Switch to Gusto from SurePayroll: Real Prices + Checklist

Q: Is SurePayroll part of Paychex?

Yes. It's sold as SurePayroll by Paychex. Gusto's importer lists Paychex reports, not SurePayroll's, so plan to enter history yourself.

Dad’s short answer

Tiny team, one state, price first? Stay on SurePayroll. Want time tracking and next-day pay in one plan, or past 20 people? Gusto fits.

SurePayroll is cheaper at list price for small teams: $29 + $7 per worker vs Gusto Simple's $49 + $6.⁶¹
Watch the extras: year-end forms ($50 + $5 per form, yearly), multi-state ($9.99/mo) and a local-tax fee.⁶
The math flips somewhere between 11 and 20 people. 20 on the monthly fee alone; about 11 once you spread the year-end form fees over the year.

Provider	Best for	Starting price
Gusto	Most small teams that want payroll taxes filed for them, in one state (Simple) or several (Plus)	Simple $49/mo + $6/person; Plus $80/mo + $12/person¹
Patriot Software	The lowest full-service price for teams of 2 or more	Full Service $37/mo + $5/worker; Basic $17 + $4 if you file taxes yourself⁸
QuickBooks Payroll	People already doing their books in QuickBooks	From $88/mo + $6.50/employee, bundled with Simple Start accounting⁹
Square Payroll	Shops and restaurants already on Square POS	$35/mo + $6/person; contractor-only $6/person¹⁰
OnPay	Teams in several states that want one flat rate	$49/mo + $6/person, multi-state included¹¹
SurePayroll you	Tiny one-state teams watching every dollar	$29/mo + $7/worker; year-end forms extra⁶

Starting list prices from each company’s pricing page, verified Oct 31, 2026. Add-ons and promos not included. Confirm on their site.

Start on Gusto’s website →

Goes through our referral page first. We earn a reward if you sign up; your price doesn’t change.

Who this is for

You run payroll on SurePayroll today. Gusto fits you if:

You have more than about 11 people: counting SurePayroll's year-end form fees, Gusto Simple's $6 per person comes out ahead.¹
You want W-2s and 1099s without a separate yearly bill; Gusto's plans include them.²
You want time tracking, scheduling and next-day pay in one plan (Plus).¹
Local taxes are included in Gusto's automatic filings.²

Why Gusto, compared with SurePayroll

Dad story

Picture a 5-chair hair salon.

SurePayroll: $29 a month plus $7 a worker. $64.⁶

Then once a year, W-2s: $50 plus $5 a form. Another $75.⁶

Spread over 12 months, about $70 a month.⁶

Gusto Simple: $49 plus $6 a person. $79.¹

SurePayroll still wins. By about nine bucks.

Nine dollars is a nice tip. Make sure Gusto earns it before you move.

(Made-up business. Real prices, checked Oct 31, 2026.)

List prices from each company's own site, read on Oct 31, 2026. Promos and quotes vary.

	SurePayroll	Gusto
Published pricing	Small business: from $29/mo + $7/worker. Household plan from $39/mo. Was advertising alternate months free for the first 12 months.⁶	Simple $49/mo + $6/mo per person. Plus $80/mo + $12/mo per person. Premium $180/mo + $22/mo per person.¹ Month-to-month, cancel anytime.¹
What's included	Unlimited payroll runs, federal and state payroll taxes filed and deposited, live phone and chat support, free 2-day direct deposit, free onboarding. Year-end W-2 and 1099-NEC forms are $50 + $5 per form, billed yearly.⁶	Unlimited payroll runs, including off-cycle. Automatic federal, state and local payroll tax filings, including W-2s, 1099s, Form 940 and Form 941.²
Contractor payments	Priced per worker, $7 each. 1099-NEC forms fall under the year-end fee.⁶	US contractors cost your plan's per-person rate, and only in months you pay them.¹ The contractor-only plan closed to new customers on Oct 1, 2026.³
State tax filings	First state included; multi-state is $9.99/mo. A separate fee applies where local taxes are required.⁶	Simple covers one state. Plus and Premium cover multiple states.² Registering in a new state is an add-on; price varies by state.¹
Switching into Gusto	Not on Gusto's import list (Gusto lists Paychex, not SurePayroll). Plan to enter earlier payrolls, or start in January.	Not on Gusto's transfer-automation list, so you enter earlier payrolls in setup: quarter-to-date totals for past quarters plus this quarter's pay stubs.⁴⁵

What SurePayroll customers complain about

We read recent public reviews on Oct 31, 2026 and kept only themes that came up more than once. These are our paraphrases, not quotes, and some reviews are from employees rather than owners. Your experience may be fine; if so, the fix is to stay.

Billing surprises. The most common complaint: unexpected charges on the account and billing that's hard to untangle.⁷
Complex problems stall. Day-to-day help gets praise, but reviewers say tougher issues take a long time to get resolved.⁷
Tax amount corrections. One happy customer still mentioned occasional wrong tax amounts that had to be refunded, which meant extra work.⁷
The add-ons. Year-end forms, multi-state, local taxes, accounting sync ($4.99/mo) and timeclock (from $5/mo + $3/employee) are each priced separately.⁶

What it costs for your team

Change the numbers, or type in your last SurePayroll bill. Dad does the multiplication.

Your numbers

✓ Prices checked Oct 31, 2026

Current provider

What you pay now ($/mo, optional)

W-2 employees

Contractors paid / mo

States

List prices from each company’s own pricing page. Promos, add-ons and taxes not included. Quote-only providers show “quote only.” How we calculate

Start on Gusto’s website →

Goes through our referral page first. We earn a reward if you sign up; your price doesn’t change.

Where SurePayroll is genuinely better

Price for tiny teams. $29 + $7 per worker beats Gusto Simple's $49 + $6 for small teams: up to about 11 people once you count year-end form fees.⁶
Household payroll. A separate plan for families paying a nanny or caregiver.⁶
Friendly onboarding. Reviewers often single out patient onboarding staff.⁷
Cheap second state: $9.99/mo flat.⁶

Your SurePayroll-to-Gusto checklist

Do these in order. Grab a coffee. It's mostly downloading PDFs. Want to tick them off? Use the interactive switching checklist; it remembers your progress.

Company tax IDs. Your EIN, legal name exactly as the IRS has it, and whether you file Form 941 (quarterly) or 944. Pull your federal deposit schedule while you're in there.
State account numbers. State withholding account number, state unemployment (SUI) account number and current rate, and any local tax IDs. SurePayroll has these on file. Copy them before you cancel.
Year-to-date payroll. A YTD payroll register for every employee paid this year, including people who quit. Gross pay, taxable wages, withholding, deductions, check dates.
Prior quarter 941s and tax payments. Copies of every Form 941 and state quarterly return filed this year, plus proof of tax deposits. Gusto asks for YTD reports and documentation of this year's tax payments.²³
Employee W-4s and direct deposit. Each person's federal W-4 (and state form), pay rate, pay schedule, deductions, garnishments, PTO balances, and bank details.
Contractors. Names, W-9s, and what you've paid each one this year, so 1099s come out right.
Plan to type in earlier payrolls. Gusto asks for quarter-to-date totals from the last pay stub of each finished quarter, plus every pay stub from the current quarter. Include people who already left.⁵
Agree who files what. Only one provider can file a quarterly return for a given quarter. If both file, the second one gets rejected.²³ Get SurePayroll to confirm in writing which quarters it will file.
Run one payroll in Gusto, then cancel. Download every report and tax form from SurePayroll first. Once you lose access, those PDFs get hard to find.

Why the end of the year is the easiest time to switch

Gusto handles quarterly returns starting with the quarter of your first Gusto check date.²³ So the cleanest plan is a first Gusto payday in January 2027.

SurePayroll finishes 2026: the Q4 Form 941 and your 2026 W-2s. W-2s are due to employees and the SSA by February 1, 2027.²⁴ Get SurePayroll to confirm in writing that it's filing them.
Gusto starts 2027 with a clean slate. With a first check date in Q1, Gusto's list is just the pay stubs from the current quarter.⁵ Start in January and that's close to nothing.
Any other quarter works too. You'll just be entering more history.

If you sign up through our link by Jan 31, 2027 and run a paid payroll, Gusto's referral terms say you get a $100 Visa gift card. We get a referral reward too.²⁵

FAQ: SurePayroll to Gusto

Is SurePayroll cheaper than Gusto?

For small teams in one state, yes, even counting year-end form fees. 5 workers: about $70/mo on SurePayroll vs $79 on Gusto Simple. Around 11 people, once you count year-end fees, they cross.⁶

Is SurePayroll part of Paychex?

Yes. It's sold as SurePayroll by Paychex.⁶ Gusto's importer lists Paychex reports, not SurePayroll's, so plan to enter history yourself.

Who files my 2026 W-2s if I switch in January?

SurePayroll, if you were with it all of 2026. Expect its year-end form fee. Get it to confirm in writing which forms it's filing.

Can I leave anytime?

SurePayroll says there's no commitment and you can cancel anytime. Download every report before you go.

Sources, checked Oct 31, 2026

Every number on this page comes from one of these pages. Prices change; if a vendor updates its page, theirs wins.