by Justworks, Inc.HR and payroll software
Payroll for small US businesses at $50 a month plus $8 per employee, with PEO plans for group benefits and an employer of record.
Low-cost multi-state payroll for small US teams, with a PEO path to group health benefits when you need it.
Justworks Payroll costs $50 a month plus $8 per employee and includes multi-state payroll, tax filings, W-2s and 1099s, onboarding and PTO, so a small team does not pay more for a second state. When a company wants richer benefits and shared compliance, the PEO plans co-employ the staff, with health insurance administration on PEO Plus. Multi-factor sign-in is mandatory for every user.
Against 3 other products we reviewed in HR and payroll software: what you pay for with each, the five access facts, the plan limits we recorded and each review's bottom line. The note under the table says how each one was checked.
| Metric | Justworks | Deel | Gusto | BambooHR |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| What you're paying for | Worth the priceLow-cost multi-state payroll for small US teams, with a PEO path to group health benefits when you need it. | Built-in reachPay US employees, contractors abroad and employees hired through an employer of record from one platform, each with a published price. | Worth the priceFull-service US payroll with tax filings, onboarding and benefits administration at a published monthly price, with no long-term contract. | Easy to adoptA complete HR record, from hiring and onboarding to time off and reviews, with payroll that reads from the same data. |
| Overall score | 5.6 | 6.3 | 6.3 | 3.6 |
| Free option | Paid only | Paid only | Free trial | Free trial |
| Card to start | –Not measured | –Not measured | –Not measured | No card needed |
| Getting access | Self-serve | Sales call required | Self-serve | Sales call required |
| Starter priceCheapest paid plan | $50/mo + $8/employee | $22/employee/mo | $49/mo + $6/person | $250/mo |
| Pricing model | Seat + usage | Per seat | Seat + usage | Tiered |
| Pricing page | Public prices | Public prices | Public prices | Prices hidden |
| Billing unit | Payroll: monthly base fee plus a price per employee; PEO: per employee, no base fee | Per employee or contractor per month; activation through a quote | Monthly base fee plus a price per active person; US contractors billed only in months they are paid | Flat monthly price up to 25 employees, then per employee; add-ons by quote |
| Free option | No free plan or trial stated | No free plan or trial; free demo | Free account to set up and onboard; billing starts with the first payroll | Free trial, no card; length not stated |
| Reference scenario (10 employees, one state) | $130/mo on Payroll ($50 + $8 × 10), computed (prices as of May 21, 2026) | $220/mo on HR + US Payroll Core ($22 × 10), computed | $109/mo on Simple ($49 + $6 × 10), computed | Not priced: payroll add-on by quote ($250/mo Core plus payroll) |
| Multi-state payroll | Included on every plan | All 50 states, self-serve or managed | Plus ($80 + $12 per person) | Not stated on the payroll page |
| International hiring | Contractors $39 each; EOR $599 per employee on PEO plans | Contractors $49/mo each; EOR $599 per employee | Contractors in 120+ countries, per-payment fee; no employer-of-record service listed | EOR and contractors through Remote, by quote |
| PEO option | PEO Basic $79, PEO Plus $109 per employee | PEO Starter $110, PEO Pro $120 per employee ($125 on another card) | None listed | None listed |
| SOC 2 / ISO 27001 | Not stated on the pages we read | SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001 | SOC 1 and SOC 2 reports (type not stated); ISO 27001 not stated | SOC 1 and SOC 2 Type 2; ISO 27001 not listed |
| Contract terms | Not stated; first year of PEO fees can be prepaid | Month to month per the pricing FAQ | Month to month, cancel anytime | Month to month or an extended term |
| Data export | Each payroll downloads as CSV | Reports as CSV, PDF or Excel; REST API | Reports as CSV, PDF or Excel; a payroll data export workbook per year | Custom reports; API generates reports in several formats |
| Bottom line | From its public pages, Justworks pairs low-cost multi-state payroll with a priced PEO path. Its score is held back by a security file and API that its pages do not state, and its pricing page could only be read in a May 2026 archive copy. | From its public pages, Deel is the broadest published price list here for paying people in the US and abroad, with SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001. US payroll costs more than Gusto or Justworks for 10 people, activation goes through sales, and a few cards disagree on PEO prices. | From its public pages, Gusto is the clearest buy here: full-service payroll with HR basics from $109 a month for 10 employees, month to month. Multi-state payroll needs Plus, and there is no employer-of-record or PEO option on the pricing page. | From its public pages, BambooHR is a well-rounded HR system with payroll as a quoted add-on. Its score is held back by the unpublished payroll price and add-ons, not by the HR plans themselves. |
Evidence: Justworks: facts checked 2026-10-16 from its public sign-up and pricing pages, no completed hands-on run; Deel: facts checked 2026-10-16 from its public sign-up and pricing pages, no completed hands-on run; Gusto: facts checked 2026-10-16 from its public sign-up and pricing pages, no completed hands-on run; BambooHR: facts checked 2026-10-16 from its public sign-up and pricing pages, no completed hands-on run. Prices in USD as listed, excluding tax. "–" means not recorded.
Review from public pages
Written from Justworks's public pages (pricing, security or privacy, and docs) as read on Oct 16, 2026. We did not sign up, and no hands-on run is published yet.
We read Justworks' pricing page, its legal page and help center articles on Justworks Payroll, pricing, payments and fees, contractors, time tracking billing, multi-factor authentication, security controls, reporting, the MCP connector and leaving Justworks Payroll on Oct 16, 2026; we did not create an account for this review. justworks.com and its help center answered our requests with a bot check, so the pricing page comes from the newest Internet Archive copy, dated May 21, 2026, and the help articles from the help center's public article API. Prices may have changed since May.
The pricing page lays out four plans with a feature table that marks each item as included, an add-on or not available, and lists add-on prices. The help center says Payroll suits businesses under 30 employees in one or two states, can support up to 100, and is not a PEO: you keep your own EIN and its responsibilities. Accounts are created online and the Customer Service Agreement is signed during enrollment.
Two points need a question: time tracking is billed per employee on the pricing page but per non-exempt employee and 1099 contractor in the help center, and state tax registration is offered for an unpriced fee.
Payroll includes multi-state payroll, tax filings and W-2 and 1099 filings at $50 plus $8 per employee.
vs Gusto: Gusto runs payroll in one state on Simple; a second state needs Plus at $80 plus $12 per person.
PEO Basic is $79 and PEO Plus $109 per employee a month, with no base fee.
Compared: Rippling’s PEO is priced by quote.
Multi-factor authentication is required for every user and cannot be turned off by admins.
Time tracking, US contractors, international contractors, health insurance access and dedicated HR consulting each have a listed price.
The security article describes encryption, testing and access controls but names no SOC 2 report or ISO certificate, and we found no public REST API; an MCP connector gives admins read-only access.
Workaround: Ask Justworks for audit reports during a security review.
The $599 employer-of-record add-on is listed for PEO Basic and PEO Plus, not for Payroll.
The plan table lists performance management integrations on PEO plans, not a built-in review tool.
Justworks Payroll bills a $50 monthly base fee plus $8 per employee; the PEO plans bill per employee with no base fee. For our scenario, 10 employees on Payroll cost $50 + $8 × 10 = $130 a month (computed), before tax, using the May 21, 2026 copy of the pricing page. Add-ons: time tracking $8 per employee, US contractors $8 and international contractors $39 per paid contractor, health insurance access $8 per benefits-eligible employee. PEO Basic would be $790 and PEO Plus $1,090 a month for 10 (computed). Leaving Payroll costs a one-time $200 if Justworks completes your final tax returns.
Payroll admins can download each payroll as a CSV file, and PEO customers can export a custom payroll report as CSV. To leave Justworks Payroll you contact support and choose who files the remaining quarterly returns and W-2s; Justworks charges a one-time $200 to complete tax returns for off-boarded companies, and a final monthly fee may follow the closing.
From its public pages, Justworks pairs low-cost multi-state payroll with a priced PEO path. Its score is held back by a security file and API that its pages do not state, and its pricing page could only be read in a May 2026 archive copy.
| Limit | As recorded |
|---|---|
| Billing unit | Payroll: monthly base fee plus a price per employee; PEO: per employee, no base fee |
| Free option | No free plan or trial stated |
| Reference scenario (10 employees, one state) | $130/mo on Payroll ($50 + $8 × 10), computed (prices as of May 21, 2026) |
| Multi-state payroll | Included on every plan |
| International hiring | Contractors $39 each; EOR $599 per employee on PEO plans |
| PEO option | PEO Basic $79, PEO Plus $109 per employee |
| SOC 2 / ISO 27001 | Not stated on the pages we read |
| Contract terms | Not stated; first year of PEO fees can be prepaid |
| Data export | Each payroll downloads as CSV |
Read from the vendor's public pages on Oct 16, 2026. No hands-on run is published yet. How we check
We have not published a sign-up run for Justworks yet. The access facts above were read from its sign-up and pricing pages on Oct 16, 2026.
We have not published API calls for Justworks yet.
Justworks lists 4 plans. The cheapest paid plan, Payroll, costs $50/mo + $8/employee.
Prices as listed, USD, excluding tax; observed 2026-10-16.
Source: justworks.com pricing page. Prices change; the observed date above is when our agent read them.
We read the pricing, security, legal, help center and developer pages of three payroll services on the same day and scored them on the same six indicators. What 10 employees cost, who each can pay, which HR tools come with the plan, and who should pick which.
