto also lists a Solo plan for owner-only businesses, priced the same as Simple.
Contractors: a change to know about
Gusto's Contractor Only plan, at $35 a month plus $6 per contractor, closed to new customers on October 1, 2026. Existing customers keep it. New customers now pay American contractors at the per-person rate of whichever plan they choose. If you run a contractor-only business, that change removes Gusto's cheapest entry point. International contractor payments are handled separately and priced differently.
What Gusto does well
Transparency is Gusto's biggest strength. It publishes every plan price, every per-person fee, and most add-on prices on its own pricing page. Larger payroll providers such as Paychex and ADP do not. A small employer can work out the exact monthly cost before talking to anyone.
The product is also genuinely easy to use. Payroll runs take a few clicks. Tax filings are automatic. New hires complete their own onboarding paperwork through employee self-service. For a founder running payroll for the first time, that simplicity is the point.
Support is solid on the higher plans, and the October 2026 repackaging added performance tools to Plus. The company has a long track record with very small businesses, and its interface is built for owners, not payroll specialists.
Where Gusto falls short
The plan tiers force upgrades at awkward moments. Multi-state payroll is the big one. A business that hires one person across a state line pays double the per-person fee for the whole team. Time tracking is another: it sits on Plus, so a Simple customer who wants it must upgrade the entire plan.
Add-ons stack up. Priority support costs $30 a month plus $3 per person on Simple and Plus. Business compliance costs $85 per state per month on Simple and Plus, with a 12-month commitment. State tax registration costs extra. A Simple plan that looks like $109 a month for ten people can grow quickly once add-ons join.
Gusto is also a poor fit for larger or more complex employers. It has no published annual rate, and its per-person pricing gets expensive past about 25 people. Companies with complex benefits, multiple entities, or heavy compliance needs usually outgrow it.
Who Gusto is best for
Gusto fits a business with one to ten employees, all in one state, that wants payroll and tax filing handled without hiring a specialist. Simple covers that job at $49 plus $6 per person. It also fits growing teams that want hiring, onboarding, and time tracking in the same tool, at the Plus price.
It fits less well if you pay people in several states, rely on contractors only, or expect to pass 25 employees soon. In those cases, the per-person fees and forced upgrades deserve a comparison against competitors before you commit.
Verdict
Gusto is the easiest payroll option for a very small business, and its published pricing makes the cost honest to calculate. Simple is good value for a single-state team. Plus is the real price of growing, and its jump is steep. Start on Simple if it covers you, budget for Plus the moment you hire across a state line, and check the add-on prices before you judge the monthly total.