Justworks vs Gusto
Justworks is best known as a professional employer organisation: on its PEO plans it becomes co-employer and carries the compliance and benefits weight, from $79 per employee a month. Gusto is payroll software you run yourself, from $49 a month plus $6 per person. The question is whether you want the burden gone or want to stay the sole employer.
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Choose Justworks ifyou are a US company of around twenty people that wants compliance taken off your hands and accepts co-employment in exchange for benefits buying power.
Choose Gusto ifyou are a US small business that wants to remain the only employer, choose your own benefits, and have payroll and filing run painlessly in one flow.
Justworks and Gusto side by side
| Justworks | Gusto | |
|---|---|---|
| Our payroll software rank | #3 of 12 | #7 of 12 |
| Established in | United States | United States |
| Pricing | Per employee per month, published; payroll-only plan adds a base fee | Per month base plus per employee, published |
| List price, 30 September 2026 | $8 per employee per month plus $50 per month base fee (Payroll plan); PEO Basic $79 per employee per month | $49 per month plus $6 per person per month (Simple plan) |
| Free tier | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Self-hostable | — | — |
| Built for | A twenty-person US company that wants the compliance burden gone | A US small business that wants payroll to be painless |
| Not for | An employer that wants to keep full control | Any employer outside the United States |
Both are reviewed in full in our payroll software ranking: Justworks and Gusto.
Where they differ
Justworks 1 · Gusto 0 · open 3- 01
Who is the employer
Justworks operates the PEO model on its Basic and Plus plans, which means co-employment: it shares the employer role and takes on the compliance load. It also now sells a payroll-only plan without the PEO. Gusto is software, and you remain the employer using a tool. Co-employment is either exactly what a twenty-person company wants or completely wrong for it.
Depends on the buyer
- 02
Benefits: buying power or choice
On Justworks, access to medical, dental and vision insurance comes with PEO Plus at $124 per employee a month, alongside HSA and FSA accounts and mental health benefits. Gusto charges no administration fee for health insurance arranged through its brokers, you pay premiums only, and can connect an existing broker for $6 per eligible employee. Pooled leverage against freedom to choose.
Depends on the buyer
- 03
How far compliance is lifted
Gusto files and pays payroll taxes on every plan and adds state compliance tools on Premium. Justworks PEO goes a step further as co-employer: its PEO plans list employment practices liability insurance, state unemployment insurance administration and compliance alerts. For an owner whose goal is to stop thinking about employment compliance, the PEO removes more of it.
Edge: Justworks
- 04
Shape of the price
Justworks lists PEO Basic at $79 and PEO Plus at $124 per employee a month with no base fee. Gusto lists Simple at $49 a month plus $6 per person. The like-for-like comparison is Justworks Payroll, its non-PEO plan, at $50 a month plus $8 per employee, a little above Gusto Simple. The PEO rates buy a service, not just software.
Depends on the buyer
When neither fits
Both are strongest in one market, the United States. An employer in France, Spain, Germany or the UK that wants to run payroll in-house should look at PayFit, and one whose main need is hiring where it has no entity should compare Remote, a specialist employer of record.
Justworks or Gusto: questions
4 answersWhat is the real difference between Justworks and Gusto?
Justworks PEO becomes co-employer of your staff, carrying compliance and benefits, for $79 or $124 per employee a month.
Gusto is payroll software with filing and benefits built in, and you stay the only employer. Justworks also sells a payroll-only plan that competes with Gusto directly.
Is Justworks or Gusto better for a twenty-person US company?
Either can be. Justworks PEO is aimed at exactly that company when it wants the compliance burden gone and group benefits through the PEO. If the same company wants to keep full control, including its own broker and benefit plans, Gusto is the closer fit.
Can Justworks or Gusto pay employees outside the United States?
Both can, at a price. Justworks lists an employer-of-record service at $599 per employee a month and international contractor payments in over 60 countries at $39 per paid contractor.
Gusto pays contractors in more than 120 countries as an add-on and routes full-time employees abroad to its partner Remote.
How much does Justworks cost compared with Gusto?
Justworks lists Payroll at $50 a month plus $8 per employee, PEO Basic at $79 and PEO Plus at $124 per employee a month.
Gusto lists Simple at $49 plus $6 per person, Plus at $80 plus $12 and Premium at $180 plus $22. The PEO prices include co-employment services.
Sources
Checked 30 September 2026- Justworks pricing page: Justworks plan prices, PEO plan contents, EOR and international contractor add-ons.
- Gusto pricing page: Gusto plan prices, tax filing on all plans, benefits fees, global contractor add-on.
- Gusto Global page: Gusto uses Remote as employer of record for employees abroad.