Gusto vs OnPay vs Rippling vs Justworks

Pick up to 4 tools and see their free plans, entry prices, platforms and limits in one table. Every fact comes from each vendor's own pages, checked 7 November 2026.

Compared on	Gusto From $49/mo Visit Remove	OnPay From $49/mo Visit Remove	Rippling See pricing Visit Remove	Justworks Free trial · from $8/mo Visit Remove
What it is	US payroll, benefits and HR for small businesses	US small-business payroll with a base fee plus a per-worker fee, and add-on HR, time tracking and benefits	HR, payroll, IT and finance modules on one employee database, priced per employee on a custom quote	Payroll from $8 per employee a month plus a $50 base fee, or PEO plans with benefits and HR support, for US small businesses
Free plan	No	No	No	No
Cheapest paid plan	$49/mo (Simple)Gusto pricing	$49/mo (Payroll Essentials)OnPay pricing	Not publishedRippling pricing	$8/mo (Payroll)Justworks pricing
What it covers	$49 a month base fee plus $6 a month per person paid; payroll in one state.	Base fee only; add $6 per worker per month. For example, a 10-worker business would pay $49 plus 10 x $6 = $109 a month. The footer of the pricing page says 'Pricing starts at $55 per month', which does not match the $49 base.	Not stated	Payroll is $8 per employee a month plus a $50 monthly base fee; the pricing page does not say whether other billing terms change the price.
Free trial	None stated	A 'Get one month free' link appears on the pricing page; its terms are not shown there	No free trial mentioned on the pricing page; it offers a demo request, and eligible US venture-backed startups can get 6 free months	No free trial listed on the pricing page; it offers Get Started and demo options
Platforms	Web	Web	Web	Web
Integrations (vendor's figure)	Not stated	Integrations with accounting, 401(k) and HR tools; no partner names or count were readable	The home page names examples such as Salesforce, Jira, Slack, GitHub and Google Drive but gives no integration count	The pricing page lists accounting software integrations on all plans and applicant tracking and performance management integrations on some, with no count
Open source	No	No	No	No
Good for	US small businesses paying employees and contractors Teams that want payroll, benefits and basic HR from one provider Businesses adding employees in a second state	Small US businesses that want payroll with phone support Franchises and multi-state employers Accounting firms running payroll for clients	Companies that want HR, payroll and IT admin on one record Teams that expect to add modules over time Startups using the vendor's venture-backed startup offer	US small businesses that want payroll, benefits and HR support from one provider Teams that want a PEO to handle compliance and benefits Companies planning to hire contractors or employees abroad later
Watch out for	Every plan adds a per-person fee on top of the base fee, so cost grows with headcount The Simple plan covers payroll in one state; multi-state payroll starts on Plus Same-day pay ($90 per payroll) and instant pay ($100 per payroll) cost extra below Premium	Priced as a base fee plus a per-worker fee, so cost grows with headcount US payroll only; no international payroll is described Prices for compliance resources and live HR support are not listed	Prices are not published beyond the $8 starting figure; a custom quote is needed Cost depends on the modules chosen and a base fee whose amount is not stated The pricing page does not list countries served, so check payroll coverage for your location	The Payroll plan adds a $50 monthly base fee on top of the per-employee price The plans shown are for US teams; the EOR plan is the global option Extras such as time tracking, contractors and dedicated HR consulting cost more per month
Made by	Gusto, Inc.	OnPay	Rippling	Justworks

Entry prices are the cheapest paid plan, as each vendor publishes it; “What it covers” says what that price is per (a user, a channel, a brand, a number of contacts). The sources are listed on each tool's page.

Every tool in HR and payroll tools is on its category page, with the written head-to-heads on Compare.