Cheaper Gusto Alternatives (2026): Payroll for 15 Employees for Less

For a 15-employee company running single-state, full-service payroll with basic HR, billed monthly, Patriot's Full Service Payroll plan is the cheapest option at $112/mo, verified on Patriot's pricing page in September 2026, against $260/mo for Gusto Plus, the closest Gusto tier for that scope. Square Payroll is a close second at $125/mo. Gusto Plus stays the pick when the team needs the org chart, time-off requests, and a bundled clock in one login.

That gap is not free: Patriot has no built-in HR module, so it wins on payroll alone, not on the full feature set the scenario names. Toolradar data: Toolradar, the software directory we run, evaluated 73 payroll tools for its September 2026 payroll ranking. Of the four alternatives we could price first-party against Gusto Plus for 15 employees, Patriot's saving is the widest: over $1,700 a year.

At a glance: 15 employees, single state, billed monthly

Every price below was read on the vendor's own pricing page in September 2026. Rates are our multiplication of the published list price by 15 people, not a quote any vendor issued.

Gusto Plus is the reference plan because it is the tier that matches "basic HR": time-off requests, an org chart, and custom documents. A team that only needs single-state tax filing and PTO tracking, with none of that HR layer, can run Gusto's entry Simple plan instead, which undercuts everything above except Patriot and Square.

The arithmetic, shown once

Gusto Plus for 15 employees is $80 base plus $12 per person times 15 people, or $80 + $12 x 15 = $260/mo, $3,120 a year. Patriot Full Service Payroll is $37 + $5 x 15 = $112/mo, $1,344 a year, a saving of $1,776 against Gusto Plus. Square Payroll is $35 + $6 x 15 = $125/mo, $1,500 a year, a saving of $1,620. Paycor Basic is $99 + $5 x 15 = $174/mo, $2,088 a year, a saving of $1,032 against Gusto Plus. OnPay's payroll base plus its HR add-on combine to a flat $64 plus $8 per person, so $64 + $8 x 15 = $184/mo, $2,208 a year, saving $912.

The ranking flips as headcount changes. Below 3 employees, Square's lower base makes it slightly cheaper than Patriot; the two tie at 2 employees, and Patriot's lower per-worker rate wins from 3 up. Paycor's high base fee and OnPay's payroll-plus-HR bundle both stay above Patriot and Square at every headcount in this range. Paycor and OnPay also swap places with each other: OnPay is cheaper below roughly 12 employees, and Paycor is cheaper from about 12 up, which is why Paycor sits below OnPay at this scenario's 15-employee mark.

Patriot is the cheapest, but it is payroll only

Patriot's Full Service plan files federal, state, and local taxes at the entry price in the table above, the lowest sticker of the four we could verify. The catch is scope: each additional state beyond the first adds a monthly per-state fee, so a company that adds a remote hire in a second state loses part of the gap to Gusto Plus. Patriot's page does not describe a time-off tracker, an org chart, or employee self-service documents the way Gusto or OnPay's add-on do, so a people team that wants those inside the payroll login is comparing a thinner product. For a team that only needs tax filing and direct deposit, that thinness is the point.

Square Payroll is close behind, with no separate HR add-on either

Square's base undercuts Patriot's, but its per-worker rate does not, which is why the two trade places under 3 employees. Square's page does not publish a setup fee or a listed HR module, so the monthly figure in the table for 15 people is close to the full bill, aside from tax filings in the states Square supports. It suits a company already running its point-of-sale or invoicing through Square that wants payroll on the same bill, not a team shopping for an HR system of record.

OnPay includes multi-state filing from the start, but HR pushes it above Paycor

OnPay's Payroll Essentials plan already includes multi-state filing at its base price, a broader payroll scope than Patriot or Square offer at their entry rate. OnPay's HR features, though, sit behind a separate add-on billed as a flat fee plus a per-worker rate, and a time clock is a further add-on on top of that. Once the HR add-on is included to match this scenario's "basic HR" requirement, OnPay's total in the table is the highest of the four priced alternatives at 15 people, even though its payroll-only base is cheaper than Patriot's or Square's at smaller headcounts. A team that does not need the HR add-on pays close to the same monthly rate as Gusto's entry Simple plan for payroll alone.

Paycor Basic prints a price, but its own page contradicts itself on fees

Paycor, now a standalone business unit of Paychex after the two completed their acquisition, still prints dollar figures on its small business plans and pricing page: Basic lists at $99/mo plus $5 per employee per month, both in the plan cards and in the plan-details list below them, so it belongs in this ranking at $174/mo for 15 people. That page is not clean, though. The plan-details list shows a $59 setup fee under Basic, while a separate banner on the same page advertises no setup fees at all, a contradiction Paycor has not resolved on its own site. Treat the setup cost as unclear rather than zero or $59 until Paycor fixes the page. The page also runs a "50% off" and "3 months free" promo on top of the list price used here, so a new customer's first bill will read lower than $174/mo before it reverts to the figure in the table. Paycor bundles HR and onboarding tools into every tier, which is why its base fee runs well above Patriot's or Square's even though its per-employee rate matches Patriot's exactly.

Five vendors we could not put a number on

Rippling will not sell payroll without its platform underneath it. Its 17 June 2026 payroll article lists both core HRIS and domestic payroll starting at the same per-employee rate, but the pricing page still asks for a custom quote and may add a base fee it does not print, so any 15-person total here would be a floor, not a signature. Paychex Flex publishes no per-employee rate on its package comparison page: Basic, Foundations, Advanced, and Complete all route to a sales call. ADP's RUN packages page lists Essential, Enhanced, Complete Payroll & HR Plus, and HR Pro with a promotional banner but no dollar figure on any tier; the ADP pricing piece covers what that call tends to produce.

Justworks' public pricing page no longer prints a per-employee rate for its PEO Basic or Plus plans the way it did when we last checked our catalog, so it now sits with the quote-only group until a fresh vendor confirmation is available. QuickBooks Payroll's pricing page has moved to bundles: the plans on offer today are payroll sold together with QuickBooks Online accounting, not the standalone payroll-only cards from before, so its current sticker is not comparable to a payroll-only scenario and it stays out of the ranked table.

Which plan actually fits 15 people

Take Patriot when the job is tax filing and direct deposit for one state, and price the extra-state fee before a remote hire changes the math. Take Square if payroll should ride on the same account as a Square point-of-sale or invoicing setup. Take Paycor Basic when bundled HR and onboarding tools matter more than the lowest sticker price, and confirm the setup fee with a rep before signing given the contradiction on its own pricing page. Take OnPay's bundle when multi-state filing and a real HR add-on both matter and headcount stays near 15 or below. Keep Gusto Plus when the org chart, time-off requests, and a shared clock need to live in the same login as payroll, and drop to Gusto Simple if none of that HR layer is required. For the product comparison rather than the invoice, read the Gusto review, Rippling versus Gusto, and the wider payroll software shortlist.

An HRIS decision usually rides along with this one. If the employee file itself, not payday, is the open question, how much an HRIS costs prices that separately, and HR software for startups or HR software cover the product side. BambooHR versus HiBob is the file comparison once payroll is settled, and AI for HR covers what a people team automates next. A clock bought on its own belongs on time tracking software, hiring workflow on applicant tracking systems, 1099-only teams on contractor management platforms, and open enrollment on benefits administration software. The mid-market HRIS ranking, separate from this bill, is the HRIS for mid-market comparison, and the ADP product verdict is the ADP review.

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How we priced this

We read Patriot's, Square's, Paycor's, OnPay's, Gusto's, Rippling's, Paychex's, ADP's, Justworks', and QuickBooks' pricing pages in September 2026, for a 15-employee, single-state, full-service payroll scenario billed monthly. Year totals are our multiplication of each vendor's published list rate, not a quote any vendor issued, and they exclude tax, benefits, and any add-on not named in the hidden costs column. Rippling, Paychex, ADP, Justworks, and QuickBooks are excluded from the ranked table because none currently publishes a standalone list price we could confirm first-party for this scope; they are described above instead of guessed. Paycor's setup fee is described rather than priced, since its own page states both a $59 fee and no setup fee for the same plan.

Nobody paid for a place on this page, and Louis Corneloup, founder of Toolradar and Dupple, edited it. Confirm the current rate and any promo window with the vendor before you approve an order form.

FAQ

What is the cheapest Gusto alternative for a 15-employee company in 2026?

Among the vendors with a confirmed vendor-page price in September 2026, Patriot's Full Service Payroll is cheapest at $112/mo for 15 people, $1,344 a year. It does not include a dedicated HR module the way Gusto Plus does, so the saving buys a thinner product. Square Payroll is a close second at $125/mo for the same headcount, and Paycor Basic comes in third at $174/mo with HR and onboarding tools bundled in.

How much does Gusto cost for 15 employees?

Gusto Plus, the tier that includes time-off requests, an org chart, and custom documents, runs $260/mo for 15 employees, $3,120 a year, verified on Gusto's pricing page in September 2026. Gusto's entry Simple plan, without that HR layer, costs roughly half that for the same headcount, if a company only needs single-state tax filing and basic PTO.

Is there a free alternative to Gusto for paying employees?

No. None of the vendors we priced, Patriot, Square, Paycor, OnPay, or Gusto itself, publishes a free plan for W-2 employee payroll. Gusto's Contractor Only plan discounts its base for a limited window, but it only serves companies with no W-2 staff, so it does not cover this scenario.

Does the ranking change at a different company size?

Yes, several times. Below 3 employees, Square's lower base makes it slightly cheaper than Patriot; the two are tied at 2 employees and Patriot wins from 3 up because of its lower per-worker rate. Paycor's higher base fee and OnPay's payroll-plus-HR bundle both stay above Patriot and Square across this range, and they swap places with each other too: OnPay is cheaper below about 12 employees, Paycor is cheaper from about 12 up.

Which of these alternatives include basic HR, not just payroll?

Gusto Plus includes time-off requests, an org chart, and custom documents in its base price. Paycor bundles HR and onboarding tools into every tier, including Basic. OnPay's payroll plan does not include HR by default; it is a separate add-on we included in OnPay's total to match this scenario. Patriot and Square publish no HR module at their listed price, so their lower cost buys payroll alone.

Which Gusto alternatives require a sales call instead of a listed price?

Rippling, Paychex Flex, and ADP's RUN all route to a custom quote rather than a published per-employee rate. Justworks' pricing page no longer lists a confirmed per-employee figure either. QuickBooks Payroll now sells bundled plans with QuickBooks Online accounting rather than a standalone payroll price, so none of these five sits in the ranked table above. Paycor does publish a price on its small-business pricing page and is in the ranked table.

Cite this: HRpresso, "Cheaper Gusto Alternatives (2026): Payroll for 15 Employees for Less", September 2026.

HRpresso is the morning brief for people teams pricing payroll, HR software, and hiring tools. Join at hrpresso.com.