Payroll vs PEO Cost Calculator
Payroll & HR Power-ups · Calculator

Payroll vs PEO Cost Calculator

Enter what you pay today for payroll, benefits, insurance and HR help. See how it stacks up against Justworks PEO Basic, Justworks PEO Plus and ADP TotalSource. The numbers start as an example 10-person company; replace them with your own.

Justworks: admin fees are published

PEO Basic is $79 and PEO Plus is $124 per employee per month, listed on Justworks' pricing page. What you see here is what you'd pay for the PEO service.

ADP TotalSource: quote only

ADP doesn't publish TotalSource pricing. The $85 per employee shown is a placeholder based on reviewer reports. Replace it with your written quote before you compare.

Benefits quotes vary by carrier

Health premiums depend on the carrier, plan, location and your team's census. A PEO's quote can come in higher or lower than your current plan, so use real quotes for each option.

Your numbers

Your team
Today: payroll service
$/mo
$/mo
$/mo total
Time clocks, HRIS, onboarding apps, handbook services.
Today: benefits & insurance
$/enrollee/mo
Medical, dental and vision your company pays with your current carrier.
$/mo
Include COBRA admin.
$/mo
$/yr
$/yr
Employment practices liability. Enter 0 if you don't carry it.
$/mo
Your time
hrs/mo
hrs/mo
$/hr
Set to 0 to compare cash costs only.
PEO assumptions
$/employee/mo
Published price.
$/employee/mo
Published price.
$/employee/mo
Quote only. ADP doesn't publish this price. $85 is a placeholder; enter your quote.
%
Premiums differ by carrier and plan. Enter the difference between your PEO benefits quote and today's plan (negative if cheaper). Applies to PEO Plus and TotalSource.
$/yr
PEOs often bill workers' comp at their own rates. Use your quote, or leave it equal to today's premium.

Yearly cost by category

Line-by-line, per year

Ready to set up payroll or a PEO?

Whether it's for your own business or a client, activate it as a QuickBooks Online Power-up through School of Bookkeeping and it counts toward your perk tier.

Activate Power-ups
How it works: employer payroll taxes and wages are the same either way, so they're left out. Justworks PEO Basic doesn't include Justworks health plans, so your current premium and broker fees carry over. PEO Plus and TotalSource include benefits admin and COBRA, so those fees drop to $0. All three PEOs include EPLI and HR consulting. 401(k) fees carry over unchanged. Justworks PEO admin fees are published. ADP TotalSource pricing is quote-based only and is not published; the figure here is a placeholder estimate. Benefits premiums differ by carrier, plan, location and group, so quotes from each PEO may not match your current plan. Prices checked Oct 10, 2026: Justworks pricing · QuickBooks Workforce pricing · ADP estimates from HireInSouth and FitSmallBusiness. This is an estimate for planning, not a quote or tax advice. School of Bookkeeping may receive compensation for referral activations.