Gusto vs Justworks (2026): Payroll or PEO for a Small Team?

Pick Gusto when you want the cheapest one-state payroll, and Justworks when you want a second state without Gusto's Plus price or a PEO that takes on co-employment. Gusto Simple is $49/mo plus $6 per person, so ten employees cost $109 a month. Justworks Payroll is $50/mo plus $8 per employee, or $130 at ten, and PEO Basic is $79 per employee with no base fee.

Those rates were read on 18 October 2026 on Gusto's pricing page and Justworks' pricing page. The real fork is not price. Gusto sells payroll plans where you stay the only employer, while Justworks sells that same kind of plan plus two PEO plans in which Justworks becomes the co-employer for payroll tax, benefits, and compliance.

Toolradar data: Toolradar, the software directory we run, tracks 74 payroll tools as of 18 October 2026, and 16% of them are free, freemium, or open source. The median cheapest paid plan is $22/mo across the 22 that publish one, on the payroll ranking. Gusto is listed as an alternative to 55 other tools, third of the 74 in payroll, and Justworks has its own profile.

Every plan side by side

The table puts the six plans a US small business would actually buy in one place. The Gusto rows are all "you stay the employer" products; the Justworks PEO rows change who carries the legal employer duties.

Plan	Monthly price	Model	What it is built for
Gusto Simple	$49/mo + $6/mo per person	Payroll only	One state, unlimited pay runs, basic PTO
Gusto Plus	$80/mo + $12/mo per person	Payroll only	Multi-state pay, time tracking and scheduling, next-day pay
Gusto Premium	$180/mo + $22/mo per person	Payroll only	A named account partner, HR guidance, same-day and instant pay
Justworks Payroll	$8/mo per employee + $50/mo base	Payroll only	Any team size, multi-state payroll, phone and chat support
Justworks PEO Basic	$79/mo per employee, no base fee	PEO (co-employment)	Compliance support, HR consulting, 24/7 support, a 401(k)
Justworks PEO Plus	$124/mo per employee, no base fee	PEO (co-employment)	Everything in Basic plus medical, dental, and vision administration

Prices are list rates, before health premiums, workers' comp, and add-ons. Both vendors bill by the month: Gusto's pricing FAQ says it is month-to-month with no contract, and Justworks bills PEO customers on the fifth of each month and Payroll customers on the 15th of the following month.

What 5, 10, and 25 people cost

These totals multiply each published rate by headcount, and neither vendor issued them. The gap between a payroll plan and a PEO plan is the story: at ten people, the cheapest PEO costs about seven times Gusto Simple.

Employees	Gusto Simple	Gusto Plus	Gusto Premium	Justworks Payroll	PEO Basic	PEO Plus
5	$79	$140	$290	$90	$395	$620
10	$109	$200	$400	$130	$790	$1,240
25	$199	$380	$730	$250	$1,975	$3,100

For one state, Gusto Simple is the cheapest bill at every headcount. Its base is $1 under Justworks Payroll and its per-person rate is $2 lower, so the gap grows by $2 for each hire. At 25 people Simple is $51 a month under Justworks Payroll.

For two or more states, the order flips. Simple is the one-state plan, so a second state pushes a Gusto customer to Plus. Justworks lists multi-state payroll on its Payroll plan, which is why ten people across two states cost $130 there against $200 on Gusto Plus, $70 a month apart.

The time-clock catch on a multi-state team

The multi-state saving shrinks once managers need a time clock. Gusto Plus includes time tracking and scheduling, while Justworks sells Time Tracking as an add-on at $8/mo per employee on Payroll, Basic, and Plus.

Add that clock to Justworks Payroll and the rate becomes $50 plus $16 per employee, against $80 plus $12 on Gusto Plus. Justworks stays cheaper up to seven employees and Gusto Plus wins from eight. At seven people the two bills are $162 and $164, and at ten they are $210 and $200.

Next-day pay pushes the same direction. Gusto Plus includes unlimited next-day pay. On Simple it is an add-on at $15/mo plus $3 per person, and same-day pay costs $90 per payroll on Simple and Plus, included on Premium. A one-state team that wants faster deposits should price Simple with that add-on before it treats Plus as the upgrade.

When a PEO is worth the per-head fee

A PEO plan is not a payroll plan with more features. Under Justworks Basic or Plus, Justworks shares employer duties with you, which is what makes the per-employee fee ten times higher than Payroll's. The pricing FAQ says a PEO account needs at least two full-time or part-time W-2 employees, while any company size can use Justworks Payroll.

Basic is co-employment without Justworks medical plans. The grid adds 24/7 support, standard HR consulting, employment practices liability insurance (EPLI), harassment-prevention training, an HR resource center, an org chart, and custom reporting, none of which the Payroll plan carries. Medical, dental, vision, and COBRA administration are marked off on Basic.

Plus is the plan for a company that wants Justworks to administer medical, dental, and vision coverage. The FAQ says Plus adds health advocacy, on-demand care, talk therapy, and fertility services at no additional charge. The $45 per employee gap between Basic and Plus buys that administration, not the premium, which the carrier still bills.

Gusto's pricing page sells payroll plans and benefits add-ons, and it does not describe co-employment. A buyer whose real question is "should someone else share the employer risk" is shopping PEOs, and the PEO cost guide and the best PEO services list are the comparison, with TriNet as the other name to price.

Health insurance without a PEO

Both vendors can attach health coverage to a payroll-only plan, and the fees differ. Gusto says health insurance administration costs nothing extra when Gusto is your broker, so you pay only the premium, and keeping your own broker inside Gusto costs $6/mo per eligible employee.

Justworks sells a "Payroll + Health Insurance" add-on on the Payroll plan at $8/mo per benefits-eligible employee, with medical, dental, vision, and COBRA administration. On ten benefits-eligible staff that is $80 a month on top of the ten-person Payroll bill, while Gusto as broker adds no admin fee.

Justworks also offers health insurance reimbursements through an ICHRA with its partner Thatch, at $25/mo per enrolled employee on Payroll, Basic, and Plus. That suits a team that would rather give a monthly allowance than sponsor a group plan.

Pre-tax accounts are priced differently again. Gusto charges one $200 annual service charge across HSAs, FSAs, dependent care FSAs, and commuter accounts, then a per-participant fee: HSAs are $2.50/mo with no minimum, and FSAs are $4/mo with a $20/mo minimum. Justworks lists HSA and FSA access across its plans in the grid and prints no separate per-participant rate on the pricing page.

Contractors, part-timers, and people abroad

US contractors cost the same per head as employees on Gusto, but only in months you pay them: the FAQ bills them at the plan's per-person rate. Justworks charges $8 per US contractor per month, also only in months you process a payment. On Gusto Plus a paid contractor costs $12 that month, so a contractor-heavy team on Plus pays more per 1099 than on Justworks.

Part-timers are where the Justworks PEO math gets kinder. The FAQ prices a part-time employee (29 or fewer expected hours a week) at $79 on both Basic and Plus, and says those employees are not eligible for benefits on either plan. A Plus customer with part-time staff pays $45 less for each of them than for a full-timer. On Payroll a part-timer is the standard $8.

Seasonal staff work the other way. Justworks bills PEO customers for every employee with active status, including people on leave and seasonal workers who are not working but have not been terminated. Gusto charges only for active employees, so a seasonal business should check how each defines "active" before the off-season.

Abroad, Gusto pays contractors in more than 120 countries with no monthly per-contractor fee, charging a service and foreign exchange fee per payment instead. Justworks pays international contractors in over 60 countries at $39 per paid contractor per month plus exchange-rate fees, and sells employer of record at $599 per employee per month on Basic and Plus only. A company with a few overseas contractors pays less on Gusto, and a full-time hire abroad is a job for the EOR services shortlist.

Support and HR help

Support is a real differentiator. Gusto Simple and Plus come with basic support: a 24/7 help center plus phone and chat during business hours. Priority Support is $30/mo plus $3 per person on either plan, and Premium includes a dedicated Premium Account Partner.

Justworks Payroll includes phone and chat support and a 24/7 help center, while the PEO plans add the line the grid labels 24/7 Support, plus standard HR consulting. Dedicated HR Consulting, a named strategic partner, is $30/mo per employee on Basic and Plus. A ten-person Basic customer buying it pays $300 a month more, so treat it as a budget line rather than a perk.

Compliance tools sit on different shelves. Gusto Business Compliance, which tracks state tax registrations, annual reports, and agency mail, is $85/mo per state on an annual contract on Simple and Plus and is included in Premium. Remote I-9 verification is $20 per submission on Simple and Plus. On Justworks, EPLI and compliance support arrive with the PEO, not as add-ons to Payroll.

Switching and setup

Neither vendor charges to start. Gusto advertises free account setup with no contracts, and Justworks says it charges no implementation fee. Gusto upgrades take effect immediately and downgrades on the first of the next month. Justworks allows moves between Payroll and the PEO plans and asks for a month's notice when possible.

That flexibility matters because the right answer changes with the company. A two-person startup on Gusto Simple can move to a PEO later, once benefits and compliance outgrow the founder. A ten-person team on Justworks Plus can drop to Payroll if it moves medical to an outside broker.

Who should choose which

• Gusto Simple: everyone works in one state and the goal is the lowest payroll bill. It undercuts Justworks Payroll at every headcount in the table.
• Gusto Plus: two or more states and managers need time tracking, scheduling, and next-day pay in one login, at eight or more employees.
• Gusto Premium: a named account partner, same-day pay, and the compliance tools are the point, and the per-person rate is affordable.
• Justworks Payroll: a second state without paying for Gusto Plus, especially under eight employees or with no time clock needed.
• Justworks PEO Basic: you want co-employment, EPLI, and HR consulting but will keep your own medical plan.
• Justworks PEO Plus: you want the PEO to administer medical, dental, and vision, and you accept the highest per-head fee on this page.

Plan-level detail lives on the Gusto pricing and Justworks pricing guides. If neither fits, see cheaper Gusto alternatives, Gusto vs ADP, and Rippling vs Gusto. The full shortlist is the payroll software roundup, and OnPay is another flat-rate payroll to price.

How we compared

On 18 October 2026 we read Gusto's pricing page, including the plan cards, the add-on list, and the pricing FAQ, and Justworks' pricing page, including the plan cards, the feature grid, the add-ons, and the pricing FAQ. Every headcount total and break-even point on this page is our multiplication of those published rates. None of it is a quote from either vendor, and none of it includes health premiums, workers' comp, or taxes.

Louis Corneloup, founder of Toolradar and Dupple, edited the comparison. How this site handles a printed price is on how we rate, corrections go through the editorial policy, and the author note is on about. The single-product writeups are the Gusto review and the Justworks review, and the wider budget view is how much payroll costs for a small business.

FAQ

Is Gusto or Justworks cheaper in 2026?

For a one-state team, Gusto Simple is cheaper at any size: $109 a month at ten employees against $130 on Justworks Payroll. For a multi-state team without a time clock, Justworks Payroll is cheaper than Gusto Plus at every headcount. Add Justworks Time Tracking and Gusto Plus becomes cheaper from eight employees.

Is Justworks a PEO and Gusto not?

Justworks sells both: a Payroll plan where you stay the sole employer and two PEO plans, Basic and Plus, where Justworks becomes a co-employer. Gusto's pricing page sells payroll plans with benefits add-ons and does not describe co-employment. A PEO plan on Justworks needs at least two W-2 employees.

What does Justworks PEO cost for ten employees?

Ten full-time employees cost $790 a month on Basic and $1,240 on Plus in admin fees, with no base fee on either. Part-timers working 29 or fewer hours are billed at the Basic rate on both plans and are not benefits-eligible. Carrier premiums and workers' comp are billed separately.

How do the two charge for contractors?

Gusto bills US contractors at the plan's per-person rate, only in months they are paid, and pays contractors in more than 120 countries without a monthly fee. Justworks charges a flat fee for each US contractor paid that month, and $39 per paid international contractor, plus exchange-rate fees, in over 60 countries.

Can I get health insurance without the Justworks PEO?

Yes. Justworks Payroll has a per-employee health insurance add-on for benefits-eligible staff, and an ICHRA option through Thatch at $25/mo per enrolled employee. Gusto administers health plans at no extra charge when it is your broker, or connects your own broker for $6/mo per eligible employee.

Can I switch plans later?

Yes. Both vendors bill by the month, and Gusto's FAQ says there is no contract. Gusto applies upgrades immediately and downgrades on the first of the next month. Justworks allows moves between Payroll and its PEO plans and asks for about a month's notice, and neither charges a setup fee.

Cite this: HRpresso, "Gusto vs Justworks (2026): Payroll or PEO for a Small Team?", October 2026.

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