Price history · Payroll
Gusto price history: reported prices since 2016
How Gusto’s US list prices have moved, with the source and date for each figure.
Gusto is payroll software for paying employees and contractors, with optional HR, benefits and faster-payment add-ons.
This page collects the dated list prices we could document for Gusto, each with the source it came from. StackWatch has also recorded Gusto’s own pricing page on 27 days since September 12, 2026.
Gusto prices at a glance
The most recent documented change took effect October 1, 2016: Single plan (before named tiers) $29 to $39.
| Plan | First price found | Latest price | Change | Documented changes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plus base fee per month | $80 Dec 19, 2022 | $80 vendor page, Oct 8, 2026 | no change | — |
| Contractor Only base fee per month | $35 Jan 11, 2025 | $35 vendor page, Oct 8, 2026 | no change | — |
| Premium base fee per month | $180 Jan 11, 2025 | $180 vendor page, Oct 8, 2026 | no change | — |
| Simple base fee per month | $49 Nov 28, 2025 | $49 vendor page, Oct 8, 2026 | no change | — |
| Single plan (before named tiers) base fee per month | $29 before Oct 1, 2016 | $39 Apr 24, 2017 | +$10 (+34%) | 1 |
Percentages compare list prices only. What a plan includes (users, allowances, features) can change over time, and the earliest figures come from the sources named further down. “Latest price” is the vendor’s own pricing page as read on October 8, 2026 where the plan is still listed. Gusto replaced Core, Complete, Concierge and Select with Simple, Plus and Premium in 2022, so prices before and after 2022 are for different plans.
Documented Gusto price changes
Newest first. “Before” is the old price when the source states it; ‡ marks a “before” figure that we worked out (see “How to read this page” below). A dash means we could not establish it.
| Date | Plan | Before | After | Change | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 1, 2016 | Single plan (before named tiers) base fee per month | $29 | $39 | +$10 (+34%) | VentureBeat trade press |
Prices reported over time
Each row is a price a source reported on or around the date shown. “Change” compares with the previous reading of the same plan and billing basis; when the previous reading came from a different publisher it is labelled, because publishers can define a plan slightly differently.
Single plan (before named tiers)
| Date | Price | Change vs previous reading | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 22, 2016 | $39 base fee per month | — | CPA Practice Advisor trade press |
| Apr 24, 2017 | $39 base fee per month | unchanged | CPA Practice Advisor trade press |
Plus
| Date | Price | Change vs previous reading | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 19, 2022 | $80 base fee per month | — | Business.org review site |
| Jan 11, 2025 | $80 base fee per month | unchanged (different source) | eLearning Industry review site |
| Oct 5, 2026 | $80 base fee per month | unchanged (different source) | Gusto vendor |
| Oct 8, 2026 | $80 base fee per month | unchanged (different source) | StackWatch daily read first-party |
Contractor Only
| Date | Price | Change vs previous reading | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 11, 2025 | $35 base fee per month | — | eLearning Industry review site |
| May 26, 2026 | $35 base fee per month | unchanged (different source) | Fit Small Business review site |
| Oct 8, 2026 | $35 base fee per month | unchanged (different source) | StackWatch daily read first-party |
Premium
| Date | Price | Change vs previous reading | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 11, 2025 | $180 base fee per month | — | eLearning Industry review site |
| Oct 5, 2026 | $180 base fee per month | unchanged (different source) | Gusto vendor |
| Oct 8, 2026 | $180 base fee per month | unchanged (different source) | StackWatch daily read first-party |
Simple
| Date | Price | Change vs previous reading | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 28, 2025 | $49 base fee per month | — | Forbes Advisor review site |
| Oct 5, 2026 | $49 base fee per month | unchanged (different source) | Gusto vendor |
| Oct 8, 2026 | $49 base fee per month | unchanged (different source) | StackWatch daily read first-party |
Other single readings
| Date | Plan | Price | Change vs previous reading | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 18, 2018 | Complete | $39 base fee per month | — | CPA Practice Advisor trade press |
| Apr 18, 2018 | Concierge | $149 base fee per month | — | CPA Practice Advisor trade press |
| Apr 18, 2018 | Core | $39 base fee per month | — | CPA Practice Advisor trade press |
Plan and policy changes
Changes that matter for what you pay but do not come with a single price figure.
| When | Scope | What changed | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 11, 2022 | All plans | Gusto announced new Simple, Plus and Premium plans replacing Core, Complete, Concierge and Select. New clients moved first, and accountants were given a buffer so existing clients did not have to switch at once. Gusto’s partner newsletter calls it the first pricing update in five years. | Gusto vendor |
How to read this page
Dates are the vendor’s effective date where a source states one. “Announced” means the date of the announcement and “as reported” means the date of the article when no effective date is stated. Prices are US list prices in US dollars, excluding promotions, taxes and add-ons. “First-party” rows are StackWatch’s own reads of the vendor’s page.
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What does Gusto cost today?
As of October 8, 2026, the Gusto pricing page lists Contractor Only $35 a month (base fee, plus $6 per person); Simple $49 a month (base fee, plus $6 per person); Plus $80 a month (base fee, plus $12 per person); Premium $180 a month (base fee, plus $22 per person). See Gusto pricing for what each price covers.
When did Gusto last change its prices?
The most recent change we have documented took effect October 1, 2016: Single plan (before named tiers) $29 to $39. Source: VentureBeat. A later plan change (Jul 11, 2022, All plans) is described under “Plan and policy changes” on this page.
Where do these figures come from?
Every row names its source and links to it: the vendor’s own pages and announcements, trade press, and review sites, plus StackWatch’s own daily reads of the vendor’s pricing page. Each figure was re-checked against its source by an independent second pass. How we verify prices