Gusto Review
All-in-one payroll, benefits and HR for growing teams
Quick facts
- Starting price
- Simple $49/mo + $6/person
- Plus plan
- $80/mo + $12/person
- Contractor-only plan
- $35/mo + $6/contractor
- Best for
- All-in-one payroll and HR
Our verdict
Bottom line: Gusto is widely regarded as the best all-in-one payroll platform for small and midsize businesses. It runs full-service payroll, files your federal, state and local taxes, and adds benefits administration, hiring and HR tools in one place. Published pricing starts at $49 per month plus $6 per person on the Simple plan, scaling to Plus at $80 per month plus $12 per person and Premium at $180 per month plus $22 per person, with a contractor-only plan at $35 per month plus $6 per contractor.
Pros and cons
Pros
- Transparent, published pricing across all plans
- Strong benefits and HR features alongside payroll
- Unlimited pay runs with no off-cycle fees
Cons
- Per-person fees rise on higher tiers
- Premium-level dedicated support sits on the top plan
Who Gusto is best for
Small businesses that want payroll, benefits and HR in one transparent platform.
- Full-service payroll with automated federal, state and local tax filing
- Unlimited payroll runs on every plan
- Benefits, HR tools and contractor payments built in
How Gusto compares
Gusto holds the top spot in our payroll software rankings. The closest alternative is OnPay, and the full comparison shows where each provider wins.
How we chose
Every payroll software provider here gets the same treatment: the BusinessShop research team scores it on five weighted factors, the weights are published, and no provider can pay to move up. Commissions never touch the math.
- 30% Pricing & value
- 25% Product quality
- 20% Customer experience
- 15% Reputation
- 10% Flexibility
More payroll software reviews
- OnPay review 9.4/10
- QuickBooks Payroll review 9.4/10
- Square Payroll review 9.2/10
- ADP review 9.2/10
- Patriot Software review 9.2/10