Gusto vs Justworks: Pricing and Plans Compared

I priced both of these for a 25-person company once and had to read the numbers twice. Gusto Simple came out at $199 a month. Justworks PEO Plus came out at $2,725. Same headcount, same payroll, and a difference of more than thirty thousand dollars a year. Nothing was wrong with either quote.

The reason is that gusto vs justworks is not really one comparison. It is two products that answer different questions. Gusto is payroll and benefits software: you stay the employer, you file under your own EIN, and you buy insurance with Gusto acting as your broker. Justworks sells a professional employer organization, where a co-employer runs payroll under its EIN and lets a small team buy into benefits priced off a much larger pool. Justworks also sells standalone payroll software, which is the line most people miss.

This page compares them on published list prices at 10, 25, and 50 employees, what each one includes at its entry tier, and where each is honestly stronger. There is no universal winner here. There is a fork in the road, and which side of it you are on decides the answer.

The short version

If payroll is the job, Gusto costs less at every headcount. If getting decent health insurance in front of a fifteen-person team is the job, the Justworks PEO does something Gusto structurally cannot.

Gusto and Justworks side by side

The table below is the whole argument compressed. Read the employment model row first, because everything else follows from it.

Two rows deserve a second look. Multi-state payroll is a paid upgrade on Gusto and a listed feature on all three Justworks plans, which reverses the price ranking for distributed teams. And the health insurance row is not a feature difference at all: it is a difference in who holds the policy, which changes what happens the day you want to leave.

Gusto reviewed

Gusto is the most common first payroll purchase a US small business makes, and the pricing page is a large part of why. Every number is published, every add-on has a price next to it, and you can sign up without a sales call. Simple at $49 per month plus $6 per person buys single-state payroll, unlimited payroll runs, tax filings and payments, and basic paid time off policies with holiday pay.

The upgrade path is where the real cost lives. Multi-state payroll, next-day pay, and time tracking sit on Plus at $80 per month plus $12 per person, which is double the per-person rate. Premium at $180 per month plus $22 per person adds a dedicated service advisor, access to certified HR experts, performance and compensation management, custom reports, and priority support. Everything else is a la carte, and Gusto publishes those prices too: HR Resources at $50 per month plus $5 per person, Priority Support at $30 plus $3, performance tools at $3 per person, and time and attendance at $6 per person on Simple.

On benefits, Gusto works as your licensed broker. You pay insurance premiums and no Gusto administration fee, and if you would rather keep your existing broker, Gusto charges $6 per month per eligible employee to integrate them, waived on Premium. Workers compensation is pay-as-you-go starting at $14 per month. Tax-advantaged accounts carry a $200 annual service charge covering health savings accounts, flexible spending accounts, dependent care accounts, and commuter benefits, plus $2.50 or $4 per participant per month depending on the account type.

Justworks reviewed

Justworks sells three things at three very different prices, and confusing them is the fastest way to misjudge this comparison. Justworks Payroll is software at $50 per month plus $8 per employee, covering payroll for all employees, HR tools, expert support, and access to time tracking. The PEO is a different arrangement entirely at $79 or $109 per employee per month with no base fee. Employer of record for international hiring is $599 per employee per month.

PEO Basic at $79 per employee includes payroll for all employees, compliance support, HR consulting and tools, 24/7 support, 401(k), and access to time tracking. PEO Plus at $109 adds health insurance administration, health savings and flexible spending accounts, mental health benefits, and fertility benefits. Justworks lists wellness services alongside PEO coverage at no additional cost, naming primary care through One Medical, mental health through Talkspace, healthcare navigation through Health Advocate, and family-building benefits through Kindbody. It also notes that benefits and perks vary by location and carrier.

The structural fact underneath all of it is co-employment. Justworks entities appear on the IRS public listing of active Certified Professional Employer Organizations, the first with an effective date of January 1, 2017 and three more effective July 1, 2025.

Certification is voluntary, and the IRS describes a CPEO as an organization it has vetted for financial responsibility, organizational integrity, and tax compliance. It carries a consequence most buyers never read. Under the third party payer rules, a certified organization is treated as the employer for wages it pays to worksite employees, whereas an uncertified provider generally does not relieve you of your own employment tax obligation.

What each costs at 10, 25, and 50 employees

Published list prices, six plans, three headcounts. This is the table that decides most of these purchases, and the spread across it is roughly fifty to one at the extremes.

Read it as two clusters rather than six lines. The software cluster runs from $109 a month for ten people on Gusto Simple up to $1,280 for fifty on Gusto Premium. The PEO cluster starts at $790 for ten people and reaches $5,450 for fifty. Compare like for like and the PEO line is the larger number at every headcount, because the two are not selling the same thing. Anyone who tells you a PEO is expensive payroll software has misunderstood the invoice on both sides.

The comparison that actually matters is total employer cost. A twenty-five person company paying $2,725 a month for PEO Plus is paying about $109 per employee for administration, benefits access, workers compensation, HR consulting, and 24/7 support. The same company on Gusto Simple pays $199 a month and then pays a broker-sourced medical premium, a workers compensation policy, and whatever HR help it buys separately. Whether the PEO is expensive depends entirely on what those separate lines cost you, and in a small group with a bad claims history they can cost a great deal.

Where each is genuinely stronger

Both products are good at what they were built for, and both are a poor fit for the other one job. Here is the honest split.

Gusto is stronger on price, transparency, and control

Nothing in this comparison beats Gusto on software cost. It is also the more transparent purchase: the base plans, the add-ons, the workers compensation entry price, and the tax-advantaged account fees are all on one public page, and billing is month to month with no contract. Gusto only bills for active employees, and contractors are billed only in the months you pay them.

The quieter advantage is control. Because Gusto brokers rather than co-employs, the medical policy is written to your company. You can change payroll providers without touching insurance, and you can change brokers without changing payroll. That optionality is worth real money to a company that expects to keep moving.

Justworks is stronger on benefits access, breadth, and multi-state

The PEO exists to solve a problem software cannot touch. A fifteen-person company shopping small-group medical on its own is quoted off a fifteen-person risk pool. Inside a PEO it is quoted off the pool, which is the entire reason the category exists and the reason a $109 per employee fee can still be the cheaper answer once premiums are counted.

Justworks is also broader at the entry tier. Multi-state payroll appears on all three plans, where Gusto gates it behind Plus. Workers compensation access, 401(k), and HR consulting sit inside the PEO plans rather than being bolted on. And 24/7 support is listed on both PEO plans, where Gusto sells priority support as a $30 plus $3 per person add-on on Simple. The cheaper Justworks Payroll tier lists expert support rather than 24/7.

Who should pick which

Five questions settle it. Answer them honestly and the choice usually makes itself.

For a wider view of the category, SHRM frames the PEO decision around the advantages and disadvantages of co-employment rather than around features, which is the right frame.

Before you choose

There is a question sitting underneath this comparison that neither vendor will ask you: do you want a PEO at all, or do you want a standalone HR stack where payroll, benefits, and records are separate purchases you control? ASO versus PEO versus HR software is the fork, and what a PEO costs per employee is the number that usually decides it.

FirstHR is not a PEO. We do not process payroll, file payroll taxes, or administer benefits, and we do not co-employ anyone. Both products on this page do things we do not do, and if payroll or benefits is the problem in front of you, one of them is your answer, not us.

What we cover is the layer that feeds whichever one you pick: onboarding workflows, e-signature on offer letters and new hire forms, employee records and a team directory, document management, and training, at a flat $98 or $198 per month rather than a rate that climbs with every person you add. If the recurring failure is that paperwork goes missing between the offer and the first payroll, that is a document problem rather than a payroll problem, and it survives either purchase on this page.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Gusto or Justworks cheaper?

Gusto, on software fees, at every headcount. Simple is $49 per month plus $6 per person, so $109, $199, and $349 at 10, 25, and 50 employees. Justworks Payroll is $50 plus $8 per employee, so $130, $250, and $450. The PEO plans are a separate category at $79 and $109 per employee per month, which buys co-employment and benefits access rather than more software.

Is Justworks a PEO, and is Gusto one too?

Justworks operates a PEO on its Basic and Plus plans, and Justworks entities appear on the IRS list of active Certified Professional Employer Organizations. Gusto is not a PEO. You stay the sole employer, you file under your own EIN, and Gusto acts as your licensed broker if you buy coverage through the platform. Justworks also sells non-PEO payroll software, which is where a lot of the confusion starts.

Does Gusto Simple handle multi-state payroll?

No. Gusto lists Simple as single-state payroll, with multi-state on Plus at $80 per month plus $12 per person. One out-of-state hire therefore takes a 25-person company from $199 to $380 a month. Justworks lists multi-state payroll on all three plans, so the same distributed team costs $250 on the Justworks Payroll tier.

What does the Justworks per-employee fee actually cover?

The platform and the services, not the insurance. PEO Basic covers payroll, compliance, HR consulting and tools, 24/7 support, and 401(k). PEO Plus adds health insurance administration, health savings and flexible spending accounts, mental health benefits, and fertility benefits. Premiums, employer payroll taxes, and workers compensation are billed on top, and Justworks notes that benefits vary by location and carrier.

Which is better for a company with fewer than 10 employees?

Usually Gusto, on price. At five employees Simple is $79 a month against $90 for Justworks Payroll and $395 for PEO Basic. The exception is real: if small-group medical quotes in your state are bad or unavailable at that size, the PEO buys access you cannot get alone. Justworks requires a minimum of two individuals on a member company to run payroll.

What happens to benefits if I leave a PEO?

You leave the health plans with it, because the policies belong to the PEO. Expect to source new coverage and run a fresh open enrollment on a deadline. Under the broker model Gusto uses, the policy is written to your company, so changing payroll software does not disturb benefits administration. That unwind cost is the main reason a PEO is harder to leave than a subscription.

Can Gusto and Justworks both file payroll taxes in every state?

Both file, through different structures. Gusto files federal, state, and local payroll tax forms under your EIN, naming Form W-2, Form 1099, Form 940, Form 941, and Form 8974. Under a certified PEO arrangement, the CPEO is treated as the employer for wages it pays to worksite employees and files aggregate returns under its own EIN, which moves the federal employment tax liability for those wages off you.