Gusto Pricing: Base Fee Plus Per-Person, Explained
Gusto costs $49, $80, or $180 per month plus $6, $12, or $22 per person on its three main plans, Simple, Plus and Premium. A contractor-only business pays $6 per person with the base fee currently waived under a promotion that normally runs $35 a month.
Every Gusto plan is a base fee plus a headcount fee, so the plan name alone never tells you the bill. A ten-person company on Simple pays $109 a month. The same company on Plus pays $200.
Gusto plans at a glance
| Plan | Base | Per person | Built for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Simple | $49/mo | $6 | Single-state payroll and basic support |
| Plus | $80/mo | $12 | Multi-state payroll, time tracking, HR |
| Premium | $180/mo | $22 | Dedicated advisor and certified HR experts |
| Contractor Only | $35/mo, currently $0 | $6 | Businesses with no W-2 employees yet |
Simple
$49 a month plus $6 per person. Single-state payroll, unlimited payroll runs, tax filings and payments, basic time-off policies and holiday pay. Direct deposit or printable checks, Payroll on AutoPilot, the employee app and domestic contractor payments are all included.
Simple is the plan most small businesses start on, and the one where the add-on list starts to matter. Expenses and reimbursements, time tracking, performance reviews, priority support and access to HR experts are all separately priced here and bundled into the higher tiers.
Plus
$80 a month plus $12 per person. Multi-state payroll, next-day pay, time tracking, workforce cost reports, unlimited custom earning types, and expenses and reimbursements included rather than as an add-on.
Multi-state payroll is the usual reason a company moves up. The first remote hire in a second state ends Simple whether or not the team wants any other Plus feature.
Premium
$180 a month plus $22 per person. Everything in Plus with a dedicated service advisor, access to certified HR experts, performance and compensation management, custom reports, priority support, and payroll migration and account setup handled for you.
At 20 people Premium runs $620 a month against Plus at $320. The gap buys people, not software.
Contractor Only
$6 per person with the $35 base fee waived under a current promotion. Domestic contractor payments, four-day pay, and Form 1099 creation and filing. It does not include back-up withholding or other state-required contractor withholding, and it does not include plan add-ons other than global contractor payments.
Gusto add-ons
The add-on menu is long and priced the same way as the plans, a base plus a headcount charge:
| Add-on | Price |
|---|---|
| Next-Day pay | $15/mo + $3 per person |
| Same-day pay | $90 per payroll |
| Instant pay | $100 per payroll |
| Time & Attendance Plus | $6 per person |
| Priority Support | $30/mo + $3 per person |
| HR Resources | $50/mo + $5 per person |
| Performance | $3 per person |
| Global contractor payments | $5 per payment to US bank accounts |
| Health insurance broker integration | $6 per eligible employee |
| Workers’ compensation | From $14/mo |
| Gusto Money Plus | $19/mo |
| R&D tax credits | 15% of identified credits |
| State tax registration | Varies by state |
What the pricing page glosses over
Simple plus its add-ons costs more than Plus. Take a ten-person company on Simple that wants time tracking, HR expertise and priority support. That is $49 + $60 base and headcount, then Time & Attendance Plus at $60, HR Resources at $50 + $50, and Priority Support at $30 + $30, for $329 a month. Plus includes time tracking outright and costs $200 for the same ten people. The cheaper plan is the more expensive purchase.
State tax registration is not priced. It is listed as an add-on on all three plans with pricing that “varies by state,” so a company hiring into three new states cannot estimate that line from the pricing page at all.
Faster pay is charged per payroll, not per month. Same-day pay is $90 and Instant pay is $100 every time you use them. A business running weekly payroll on Instant pay adds roughly $433 a month.
Health insurance is quoted separately. Gusto charges no administration fee for benefits, which is genuinely unusual, but the premiums themselves and the $6 per eligible employee broker integration fee sit outside the plan price.
The Contractor Only price is promotional. The listed rate is $35 a month struck through to $0, plus $6 per person. Budget for the base fee returning.
Is Gusto free?
No. There is no free plan. The Contractor Only plan currently waives its $35 base fee under a promotion, but the $6 per person charge still applies from the first contractor you pay. Account setup is free and there are no contracts, so you can cancel at any time.
When Gusto isn’t the whole answer
Gusto is a good payroll platform and the pricing is more legible than most of the category. If you need multi-state payroll, benefits administration and a real HR resource centre, Plus and Premium are fairly priced against competitors that quote everything.
What Gusto does not do is the work that surrounds payroll. Offer letters that need chasing, the new hire whose start date has to land on three calendars, the manager asking for a headcount report by Thursday, the recurring reminder that a contractor’s insurance certificate expires this month. That is email and calendar work, and it lands on whoever runs payroll.
That is the shape Carly is built for. Zapier-style workflows that watch for a trigger and act on it are free, so a rule like “when a new employee appears in Gusto, create the onboarding tasks and book the first-week check-ins” costs nothing to run. Booking pages and connected calendars are unlimited, so a new manager scheduling six onboarding calls does not need another seat anywhere. The AI agent that reads the thread, drafts the reply and books the meeting starts at $35 a month. Carly connects to thousands of apps, Gusto included, so payroll stays where it is and the follow-through stops being a person’s job.
FAQ
How much does Gusto cost per employee? $6 per person on Simple, $12 on Plus and $22 on Premium, on top of the plan’s monthly base fee of $49, $80 or $180.
What is the cheapest Gusto plan? Simple, at $49 a month plus $6 per person. Contractor Only is cheaper still if you have no W-2 employees, at $6 per person with the base fee currently waived.
Does Gusto charge per payroll run? No. Unlimited payroll runs are included on every plan. Same-day pay ($90) and Instant pay ($100) are charged per payroll when you choose to use them.
Is there a Gusto free trial? Gusto does not advertise a free trial. Account setup is free, there are no contracts, and you can cancel any time.
What is the difference between Gusto Simple and Plus? Plus adds multi-state payroll, next-day pay, time tracking, workforce cost reports and included expenses and reimbursements. Simple is single-state and prices several of those as add-ons.
Does Gusto charge extra for benefits? There is no Gusto administration fee for health insurance, and you pay only the premiums. Integrating an existing broker costs $6 per eligible employee per month, and workers’ compensation starts at $14 a month.
More: Best AI tools for HR teams · AI agents for HR and people ops · Best Gusto integrations · Claude Gusto integration
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