QUICK ANSWER
OnPay and Gusto are the two payroll services we recommend most often to small businesses, and the choice comes down to simplicity versus ecosystem. OnPay gives you every feature — multi-state payroll, all tax filings, HR library, unlimited pay runs — in one flat plan at 40 dollars a month plus 6 dollars per person. Gusto starts at a similar 49 dollars plus 6 dollars per person but holds its best features for the 80-dollar Plus tier. Pick OnPay if you want everything included at the lowest predictable price or run a specialized business like a farm or restaurant; pick Gusto if you want the bigger benefits marketplace, deeper software integrations, and built-in hiring tools.
Key Takeaways
- OnPay is one plan, all features — multi-state filings, garnishments, and unlimited runs are included at 40 dollars plus 6 dollars per person, with no upsell tiers.
- Gusto scales further — time tracking, project costing, and stronger onboarding arrive on Plus (about 80 dollars plus 12 dollars per person), making it the growth pick.
- Both file everything — federal, state, and local payroll taxes, W-2s, and 1099s are automatic on both platforms, so tax accuracy is not the differentiator.
- Specialized industries favor OnPay — agricultural Form 943, clergy payroll, and tipped restaurant wages are handled natively, a rarity at this price.
Pricing: OnPay’s Flat Plan vs Gusto’s Tiers
OnPay charges 40 dollars a month base plus 6 dollars per person, and that is the entire pricing page. A 10-person team costs 100 dollars a month whether you need multi-state filings, garnishment processing, or an HR document library — it is all in the single plan, and your first month is typically free.
Gusto’s Simple plan runs about 49 dollars plus 6 dollars per person, which prices that same 10-person team at 109 dollars — close enough to OnPay that price alone rarely decides it. The catch is what Simple leaves out: multiple pay schedules, time tracking, and PTO management sit on the Plus plan at roughly 80 dollars plus 12 dollars per person, which doubles the 10-person bill to about 200 dollars. Contractor-only businesses get a cheaper Gusto entry point at around 35 dollars a month plus 6 dollars per contractor. If you know you will need Plus-tier features, OnPay is meaningfully cheaper for the same capability; if Simple covers you, the two are effectively tied.
Features: Ecosystem Depth vs Everything Included
Both platforms run full-service payroll: automatic federal, state, and local tax calculation, filing, and payment, year-end W-2s and 1099s, direct deposit, and employee self-service portals. Beyond the shared core, they diverge. Gusto’s strength is breadth of ecosystem — health insurance brokerage in most states, 401(k) options, workers’ comp administration, hiring and onboarding checklists, and polished integrations with QuickBooks Online, Xero, and dozens of time-tracking and expense tools. Its employee experience is the best in small business payroll, with a slick app, paystub access, and Gusto Wallet savings features employees actually use.
OnPay counters with completeness at the base price. Multi-state payroll costs nothing extra, unlimited pay runs and off-cycle bonus runs are standard, and garnishments and multiple pay rates are built in. It is also the stronger pick for specialized payrolls: agricultural employers filing Form 943, churches handling clergy housing allowances, and restaurants juggling tipped minimum wage calculations all get native support. OnPay’s benefits brokerage covers all 50 states, though its marketplace is thinner than Gusto’s, and its accounting integrations (QuickBooks, Xero) cover the essentials without Gusto’s long tail.
Ease of Use and Support
Gusto’s interface is friendlier for a first-time payroll admin — setup is wizard-driven and most owners run their first payroll without help. OnPay’s dashboard is plainer but faster once you know it, and OnPay wins on white-glove onboarding: their team migrates your prior payroll data, enters employees, and verifies tax registrations for free, which Gusto largely leaves to you. Support is OnPay’s quieter advantage — phone, chat, and email with payroll specialists on weekdays plus emergency weekend email — while Gusto’s support quality has been the most common complaint from its rapid growth, with full phone support gated behind higher tiers. If you expect to need a human, OnPay’s smaller-company service model shows.
Verdict: Which Should You Pick?
Choose OnPay if you want the lowest all-in price for full capability, run payroll in multiple states, operate a farm, church, or restaurant, or value free migration and reachable support. Choose Gusto if you are hiring steadily and want onboarding, benefits, and app integrations to grow into — the Plus tier is genuinely useful once you pass roughly 10 to 15 employees. Businesses that outgrow both usually land on a PEO, but that is a different budget conversation.
| OnPay | Gusto | |
|---|---|---|
| Base price | $40 + $6/person, one plan | $49 + $6/person (Simple); ~$80 + $12 (Plus) |
| Tax filings | Federal, state, local included | Federal, state, local included |
| Multi-state payroll | Included | Plus tier |
| Benefits marketplace | All 50 states, smaller network | Larger network, most states |
| Migration help | Free white-glove setup | Mostly self-serve |
| Best for | Budget, multi-state, specialized industries | Growing teams wanting HR ecosystem |
Recommended Resources
Bookkeeping Workbook For Dummies — payroll entries trip up more small business books than anything else; this workbook drills the journal entries behind every pay run.
QuickBooks Online for Beginners 2026 — both OnPay and Gusto sync to QuickBooks Online; this guide shows you how to map payroll accounts so wages, taxes, and liabilities land correctly.
Frequently Asked Questions
How hard is it to switch payroll providers mid-year?
Easier than most owners fear, and mid-year is a perfectly workable time — the cleanest switch dates are January 1 and the first day of any quarter (July 1 and October 1 are both popular). The main task is transferring year-to-date wage and tax data for every employee so W-2s come out right in January. This is exactly where the two platforms differ: OnPay’s team does the data entry and verification for you as part of free onboarding, while Gusto walks you through importing prior payroll reports yourself, though its guided flow is decent. Before you switch, download quarterly filings (941s, state returns) and payroll registers from your old provider, confirm which provider is responsible for the current quarter’s filings so nothing is filed twice or missed, and keep your old account accessible in read-only mode through year-end. Budget one to two weeks from signup to first pay run, mostly waiting on direct deposit verification. The penalty for getting it wrong is amended filings, not fines, as long as you catch discrepancies before January — one more reason quarter boundaries beat random mid-quarter dates.