Gusto vs OnPay: Same $49 Starting Price, Different Payroll Products
By SoftwareSift Team.
Disclosure: SoftwareSift earns affiliate commissions from some tools we review, including Gusto and OnPay. This never influences our rankings, scores, or true-cost modeling.
Gusto's entry-level Simple tier and OnPay's only plan, Payroll Essentials, both open at the identical $49/mo base plus $6/mo per person, verified directly from each vendor's own pricing page. For a business that just scans the headline number, they look interchangeable. They are not: Gusto's $49-plus-$6 buys single-state payroll only, with multi-state, next-day pay, and time tracking locked behind a $80-plus-$12 upgrade, while OnPay's identical $49-plus-$6 includes multi-state payroll for every customer at every headcount, with no tier to climb. This comparison walks through exactly where the two providers diverge once the sticker price stops being the deciding factor.
Quick Comparison
| Criterion | Gusto (Simple) | OnPay (Payroll Essentials) |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | $49/mo + $6/mo per person | $49 base + $6/worker per month |
| Pricing structure | Three tiers: Simple, Plus ($80+$12), Premium ($180+$22) | One flat plan, no tiers |
| Multi-state payroll at base price | Not included; requires Plus at $80+$12 | Included at the base rate |
| Time tracking | Included at Plus ($80+$12); add-on on Simple at $6/mo per person | Not offered as a distinct add-on on OnPay's own pricing page |
| Named HR module | HR Resources add-on, $50 base + $5/person, or native at Premium | HR add-on, $15 base + $2/worker |
| Dedicated account advisor | Included at Premium ($180+$22) | Not offered; support is phone, chat, and email at every plan |
| Third-party recognition (own pages) | 4.6 star average on Capterra and Software Advice, 4,137 reviews each | PCMag Best Value; Business.com and CNBC Best for Small Businesses; Capterra Best Value for Payroll and HR |
Gusto: Full Pricing and Feature Breakdown
Gusto's Simple tier is $49/mo plus $6/mo per person, built for single-state payroll with unlimited payrolls per month, tax filings and payments, and basic PTO policies and holiday pay, per Gusto's own plan description. Plus, at $80/mo plus $12/mo per person, adds multi-state payroll, next-day pay, and time tracking. Premium, at $180/mo plus $22/mo per person, adds a dedicated service advisor, access to certified HR experts, performance and compensation management, custom reports, priority support, and payroll migration and account setup.
The tier structure means a business that starts on Simple and later needs to hire in a second state cannot simply add that capability; it has to move to Plus, taking the base rate from $49 to $80 and the per-person rate from $6 to $12. At 10 employees, that upgrade takes the monthly bill from $109 to $200, a jump of $91/mo for a feature that OnPay includes at its base price for the same headcount.
OnPay: Full Pricing and Feature Breakdown
OnPay's Payroll Essentials plan is $49 base plus $6 per worker per month, and per OnPay's own "essentials are included" section, that single price covers full-service payroll, hiring and onboarding, multi-state tax filings ("pay workers in as many states as you need"), unlimited pay runs and schedules, and expert support by phone, chat, and email, with no implementation or integration fees. There is one named add-on, HR, at $15 base plus $2 per worker per month, covering PTO tracking, onboarding workflows, org charts, and document management.
OnPay has no equivalent to Gusto's Premium tier. Its own pricing page lists no dedicated-advisor offering above the base plan and its one add-on; support at every price point is the same phone, chat, and email channel described for the base plan.
Head-to-Head: Pricing at 10 Employees
At 10 employees, OnPay's base plan and Gusto's Simple tier cost the identical $109/mo, because both use the same $49-plus-$6 formula. The moment multi-state payroll enters the picture, the comparison changes: OnPay stays at $109/mo, while Gusto requires Plus at $200/mo, a difference of $91/mo at that headcount for a feature OnPay never gates behind a higher price. Add HR needs to both sides and the gap narrows: OnPay with its HR add-on runs $144/mo, while Gusto's Simple plan with its HR Resources add-on runs $209/mo ($109 plus $50 base plus $5 per person for 10 people), a $65/mo difference for what are two differently scoped HR feature sets, not identical products.
Head-to-Head: What the Identical Starting Price Actually Buys
The shared $49-plus-$6 number is the single most obvious thing a buyer notices when shopping this category, and it is also the most misleading if taken at face value. Gusto's $49-plus-$6 is a deliberately limited entry tier, single-state only, designed as the floor of a three-tier ladder a growing business is meant to climb. OnPay's $49-plus-$6 is not an entry tier at all; it is the entire product, with multi-state payroll built in from the first dollar. The two companies reached the same number from opposite directions: Gusto priced its cheapest tier low and reserved capability for higher tiers, while OnPay priced its only plan to already include what Gusto treats as a paid upgrade.
Support, Onboarding, and Extras
Both companies offer free setup at no extra charge. Gusto's own pricing page states "No contracts. Free account setup. Switch or cancel anytime," and OnPay's own page promises "free account setup and dedicated onboarding support" whether a business is running payroll for the first time or switching from another provider. Neither company's captured pages list a separate implementation fee.
Gusto's pricing page lists a further set of money-management and benefits add-ons that do not appear on OnPay's pricing page: Gusto Money Plus at $19/mo, health savings accounts at $2.50/mo per participant, and workers' compensation starting at $14/mo, among others. That is not evidence OnPay lacks comparable offerings; it reflects only what each vendor's own pricing page presents in this capture, and a buyer evaluating money-management features specifically should check each vendor's dedicated benefits pages rather than relying on the pricing-page comparison alone.
Third-Party Recognition, Compared Carefully
Gusto states a 4.6 star average across 4,137 reviews on both Capterra and Software Advice, plus a 2025 "Most Innovative Company in HR" recognition from FastCompany. OnPay's own ratings page does not publish a matching aggregate star figure in this capture; instead it lists named-publication endorsements: PCMag's "Best Value," Business.com's and CNBC's "Best for Small Businesses," and Capterra's "Best Value for Payroll and HR." The two companies are presenting different kinds of third-party evidence, an aggregate review score against named editorial picks, which does not reduce to a single numeric winner.
When to Choose Gusto
Choose Gusto if a business expects to grow into needing a dedicated service advisor, certified HR expert access, and custom reporting, since Premium is the only plan in either company's lineup that bundles a named advisor relationship. Gusto also fits a single-state business that is confident it will stay single-state, since Simple's price stays the lowest headline number in this comparison as long as multi-state never becomes a requirement. Businesses already comfortable evaluating a three-tier ladder, and willing to do the add-on math from the full Gusto pricing review before committing, get the most value from Gusto's structure.
When to Choose OnPay
Choose OnPay if a business hires across state lines now or expects to, since multi-state payroll is included at the base $49-plus-$6 rate with no upgrade required. OnPay also fits a business that wants predictable pricing without figuring out which tier includes which feature, since there is only one plan and one named add-on to consider. The tradeoff is that OnPay has no path to a dedicated-advisor relationship the way Gusto's Premium tier does; a business that specifically wants that kind of white-glove support should read the full OnPay pricing review and compare it against Gusto Premium directly before deciding.
Which Should You Choose?
If the deciding factor is whether the business needs multi-state payroll without a price increase, OnPay wins outright: its flat rate includes what Gusto charges an extra $91/mo for at 10 employees. If the deciding factor is whether the business wants room to grow into a dedicated advisor and deeper HR support without switching providers, Gusto wins, because Plus and Premium exist as a real upgrade path and OnPay has nothing above its single plan. Neither answer is universally correct; it depends on whether a business will need Plus- or Premium-level features, and the specific features that push a buyer there are multi-state payroll, next-day pay, time tracking, and a dedicated advisor relationship. A business that will not need any of those four is better served by OnPay's flat rate; a business that expects to need two or more of them is better served starting on Gusto and budgeting for the tier it will actually land on.
See the full product reviews: Gusto on SoftwareSift | OnPay on SoftwareSift.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Are Gusto and OnPay the same price?
- Their starting prices are identical: $49/mo plus $6/mo per person for both Gusto Simple and OnPay Payroll Essentials. What each price buys is different, most notably that OnPay includes multi-state payroll at that rate and Gusto does not.
- Which is cheaper for a multi-state business?
- OnPay, at 10 employees, by $91/mo. Gusto requires the Plus tier, at $80/mo plus $12/mo per person, to add multi-state payroll, while OnPay includes it at its single $49-plus-$6 rate.
- Does OnPay have a tier with a dedicated account manager?
- No. OnPay runs one plan with one named HR add-on; a dedicated service advisor is a Gusto Premium feature, at $180/mo plus $22/mo per person, with no OnPay equivalent.
- Which should a growing business pick?
- It depends on which features the business expects to need. A business that will not need multi-state payroll, next-day pay, time tracking, or a dedicated advisor is better served by OnPay's flat rate. A business that expects to need two or more of those is better served starting on Gusto.