Gusto

Full-service payroll and HR for small businesses

Gusto is a full-service payroll, benefits, and HR platform built for small businesses. It handles federal, state, and local payroll tax filings automatically, administers health insurance and 401k, and includes onboarding, time tracking, and compliance tools. Widely regarded as the most SMB-friendly payroll platform.

Our take

Gusto is the benchmark for small business payroll — the platform that made paying employees feel as simple as it should be. At $40 base + $6/employee/mo (Simple plan), a 10-person company pays $100/mo for full-service payroll including automatic tax filings in all 50 states, health insurance administration, and 401k setup. That's the number to hold in your head: $100/mo for 10 people, zero payroll errors, zero manual tax filings, zero quarterly deposits to worry about. The Plus plan at $80 + $12/person adds time tracking, PTO management, and next-day direct deposit — worth it once you're managing hourly workers or PTO disputes. The main limitation is HR depth at scale: Gusto's performance review and engagement tools are serviceable but won't satisfy an HR director at a 50-person company who needs succession planning or compensation benchmarking. That's the transition point to BambooHR or Rippling.

Product roadmap

Gusto is expanding from payroll into a full people platform — its AI tools now write job descriptions, generate offer letters, and summarise HR policies. The Gusto Global product (international contractor payments in 120+ countries) is the most significant recent expansion. Expect continued investment in time-tracking integrations, benefits options, and compliance automation as the platform competes more directly with Rippling and ADP.

Who is Gusto for?

Solo(1 person)

Good fit

The contractor-only plan at $6/contractor/mo is purpose-built for solopreneurs paying 1099 workers. If you hire your first W-2 employee, Simple at $40 + $6 is the obvious next step — no configuration, just enter employee details and run payroll.

Small team(2–20 people)

Great fit

Gusto's sweet spot. The Simple plan handles payroll, tax filing, and health benefits for teams up to 25 people without needing an HR person. The automation is genuinely reliable — tax filings, W-2s, and direct deposits happen without manual intervention.

Mid-size(21–200 people)

Good fit

Works well through 50-75 employees but starts showing seams on HR depth. Performance management, compliance tracking, and advanced reporting are available but less sophisticated than BambooHR or Rippling at comparable headcounts.

Large org(201–1,000+)

Poor fit

Gusto doesn't serve enterprise. At 200+ employees, you need the HR depth of Rippling or ADP Workforce Now — dedicated account managers, advanced permissions, multi-state compliance dashboards, and custom payroll logic that Gusto's SMB-first architecture doesn't support.