Is Justworks a PEO or payroll software?

Justworks is primarily a PEO (Professional Employer Organization) with a separate payroll-only plan. In a PEO arrangement (Basic or Plus plans), Justworks becomes the co-employer of record for your workers, sharing legal compliance responsibility and giving your team access to large-group benefit pools. The Justworks Payroll plan is a standalone payroll processor without co-employment: similar to Gusto or ADP RUN in its category. The payroll plan costs $8/month per employee plus a $50 base; PEO Basic starts at $79/month per employee.

Is Justworks worth the cost?

Justworks PEO is worth the cost when health insurance access and compliance co-employment have real value to your company. For a 20-person team, the difference between PEO Plus ($2,480/month) and Gusto Plus ($380/month) is about $2,100/month. That premium buys co-employment compliance coverage, access to large-group medical rates, 401(k) administration, and workers' comp built in. If your team is in a competitive hiring market where health benefits are a differentiator, or if your state has complex employment law, the PEO services can justify the cost. For companies that handle compliance independently and buy health insurance separately, Gusto Plus or BambooHR offer more cost-effective alternatives.

Does Justworks offer a free trial?

Justworks is currently offering 3 months free on its Payroll plan for new accounts (promotion as of August 2026, per justworks.com/pricing). The PEO Basic and PEO Plus plans do not have a free trial. Unlike Gusto's 30-day self-serve trial, Justworks PEO requires a conversation with their sales team before onboarding. If you want to evaluate the PEO plans, Justworks offers demos through their sales process.

How does Justworks pricing compare to Gusto?

For payroll only: Gusto Simple ($199/month for 25 employees) is cheaper than Justworks Payroll ($250/month for 25 employees). For PEO services: Justworks PEO Basic ($1,975/month for 25 employees) has no direct Gusto equivalent: Gusto is not a PEO and does not offer co-employment. A comparable setup with Gusto Plus ($380/month) plus standalone 401(k), workers' comp, and an HR advisor could run $700-1,100+/month for 25 employees, narrowing but not closing the gap. If you need pure payroll and basic HR, Gusto wins on price. If you need PEO co-employment and bundled compliance, Justworks is the appropriate category.

What is included in Justworks PEO Basic?

Justworks PEO Basic at $79/month per employee includes: full payroll for all employees (multi-state, vendor payments, off-cycle, contractor payments), employer payroll tax filings, W-2 and 1099 filings, workers' compensation insurance (billed per payroll as a percentage of wages), 401(k) administration, state unemployment insurance administration, HR consulting and tools, 24/7 human support, online onboarding and offboarding, PTO management, basic timecards, document center, mobile app, accounting integrations, federal and state compliance alerts, and access to Justworks time tracking as an add-on. Medical, dental, and vision insurance are accessible but administered separately at additional cost.

Justworks Pricing 2026: Plans, PEO vs Payroll, and What You'll Actually Pay

Last updated: August 2026

TL;DR

Justworks publishes all its pricing. The Payroll plan (not a PEO) costs $8/month per employee plus a $50/month base fee: $130/month for 10 employees, $250/month for 25. PEO Basic costs $79/month per employee with no base fee: $790/month for 10 employees. PEO Plus costs $124/month per employee: $1,240/month for 10 employees. The PEO plans look expensive against Gusto or ADP RUN, but they are a different product category: Justworks becomes the co-employer of record for your team, bundling compliance, 401(k) administration, workers' compensation, and access to large-group health insurance rates. The Payroll-only plan is Justworks' answer for price-conscious small businesses and is currently offering 3 months free.

Justworks is primarily a PEO, a Professional Employer Organization, not a traditional payroll software platform. In a PEO arrangement, Justworks becomes the legal co-employer of your workforce, which gives your team access to benefits pools, compliance coverage, and insurance rates that are normally only available to large companies. Understanding this distinction is essential before comparing Justworks pricing against Gusto, ADP, or BambooHR: PEO pricing bundles services that other platforms charge separately or don't offer at all.

Justworks Plans and Pricing (August 2026)

All four Justworks plans are published at justworks.com/pricing, verified August 2026. Unlike ADP or Paycor, Justworks does not require a sales call to see prices.

Justworks plan pricing, verified at justworks.com/pricing, August 2026.

Plan	Price	Co-employment (PEO)?	Key inclusions
Payroll	$8/mo per employee + $50/mo base	No	Payroll, HR tools, multi-state payroll, expert support, time tracking access
PEO Basic	$79/mo per employee (no base fee)	Yes	All Payroll features + compliance, 401(k), workers' comp, HR consulting, 24/7 support
PEO Plus	$124/mo per employee (no base fee)	Yes	All PEO Basic + medical/dental/vision admin, HSA/FSA, mental health benefits, fertility benefits
EOR (Global)	$599/mo per employee (no base fee)	Yes (international)	International hiring, global HR and compliance support, global payroll

ℹ PEO vs payroll software: the core difference

With a standard payroll platform (Gusto, ADP RUN, Roll by ADP), your company remains the sole employer of your workers. The software processes payroll and files taxes. With a PEO (Justworks PEO Basic or Plus), Justworks becomes the co-employer of record. This means Justworks takes on shared legal responsibility for compliance, provides access to its group insurance pools (large-group medical rates), administers workers' comp, and handles certain HR liabilities. PEO pricing includes these services. Comparing PEO Basic ($79/PEPM) directly against Gusto Simple ($49 base + $6/person) is comparing different products.

What Teams Actually Pay

The table below shows total monthly Justworks costs across plans and team sizes. These are platform and PEO administrative fees only. Health insurance premiums (which vary by plan selection and employee demographics) are separate from the per-employee fee.

Total monthly Justworks cost by plan and team size, August 2026. Payroll plan includes $50 base fee. PEO plans have no base fee. Health insurance premiums not included.

Team size	Payroll plan	PEO Basic	PEO Plus
5 employees	$90/mo	$395/mo	$620/mo
10 employees	$130/mo	$790/mo	$1,240/mo
25 employees	$250/mo	$1,975/mo	$3,100/mo
50 employees	$450/mo	$3,950/mo	$6,200/mo

⚠ PEO Basic at $79/PEPM looks expensive: here is what it includes

PEO Basic at $790/month for a 10-person team is 7x more than the Justworks Payroll plan and 6x more than Gusto Simple ($109/month). But PEO Basic includes: 24/7 human support, 401(k) administration (no separate add-on), workers' compensation insurance (billed per payroll as a percentage of wages), compliance co-employment coverage, access to large-group medical insurance rates through Justworks' pools, and dedicated HR consulting tools. Adding equivalent services to Gusto Simple (401k administration, workers' comp, 24/7 phone support, HR advisor) would run $200-400+/month depending on carrier and headcount. The gap is real but smaller than the sticker price suggests.

Justworks Payroll Plan: The Low-Cost Option

The Justworks Payroll plan is not a PEO product. It is a straightforward payroll processing platform with a published price: $8/month per employee plus a $50/month base fee. At this price point, it competes directly with Gusto Simple on cost while being cheaper for teams above a certain size.

Justworks Payroll plan vs. Gusto Simple, August 2026. Both include payroll, tax filing, and basic HR tools.

Team size	Justworks Payroll	Gusto Simple	Cheaper option
5 employees	$90/mo	$79/mo	Gusto by $11/mo
10 employees	$130/mo	$109/mo	Gusto by $21/mo
15 employees	$170/mo	$139/mo	Gusto by $31/mo
25 employees	$250/mo	$199/mo	Gusto by $51/mo
50 employees	$450/mo	$349/mo	Gusto by $101/mo

Gusto Simple is cheaper than the Justworks Payroll plan at every common team size. The main reason to choose the Justworks Payroll plan over Gusto is if you intend to upgrade to PEO Basic or Plus later: staying within the Justworks ecosystem avoids a migration. Justworks is also currently offering 3 months free on the Payroll plan for new accounts (promotion as of August 2026). If you only need payroll and are not planning to use PEO services, Gusto Simple's 30-day free trial and published pricing make it the stronger starting point.

Add-Ons and Extra Costs

•Time Tracking: $8/month per employee, available on all plans. This is an optional add-on, not included in the base plan price.
•US-based contractors: $8/month per paid contractor, available on all plans. Billed only for months the contractor receives payment.
•International contractors: $39/month per paid contractor, for contractors in 60+ countries.
•EOR (as an add-on to Basic or Plus): $599/month per international employee, same price as the standalone EOR plan.
•Dedicated HR Consulting: $30/month per employee on Basic or Plus, for a strategic HR partner beyond the standard HR tools.
•Health Insurance for Payroll plan: $8/month per benefits-eligible employee, allows Payroll-only customers to access Justworks medical/dental/vision plans. Not included in the $8 + $50 base.
•ICHRA (via Thatch): $25/month per enrolled employee, an alternative to traditional group health plans for teams that prefer individual reimbursements.
•Workers' compensation (PEO plans): billed per payroll invoice as a percentage of applicable wages, not a flat monthly fee. This is included in PEO plans but varies by state and job classification.
•Health insurance premiums: separate from the per-employee Justworks fee. Premiums depend on plan selection, employee age, and state. Justworks gives PEO customers access to large-group rates, but the premium itself is an additional invoice line.

Justworks vs. Alternatives on Price

HR and payroll software pricing comparison at 25 employees, August 2026. Justworks prices verified at justworks.com/pricing. All other prices from vendor websites or third-party estimates.

Software	~25-person monthly cost	PEO?	Price published?	Free trial
Gusto Simple	$199/mo	No	Yes	30 days
Gusto Plus	$380/mo	No	Yes	30 days
Roll by ADP	$164/mo	No	Yes	3 months free
Justworks Payroll	$250/mo	No	Yes	3 months free
Justworks PEO Basic	$1,975/mo	Yes	Yes	No
Justworks PEO Plus	$3,100/mo	Yes (+ health ins. access)	Yes	No
Rippling HR + Payroll (est.)	~$735/mo	No	Partial	No
ADP RUN Essential (est.)	~$231/mo	No	No	No

At 25 employees, Justworks PEO Basic ($1,975/month) costs 10x Gusto Simple ($199/month). That comparison is misleading out of context: PEO Basic includes co-employment, workers' comp, 401(k) admin, 24/7 support, and compliance coverage. A fairer comparison for a 25-person team on PEO Basic would be Gusto Plus ($380/month) plus a standalone 401(k) provider, workers' comp policy, and HR advisor, which could run $700-1,100+/month depending on state and carrier. The remaining gap reflects the value of co-employment: shared compliance liability and large-group insurance access that a 25-person company cannot replicate independently.

When Justworks Makes Sense

•10-200 employee companies that want to offer competitive health insurance without a large HR team: Justworks PEO Plus gives small companies access to large-group medical, dental, and vision rates from top carriers. Without a PEO, a 20-person company is typically limited to small-group plans with fewer carrier options and higher per-member premiums. The insurance savings can offset a significant portion of the PEO administrative fee.
•Companies that want compliance co-employment coverage: Justworks takes on shared legal responsibility for employment compliance in PEO arrangements. For companies in states with complex employment laws (California, New York, Massachusetts), this shared liability is meaningful.
•Teams that want everything in one bill: PEO Basic covers payroll, 401(k) administration, workers' comp, compliance, and HR tools without separate vendors. For a founder managing payroll without a dedicated HR team, consolidation into one bill and one platform has operational value beyond the feature count.
•Companies starting with payroll and planning to add PEO later: the Justworks Payroll plan ($8 + $50/month base) is a low-cost entry point that stays within the Justworks ecosystem and makes upgrading to PEO Basic or Plus frictionless.

When to Consider Alternatives

•Under 25 employees with straightforward payroll: Gusto Simple ($199/month for 25 employees) is cheaper than Justworks Payroll ($250/month) at every team size tested above, with a 30-day free trial and all pricing published. For pure payroll without PEO co-employment, Gusto wins on cost.
•When you don't need health insurance administration or compliance co-employment: the PEO plans' primary value is health insurance access and shared compliance liability. If you provide health insurance through a separate broker or your state does not create significant employment compliance complexity, you are paying for services you won't use.
•When you need performance management or an ATS: Justworks has no built-in performance review module or applicant tracking system in any plan. BambooHR Pro ($17/PEPM) includes performance management. Rippling offers performance management as an add-on.
•Global-first teams: Justworks EOR ($599/month per international employee) is competitive with Deel ($499/month EOR) but Deel covers 150+ countries with a more established global network. If international hiring is your primary use case, Deel or Rippling Global are purpose-built.

Frequently Asked Questions

Justworks publishes four plans. Payroll: $8/month per employee plus a $50/month base fee ($130/month for 10 employees, $250/month for 25 employees). PEO Basic: $79/month per employee, no base fee ($790/month for 10 employees, $1,975/month for 25 employees). PEO Plus: $124/month per employee, no base fee ($1,240/month for 10 employees, $3,100/month for 25 employees). EOR global: $599/month per international employee. Health insurance premiums are separate from all plan fees and vary by carrier, plan, and employee demographics.