OnPay has no Gusto importer. Export payroll history and re-enter employee details; the entry price is identical, so this move is about features, not cost.
Quick verdict: Move to OnPay if you want to pay only for the specific HR and time-tracking add-ons you actually use, itemized rather than bundled into a higher Gusto tier.
Most buyers only budget for the new subscription. This estimates the hidden labor, data-cleanup, and retraining cost of actually making the switch.
Estimate assumes: 1 hour of data-mapping/cleaning labor per 2,000 records, a blended $75/hr ops rate, tiered migration & cleaning tooling fees, and 4 hours of retraining per seat at a $45/hr fully-loaded rate.
Pay only for HR or time tracking if you need them.
A real trial period, not just free setup.
One core plan plus clearly priced add-ons.
You lose Gusto’s bundled higher tiers and its larger integration ecosystem.
| Step | What you do |
|---|---|
| 1Gather payroll and tax records | Export year-to-date payroll reports, tax filings and employee records from the old provider. |
| 2Sign up for OnPay | Start OnPay’s first-month-free trial and set up your company profile. |
| 3Rebuild your pay schedule and deductions | Recreate your pay schedule, benefit deductions and any custom earnings or deduction types in the new tool. |
| 4Re-enter employee and contractor details | Add bank details, tax withholding elections and pay rates for each worker — sensitive data that never transfers automatically. |
| 5Run a parallel test payroll | Run one payroll cycle in the new tool alongside the old one to confirm the numbers match before fully switching. |
| 6Cancel the old plan | Once a real payroll cycle has run cleanly in the new tool, cancel the old subscription. |
What this path doesn’t do for you:
Gusto’s bundled Plus/Premium HR depth and its larger integration ecosystem have no exact OnPay equivalent, though OnPay’s itemized add-ons can cover similar ground feature by feature.
| Plan | Gusto | OnPay |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing basis | Flat base + per-person | Flat base + per-worker |
| Entry price | $49 base + $6/person/mo (Simple) | $49 base + $6/worker/mo |
| HR bundle | From Plus ($80 + $12/person) | $15 base + $2/worker |
| Time tracking bundle | From Plus | $15 base + $4/worker |
| Free trial | No, free setup only | First month free |
Prices checked on each vendor’s pricing page on September 23, 2026.
| Capability | Gusto | OnPay |
|---|---|---|
| Entry price | $49 + $6/person (Simple) | $49 + $6/worker |
| HR depth | Bundled into Plus/Premium | Itemized add-ons |
| Free trial | No, free setup only | First month free |
Going the other direction, or want the full comparison first?
Read the OnPay vs Gusto comparison Switching from OnPay to Gusto instead?No. Export payroll history and re-enter employee and tax details.
At the entry tier, the price is identical; savings depend on whether OnPay’s itemized add-ons cost less than Gusto’s bundled tier for the features you need.
Yes, OnPay offers a first month free.
Payroll providers don’t transfer tax-filing history automatically. Export year-to-date payroll reports and prior W-2/1099 data, and time the switch around a quarter or year boundary where possible to keep filings clean.
Every pricing fact, rating, AI billing model and switching guide we hold on each tool, on one page, with the date each figure was last verified.
Prices on this page were recorded from each vendor’s own pricing page on the date shown at the top of the page. Vendors change pricing often — check the live source before you buy.
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