Gusto Pricing in May 2026

Gusto's standard pricing follows tiered per-employee structure: Simple at $40/month base + $6/employee/month, Plus at $80/month + $12/employee, Premium at $135/month + $16.50/employee for HR-heavy features. A typical 10-person US-based startup on Gusto Simple lands at $100/month total; growing teams of 25-50 employees on Plus hit $400-700/month. The pricing model is among the most transparent in HRIS — costs scale predictably with team growth.

The 6 months free Simple offer is one of the most generous startup-tier offers in payroll tooling — covers approximately $600-1,000 of value depending on team size. Eligibility is broad and most US-based startups qualify. The strategic decision: Gusto's value is the modern UX for US small business payroll — running payroll, onboarding hires, offering benefits all feel measurably easier than Paychex or ADP. For US startups under 25 employees with no HR staff, Gusto is the default for good reason. The free trial is the right time to validate whether your team's payroll complexity (multi-state, international contractors, equity compensation) fits within Gusto's feature scope. For teams growing past 50 employees, the natural migration is to Gusto Plus or Premium, or alternatively to Rippling for unified HR + IT + finance. For teams with significant international hiring needs beyond US, Deel or Remote handle global EOR that Gusto cannot.