Gusto
Self-serve payroll, benefits, and HR for US small businesses — taxes filed automatically, payroll run in a few clicks.
Independent overview by new Mantra · updated September 28, 2026
- Category
- HR
- Pricing
- Simple $49/mo + $6/person; Plus $80/mo + $12/person; Premium $180/mo + $22/person; Contractor-only $35/mo + $6/contractor
- Implementation
- 1-2 weeks
- Adoption risk
- Low
- Integrates with
- QuickBooks, Xero, Clover, Gmail, Asana
If payroll still means spreadsheets or an outside bureau, Gusto publishes its prices — from $49 a month plus $6 per person — so you can work out your monthly cost from headcount and see which plan includes time tracking and HR tools before you talk to anyone.
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Watch: how Gusto works
What Gusto does
Gusto is a payroll and HR platform aimed at US small and medium businesses — it claims more than 500,000 of them as customers. The core job is payroll: you add your people, they can onboard themselves, and each pay run takes a few clicks while Gusto calculates withholdings, files federal, state, and local payroll taxes automatically, and flags compliance issues. It handles W-2 employees and 1099 contractors side by side, and even solo owners running an S corp can use it to pay themselves a compliant salary.
Around payroll sits a broader people platform. Gusto acts as a benefits broker — health insurance administration comes at no extra platform cost beyond premiums — and adds time tracking that syncs hours and PTO into pay runs, hiring and onboarding checklists, applicant tracking, talent management, and reporting. Its customer survey material claims meaningful time savings on tax and compliance work after switching.
Pricing is published and headcount-based: plans start at $49/mo plus $6 per person, rising through Plus ($80/mo + $12/person) and Premium ($180/mo + $22/person), with a contractor-only option at $35/mo plus $6 per contractor. It connects to accounting and operations tools including QuickBooks and Xero, and most businesses are running within a week or two.
Key capabilities
Full-service payroll
Runs payroll in a few clicks with automatic calculation and filing of federal, state, and local payroll taxes, plus year-end forms.
Automated tax and compliance
Files payroll taxes for you, sends compliance alerts, and identifies tax credits a small business might otherwise miss.
Employee benefits administration
Acts as your health insurance broker with administration included, and supports financial benefits and workers' compensation.
Time tracking synced to pay
Captures hours, PTO, and holidays and flows them straight into payroll, removing manual reconciliation each pay period.
Hiring and onboarding
Job posting, applicant tracking, offer letters, and self-service onboarding checklists get new hires set up without paperwork shuffling.
Contractor payments
Pays domestic and international contractors alongside employees, with a low-cost contractor-only plan for businesses with no W-2 staff.
Best for
- US small businesses that want payroll, taxes, and basic HR handled in one place without a payroll clerk or outside bureau
- First-time employers — the guided setup, self-onboarding, and automatic filings remove most of the scary parts of hiring employee number one
- Businesses using QuickBooks or Xero that want payroll flowing into the books automatically
- Companies with mixed teams of employees and contractors, including solo S corp owners paying themselves
- Small teams that want to offer real health benefits without hiring a broker separately
Worth knowing
- It's built for US payroll: Canadian and other international employees are only reachable through an employer-of-record partner or a contractor add-on, at extra cost
- Per-person pricing grows with headcount, and useful features like time tracking and stronger HR tools sit in the pricier Plus and Premium tiers
- Health benefits availability and carrier options vary by state — confirm coverage where your people actually live before promising it
- Growing companies can outgrow it; if you're heading past a few hundred employees or need deep HRIS customization, evaluate mid-market platforms
- Switching payroll providers mid-year requires careful migration of year-to-date tax data — plan the cutover, ideally at a quarter or year boundary
How Gusto compares
Small-business payroll tools all file taxes. The differences are how much HR comes bundled, whether you take on a PEO, and whether you can see the price before a sales call. Gusto's case is published, headcount-based pricing with benefits and HR built in.
vs Roll by ADP
Roll by ADP runs payroll from a chat on your phone, at $39 a month plus $5 per employee with the first three months free, and includes an AI assistant for HR questions. Gusto costs more per person but adds benefits brokerage, time tracking synced to pay, hiring and onboarding. Choose Roll for bare payroll; Gusto for payroll plus HR.
vs Paychex Flex
Paychex Flex quotes every package on request, setup fees may apply and implementation runs two to four weeks. It adds AI payroll anomaly checks and a Recruiting Copilot. Gusto publishes every tier and most businesses are running in one to two weeks. Choose Paychex Flex if those extras justify a quote; Gusto to price and set up without a sales call.
vs Justworks
Justworks is a PEO: it bundles payroll, compliance, workers' comp and large-group benefits from $79 per employee a month, or payroll only at $8 per employee plus $50. Gusto stays your payroll provider and acts as your health insurance broker instead. Choose Justworks to hand benefits and compliance to a PEO; Gusto to run payroll and HR yourself.
vs Rippling
Rippling puts HR, payroll, IT and finance on one platform, including global payroll, on a custom quote with a four-to-eight-week implementation. Gusto has published pricing, a one-to-two-week setup and is built for US teams. If you need device provisioning, spend management or payroll abroad tied to HR records, look at Rippling; for US payroll and HR, Gusto.
Related tools
Ready to see Gusto in action?
Price your real headcount on the plan you need: Simple is $49 a month plus $6 per person; Plus, where time tracking and stronger HR tools start, is $80 plus $12. If you are switching providers, plan the cutover at a quarter or year boundary so year-to-date tax data moves cleanly.
Heads-up: this is an affiliate link — if you buy through it, new Mantra may earn a commission at no cost to you. It doesn’t change our take.
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