Gusto Pricing 2026: Simple, Plus, Premium & Add-On Costs

Gusto publishes unusually clear payroll pricing for the U.S. small-business market. Simple is $49 per month plus $6 per person, Plus is $80 plus $12 per person, and Premium is $180 plus $22 per person. The plan price is only part of total cost because time tools, support, compliance, benefits and other services can add fees.

Plans at a glance

Simple

Simple costs $49 per month plus $6 per person. It includes unlimited payrolls, tax filings and payments, direct deposit or printable checks, payroll approvals, employee app access, domestic contractor payments and basic PTO policies.

Simple is the value tier for straightforward single-state payroll, but multi-state payroll and built-in time tracking are important reasons a growing company may need Plus.

Plus

Plus costs $80 per month plus $12 per person. It adds multi-state payroll, built-in time tracking, scheduling, unlimited next-day pay, contractor invoice management and workforce cost reports.

For remote or multi-state employers, Plus is often the practical baseline because Simple is designed around one-state payroll.

Premium

Premium costs $180 per month plus $22 per person. It adds Premium Account Support, HR guidance and tools, Gusto Business Compliance, unlimited same-day and instant pay, project-based rules and advanced admin roles.

Premium can make sense when a company would otherwise buy several support and compliance add-ons separately, but its per-person price makes headcount modeling important.

Unlimited payrolls

Every Gusto payroll plan includes unlimited payroll runs, including off-cycle payrolls.

That is useful for bonuses, corrections and irregular payroll schedules because usage does not create a separate software fee per run.

Time & Attendance Plus

Plus and Premium include time tracking and scheduling. Simple customers can add Time & Attendance Plus for $6 per person per month after a trial.

At 20 people, that add-on is $120 per month if all 20 are billed, in addition to the Simple base and payroll per-person charges.

Next-day, same-day and instant pay

Next-Day pay is included on Plus and Premium and costs $15 per month plus $3 per person on Simple. Same-day pay costs $90 per payroll on Simple or Plus, while instant pay costs $100 per payroll on those plans.

Premium includes unlimited same-day and instant pay, subject to eligibility, so companies that use faster pay frequently should compare the upgrade economics.

Priority Support

Priority Support costs $30 per month plus $3 per person on Simple and Plus.

For a 25-person team, that equals $105 per month. If support requirements are consistently high, compare that total with Premium's included account support.

Gusto Business Compliance

Gusto Business Compliance costs $85 per month per state on an annual contract and is included in Premium.

Businesses expanding into multiple states should model this separately because compliance cost can grow with geographic footprint.

Remote I-9 and E-Verify

Remote I-9 costs $20 per submission on Simple and Plus and is included in Premium. E-Verify costs $5 per submission on top of Remote I-9 for Simple and Plus and is included in Premium.

These fees are small individually but become relevant for businesses hiring frequently across distributed teams.

Health insurance

When Gusto serves as the health-insurance broker, administration carries no extra Gusto fee beyond insurance premiums.

If a company keeps its existing broker and eligible plans, integration generally costs $6 per eligible employee per month.

Workers' compensation

Pay-as-you-go workers' compensation currently starts at $14 per month through Gusto's partner setup.

Insurance premiums vary by business and coverage, so the $14 figure is only a service starting point rather than total policy cost.

FSA, commuter and retirement

Flexible spending accounts and commuter benefits currently show $4 per participant per month with a $20 monthly minimum. 401(k) pricing varies by integration.

These programs should be modeled separately because participation, provider pricing and employer contributions can change total cost.

Global contractor payments

Gusto supports global contractor payments in more than 120 countries with no monthly per-contractor fee. Foreign-exchange and service fees apply.

This is not the same as local employee payroll in those countries, so compare it carefully with global payroll products such as Deel Payroll.

State tax registration

Gusto can handle state and local payroll-tax registration when a company enters a new state. Pricing varies by state.

Remote employers should budget this separately because expanding into several states can add both setup and compliance costs.

Contractor billing

U.S. contractors are billed at the per-person cost of the selected payroll plan only in months when they are paid.

Gusto has promoted a temporary Contractor Only base-fee waiver, but Toollers does not use temporary promotional pricing as the stable directory starting price.

Month-to-month contract

Gusto says there are no long-term contracts and customers can switch or cancel plans.

Billing is retroactive, so businesses should expect a final invoice after cancellation for activity already incurred.

Refund policy

Gusto does not advertise a universal money-back guarantee. A limited scenario may allow a customer to request a billing refund if the account is cancelled on or before the fifth of the month and no payroll was run that month.

Tax balances, insurance premiums and carrier-administered benefits follow separate rules.

10-person cost example

For 10 people, Simple is $109 per month, Plus is $200 and Premium is $400 before add-ons, benefits or insurance.

The jump from Simple to Plus is $91 per month at this size. Whether it is worthwhile depends mainly on multi-state payroll, time tracking, scheduling and faster-pay needs.

25-person cost example

For 25 people, Simple is $199 per month, Plus is $380 and Premium is $730 before add-ons.

Priority Support on Simple or Plus adds $105 per month, while Time & Attendance Plus on Simple would add $150 per month for 25 people.

50-person cost example

For 50 people, Simple is $349 per month, Plus is $680 and Premium is $1,280 before add-ons and benefits.

At this size, per-person differences become much more visible and quote-based providers such as ADP RUN or Paychex Flex become important comparison points.

Total cost of ownership

Gusto TCO should include the payroll plan, active employees, contractors paid, time tools, support, compliance services, benefits administration, workers' compensation, retirement, state registrations and other add-ons.

For most small businesses, implementation effort is lighter than enterprise payroll systems because Gusto is designed for self-service setup, but prior-year payroll and data migration can still create work.

Pricing methodology

Toollers rechecked Gusto's live pricing page on October 9, 2026. The Simple, Plus and Premium base and per-person amounts remain unchanged from the October 6 research record, while current add-on pricing was refreshed from the live page.

Continue reading about Gusto

• Gusto tool profile
• Gusto Review: Features, Pricing, Pros and Cons
• Gusto Alternatives 2026: ADP RUN, Paychex, Rippling & Deel

Upgrade economics

The most important pricing decision is often not whether Gusto is affordable, but when Simple stops being the right plan. Multi-state payroll, built-in time tracking, faster pay and support can each make Plus or Premium more economical than stacking add-ons.

Build a side-by-side monthly model before upgrading so the plan decision reflects actual usage rather than headline price.

Choosing between Simple, Plus and Premium

The most important Gusto pricing decision is usually the plan step-up rather than the starting fee. Simple is compelling for a single-state team with straightforward payroll, but Plus can become more economical once the company needs multi-state payroll, built-in time tracking, scheduling and next-day pay. Premium becomes relevant when the business consistently needs high-touch support, compliance assistance, advanced administration and faster payroll options.

Compare each tier using the exact features the business will use over the next 12 to 24 months. A lower base price can be misleading if the company immediately adds time tracking, Priority Support and compliance services that are already bundled into a higher plan.

Headcount sensitivity

Gusto's per-person structure makes headcount a major cost driver. The difference between Simple and Premium is modest for a very small team but becomes much larger at 50, 100 or more employees. Companies expecting rapid hiring should calculate future monthly cost before choosing a plan.

Also distinguish active employees from contractors. Gusto bills U.S. contractors in months when they are paid, while global contractors use a different payment-fee model. That can materially change cost for businesses with mixed workforces.

Multi-state expansion cost

Remote hiring can affect Gusto economics in several ways at once. Multi-state payroll generally pushes the business to Plus or Premium, state tax registration can add separate fees, and compliance support may become more valuable as new jurisdictions are added.

A company expanding from one state to five states should therefore model plan upgrades, registrations, Business Compliance and internal HR or tax workload together rather than looking only at the payroll subscription.

Benefits and payroll should be modeled separately

Gusto makes benefits convenient by connecting them directly to payroll, but the payroll subscription is not the full benefits cost. Health premiums, workers' compensation premiums, retirement-provider charges and tax-advantaged account fees sit outside or alongside the payroll plan.

For a fair vendor comparison, separate software fees from insurance premiums and employee benefit contributions. Otherwise a payroll provider that bundles administration can appear more expensive even when the underlying insurance or retirement costs are the real driver.

Switching and year-end timing

Payroll migrations are easiest when employee records, year-to-date wages, tax balances, deductions and prior payroll filings are clean. Switching midyear is possible, but year-to-date reconciliation increases the amount of setup work and the consequences of inaccurate historical data.

Before switching to Gusto, confirm who will own quarter-end and year-end filings, especially when the former provider has already filed or collected taxes. The subscription price is only one part of a safe payroll transition.