Best Payroll Software for Small Business: Gusto vs. ADP vs. Justworks

Gusto is the default for most small businesses, but ADP and Justworks serve different use cases. Here's how the total cost of ownership compares.

By The StackMatch Research Team

Gusto (Plus), ADP Run, and Justworks pricing varies by team size — choose based on headcount, not features

~$200/moGusto (Plus) — 15 employees

~$150-250/moADP Run

~$100-150/employee/moJustworks

All three tools serve the same category. The wrong pick means paying for complexity you don't use — or outgrowing simplicity too fast.

Monthly cost comparison

Gusto (Plus): ~$200/mo for 15 employees — the modern default

Gusto is in virtually every vertical we curate, priced at roughly $200/mo for a 15-person team on the Plus plan. It's the right choice for most small businesses because it's genuinely easy to use, integrates with QuickBooks Online, and handles benefits administration without requiring a separate broker. The downside is that Gusto's HR features are lighter than a full PEO — if you need handbooks, compliance training, and dedicated HR support, you'll outgrow it around 50 employees.

ADP Run: ~$150-250/mo — the incumbent with deeper compliance

ADP is the legacy player with deeper compliance infrastructure and broader state-by-state expertise. It's the safer choice if you have complex multi-state payroll, union workers, or need advanced tax filing support. The interface is dated, the setup is slower, and the integrations are weaker than Gusto's — but ADP's compliance depth is unmatched for businesses with unusual payroll complexity.

Multi-state payroll and worker classification are where compliance risk actually lives.

The costliest payroll mistake isn't the monthly fee — it's misclassifying a worker (1099 vs. W-2) or missing a state registration when you hire your first out-of-state employee. Gusto and ADP both handle this if you tell them about the hire; the failure mode is not telling them.

Justworks: ~$100-150/employee/mo — the PEO option

Justworks is a Professional Employer Organization (PEO), not just payroll software. That means they co-employ your team, which gives you access to enterprise-grade benefits at small-business rates. The pricing is per-employee-per-month — typically $100-150 — which makes it more expensive than Gusto or ADP for pure payroll. But if benefits cost and HR administration are your primary pain points, Justworks can save money net-net by reducing your benefits premiums.

A PEO's price tag looks worse than it is on a spreadsheet, because it's quoted per employee while Gusto and ADP are quoted as a flat platform fee. Compare it against your current benefits premium plus your HR admin's time, not against Gusto's sticker price alone.

The actual decision rule

Questions to ask before choosing a payroll platform

Is our payroll straightforward — one state, no union rules, no complex benefits? Gusto is almost always the right default.
Do we run payroll across multiple states, or do we employ union workers? ADP's compliance infrastructure earns its worse UX here.
Is benefits administration eating more staff time than payroll itself? A PEO like Justworks may cost more per employee but save net hours and premium dollars.
Are we above roughly 50 employees? At that point, evaluate a full HRIS (Rippling, BambooHR) that includes payroll as one module instead of a standalone tool.

Run the free audit to see which payroll platform fits your team size, state footprint, and benefits needs — including whether you're overpaying for a tier sized for a much larger company.

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