TL;DR
Gusto has four pricing tiers. Contractor Only: $35/mo + $6/contractor (first 6 months free for new accounts). Simple: $49/mo + $6/person: the plan most small businesses use, with full-service payroll and a 30-day free trial. Plus: $80/mo + $12/person: adds next-day direct deposit and time tracking. Premium: $180/mo + $22/person: adds a dedicated HR advisor and compliance alerts, designed for companies with 100+ employees. Real cost examples: 10 employees on Simple = $109/month; 25 employees on Plus = $380/month; 50 employees on Premium = $1,280/month. Add-ons: 401(k), workers' comp, global contractor payments: carry separate fees not in the base price. Gusto raised its Simple plan from $39/mo to $49/mo in 2025; content showing $39 is outdated.
Five of the fifteen organic search results for 'gusto pricing' belong to Gusto itself. Most third-party content in the SERP shows conflicting prices: some still list the old $39/month Simple plan, others show $49. This guide pulls directly from gusto.com/product/pricing, verified August 2026, and covers the full cost picture including the add-ons and fee categories that most pricing guides omit.
⚠ Gusto raised its prices: $39/month is the old rate
Gusto's Simple plan base price increased from $39/month to $49/month. The Plus and Premium plan pricing was also revised. Any source showing Simple at $39/month is referencing outdated pricing. Reddit threads from late 2025 document the increase; the current prices on gusto.com/product/pricing as of August 2026 are confirmed in this guide.
Gusto Pricing Plans (August 2026)
Gusto plan pricing as of August 2026, verified at gusto.com/product/pricing. *Contractor Only: $0/mo base for first 6 months for new accounts, then $35/mo.
| Plan | Base price | Per-person fee | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contractor Only | $35/mo ($0 first 6 mo*) | $6/contractor/month | Agencies, freelancers with subcontractors: no W-2 employees |
| Simple | $49/mo | $6/person/month | Small businesses needing full-service payroll, basic HR |
| Plus | $80/mo | $12/person/month | Teams that need time tracking, next-day deposit, PTO management |
| Premium | $180/mo | $22/person/month | HR departments at 100+ employee companies needing an advisor |
What Gusto Actually Costs: Real Total by Team Size
The table below shows total monthly Gusto fees (base + per-person) for each plan across common team sizes. These are platform fees only: add-ons (401k, workers' comp, benefits) are separate.
Total monthly Gusto cost by plan and team size, August 2026. Contractor Only uses $35/mo base (after 6-month promo).
| Team size | Contractor Only | Simple | Plus | Premium |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 person | $41/mo | $55/mo | $92/mo | $202/mo |
| 5 people | $65/mo | $79/mo | $140/mo | $290/mo |
| 10 people | $95/mo | $109/mo | $200/mo | $400/mo |
| 25 people | $185/mo | $199/mo | $380/mo | $730/mo |
| 50 people | $335/mo | $349/mo | $680/mo | $1,280/mo |
ℹ The Premium crossover
At 50 employees, Gusto Premium costs $1,280/month: primarily for the dedicated HR advisor and compliance alerts. Rippling Core + Payroll for the same team is estimated at $1,435/month based on user-reported data, which makes Premium surprisingly competitive at scale relative to Rippling. But at 25 employees, Premium ($730/month) versus Simple ($199/month) is a $531/month difference for features most small businesses rarely need. The HR advisor and compliance alerts in Premium are designed for HR managers at 100+ employee companies, not founders running their first team.
Add-Ons That Change the Final Bill
Gusto's base plans cover payroll and basic HR. Every other function: benefits, 401(k), workers' comp, global payments: is a paid add-on. Three add-ons catch new customers off guard: state tax registration fees are charged per payroll run (not per month), the 401(k) has a $20/month minimum regardless of headcount, and global contractor payments are billed per transaction rather than per contractor.
Gusto add-on pricing, August 2026. Add-ons are not included in any base plan.
| Add-on | Cost | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Workers' compensation | From $14/mo + premiums | Pay-as-you-go; integrates with payroll |
| 401(k) administration | $4/mo per participant | $20/mo minimum even with 1 participant |
| FSA / HSA / Commuter benefits | $4/mo per participant each | $20/mo minimum per benefit type |
| Broker integration (existing plans) | $6/mo per eligible employee | Connect existing health insurance plans |
| Global contractor payments | $5 per payment | Billed per transaction, not per contractor |
| R&D tax credit service | $15/mo + $3/person | Discounted on Premium; $90–100 per payroll otherwise |
| State tax registration | $90/payroll (Plus/Premium) | $100/payroll on Simple; billed each run in new state |
| Time & Attendance Plus | $6/mo per person | Free first month; available on all plans |
| Gusto Money Plus | $19/mo | Spending and savings accounts for employees |
Contractor Only Plan: Who It's For
The Contractor Only plan is built for businesses that pay 1099 contractors but have no W-2 employees: design agencies, early-stage startups paying advisors, and freelancers who subcontract work. At $35/month + $6/contractor (with the base fee waived for the first 6 months for new accounts), it is the lowest-cost way to manage contractor payments through Gusto.
- •What's included: domestic contractor payments, 1099-NEC generation, contractor self-service portal, basic document storage.
- •What's not included: W-2 payroll, benefits administration (401k, health insurance add-ons are unavailable on Contractor Only), time tracking, HR features.
- •When to upgrade: the moment you hire your first W-2 employee, you must move to Simple ($49/mo + $6/person). The per-person rate on Simple is the same as Contractor Only ($6), so the cost difference is the $14/mo increase in the base fee.
- •International contractors: domestic Contractor Only covers US-based contractors only. Paying contractors outside the US requires the Global Contractor Payments add-on ($5 per payment), available on any plan.
Is Gusto Plus or Premium Worth It?
Simple → Plus: when the upgrade makes sense
- •Next-day direct deposit is a hard requirement: the most common upgrade trigger. Simple has 4-day direct deposit. If your team runs payroll close to pay dates and needs funds available the next business day, Plus ($80/mo base vs $49/mo) is the practical choice.
- •Time tracking is relevant: if hourly workers, PTO tracking, or overtime calculations are part of your payroll, Plus includes Time & Attendance (otherwise a $6/person add-on). For a 10-person team with hourly workers, Plus saves $60/month vs Simple + Time & Attendance add-on.
- •Multi-state team with hourly workers: overtime calculations vary by state (California, for example, triggers daily overtime at 8 hours). Plus handles state-specific overtime rules; Simple does not.
Plus → Premium: when it's justified
- •You have a dedicated HR manager who will actively use the HR advisor line: Premium's primary differentiator is a certified HR advisor available by phone. For a founder wearing the HR hat with no HR background, this has real value. For a company with an HR team that handles policy internally, it doesn't.
- •You have 100+ employees and compliance monitoring matters: compliance alerts (FLSA changes, ACA reporting requirements, state law updates) are genuinely useful at scale. For a 15-person team, the alerts rarely trigger for situations that a Google search wouldn't handle.
- •R&D tax credits offset the cost: Premium unlocks discounted R&D tax credit pricing ($15/mo + $3/person vs $90–100 per payroll). For a 25-person tech team running bi-weekly payroll, the discount saves approximately $1,200–1,800/year: which covers Premium's $531/month premium over Plus.
Gusto vs Rippling vs BambooHR: Price at 25 Employees
HR software pricing comparison at 25 employees, August 2026. * = user-reported estimates.
| Software | Starting price | 25-person total (HR + payroll) | Free trial | Price published |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gusto Simple | $49/mo + $6/person | $199/month | 30 days | Yes |
| Gusto Plus | $80/mo + $12/person | $380/month | 30 days | Yes |
| BambooHR + Payroll | Custom quote | ~$400–600/month * | 7 days | No |
| Rippling (Core + Payroll) | $8/PEPM + $35 base | ~$735/month * | No | Partial |
| Factorial | ~$5/person/mo | ~$125/month | Yes | Partial |
| ADP RUN | Custom quote | ~$250–500/month * | No | No |
At 25 employees, Gusto Simple ($199/month) undercuts every competitor with transparent pricing and a 30-day free trial. The comparison shifts at 50 employees: Gusto Plus at $680/month is still cheaper than Rippling's estimated HR + Payroll cost ($1,085/month): but Rippling adds IT management, app provisioning, and spend management that Gusto doesn't offer. For US-only teams that only need payroll and basic HR, Gusto wins on price at virtually every headcount. The case for switching to Rippling is not cost: it's capability: IT management, performance reviews, and international payroll.
Frequently Asked Questions
Gusto costs $49/month base + $6 per employee per month on the Simple plan. Common team totals: 5 employees = $79/month, 10 employees = $109/month, 25 employees = $199/month, 50 employees = $349/month. Plus plan: $80/month base + $12/person ($200/month for 10 employees; $380/month for 25). Premium plan: $180/month base + $22/person ($400/month for 10 employees; $730/month for 25). The Contractor Only plan is $35/month base + $6/contractor (first 6 months free for new accounts).
Tools Mentioned
US-based small businesses (1–100 employees), solo owners, and S corps
$49/month + $6/person· 0-day trial
Scaling companies (30–10,000 employees) with remote or hybrid teams
Custom quote (demo required)
Mid-size companies (25–500 employees) focused on people and performance
$10/employee/month (Core): Payroll add-on requires quote· 7-day trial
Mid-market and enterprise companies (50–10,000+ employees) with complex multi-state payroll
Custom quote
Growing companies (10–500 employees) that want modular HR without a fixed bundle
$8/user/month