Switch to Gusto from Wave Payroll: Comparison + Checklist

Dad’s short answer

Need 1099s filed or more payroll tools? Move to Gusto. Books in Wave and no contractors? Stay and keep the $9 a month.

Wave is $9/mo cheaper at list price. Base $40 vs $49; both charge $6 per person.⁶¹
Wave's tax service doesn't file 1099s. Gusto's plans do.⁶²
Books live in Wave and no 1099s? Stay. Need 1099 filing or more payroll tools? Move.

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
Wave Payroll you	Very small teams keeping books in Wave	$40/mo + $6/employee + $6/contractor⁶

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 Wave today. Gusto fits you if:

Gusto's automatic filings include 1099s.²
Gusto syncs with accounting tools like QuickBooks, Xero and FreshBooks if you're moving your books too.¹
One-person S-corp: Gusto Solo includes a reasonable-salary calculator.⁷
Off-cycle payrolls at no extra charge.¹

Why Gusto, compared with Wave

Dad story

Picture a cleaning company. 3 employees, 2 contractors.

Wave: $40 base, $6 per employee, $6 per contractor paid. $70.⁶

Gusto Simple: $49, plus $6 for each of the 5 people. $79.¹

Nine dollars apart.

But Wave's tax service skips 1099 filings.⁶

Somebody still has to file those in January.

That somebody is usually the owner. At 11 p.m.

(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.

	Wave Payroll	Gusto
Published pricing	$40/mo base + $6 per active employee + $6 per contractor paid. 30-day free trial. No setup fees.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 free direct deposits, employee portal, wage and tax reporting. Wave transfers tax payments and files with your state and the IRS (excluding 1099 filings).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	Pays contractors and generates 1099s, but 1099 filing isn't part of the tax service.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	Tax service now available in all 50 states.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	No automated import into Gusto. Enter earlier payrolls from Wave's reports.	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 it costs for your team

Change the numbers, or type in your last Wave 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 Wave is genuinely better

Lower base fee: $40 vs $49.⁶
Same company as your books. If you do accounting in Wave, payroll entries land there automatically.
Pause anytime: deactivate payroll from settings.⁶
30-day free trial after your first payroll.⁶

Your Wave-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. Wave 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 Wave to confirm in writing which quarters it will file.
Run one payroll in Gusto, then cancel. Download every report and tax form from Wave 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.

Wave 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 Wave 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: Wave to Gusto

Does Wave file 1099s for me?

Wave's page says its tax service files with your state and the IRS excluding 1099 filings.⁶ Gusto's plans include 1099 filing.

Is Wave cheaper than Gusto?

At list price, a little: Wave's base is $40 vs $49 for Gusto Simple, and both charge $6 per person.

Will Gusto import my Wave payroll?

Wave isn't on Gusto's transfer-automation list. Enter earlier payrolls during setup from Wave's reports.

Can I keep Wave for accounting?

Check whether your accounting setup can take Gusto's payroll data before you switch. Gusto lists QuickBooks, Xero and FreshBooks among its integrations.

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.