11 Best Gusto Alternatives (by Reason for Leaving)

The right Gusto alternative depends on why you are leaving: OnPay for a second state at the price of Gusto’s entry plan, Patriot Payroll for a lower bill than Gusto Simple, Justworks for a PEO, and Rippling for HR, IT and payroll in one system. Gusto Simple costs $49 a month + $6 per person and runs payroll in one state.

Multi-state payroll starts on Gusto Plus, at $80 a month + $12 per person, so a second state doubles your per-person fee. I worked out each pick’s monthly bill at three team sizes from vendor pages read on November 1, 2026.

In This Article (21 sections)

Best Gusto Alternatives at a Glance

Gusto vs Alternatives: Quick Comparison

Gusto Simple is the benchmark: Patriot undercuts both of its fees, Square and Wave undercut its base fee, and OnPay matches it exactly.

Software	Best for	Starting price (plan, unit, billing)	Main advantage	What you give up	Switching note
Gusto	One-state teams	Simple: $49/mo + $6/mo per person, month-to-month	Unlimited payroll runs on every Gusto plan	Benchmark	Benchmark
OnPay	Multi-state payroll	$49 base fee + $6 per person, monthly	All 50 states, no multi-state charge	No advisor tier	Confirm wage import
Patriot Payroll	A lower bill than Gusto Simple	Full Service: $37/mo + $5 per worker paid	Two fees under Gusto Simple’s	A fee per extra state	Setup help
QuickBooks Payroll	QuickBooks Online users	Workforce Payroll: $50 + $7/employee	Payroll with your QuickBooks books	Costs more than Gusto Simple	Transfer help
Justworks	PEO with published prices	Payroll: $8/month/employee + $50/month base	PEO plans with 24/7 support	PEO fees far above Gusto’s	No implementation fee
Rippling	HR, IT and payroll	From $8 per user/month + $40/month base fee	App and device management	A quote past the starting price	Guided data import
Deel	Employees abroad	EOR from $599 per employee per month	EOR in 130+ countries	A per-contractor fee	Month-to-month terms
Square Payroll	Square POS shops	Full-service: $35/mo + $6 per person paid	POS timecards, tips, multistate	Weekday support only	Payroll specialists help
Homebase	Hourly shift teams	Payroll add-on: $49 base fee/month + $6 per employee paid/month	Scheduling feeds payroll	Plans priced per location	Confirm wage import
RUN Powered by ADP	24/7 support	Quote only (“Get Pricing”)	24/7 payroll and HR support	A published price	ADP experts set up payroll
Wave Payroll	Wave accounting users	$40 base fee + $6 per active employee, monthly	Entries post to Wave’s books	No 1099 filing	Import your data
Paycor	Growing toward 50	Basic: $99/month + $5 per employee per month	HR tiers for under 50 employees	Costs more than Gusto Simple	One-time setup fee

Sources: Gusto pricing, OnPay pricing, Patriot pricing, QuickBooks Payroll pricing, Justworks pricing, Rippling small business, Deel pricing, Square Payroll pricing, Homebase pricing, ADP small business payroll, Wave Payroll, Paycor pricing, checked November 2026.

Why Look for a Gusto Alternative?

Five Gusto plan limits push small businesses to switch.

• One state on Simple. Gusto Simple runs payroll in one state; Plus and above cover multiple states, per the Gusto Help Center. OnPay and Square Payroll include multiple states.
• Contractor-only closed. Gusto closed its Contractor-only plan to new customers on October 1, 2026; Square and QuickBooks sell contractor-only options.
• New-account packaging. Under Gusto’s October 2026 changes, new Simple accounts get 1 custom earning type, and HR Resources is offered only on Premium to new customers. Gusto Premium costs $180 a month + $22 per person. Gusto Business Compliance costs $85 per month, per state, on an annual contract for Simple and Plus. Rippling and Paycor add HR without Gusto Premium.
• No PEO on the pricing page. Gusto’s pricing page lists health insurance with no Gusto administration fees, but no PEO plan. Justworks, Rippling and Deel sell one.
• Business-hours support. Every Gusto plan includes a 24/7 Help Center plus phone and chat during business hours. ADP lists 24/7 support from payroll and HR professionals.

If only your plan is the problem, my Gusto review weighs the whole product first.

What a 1-, 5- or 10-Person Team Pays Each Month

A 10-person, one-state team pays $49 + $6 x 10 = $109 a month on Gusto Simple.

Plan	1 person	5 people	10 people
Gusto Simple	$49 + $6 x 1 = $55	$49 + $6 x 5 = $79	$49 + $6 x 10 = $109
Gusto Plus	$80 + $12 x 1 = $92	$80 + $12 x 5 = $140	$80 + $12 x 10 = $200
Gusto Premium	$180 + $22 x 1 = $202	$180 + $22 x 5 = $290	$180 + $22 x 10 = $400
OnPay	$49 + $6 x 1 = $55	$49 + $6 x 5 = $79	$49 + $6 x 10 = $109
Patriot Full Service	$37 + $5 x 1 = $42	$37 + $5 x 5 = $62	$37 + $5 x 10 = $87
QuickBooks Workforce Payroll	$50 + $7 x 1 = $57	$50 + $7 x 5 = $85	$50 + $7 x 10 = $120
Square Payroll full-service	$35 + $6 x 1 = $41	$35 + $6 x 5 = $65	$35 + $6 x 10 = $95
Wave Payroll	$40 + $6 x 1 = $46	$40 + $6 x 5 = $70	$40 + $6 x 10 = $100
Justworks PEO Basic	$79 x 1 = $79	$79 x 5 = $395	$79 x 10 = $790
Paycor Basic	$99 + $5 x 1 = $104	$99 + $5 x 5 = $124	$99 + $5 x 10 = $149

Sources: Gusto, OnPay, Patriot, QuickBooks Payroll, Square, Wave, Justworks, Paycor, checked November 2026.

The multi-state gap is where a switch pays fastest: a two-state team of 10 pays Gusto Plus $80 + $12 x 10 = $200 a month. For Gusto’s own plan math, see what each Gusto plan costs.

1. OnPay: Best Gusto Alternative for Multi-State Payroll on One Plan

If a hire in a second state is the only reason your Gusto bill would jump, OnPay fixes it. Its single plan files taxes in all 50 states and never charges extra for multiple states, so you get Gusto Plus’s state coverage at Gusto Simple’s list price. The trade-off is that single plan: no OnPay tier offers a named advisor like Gusto Premium.

Square Payroll costs less at 10 people with multistate payroll too, but it is built around Square POS, so OnPay is the general-purpose pick.

To switch, get OnPay’s answer in writing on importing this year’s Gusto pay history.

Skip it if:

you want a named advisor and state compliance tracking; Gusto Premium covers both, and Paycor’s Complete plan adds 1-on-1 HR guidance.

2. Patriot Payroll: Best Gusto Alternative for a Lower Bill Than Gusto Simple

When the Gusto invoice, not a missing feature, is the problem, Patriot Payroll gives a lower bill than Gusto Simple from the first worker. Its Full Service plan files federal, state and local payroll taxes, and both of its fees sit under Gusto Simple’s, so the saving holds at every headcount. The catch: each additional state adds a fee.

Patriot’s free setup help enters year-to-date payroll for you. The state fee is the number to model: a 10-worker team in two states pays $37 + $5 x 10 + $12 x 1 = $99 a month, and a third state brings it to $37 + $5 x 10 + $12 x 2 = $111, above OnPay at that size.

Benefits move separately when you switch, since Patriot sources health plans through SimplyInsured.

Skip it if:

your team spans three or more states or needs help after 7 p.m. ET; OnPay costs less from the third state at 10 workers, and RUN Powered by ADP lists 24/7 support.

3. QuickBooks Payroll: Best Gusto Alternative for QuickBooks Online Users

Price is not the reason to choose QuickBooks Payroll: Intuit’s entry plan costs a dollar more than Gusto Simple on both the base fee and each employee, and Gusto already syncs with QuickBooks. The reason is one vendor for books and pay, plus depth at the top, where Workforce Elite includes expert setup and tax penalty protection.

QuickBooks Workforce Premium, at $88 + $13/employee, adds time tracking, schedules and an HR handbook creator; set it against Gusto’s middle tier. For a new contractor-only business, QuickBooks Contractor Payments lists $25, which includes 20 contractors, and $2 per additional contractor, with unlimited 1099 e-filing.

Intuit says it will help transfer existing payroll information to QuickBooks. My QuickBooks Payroll pricing breakdown runs the plans at more headcounts.

If QuickBooks Online is not yet your ledger, my QuickBooks Online review covers that choice first.

Skip it if:

Gusto’s QuickBooks sync already works for your accountant; Gusto Simple or Patriot Payroll costs less every month.

4. Justworks: Best Gusto Alternative for a PEO With Published Prices

Benefits, not payroll, are the reason to move from Gusto to Justworks. Justworks PEO gives “access to a wide variety of health insurance plans, including small group, large group, and individual plans via CHOICE,” and prints PEO prices per employee with 24/7 support on PEO plans. The trade-off is cost: per employee, PEO Basic runs several times what Gusto charges per person.

PEO Basic covers payroll, compliance, HR consulting and a 401(k). PEO Plus, at $124 per employee per month, adds medical, dental and vision administration and HSA and FSA accounts. At 10 employees PEO Plus costs $124 x 10 = $1,240 a month, and Justworks prints no premiums, so ask for premium quotes before you compare.

Switching to a PEO moves benefits enrollment to Justworks plans; ask Justworks how it imports year-to-date wages. My Justworks review covers the PEO in depth.

Skip it if:

you only need payroll; OnPay or Patriot Payroll covers it for a fraction of the PEO fee.

5. Rippling: Best Gusto Alternative for Running HR, IT and Payroll in One System

Once payroll is only one part of onboarding, with laptops, app accounts and benefits due on day one, Rippling is the alternative to price. It runs payroll, HR and IT in one system. The trade-off is price visibility, because Rippling publishes only a starting price and quotes the rest.

Rippling can ship laptops automatically or control app access by role, and it lists 650+ integrations. Its Implementation Manager guides the employee data import and first payroll free of charge.

Get the quote itemized by module, and ask Rippling to confirm that this year’s Gusto history loads during implementation. My Rippling review covers the platform beyond payroll.

My Rippling pricing guide runs more team sizes.

Skip it if:

payroll is the whole job; OnPay or Gusto Simple does it at a printed price.

6. Deel: Best Gusto Alternative for Hiring Employees Abroad

Employing someone full time in another country is a job Gusto’s pricing page does not list, and it is Deel’s core product. Deel’s employer of record is the legal employer in 130+ countries and handles contracts, payroll, benefits and compliance without a local entity. For smaller payments to contractors abroad, though, Gusto is cheaper, so the lean setup is often Gusto for US payroll plus Deel only for the hire abroad.

The contractor math shows why: Deel starts at $49 per contractor per month, so five contractors cost $49 x 5 = $245 a month in Deel fees. Gusto charges no monthly per-contractor fee and bills $5 per payment to US-based bank accounts. A payment in USD to a bank account in the contractor’s country costs 0.75%-1.5% of the payment, with a $15 minimum and a $100 maximum. A large payment can therefore cost more than Deel’s $49.

You can split the switch instead of moving everything: keep Gusto for US payroll and contractors, and add Deel for each employee abroad, with contracts rebuilt per country.

Skip it if:

everyone outside the US is a contractor paid smaller sums; Gusto’s per-payment fees then cost less than Deel’s monthly fee.

7. Square Payroll: Best Gusto Alternative for Square POS Shops

A shop that already rings sales on Square gets the most from Square Payroll: hours come in from Square POS timecards, tips are tracked and imported, and multistate payroll sits in the full-service plan. It also gives a new contractor-only business a place to go now that Gusto has closed that plan.

The contractor-only plan is narrower than full-service: it skips auto payroll, off-cycle payments, multistate payroll and automated federal and state tax filings.

Square says dedicated payroll specialists help with a switch from another provider; confirm with them how this year’s Gusto wages load.

Skip it if:

you do not run Square POS; Homebase links its time clock to payroll on other systems.

8. Homebase: Best Gusto Alternative for Hourly Shift Teams

At a café or salon, shifts come first and payroll second, which is the order Homebase is built in. Its Basic plan schedules and tracks time at no cost for one location with up to 10 employees, and payroll plugs in at the same fees as Gusto Simple, so the time clock feeds wages directly. The model breaks at the second location, because every Homebase plan is priced per location.

A team past 10 employees or a second site must move to Essentials, Plus or All-in-One, and two locations on Essentials cost $30 x 2 = $60 a month before payroll.

Before the switch, ask Homebase how it imports this year’s Gusto wages.

Skip it if:

you run several locations or a salaried office team; Gusto Plus or OnPay prices by the person.

9. RUN Powered by ADP: Best Gusto Alternative for 24/7 Payroll Support

Round-the-clock help is the one reason RUN Powered by ADP makes this list: ADP lists 24/7 support from payroll and HR professionals, while Gusto’s phone and chat run during business hours. For an owner who approves payroll at night or on weekends, that can matter more than the fee. The cost is opacity: ADP prints no RUN package price.

ADP’s page also advertises up to 6 months of free payroll under ADP’s terms and conditions; get those terms in writing with the quote.

ADP’s experts help set up payroll and benefits for the switch. My ADP RUN review covers the packages.

For the full head-to-head, see my Gusto vs ADP comparison.

Skip it if:

you want a price before a sales call; OnPay and Patriot Payroll print theirs.

10. Wave Payroll: Best Gusto Alternative for Wave Accounting Users

For books that already live in Wave, Wave Payroll saves the reconciliation step a separate provider adds, because each payroll posts its own journal entries there. Its base fee undercuts Gusto Simple’s, and Wave runs its tax service in all 50 US states. The gap is contractor paperwork: Wave’s tax service excludes 1099 filings, which every Gusto plan files for you.

Wave says migrating your data is simple when you switch from another payroll provider. Plan to file 1099s outside Wave if you pay contractors.

Skip it if:

you pay several 1099 contractors and want payroll to file their forms; Gusto or Patriot Full Service handles that, and OnPay’s 1099-NECs can be downloaded, self-printed or mailed at $10 per form.

11. Paycor: Best Gusto Alternative for Teams Growing Toward 50 Employees

Growth toward 50 employees, not price, is the case for Paycor. Its plans are built for businesses under 50 employees and step from Basic payroll into onboarding, an HR support center and analytics, so HR grows inside the payroll system instead of through Gusto’s Premium tier.

The list-price math is close but never in Paycor’s favor at that size. At 49 employees, Paycor Basic costs $99 + $5 x 49 = $344 a month. Gusto Simple costs $49 + $6 x 49 = $343 for the same team.

Paycor lists employee import among its plan features; ask which tier’s setup fee applies and how Gusto’s year-to-date wages load before you sign.

Skip it if:

you have no HR plans; Gusto Simple or Patriot Payroll costs less every month.

When Should You Stick With Gusto?

Stay with Gusto in four situations where the switch is not worth it.

• One state on Simple. Gusto Simple’s fees match OnPay’s, and Patriot saves 10 people $49 + $6 x 10 – $37 – $5 x 10 = $22 a month, so a full month billed for a late cancellation takes about five months to earn back.
• Contractors abroad. Gusto pays contractors in more than 120 countries with no monthly per-contractor fee.
• Benefits without a PEO. With Gusto as your broker, you pay only premiums and no Gusto administration fees.
• Legacy terms. Gusto says existing Simple and Plus customers keep their legacy plan capabilities under the new limits.

How to Choose the Right Gusto Alternative

Pick the alternative that fixes your first reason for leaving, then check its trade-off.

Your priority	Alternative to consider	Reason	Trade-off
Two or more states on a budget	OnPay	Multiple states at no extra charge	One plan only
A lower one-state bill than Gusto Simple	Patriot Payroll	Both fees under Gusto Simple’s	A fee per extra state
Books in QuickBooks Online	QuickBooks Payroll	One vendor for payroll and books	Costs more than Gusto Simple
Pooled benefits	Justworks	PEO prices printed per employee	Several times Gusto’s fees
HR, IT and payroll together	Rippling	Apps and devices with payroll	Quotes beyond the starting price
Employees abroad	Deel	EOR in 130+ countries	A per-employee monthly fee
A Square POS shop	Square Payroll	POS timecards and tips	Fits Square shops best
Shifts at one site	Homebase	Basic schedules up to 10 people	Priced per location
Help after hours	RUN Powered by ADP	24/7 support	Quote only
Books in Wave	Wave Payroll	Entries post to Wave	No 1099 filing
HR tiers before 50 people	Paycor	Onboarding and HR support tiers	A setup fee
One state, happy on Simple	Stay with Gusto	Same fees as OnPay	None for this reader

If your question is wider than leaving Gusto, my ranking of the best payroll software for small business compares the whole category.

When the gap is HR rather than payroll, my list of HR software for small business starts from HR instead.

If payroll software itself is new to you, read my explainer on what payroll software is before you pick a vendor.

Migrating From Gusto: What to Consider

Move from Gusto in this order, built from its cancellation and pricing pages.

1. Keep your records. Gusto admins keep view access to forms, reports and past payrolls after cancelling; save your own copy anyway.
2. Gather setup data. Gusto’s own list for moving a payroll names your EIN, addresses, salaries and, mid-year, the payroll taxes already filed.
3. Confirm the year-to-date import. Get the new provider’s answer in writing.
4. Reconnect benefits. Tell Gusto before you cancel if it manages your benefits.
5. Run a parallel payroll. Use a trial, such as Patriot’s or Wave’s 30 days.
6. Turn off AutoPilot. Switch off Gusto’s Payroll on AutoPilot before you cancel.
7. Time the cancellation. Cancel by the fifth of a month in which no Gusto payroll runs.
8. Decide who files the rest. If Gusto files after you cancel, it charges $100 for federal forms, $100 per state and $5 per W-2 or 1099.

How I Evaluated the Alternatives

I considered the picks above and the tools under Also Considered, and ranked the picks by how directly each fixes a stated Gusto limit. Each pick had to run US payroll or replace it and publish a price or a quote route.

The ranking criteria, in order: state coverage on the affordable plan, the monthly bill at three team sizes, benefits and PEO, worker mix, accounting or POS stack, support hours, HR depth and switching effort.

The evidence is each vendor’s own pricing, plan and help pages, read on November 1, 2026; the cost tables, fit calls and rankings are my analysis of them.

Also Considered

• TriNet: TriNet sells a PEO and HR Plus, but its homepage prints no price; Justworks covers the PEO job with published prices.
• SurePayroll: pricing starts at $29/month; Patriot covers the same low-bill job with a full per-worker price list.
• Paychex, Paylocity, Netchex, Thera and Deelo: vendors whose own pages compete for this search; none of their pricing pages is part of this comparison.
• Papaya Global: another global-employment option; Deel covers the hire-abroad job with a published EOR price.

Gusto Alternatives FAQ

What are some good alternatives to Gusto?

The strongest Gusto alternatives depend on the job: OnPay for multi-state payroll, Patriot Payroll for a lower one-state bill than Gusto Simple, Justworks for a PEO, Rippling for HR and IT, and Deel for employees abroad.

Is there a free alternative to Gusto?

Not for full payroll. Patriot has no free payroll tier but offers a 30-day free trial, and Homebase’s Basic plan schedules one location at no cost, with payroll as a paid add-on.

Final Verdict

Pick by the reason you are leaving. For a second state at Gusto Simple’s price, choose OnPay; for a lower one-state bill than Gusto Simple, Patriot Payroll; for pooled benefits, Justworks; for HR and IT on one system, Rippling. Owners tied to QuickBooks, Wave or Square should take that system’s payroll; Homebase suits one-site shift teams, Deel a hire abroad, RUN Powered by ADP after-hours support, and Paycor HR growth.

Stay with Gusto for contractors abroad or a one-state saving smaller than switching costs, and if you move, cancel Gusto by the fifth of a month.