Gusto vs ADP RUN: $109 a month at 10 employees on one side, "Get pricing" on the other, and the six items a quote has to answer
Last updated 2026-10-03
Short version
- Gusto publishes three tiers: Simple $49 a month plus $6 per employee, Plus $80 plus $12, Premium $180 plus $22. For ten employees that is $109, $200 and $400.
- ADP RUN publishes no dollar figure. Its page has four package names, a "Get pricing" button and a "Get 3 months FREE payroll" banner (read 2026-08-20; the absence of a price was confirmed again 2026-10-03).
- The only ADP price on any ADP page is Roll by ADP, a separate product, at $39 plus $5: $89 for ten employees.
- On this site's transparency index Gusto publishes 4 of 6 items, Roll by ADP 5, ADP RUN 0.
- To set a quote next to Gusto's table you need the same six items answered in numbers. They are listed further down.
What ADP RUN's pricing page says
Four packages: Essential Payroll, Enhanced Payroll (marked "Most Popular"), Complete Payroll & HR Plus, and HR Pro Payroll & HR. None carries a price; each has a "Get pricing" button. There is also a "Get 3 months FREE payroll" promotion, without the figure that would be waived.
In this site's dataset, ADP RUN's base fee, per-employee fee, setup fee, free trial and contract minimum are all unconfirmed. That is not a statement that ADP RUN is expensive. It is a statement that nothing is published, so neither cheap nor expensive can be said. The difference between vendors that publish and vendors that quote has its own article.
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What Gusto's pricing page says
| Employees | Simple ($49 + $6) | Plus ($80 + $12) | Premium ($180 + $22) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $55 | $92 | $202 |
| 5 | $79 | $140 | $290 |
| 10 | $109 | $200 | $400 |
| 25 | $199 | $380 | $730 |
| 50 | $349 | $680 | $1,280 |
Monthly totals at list price. Read 2026-09-27; the page could not be re-read on 2026-10-03.
Simple includes tax filing, direct deposit and off-cycle runs, and does not include multi-state. Plus and Premium include multi-state. None of the three says on the pricing page how year-end forms are handled. The plans are "Month-to-month, cancel anytime"; setup fee and contract minimum are not stated.
Links on this page currently go directly to providers without affiliate tracking.
The one ADP figure that exists: Roll by ADP
While an ADP RUN quote is on its way, there is exactly one ADP number to put on the page. Roll by ADP is ADP's small-business app and publishes $39 plus $5 per employee.
| Employees | Gusto Simple | Roll by ADP | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | $79 | $64 | $15 |
| 10 | $109 | $89 | $20 |
| 25 | $199 | $164 | $35 |
| 50 | $349 | $289 | $60 |
Monthly totals at list price. Roll read 2026-10-03. Roll's page also shows "Try 3 months free*", includes multi-state, and says "no long-term contracts."
Roll is not ADP RUN. Whether an ADP RUN quote lands above or below Roll cannot be read from these numbers. The full Roll comparison, with the free months counted, is in article-39.
The six items a quote has to answer
This site's transparency index counts whether six items appear on each vendor's pricing page. ADP RUN scores 0. Gusto scores 4 (setup fee and contract minimum missing). Roll by ADP scores 5 (setup fee missing).
A quote can only sit beside Gusto's table if it answers the same six in numbers:
- The monthly base fee: the amount charged every month regardless of headcount.
- The per-employee monthly fee: the amount that scales with headcount, for each package if they differ.
- The setup fee: the one-time charge for implementation, stated as zero if it is zero.
- The contract minimum: how many months the agreement runs, stated as none if there is none.
- What is included: tax calculation and filing, direct deposit, year-end W-2s and 1099s, multi-state, off-cycle runs, each marked included, add-on or not included.
- What "3 months FREE" waives: the base fee, the per-employee fee or both, and the monthly amount once the free months end.
Once items 1 and 2 are numbers, ten employees cost base fee + 10 x per-employee fee, and the result goes in the same column as Gusto's $109. Item 5 matters for the Gusto side too: multi-state moves the comparison from Simple to Plus, $200 at ten. The questions that apply to every quote-only vendor are collected in article-55.
Your headcount, not ten
Gusto's three tiers and Roll appear in one table when you enter a headcount in the calculator. When the ADP RUN quote arrives, its base fee and per-employee fee go through the same formula and become one more row.
What this article leaves out
It covers whether a price is published and what the published price is, not how either product works. We have not used either. This site holds no ADP RUN quote, and Gusto's figures are list prices, not quotes. US dollar plans only.
Sources
- https://www.adp.com/what-we-offer/payroll/payroll-for-1-49-employees/payroll-packages.aspx (checked 2026-10-03, no price shown; package names as read 2026-08-20)
- https://gusto.com/pricing (as read 2026-09-27; the page could not be re-read 2026-10-03)
- https://www.rollbyadp.com/pricing (checked 2026-10-03)
- https://seatbill.com/payroll-pricing/d/gusto (checked 2026-10-03)
- https://seatbill.com/payroll-pricing/d/adp-run (checked 2026-10-03)
- https://seatbill.com/payroll-pricing/research/transparency-index (checked 2026-10-03)
Related on this site
- What ADP RUN's page does and does not state (d/adp-run)
- Gusto's three tiers by headcount (d/gusto)
- Gusto against Roll by ADP, year one with the free months (article-39)
- Vendors that publish a price and vendors that quote (article-03)
- What to ask a quote-only payroll vendor (article-55)
- The transparency index: how many items each vendor publishes (research/transparency-index)
- US payroll for 5 to 9 employees, by price (best/us-payroll-5-9)
Written by Kaz (pen name). Figures are copied from vendors' published pricing pages on the dates shown. We have not used these products.
Written by Kaz, independent publisher. No commercial relationship with the companies named unless it is listed on the disclosure page.
Published September 27, 2026. The figures above come from the government and vendor pages listed under Sources.
I have not used these products. Nothing here is a personal test result.
Corrections: contact form.