Gusto vs Justworks: Which Is Better?

Round by round

1. Round 1💰 Pricing & TransparencyGusto wins
   Gusto9/10

   $49/mo + $6/employee

   ~$109/mo total for a 10-person team

   • Fully published pricing, no sales call
   • Month-to-month, no cancellation penalty
   • Multi-state payroll requires Plus or Premium

   Source: Gusto pricing data

   Justworks5/10

   $59/employee/mo (Basic)

   ~$590/mo for a 10-person team; Plus runs $99/employee/mo

   • Publishes exact PEO pricing directly — rare among PEO competitors
   • Dramatically more expensive per employee than software-only payroll
   • PEO Plus can run $99-109/employee/mo before benefits premiums layer on top

   Source: Justworks pricing data

   Both are transparent about price; Justworks' PEO structure is simply far more expensive per employee.

2. Round 2🧾 Core Payroll & Tax FilingGusto wins
   Gusto8/10

   Automated filing, praised for accuracy

   • Automatic federal/state/local filing on every tier
   • Simple tier restricted to single-state filing

   Justworks6/10

   All 50 states

   Filed under Justworks' co-employer relationship

   • All filing included in every plan tier
   • Reviewers report 7-10 week delays on compliance document requests

   Source: Justworks product data

   Both file accurately, but Justworks' compliance document turnaround has real reported delays.

3. Round 3🧩 HR Features & PEO OptionsJustworks wins
   Gusto6/10

   Toolkit model

   401(k), HR pros on Premium — brokers benefits, doesn't co-employ

   • 401(k) built in natively via Guideline
   • No co-employment — can't unlock large-group benefit rates

   Source: Gusto product data

   Justworks9/10

   Full co-employment

   Large-group medical/dental/vision via Aetna, UHC, Kaiser on Plus

   • True co-employment unlocks enterprise-grade benefit rates
   • Mental health and fertility benefits included on Plus
   • High-risk industries (cannabis, construction, agriculture) excluded entirely

   Source: Justworks PEO data

   Gusto brokers benefits; Justworks actually pools your team into big-company rates.

4. Round 4🖥️ Ease of Use & SetupGusto wins
   Gusto9/10

   Rated easiest to learn

   • No sales call or underwriting review required
   • Instant self-serve signup
   • Advanced tools locked behind pricier Premium tier

   Justworks7/10

   9.3/10 setup ease

   2-3 week onboarding with dedicated manager

   • 9.3/10 G2 setup-ease score, well above ADP's 7.6
   • Dedicated onboarding manager for every new account
   • Requires co-employment enrollment and underwriting/eligibility review
   • Several industries excluded from eligibility entirely

   Source: Justworks G2 data

   Justworks is fast for a PEO, but Gusto's instant self-serve signup has no underwriting step at all.

5. Round 5🔌 IntegrationsGusto wins
   Gusto7/10

   ~10 integrations

   QuickBooks, Xero, Shopify, Clover, Homebase, Slack

   • Covers POS tools (Shopify, Clover) Justworks doesn't offer
   • Includes Homebase and TSheets time-tracking natively

   Source: Gusto integrations list

   Justworks6/10

   ~6 core integrations

   QuickBooks, Xero, Slack, Google Workspace, Microsoft 365

   • Covers standard productivity-suite integrations
   • Value sits mainly in the PEO relationship, not the software connections

   Source: Justworks integrations list

   Both cover the accounting basics; Gusto's list leans slightly more toward small-business POS and time tools.

6. Round 6⭐ Customer Support & TrustGusto wins
   Gusto7/10

   4.6 / 4.6 / ~2.3

   G2 / Capterra / Trustpilot

   • 4.6/5 on both G2 and Capterra
   • Trustpilot ~2.3/5, driven by support-response complaints

   Source: Gusto sentiment data

   Justworks6/10

   4.6 G2/Capterra vs 'Poor' 1.7-1.9 Trustpilot

   • 4.6/5 on both G2 and Capterra, 9.2/10 G2 support score
   • Trustpilot rated 'Poor' at 1.7-1.9/5
   • Reviewers report 7-10 week delays on compliance document requests

   Both split hard between B2B and consumer review sites; Justworks' Trustpilot rating is rated outright 'Poor.'

Which one is for you?

Side by side

Gusto

Check price

Justworks

Check price

Overall score

7.3

Best

6.7

Price

See price

See price

Pricing & Transparency

7.8

6.3

Customer Support & Trust

6.7

5.7

Core Payroll & Tax Filing

7.6

7.1

Ease of Use & Setup

8.7

7.1

Integrations

6.4

6.1

Head-to-head findings

Pricing & Transparency

$49/mo + $6/employee

$59/employee/mo (Basic)

Customer Support & Trust

4.6 / 4.6 / ~2.3

4.6 G2/Capterra vs 1.7-1.9 'Poor' Trustpilot

Core Payroll & Tax Filing

Automated filing, multi-state costs extra

50 states, included

Ease of Use & Setup

Rated easiest to learn

2-3 weeks

Integrations

~10 integrations

QuickBooks, Xero, Slack, M365

HR Features & Benefits

Tiered-in HR depth

Aetna, UHC, Kaiser access

Record

Head-to-head record

8–1

2–7

Head-to-heads won

89 %

22 %

Rounds won

63 %

37 %

Pros

• Fully published pricing, no sales call
• Automatic federal/state/local filing praised for accuracy
• 401(k) built in natively via Guideline
• Certified HR pros and compensation tools bundled into Premium

• Every tier's price is published, no sales call
• Per-employee price drops at 50+ headcount
• Filing included on every plan across all 50 states
• Covers the core business apps most teams already use

Cons

• Multi-state payroll requires upgrading to a pricier tier
• Multi-state filing requires a pricier tier
• Advanced tools locked behind pricier Premium tier
• Trustpilot ~2.3/5, driven by support-response complaints

• PEO pricing runs well above QuickBooks for small teams
• No dollar-figure penalty-protection guarantee
• Not a native, same-vendor connection like QuickBooks Payroll
• Plus tier gets expensive once benefits premiums layer on top

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