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Payroll & HR software — full comparison
Payroll pricing varies by platform model: per-employee SaaS, modular HR/payroll, or PEO. Monthly prices are shown where public; annual figures are annualized monthly equivalents unless a separate annual-billing price is published.
Pricing model: Gusto — published base fee + per-employee SaaS pricing. Rippling — modular SaaS; only the core HR platform has a published starting price, and actual Payroll pricing is quote-dependent. ADP — fully sales-quoted payroll, no public list price at any tier. Justworks — Payroll uses published base + per-employee pricing; PEO Basic/Plus are a separate co-employment model, not a pricier tier of the same product.
Gusto vs. ADP pricing is hard to compare directly — Gusto publishes clear list prices ($49/month + $6/person on Simple), while ADP RUN keeps all four of its tiers quote-only with no public list price at all, a structural difference more than a cost one. For the cheapest payroll software for a small business with transparent pricing, Gusto's Simple plan and Justworks' Payroll ($8/employee + $50 base) are the two options with published list prices — Rippling and ADP both require a sales call before you learn the real number. If you're trying to understand Rippling's pricing: its live checkout is quote-only for Payroll, but Rippling's own 2026 content separately cites $35/month base + $8/employee as reference figures, not a guaranteed self-serve rate.
| Tool | Free plan | Entry tier | Mid tier | Top tier / public price | Aggregated sentiment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gusto | No ongoing free plan — free period ends when the first payroll is run. [VENDOR] Simple is single-state; multi-state requires Plus/Premium. [VENDOR] | $49/mo + $6/personSimple · [VENDOR]. 5 employees — Monthly: $79; Annualized equivalent: $948; separate annual-billing list price: not published. 20 employees — Monthly: $169; Annualized equivalent: $2,028; separate annual-billing list price: not published. 50 employees — Monthly: $349; Annualized equivalent: $4,188; separate annual-billing list price: not published. [DERIVED — VENDOR] $49 + $6×employees. | $80/mo + $12/personPlus · [VENDOR] public price; multi-state payroll. Separate annual-billing list price: not published. | $180/mo + $22/personPremium · [VENDOR] public price; dedicated support and advanced HR. Separate annual-billing list price: not published. | Catch: [3P — G2 + Capterra] Support responsiveness and scaling costs are recurring concerns. Review sentiment from G2 and Capterra; praise centers on ease of use and setup. Capacity: [VENDOR] Simple supports one state; additional-state payroll requires a paid add-on/upgrade, with price varying by state. AI: Gus is Gusto's AI assistant for payroll, benefits and HR questions, confirmed available on web and mobile for employers and employees; no separate price has been published and it is not sold as a paid add-on. [VENDOR] |
| Rippling | No permanent free plan — trial/promotion only. [VENDOR] Current pricing page routes to custom quote for full configurations. G2 currently says Rippling does not offer a free trial, while Capterra currently labels it as having one — a direct source conflict, not resolved here. [3P — G2 vs Capterra] | Quote required for Payroll[VENDOR] Rippling's live pricing page still does not publish a self-serve Payroll price. Rippling's own 2026 Payroll/HRIS content separately publishes reference figures — $35/mo base + $8/employee/mo — but these are not shown as a checkout/self-serve list price on the current pricing page; see footnote below the table. | Modular — no named mid tier[VENDOR] Additional modules (benefits, time tracking, IT) are priced separately; module-level rate card is not fully public. Rippling's own 2026 content cites Expense Management at $14/employee/mo as one example — not extrapolated into a universal bundle price. | No public top-tier price[VENDOR] Full multi-module configurations route to custom quote | Catch: [3P — G2 + Capterra] Modular add-ons can raise cost and the breadth of features can create a learning curve. Review sentiment from G2 and Capterra; praise centers on unified HR/payroll, automation and intuitive workflows. Capacity: [VENDOR] Supports multi-state U.S. payroll and employee/contractor payroll; no public numeric cap found in current vendor documentation. AI: Current platform markets "Ask Rippling AI" across all data plus automation/custom dashboards; this is bundled platform functionality under the same quote-based packaging, not a separately priced payroll AI add-on. [VENDOR] |
| ADP | No ongoing free plan. [VENDOR] Current RUN page advertises "Get 3 Months Free*" on the package/add-on comparison; this is a promotion, not a permanent free tier, and the vendor page does not expose full eligibility terms. [VENDOR] | Get pricingEssential Payroll · [VENDOR] public tier, no list price. 5/20/50 monthly and annual: quote required; do not estimate. Current 3-month-free promotion is separate from standard price. | Get pricingEnhanced Payroll · [VENDOR] public tier; quote required. New tier confirmed between Enhanced and HR Pro: Complete Payroll & HR Plus (adds HR HelpDesk, handbook wizard, HR tracking/forms/training) — also quote-only, no public list price. [VENDOR] | Contact SalesHR Pro Payroll & HR — Contact Sales / no public list price; adds enhanced HR support, ATS, LMS, harassment-prevention training and legal assistance. [VENDOR] | Catch: [3P — G2 + Capterra] Some reviewers report occasional slowdowns, wait times and navigation friction; public price transparency is also limited. Review sentiment from G2 and Capterra; praise centers on ease of use, payroll processing, reporting and support. Capacity: [VENDOR] Essential includes multi-jurisdiction payroll and tax filing; no public state-count cap shown. AI: [VENDOR] ADP Assist virtual assistant, payroll inspector (AI-enabled error flagging) and smart timesheet import are now confirmed included across all four public packages — Essential, Enhanced, Complete Payroll & HR Plus, and HR Pro; no separate AI price published. |
| Justworks | No ongoing free plan publicly listed. [VENDOR] Current pricing page lists paid Payroll, PEO Basic, PEO Plus and EOR. Current page also advertises "3 Months Free!" for Payroll — a promotion, not a permanent free tier; full eligibility terms aren't exposed on the page. [VENDOR] | $8/mo/employee + $50 basePayroll · [VENDOR]. 5 employees — Monthly: $90; Annualized equivalent: $1,080; separate annual-billing list price: not published. 20 employees — Monthly: $210; Annualized equivalent: $2,520; separate annual-billing list price: not published. 50 employees — Monthly: $450; Annualized equivalent: $5,400; separate annual-billing list price: not published. [DERIVED — VENDOR] $50 + $8×employees. New add-ons confirmed on current pricing page: Time Tracking $8/employee/mo, International Contractors $39/contractor/mo. Important: PEO Basic/Plus below are NOT pricier tiers of Payroll — they're a separate co-employment model bundling benefits access, not a feature upgrade path. | $79/mo/employeeAlternative model: PEO Basic (not a Payroll upgrade) · [VENDOR]. 5 employees — Monthly: $395; Annualized equivalent: $4,740. 20 employees — Monthly: $1,580; Annualized equivalent: $18,960. 50 employees — Monthly: $3,950; Annualized equivalent: $47,400. [DERIVED — VENDOR] Separate annual-billing list price: not published. | $124/mo/employeeAlternative model: PEO Plus · [VENDOR] public price; benefits administration included. EOR is separate at $599/employee/mo. | Catch: [3P — G2 + Capterra] Reviewers cite limited reporting/customization and some benefits/pricing limitations. Review sentiment from G2 and Capterra; praise centers on simple HR/payroll administration and support. Capacity: [VENDOR] Payroll includes multi-state payroll and contractor payments; PEO tiers add compliance, HR and benefits — no public numeric cap found in current vendor documentation. AI: New — Justworks MCP connects live Justworks data (headcount, payroll, time off, deductions) to AI tools like Claude and ChatGPT; no separate price is published for it on the current public page. [VENDOR] |
Vendor pricing pages and third-party review sources were checked in October 2026; unresolved vendor pricing conflicts are labeled explicitly. Where vendors publish only "Get pricing" or a custom quote, no breakpoint estimate is supplied. Annualized figures are 12 × the published monthly amount and are not separate annual-billing prices. Confirm current pricing directly with each vendor before purchasing. This is not a recommendation to buy any specific product.
Rippling pricing detail: Rippling's own 2026 published content states Payroll at $35/mo per user and the core platform/HRIS at $8/employee/mo + a $35/mo base fee [VENDOR — Rippling's own 2026 Payroll/HRIS review content]. These are vendor-published reference figures, not a self-serve checkout price — the live pricing page itself still requires a custom quote for Payroll. Treat $35 + $8 as a reference point from Rippling's own content, not a guaranteed current quote; get a vendor-confirmed number for your specific setup.
Sources checked
FAQ
Common questions
Does Gusto have a free payroll plan?
Not an ongoing one. Gusto lets you create an account and won't charge until you run your first payroll, but that's a pre-payroll setup period, not a permanent free tier. The entry paid plan, Simple, starts at $49/month + $6/month per person.
Does Rippling publish a self-serve Payroll price?
No — Rippling's live pricing page requires a custom quote for Payroll. Rippling's own 2026 content separately publishes reference figures ($35/month base + $8/employee/month), but these are not shown as a checkout/self-serve list price on the current pricing page.
Is ADP RUN's pricing published anywhere?
No — all four of ADP RUN's current package tiers (Essential, Enhanced, Complete Payroll & HR Plus, and HR Pro) are quote-only with no public list price. The current page does advertise a 3-months-free promotion on eligible packages.
Is Justworks' PEO the same as its Payroll product?
No — they're different products. Payroll ($8/employee/month + $50 base) is standalone payroll software. PEO Basic ($79/employee/month) and PEO Plus ($124/employee/month) are a separate co-employment model that bundles employer compliance support and, on Plus, benefits administration — not simply a pricier tier of Payroll.
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