Gusto drops Contractor Only plan, adds $85 Business Compliance add-on
What happened
Between the Sep 28, 2026 and Oct 5, 2026 captures of Gusto's pricing page, Pulse recorded 5 changes: Plan taglines rewritten; Plus adds contractor invoice management; Premium bullets replaced (Dedicated Service Advisor etc. to Premium Account Support, GBC, project costing, 25 invoice payments); Contractor Only plan ($35/mo + $6/mo per person, with a limited-time $0/mo base for the first 6 months) removed from the Pay My Team tab; FAQ mention of the plan also dropped; New Gusto Business Complian. In detail: New Gusto Business Compliance add-on: $85/mo per state on an annual contract, included in Premium, available on Simple and Plus; New Remote I-9 ($20/submission) and E-Verify ($5/submission, on top of Remote I-9) add-ons, included on Premium, available on Simple and Plus; Performance add-on ($3/mo per person: reviews, real-time feedback, goals, surveys; Simple plan) removed from the add-ons section. Pulse files it as a packaging change (feature change, new add-on, plan removed, add-on removed). Pulse's latest capture (Nov 9, 2026) lists Simple at $6, Solo at $6, Plus at $80, Premium at $180 and Tax-Advantaged Benefits at $200 per year.
It lands 7 days after Gusto's previous change, "Gusto launches limited-time free Contractor Only plan for 1099-only teams" (Sep 28, 2026). Before that Pulse recorded "Gusto re-gates custom admin roles to Premium, bundles Next-Day pay into Plus and Premium" (Sep 7, 2026). Gusto has been tracked since 2024-10-01.
In the same window Paychex and BambooHR also changed their Workforce Management pricing pages. Those moves are listed further down, and the Pulse Agent can compare them side by side.
- AddedPlusFeature
BeforeNot listed
Aftercontractor invoice management
- New add-onGusto Business Compliance, Premium, SimpleAdd-on
New Gusto Business Compliance add-on: $85/mo per state on an annual contract, included in Premium, available on Simple and Plus.
- RemovedContractor OnlyPlanFAQ mention of the planNot listed
- New add-onRemote I-9, E-Verify, PremiumAdd-on
New Remote I-9 ($20/submission) and E-Verify ($5/submission, on top of Remote I-9) add-ons, included on Premium, available on Simple and Plus.
- Add-on removedSimpleAdd-on
Performance add-on ($3/mo per person: reviews, real-time feedback, goals, surveys; Simple plan) removed from the add-ons section.
| Plan | Field | Before | After | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plus | Feature | Not listed | contractor invoice management | Added |
| Gusto Business Compliance, Premium, Simple | Add-on | New Gusto Business Compliance add-on: $85/mo per state on an annual contract, included in Premium, available on Simple and Plus. | New add-on | |
| Contractor Only | Plan | FAQ mention of the plan | Not listed | Removed |
| Remote I-9, E-Verify, Premium | Add-on | New Remote I-9 ($20/submission) and E-Verify ($5/submission, on top of Remote I-9) add-ons, included on Premium, available on Simple and Plus. | New add-on | |
| Simple | Add-on | Performance add-on ($3/mo per person: reviews, real-time feedback, goals, surveys; Simple plan) removed from the add-ons section. | Add-on removed | |
Values as written on Gusto's public pricing page in the two captures Pulse compared; where the page states no number, the cells give the wording before and after.
Evidence
The two captures Pulse comparedFull-page captures of Gusto's pricing page (gusto.com) from Sep 28, 2026 and Oct 5, 2026; the change is marked near the top of the page, where contractor invoice management now appears.
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Gusto, the last 90 days
Full history- Nov 1, 2026PackagingGusto adds four NEXT-backed insurance lines, reframes workers' comp pricing
- Oct 26, 2026PackagingGusto: Health insurance broker integration reworded (add your broker for plans Gusto can't support directly);…
- Oct 11, 2026PackagingGusto launches HR Partners add-on with fractional compliance support
- Oct 5, 2026PackagingGusto drops Contractor Only plan, adds $85 Business Compliance add-on This change
- Sep 28, 2026PackagingGusto launches limited-time free Contractor Only plan for 1099-only teams
- Sep 7, 2026PackagingGusto re-gates custom admin roles to Premium, bundles Next-Day pay into Plus and Premium
Across Workforce Management in the same window
All Workforce Management changes- PaychexNov 9Paychex ends 5-months-free promo banner, Pay Nothing Until April 2027
- PaychexNov 2Paychex extends Pay Nothing Until 2027 deal but cuts free months to five
- PaychexOct 19Paychex offers 6 months free, no payments until April 2027, through Oct. 31
- BambooHRJul 6BambooHR renames EOR add-on to Global Employment, swaps in Contractor Management
- BambooHRJul 3BambooHR: On-Demand Pay, Recognition & Rewards, Shift Scheduling added
Questions about this change
Did Gusto raise prices in October 2026?
No list-price increase was recorded between Sep 28, 2026 and Oct 5, 2026. The change Pulse detected was a packaging change: feature change, new add-on, plan removed, add-on removed.
What changed on Gusto's pricing page between Sep 28, 2026 and Oct 5, 2026?
Plus feature added: contractor invoice management; New Gusto Business Compliance add-on: $85/mo per state on an annual contract, included in Premium, available on Simple and Plus; Contractor Only plan removed: FAQ mention of the plan; New Remote I-9 ($20/submission) and E-Verify ($5/submission, on top of Remote I-9) add-ons, included on Premium, available on Simple and Plus; Performance add-on ($3/mo per person: reviews, real-time feedback, goals, surveys; Simple plan) removed from the add-ons section. Pulse compared the captures it took on Sep 28, 2026 and Oct 5, 2026; the before/after table above lists each item as written on the page.
How often does Gusto change its pricing?
Pulse recorded 2 other pricing-page changes for Gusto in the 90 days before this one; the previous change was "Gusto launches limited-time free Contractor Only plan for 1099-only teams" on Sep 28, 2026; Gusto has been tracked since 2024-10-01.