Justworks PEO review: pricing, benefits and the terms to check

Justworks at a glance

PEO Basic

$79per employee per month

PEO Plus

$124per employee per month

Setup fee

NoneJustworks pricing page

IRS CPEO

YesIRS active list, 8/7/2026

Justworks posts its PEO fee. TriNet, Insperity, ADP TotalSource, Paychex PEO and Rippling PEO do not. Among the PEOs we track, only Justworks and the newer Deel and Remote US PEOs post a per-employee price. That alone makes Justworks the easiest PEO to budget for. It does not make it the cheapest: health insurance premiums, workers' comp and payroll taxes sit on top of the fee. See what a PEO costs per employee across providers for the wider market.

Justworks plans and prices

Prices went up in 2026. Snapshots from the third-party price tracker Costbench, taken in March and July 2026, show PEO Basic moving from $59 to $79 and Plus from $109 to $124 per employee. Costbench notes that Justworks restructured its plans at the same time, so the tiers may not match one for one. If an older review shows $59 or $109, it predates the change.

What Justworks costs for 5, 10 and 25 employees

The all-in bill for 10 employees earning $50,000 each

A PEO invoice passes through your employer payroll taxes along with its own fee. Here is what you can price today for a 10-person team on PEO Plus, using 2026 federal rates from IRS Publication 926:

• Justworks Plus fee: $1,240 a month x 12 = $14,880 a year.
• Employer Social Security and Medicare (7.65% on wages up to the $184,500 Social Security wage base): 7.65% x $500,000 = $38,250.
• Federal unemployment tax (FUTA, net 0.6% on the first $7,000 per employee): $42 x 10 = $420.
• Subtotal before state costs and insurance: $14,880 + $38,250 + $420 = $53,550.

Still to add, and quoted separately: state unemployment tax (rates and wage bases differ by state, see 2026 SUTA rates by state), workers' comp (the pricing page says it is "Required for PEO" but shows no rate; see what workers' comp costs), and the employer share of health premiums, which the pricing page does not show. You can model the tax lines for your own state with the employee cost calculator.

What the Justworks fee includes and leaves out

Included in the per-employee fee (per the pricing page): payroll runs and tax filing under co-employment, state unemployment insurance administration, multi-state payroll, compliance and HR tools, 401(k) access, 24/7 support on Basic, and on Plus the administration of medical, dental, vision, HSA and FSA benefits. "We don't charge additional fees to get set up."

Not included:

• Health, dental and vision premiums. The page does not state that premiums are included, and it shows no premium figures.
• Workers' comp premiums. Required for PEO clients; cost not shown.
• Employer payroll taxes (FICA, FUTA, SUTA). These pass through at cost.
• Contractors, time tracking, HR consulting and EOR hires, each priced as an add-on.
• A published tax filing guarantee. Justworks runs PEO services under a Customer Service Agreement that is not public, and we found no penalty guarantee terms.

One reviewer reports being billed at the wrong plan: a Basic account "charged at max rate", plus late fees despite autopay (Trustpilot, Mar 6, 2026). Check the first two invoices line by line against your plan.

Benefits through Justworks

Plus gives your team access to Justworks' group medical, dental and vision plans, plus HSA and FSA accounts, mental health and fertility benefits. Access to group plans is why many small employers pick a PEO at all. One founder on Hacker News said they moved to Justworks because their payroll provider "wouldn't provide us health plans for our first W-2 hire" (HN comment).

What to watch for, from recent reviews:

• 401(k) errors: "Justworks forgot to remove terminated employees from the 401(k) plan" (Trustpilot, Sep 18, 2026), and wrong salary data that lowered contributions (May 6, 2025).
• FSA access: one employee wrote that Justworks was "holding my FSA funds hostage" (Nov 22, 2025).
• Wrong deductions after changes: "There were also wrong deductions found" (Sep 30, 2025).

Premiums change at each renewal. Nayya, citing KFF, reports that about 10% of 2026 small group rate filings asked for increases of 20% or more (Nayya). Ask Justworks for the renewal history of the plan you are offered, not just the first-year rate.

Contract, minimums and how to leave Justworks

Before you sign, ask for the Customer Service Agreement and find four things: the notice period, any fee for leaving mid-year, how long you keep platform access to W-2s and payroll reports, and who files the final quarterly returns. When you do leave:

• Benefits end with the PEO. Your team is on Justworks' plans, so you need a new group plan (or a new PEO) that starts the day after coverage ends. Deductibles paid so far can restart on a new plan.
• 401(k) moves. Plan assets have to move to a new plan. Hacker News founders describe switching as harder when the 401(k) is tied to the provider (HN comment).
• State unemployment accounts. Find out whether your state account stayed open under your own EIN. If the PEO reported wages under its account, you may need a new registration, and a missed quarterly report can raise your rate.
• W-2s. As a CPEO, Justworks is treated as the employer for the wages it paid, so expect it to issue W-2s for its part of the year and your new provider to cover the rest. Get that in writing, and download every payroll register and tax form before your access ends.

The full exit checklist, with timing, is in Justworks alternatives and how to switch.

CPEO status, states and company size

Certified PEO: yes. The IRS active CPEO list (report date 8/7/2026) includes Justworks Employment Group LLC and Justworks Employment Group II, III and IV LLC. Justworks' pricing page does not mention it. Under 26 USC 3511, a CPEO is treated as the employer for federal employment taxes on the wages it pays, and as a successor employer, so Social Security and FUTA wage bases do not restart when you join or leave partway through a year. The IRS warns that many CPEO names look alike, so check that your contract names one of these exact entities. Our IRS certified PEO list shows the others.

States: the pricing page lists multi-state payroll and state unemployment insurance administration. It does not say whether Justworks registers new state tax accounts for you. One reviewer says wages were reported to New York for an employee who did not live or work there (Trustpilot, Jun 3, 2025).

Size limits: none published, minimum or maximum. Workers' comp is required for PEO clients.

Support

Justworks lists a help center, in-platform chat, support@justworks.com and phone at 888-534-1711. PEO Basic includes "24/7 Support", but the contact page gives no hours. Two complaints recur: support that is "responsive, but not helpful" (Trustpilot, Mar 24, 2025), and a December 2, 2025 review saying West Coast users "have to pay for upgraded service to get support during normal business hours". If you are on Pacific time, ask what hours a person is on the phone for your plan.

What Justworks customers complain about

Ratings tell two stories. G2 shows 4.6 out of 5 from 1,127 reviews; Trustpilot shows 2.1 out of 5 from 37 reviews (both seen October 16, 2026). The Trustpilot sample is small, and some of it comes from worksite employees rather than the business owners who signed the contract.

Our score for Justworks

Justworks ranks 1 of the 15 PEOs we score.

Scores come from published terms, prices and documented complaints, not hands-on testing. See our scoring method and how Justworks ranks among all providers in the best PEO companies.

Who Justworks fits, and who should look elsewhere

Compare head to head: Justworks vs TriNet for venture-backed teams, Rippling vs Justworks if you also want IT and device management, and the TriNet review or Insperity review if you want more hands-on HR.

More PEO reviews and comparisons

• ADP TotalSource reviewADP's PEO: quote-only pricing, workers' comp in the fee, renewals.
• Engage PEO reviewQuote-only PEO on the IRS CPEO list; most terms not public.
• Insperity reviewHow Insperity's fixed fee works, the $425 promo and what to ask.
• Justworks alternativesScored alternatives, payroll-only routes and a step-by-step exit plan.
• Justworks vs TriNetA posted $79 to $124 PEO fee against TriNet's quote, minimum headcount and longer support hours.
• Paychex PEO reviewQuote-only pricing, 2026 estimates, Oasis and the exit fees to ask about.
• Rippling PEO reviewQuote-only PEO on a modular platform; CPEO status not confirmed.
• Rippling vs JustworksJustworks' posted $79 to $124 PEO fee against Rippling's quote-only PEO and modules.
• TriNet reviewQuote-only pricing, the FSA complaints, minimums and how to leave.
• TriNet alternativesScored alternatives, the ASO option and what changes when you leave.
• TriNet vs InsperityTwo quote-only PEOs: TriNet's per-employee fee against Insperity's fixed HR charge and $425 credit.