Start with the standalone subscription.
These undiscounted US rates were checked September 21, 2026. The QuickBooks standalone selector lists payroll first, with accounting added separately. Its main pricing page initially shows accounting bundles.
| Plan | Monthly formula | 10 employees / month | 12-month illustration |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gusto Simple | $49 + $6/employee | $109 | $1,308 |
| Gusto Plus | $80 + $12/employee | $200 | $2,400 |
| Gusto Premium | $180 + $22/employee | $400 | $4,800 |
| Workforce Payroll | $50 + $7/employee | $120 | $1,440 |
| Workforce Premium | $88 + $13/employee | $218 | $2,616 |
| Workforce Elite | $134 + $17/employee | $304 | $3,648 |
Illustrative arithmetic, not a quote or a statement that these plans offer equivalent features. Excludes accounting subscriptions, paid options, benefits premiums, employer taxes and other employment costs. Annual totals assume unchanged monthly rates and headcount; they are not annual contract offers.
QuickBooks standalone selectorCompare the same requirements, not tiers with similar names
Gusto Plus includes multi-state payroll, time tracking and next-day pay. Premium includes a dedicated advisor and priority support. Simple offers time and next-day pay as paid options; Simple and Plus offer a priority-support add-on. Confirm the complete scope.
QuickBooks Workforce shapes its ladder differently, with faster deposit and expanded HR and time above entry, a setup review at Premium and expert setup at Elite. Make your requirement list the fixed point, then ask each vendor which tier qualifies.
- Given our states and time tracking needs, which is the lowest qualifying tier?
- Which requirement moves us up a tier, and is it available as an add on?
- Can the proposal show our requirement list beside your recommended tier?
How the cost shape reads at ten employees
Both vendors price a monthly base fee plus a monthly fee per employee, so the mix shifts with headcount. Our budget table works a ten person example through every tier on both sides, at that single headcount, using published monthly list prices.
Read it as arithmetic for planning, not a contract quote. Paid options, benefit premiums, employer taxes and any accounting subscription sit outside these figures, so ask each vendor to quote the extras your profile needs alongside the plan.
- What is the all in monthly figure for our headcount, including recommended options?
- How does that change if we add three employees or a second state?
- Which costs sit outside this quote so we can budget them separately?
Accounting fit, and what the Gusto to QuickBooks Online sync does
Accounting is the real axis. QuickBooks Workforce sits inside the Intuit account you may already hold, which makes an incremental quote valuable. Gusto documents an integration posting a payroll journal into QuickBooks Online after each run, using your chart of accounts and mappings.
Someone owns that mapping. Setup needs administrator access in both systems, new earnings types and deductions need mapping before they post, and a resync after an adjustment deserves review. Name the owner before signing, then price both options with that work visible.
- Who will hold administrator access in both systems and own the mappings?
- What is the process when we add a new deduction or earnings type mid year?
- Show a correction after a posted run and what our accountant reviews afterwards.
The decision demo: one run, end to end, on both platforms
The most useful comparison is one scenario run twice. This script is editorial guidance, not a tested result. Build a ten person team with one bonus, one new deduction and approved hours, then ask both vendors to run it live.
Watch four things: whether categories match your chart of accounts, whether the entry carries date and department detail, which reports export and how, and who owns each step when deposit timing slips. If you are switching, extend the script to migration.
- Can you run our ten person scenario live, including a post run correction?
- If approval is late or pay day follows a holiday, what is the earliest funding date?
- For a mid quarter switch, who files for the earlier period and what do we cross check?
One team. The same buying brief.
Make both proposals easy to compare.
Record your headcount, states, pay schedule, support and required options in our payroll quote worksheet. Bring your bookkeeper to the demo and follow the accounting handoff together.
Get the payroll quote worksheetWhat a customer experience can reveal.
“downloading documents like paystubs and end of year items like W-2s”
Rocky W. · Partner Manager · September 18, 2026
Incentivized · G2 invite on behalf of seller. An employee-side view of finding and downloading pay documents.Ask in your demo: Can employees find and download the documents they need without asking HR?
Read the original G2 review“the supervisor can approve the request”
Rocky W. · Partner Manager · September 18, 2026
Incentivized · G2 invite on behalf of seller. The same reviewer describes requesting leave through Gusto.Ask in your demo: Who approves time off, and where can employees see the status?
Read the original G2 review
“I also love having everything together in one system for both payroll and bookkeeping”
Margie H. · Small-business reviewer (50 or fewer employees) · April 21, 2026
Incentivized · Seller invite. The reviewer describes payroll flowing into bookkeeping and reports no complaints at that time. This review predates the Workforce launch announcement and does not identify the plan used. It does not establish which current features are included.Ask in your demo: Can your payroll owner and bookkeeper trace one approved pay run into the accounting records, then explain who checks a correction?
Read the original G2 reviewSelected individual experiences, not a representative survey or evidence of measured results. We have not tested customer accounts.
Your payroll questions, answered.
What are the downsides of Gusto payroll?
Check the plan boundaries: Simple covers single-state payroll; Plus includes multi-state payroll, time tracking and next-day pay. Time tracking and next-day pay are also paid Simple options. Compare the complete subscription.
ReferenceIs QuickBooks phasing out payroll?
No. United States online payroll is currently sold as QuickBooks Workforce, an expanded offering announced May 6, 2026. If your paperwork uses older tier names, ask your rep to map them onto current plans.
ReferenceCan I run Gusto payroll and keep QuickBooks Online for accounting?
Yes, and it is documented. Gusto posts a payroll journal into QuickBooks Online after each run, driven by your chart of accounts and mappings. Plan for administrator access in both systems.
ReferenceWhich one costs less for a ten person team?
It depends which tier your requirements demand, so our table prices all six combinations at ten employees. Find the qualifying tier on each side, then compare only those two cells.
ReferenceCan I turn the monthly figures into an annual budget?
Multiply by twelve for planning, as our annual example does, then replace it with vendor quotes. The arithmetic uses published monthly list prices and excludes negotiated rates, discounts and headcount changes.
ReferenceDo the three tiers on each side correspond to each other?
No. The ladders are shaped differently, so a capability triggering a step up on one platform may sit elsewhere on the other. Define requirements first, then ask each vendor which tier qualifies.
ReferenceDoes the accounting subscription change the comparison?
Yes. The main QuickBooks payroll page defaults to bundles including QuickBooks Online accounting, while Gusto prices payroll alone. Compare standalone to standalone, and request an incremental quote if you already hold accounting.
ReferenceHow should I compare direct deposit timing between the two?
Compare the conditions. Each vendor sets its own eligibility rules and cutoffs, and QuickBooks publishes a 7:00 AM Pacific business day cutoff for same day. Ask both about late approvals and bank holidays.
ReferenceWhat about time tracking?
Gusto includes time tracking at Plus and offers it to Simple as an add on; QuickBooks expands time capability up its lineup. Decide whether hours belong inside payroll before comparing quotes.
ReferenceHow should I compare the support relationship?
Gusto Premium includes an advisor and priority support; Simple and Plus offer paid priority support. QuickBooks Premium lists a setup review and Elite expert setup. Ask separately about ongoing support channels and escalation.
ReferenceWhat does switching from one to the other involve?
Preparation and verification. Establish how much pay history moves, how year to date balances are set, who files for the period before the switch, and verify totals before the first live run.
ReferenceWhat demo should I run to settle the decision?
One scenario on both platforms: ten people, a bonus, a new deduction and approved hours, taken from preview to posted entry, reconciliation and a correction, with an owner named at each step.
ReferenceTake a closer look.
Sources & method
Official product and help pages checked September 21, 2026; individual G2 reviews inspected in Chrome. This is source-led analysis. Suitability, questions and priorities are editorial judgments; confirm current plan scope in a demo and written quote.
2 FAQ topics were adapted from Google US People Also Ask results collected through DataForSEO on September 21, 2026 (Paris time); the other 10 are editorial. Broad CPA opinion questions and unrelated competitor questions were excluded.
- gusto.com/product/pricing
- quickbooks.intuit.com/payroll/pricing/bundle/
- quickbooks.intuit.com/payroll/pricing/
- support.gusto.com/article/100971895100000/integrate-with-quickbooks-online
- quickbooks.intuit.com/learn-support/en-us/help-article/payroll/import-employee-pay-history-adp-paychex-gusto/L9c9yz9Ys_US_en_US
- quickbooks.intuit.com/payroll/direct-deposit/
- investors.intuit.com/_assets/_f846a5f5d254e6139bb6691134938154/intuit/news/2026-05-06_Intuit_Unveils_QuickBooks_Workforce_Radically_1310.pdf