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Justworks is a professional employer organization (PEO) that handles payroll, HR, benefits and compliance, helping ease your team’s HR workload. After testing its comprehensive HR services, intuitive online platform and helpful customer support, we chose Justworks as the best PEO service provider for ease of use. Additionally, because the company is accredited by the Employer Services Assurance Corporation and the IRS, you can feel confident you’re getting certified professional HR support.
When we tested Justworks, we found the platform intuitive and easy to implement. The interface is clean and easy to navigate — a critical factor for employers who need a straightforward yet effective PEO provider. We like that Justworks makes the entire experience feel seamless from the start. We were able to begin the employee onboarding process, create employee benefit plans, process payroll and receive legal compliance assistance without friction. No matter the function, we felt in control, thanks to clear step-by-step guidance within the platform and well-organized Help Center resources.
Although Justworks is easy to use, we also appreciated how accessible its customer support team and HR consultants were, especially when we had questions about more complex compliance issues, such as multi-state payroll and international hiring. We found this level of support especially valuable, which is why we think it’s a great choice for small business owners without an internal HR department who don’t want to waste time or money managing and paying employees.
Surprisingly, Justworks is also one of the few PEOs we reviewed that publicly lists its pricing online. This transparency makes it easier to evaluate the platform before signing on and really understand what you’re getting. We researched many PEO providers and often ran into marketing language and vague promises. In contrast, Justworks is clear about its features, services and pricing. For these reasons, we selected Justworks as our top PEO for businesses that prioritize ease of use.
Justworks stands out in terms of usability, with one of the cleanest and most intuitive platforms of any PEO we reviewed. Its HR software makes Justworks an excellent partner for growing small businesses that want straightforward, reliable PEO support without a steep learning curve.
Here are a few ease-of-use highlights that stood out:
Your Justworks plan will dictate the specific features you can access. Here are some of the platform’s most notable PEO features and services.
When testing Justworks, we found its consultation service with certified HR advisors to be one of its most valuable features. Before being connected with the HR team, we first had to contact customer support with a brief explanation of our needs. In our testing, we heard back within 24 hours with a clear, practical breakdown of PTO best practices and implementation guidance.
Although competing PEOs also offer HR consulting, we found that the simplicity of the Justworks platform, combined with its expert guidance, made it easier to handle everything from onboarding to compliance topics like employment and anti-discrimination laws. For that reason, we think Justworks is a great choice for small business owners with limited HR experience.
We appreciate that this service is included with all PEO plans. If you need more support, you can pay for a dedicated HR consultant. We found this level of personalized assistance especially useful for businesses navigating more complex situations, such as rapid growth or workforce changes. In our experience, standard consulting was sufficient for handling the common needs of most small businesses.
We were impressed with how simple Justworks makes people management. For example, we were able to complete the onboarding process in under 10 minutes. From the “Manage” section, we clicked “Add” and selected from a list of employee types, including part-time workers, interns and contractors. After selecting a full-time W-2 employee, we entered basic details like pay rate, job description and work hours. From there, Justworks sent the employee an invitation to get started and handled the rest of the onboarding flow, including state-specific payroll forms. We were also prompted to upload any documents the new hire needed to review and sign.
We liked that we could store and track document status in one place, which is especially useful for businesses with multiple employee types or those operating in more than one state. We found other HR functions, such as creating an organizational directory or sharing a company calendar, to be just as quick to complete. We also appreciated the built-in explanations and prompts throughout each workflow, which helped us get set up faster and avoid mistakes.
While these features are comparable to what other PEOs offer, we appreciate that Justworks includes access to Mineral, an online HR admin resource. We used Mineral’s articles and templates to build an employee handbook and review state compliance requirements. Overall, Justworks allowed us to manage HR tasks with confidence without adding unnecessary complexity.
Like many PEOs we reviewed, Justworks helps you offer a wide range of employee benefits at a relatively low cost, including health, vision, dental, disability and life insurance. We had no trouble navigating the benefits section of the platform, which provides an overview of current benefits by category and employee enrollment. From there, we added new benefits and were pleased with how clearly Justworks organized and explained each step.
Here are a few key takeaways from our testing:
We tested adding different types of international employees and found the process just as straightforward as the rest of the platform.
Managing risk and staying compliant with employment laws can be one of the more complex parts of running a business, especially as you grow or expand into new states. Justworks brings many of these requirements into one place, combining insurance coverage, HR compliance guidance and employee training tools.
To get started with a PEO plan, we had to sign up for workers’ compensation insurance. The service requires all businesses to be insured through Justworks unless already covered by state workers’ compensation, which means some high-risk industries may not be eligible. The enrollment process was straightforward, and confirmation of coverage took only three days. We were also able to add employment liability and disability insurance.
We wanted to see what it would be like to manage compliance in multiple states and were satisfied with the support Justworks provided. Through Mineral, we could review compliance requirements in every state and use templates to create policies, such as a sexual harassment prevention policy, in just a few hours. For more complex issues, the Justworks HR consultants provided prompt, helpful answers to our questions.
Setting up employee training programs required minimal effort. Selecting “Training” in the menu took us to a course overview, where we could choose from several courses provided by EVERFI, a workplace compliance training provider. Some courses included state-specific versions, and we had no trouble assigning the correct training based on employee role and location. Setting a training schedule was just as straightforward, and Justworks sends automatic email reminders to help employees stay up to date.
Alongside its PEO services, Justworks offers payroll and payroll tax management functionality. We tested this as part of a PEO plan, but a standalone option is available as well.
Paying virtually any type of employee across all 50 states was straightforward. We had no trouble setting up different pay schedules based on employee type, and processing employee bonuses, reimbursements and one-time payments was just as easy.
The PEO interface is used for payroll as well, and we found it easy to navigate through specific features and menus. Adding new payroll staff is as simple as entering their employment details, salary and exemption status, while the platform automatically calculates and files payroll taxes, W-2s and 1099s. Integrations with accounting software like QuickBooks and Xero also help streamline ongoing payroll management.
HR managers who want a more hands-off payroll process will likely appreciate the simplicity of the platform’s PEO payroll services.
As with other Justworks features, we found the expense management tool easy to pick up on our first try. We started by defining expense categories using the default options provided by Justworks, and adding a new category took just a few clicks. From there, we set rules, such as making receipts optional for certain expenses and assigning expenses to specific projects.
We like that employees can submit expense requests from any device using the Justworks mobile app. It was straightforward to enter an expense reimbursement request and upload supporting documents like receipts. On the employer side, approving or denying requests was just as simple. We were able to process requests individually or in bulk, and when something was missing, we could return it to the employee with an explanation in one click. We found these features to be in line with what other vendors offer.
During testing, manually entering time on the standard timesheets ended up feeling a bit cumbersome. Justworks offers a more robust time tracking paid add-on, but we were disappointed that this feature isn’t included even in the highest-tier plan. That said, the add-on does include mobile clock-ins, overtime alerts, geostamped time tracking and shift scheduling, which can justify the additional cost per employee.
Our business settings, such as work hours and overtime rules, were already integrated, so setup required little effort. We especially liked that we could issue alerts, such as meal and rest break reminders, which is helpful for businesses operating in states with specific compliance requirements. For employees, whether contractors or staff, clocking in and out was straightforward and could be done directly from the mobile app.
Justworks is one of the few PEOs we evaluated that displays pricing clearly on its website. Because cost is a key consideration for many small businesses, we consider this transparency an important part of the buying process. We also like that pricing is broken down by features and number of employees, making it easier to understand what you’re paying for.
Here’s how pricing breaks down:
| Plan | Pricing | Key features |
| Payroll | $50 monthly base fee plus $8 per employee, per month | Payroll and taxesBasic HR toolsTime-off reportsExpert supportFederal and state compliance alertsEmployee mobile appAccess to workers’ compensation |
| PEO Basic | $79 per employee per month | Everything in Payroll, plus:Vendor paymentsEPLIState unemployment insurance administrationOrganizational chartExpense managementApplicant tracking system integrationPerformance management integrations (via third-party tools)Custom reportingLimited benefits24/7 supportStandard HR consulting |
| PEO Plus | $109 per employee per month | Everything in PEO Basic, plus:Advanced analyticsComprehensive employee benefitsHealth insurance administrationAccess to HSA/FSA accountsMental health resourcesFertility benefits |
Justworks also offers an array of helpful paid add-ons:
Note that your costs don’t include healthcare benefits or workers’ compensation premiums, which will vary based on your plan and selections. This is standard across the PEO industry.
Justworks also offers optional employee perks — such as Peloton memberships, pet insurance and additional Talkspace sessions — through its benefits marketplace. Rather than bundling everything into a single package, Justworks lets you choose which perks and services to offer, giving you flexibility to tailor your benefits lineup to your team.
While access to these perks may be included depending on your plan, the services themselves are often priced separately per employee, which Justworks outlines clearly during selection. Availability may also vary by location, insurance carrier or plan tier.
Getting Justworks up and running was a smooth process, and we were able to complete most setup tasks on the first day. We signed up for a PEO plan, which requires two covered people, including one W-2 employee. Payroll plans are available for companies of any size, even if you only need to make payments to yourself.
Of all the PEOs we examined, Justworks was the simplest and most intuitive to implement. Within a few hours of signing up, an onboarding specialist contacted us to help determine which features and settings worked best for our business. But we found that we were able to tackle most functions on our own with the assistance of the useful guides in the Help Center. We appreciate that Justworks goes out of its way to make sure you know exactly what to expect, explaining each step in detail and including average implementation and approval times.
To get started, we first applied for workers’ comp insurance, which can take between three and five days to activate. We then selected a start date and verified our bank account. After that, we began setting up our benefits package, including requesting health insurance quotes, which also took a few days. The entire experience was incredibly user-friendly, even for insurance-industry novices.
Once we had Justworks set up, we started onboarding our employees to the platform, which was a breeze. We especially loved the pre-made Welcome Deck and the Help Center articles geared toward employees. These tools helped our team submit personal information, sign necessary forms and enroll in benefits without needing any assistance from us.
We were impressed with Justworks’ customer support options. The company offers 24/7 support via phone, email, in-platform chat and Slack, so help is always accessible when issues come up.
During our evaluation, in most cases, we connected by phone or chat within a few minutes, while email responses typically took a few hours. When we contacted support to troubleshoot a payroll issue, the representative was knowledgeable and quickly provided a solution.
Based on our experience, we could handle most questions using Justworks’ online resources without contacting support. The Help Center includes how-to guides, compliance articles and video tutorials. We especially liked the separate employee help section, which made it easy to direct team members to the right resources instead of routing every question through HR.
While there’s a lot to like about Justworks, we identified a few limitations:
We researched and analyzed dozens of the best PEO service providers to identify top professional employer organizations and help businesses choose the right solution for their needs. We evaluated pricing, contract requirements, bundled vs. à la carte features, minimum requirements, employee benefits administration, time tracking tools, payroll processing, tax filing, administrative HR functions, performance management features, integrations, legal risk and compliance support, accreditations and customer service.
We also reviewed product videos and participated in demos when possible. When identifying the best PEO solutions for ease of use, we prioritized implementation, usability, software capabilities, overall HR functionality and customer support.
We recommend Justworks for …
We don’t recommend Justworks for …
