Gusto Pricing 2026: Every Plan, Real Costs and Hidden Fees

Gusto costs $49/mo plus $6 per person on Simple, $80/mo plus $12 on Plus, and $180/mo plus $22 on Premium in 2026. A 10-person team on Plus, the plan Gusto labels best value, pays $200/mo or $2,400 a year before add-ons. Contractor-only payroll is $35/mo plus a per-contractor fee.

Prices below were read on Gusto's pricing page on 9 October 2026. Toolradar data: as of October 2026, Toolradar, the software directory we run, evaluated 73 payroll tools in its ranking at payroll software, and Gusto is one of them. At 15 employees, the step from Simple to Plus adds $121/mo, or $1,452 a year, on our arithmetic from Gusto's list prices.

Picture a founder moving 12 employees off spreadsheets. The sticker price is a base fee plus a headcount fee, so the real question is which plan's base you are willing to carry and which add-ons your payroll quietly needs.

At a glance

All four are month-to-month with no long-term contract, and every plan includes unlimited payroll runs. Gusto says it will not charge extra for off-cycle payrolls, which is a real saving over vendors that bill per run.

What does each Gusto plan include?

Simple is payroll for one state. It covers unlimited payrolls, direct deposit or printable checks, federal, state and local tax filings and payments, payroll approvals, an employee app and domestic contractor payments. Choose it if your team is in one state and you are happy to pay for any extras one at a time. Skip it if you need time tracking or a second state.

Plus is the plan most small teams outgrow into. It adds time tracking and scheduling, unlimited next-day pay, multi-state payroll, contractor invoice upload, workforce cost reports and custom earning types. The higher base and headcount fee over Simple pay for multi-state filing and next-day pay, so a team with remote hires in a second state usually lands here by default.

Premium is the advisor tier. It adds Premium Account Support with a named advisor, HR guidance, Gusto Business Compliance, unlimited same-day and instant pay, custom admin roles, and project-based costing. The headcount fee is nearly double Plus, so Premium pays back mainly for teams that would otherwise buy several of those pieces as add-ons.

Contractor-only is the cheapest way in if nobody on your team is an employee. Gusto bills US contractors at the per-person price of your plan, and only in months you actually pay them. The sign-up page for this plan shows the base fee struck down to $0 under a limited-time offer with no end date printed, so budget the list price rather than the promotion.

What does Gusto cost for 5, 15 and 40 employees?

These totals multiply Gusto's published rates by the number of paid employees in a single state, billed monthly. They exclude add-ons, taxes and benefit premiums, and they are our arithmetic, not a Gusto quote.

Five contractors on the contractor-only plan cost $65/mo, or $780 a year. The same 10-person team on Simple would pay $109/mo, which shows how much of the bill is the plan you pick.

The pattern matters more than any single cell. Headcount drives the bill once you pass about 15 people, so the per-person fee is where Premium gets expensive: at 40 employees it is $1,060/mo against $560 for Plus. Gusto bills only for active employees, so a seasonal drop in headcount lowers the next month's invoice.

What are Gusto's hidden fees and add-ons?

Gusto lists most add-ons openly, which is more than several larger vendors do. The charges below are on the same pricing page and are the ones that move a real budget.

Two of these deserve a second look. A Simple team that runs payroll weekly and wants to pay on a Friday for a Monday deadline would buy same-day pay at $90 per run, which adds up fast against the monthly gap between Simple and Plus. The other is multi-state payroll: Simple stops at one state, and the per-state compliance add-on adds $85 a month for each extra state, so a company in three states should price Plus or Premium instead.

Health insurance through Gusto carries no administration fee, so you pay premiums only. Global contractor payments have no monthly per-contractor fee, only a service and foreign exchange charge per payment. Gusto publishes no list price for state tax registration, so ask for the amount for your state before you rely on it. E-Verify itself has no federal fee, so compare the add-on price per case; see Is E-Verify free in 2026?.

Does Gusto have a free plan or trial?

No. Gusto has no free payroll plan, though account setup is free and the sign-up flow says you do not pay until you run payroll. Time & Attendance Plus has its own free trial before it turns into a per-person charge. If you want a permanently free option, Gusto is the wrong shortlist, and how much an HRIS costs shows where cheaper stacks start. Before you pay for any payroll plan, read our free payroll software guide, which lists each free tier's employee cap and the first paid price.

Is Gusto cheaper than ADP, Paychex, QuickBooks Payroll or Rippling?

Gusto's entry plan sits in the middle of the pack on the numbers vendors print, though the plans are not like for like. To compare Gusto's list price with other payroll vendors at 10 employees, read how much payroll costs for a small business.

At 10 people Roll is $89/mo against $109 for Gusto Simple, but Roll is a phone app and Gusto Simple is a full web payroll. If you are choosing between Gusto and a stack that is cheaper on paper, read the cheaper Gusto alternatives, the Rippling versus Gusto comparison, or the ADP pricing breakdown. The Rippling review and Paychex review cover those two products in depth. For how Gusto compares with ADP at the same headcounts, read Gusto versus ADP. For Gusto against Paychex's quote-only packages, read Gusto vs Paychex.

Which Gusto plan should you choose?

Pick Simple when payroll is the only job and everyone works in one state, since time tracking would force an upgrade. Pick Plus when you have remote hires, want next-day pay without a monthly add-on, or expect to add a second state within a year. Pick Premium when you want a named advisor and compliance tools and would otherwise pay for several add-ons separately. Use contractor-only when you have no employees.

If your shortlist is wider than Gusto, start with best payroll software and HRIS for small business, and see where Justworks fits if a PEO appeals (Gusto vs Justworks puts the two side by side). The overall product verdict lives in the Gusto review; this page stays on cost.

How we priced this

We compared vendor pages and public docs rather than testing the products. Gusto plan prices, add-ons and billing rules come from Gusto's pricing page and its plan sign-up pages, read on 9 October 2026. Competitor entry prices, as of October 2026, come from the ADP Roll comparison, the Paychex package comparison, the QuickBooks Payroll pricing page and Rippling's pricing page, on the same day. Totals multiply published rates by headcount and are not vendor quotes. Re-check the order form before you sign.

FAQ

How much does Gusto cost per month in 2026?

Gusto costs $49/mo plus $6 per person on Simple, $80/mo plus $12 on Plus and $180/mo plus $22 on Premium. For 10 employees that is $109, $200 and $400 a month. Contractor-only payroll is $35/mo plus a per-contractor fee, and add-ons are billed on top.

How much does Gusto cost per employee?

The per-employee fee is $12 on Plus and $22 on Premium, with Simple at half the Plus rate, added to the monthly base. Gusto bills only active employees, so the fee follows headcount month by month. U.S. contractors are billed at the same per-person rate, only in months you pay them.

Does Gusto have a free plan or free trial?

No. Gusto has no free payroll plan, but account setup is free and you do not pay until you run payroll. Time & Attendance Plus is the exception, with a free trial before a per-person fee starts.

What does Gusto charge for contractors only?

The contractor-only plan lists at $35/mo plus the same per-person fee as Simple, so five paid contractors cost $65/mo. The sign-up page shows a limited-time offer that strikes the base to $0, with no end date printed. Global contractors have no monthly per-contractor fee, only a service and foreign exchange fee per payment.

Does Gusto charge extra for off-cycle payroll?

No. Every plan includes unlimited payroll runs, and Gusto says it will not charge extra for off-cycle payrolls. What does cost extra is speed: same-day pay is $90 per payroll and instant pay is $100 per payroll on Simple and Plus, while Premium includes both.

Which Gusto plan should I choose?

Choose Simple for one state and basic payroll, Plus for time tracking, multi-state payroll and next-day pay, and Premium for a named advisor and compliance tools. At 15 employees Plus costs $260/mo against $139 for Simple, so move up only when you need those features.

Cite this: HRpresso, "Gusto Pricing 2026: Every Plan, Real Costs and Hidden Fees", October 2026.

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