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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Gusto

    Score8.9 out of 10
    N/AGusto offers payroll, benefits and compliance capabilities. Gusto is scaled for small to mid-sized businesses, and emphasizes an easy to use interface.

    $49

    per month

    Pricing
    Gusto
    Editions & Modules
    Simple: A streamlined set of automatic payroll features and benefits integrations
    $49/month + $6/mo per person
    per month
    Plus: Comprehensive payroll, benefits, and HR tools for employers building a great place to work
    $80/month + $12/mo per person
    per month
    Premium: Scalable payroll and benefits, expert HR, and dedicated support for the complex needs of growing teams
    $180/month + $22/mo per person
    per month
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Gusto
    Free Trial
    Yes
    Free/Freemium Version
    No
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    Yes
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup fee
    Additional DetailsGusto offers three pricing plans for payroll, benefits, and HR.
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Gusto
    Considered Both Products
    Gusto
    Chose Gusto
    Cost and efficiency.
    Incentivized
    Chose Gusto
    More modern and user friendly, personal touch
    Incentivized
    Chose Gusto
    I selected Gusto due to pricing and my accountant's recommendation
    Incentivized
    Chose Gusto
    Gusto is so much more user friendly and the customer service is excellent. Waiting on hold for ADP and Quickbooks was very frustrating and I almost never got my issue resolved. When I did get a call back, there was often a “hard sell” attached to the call.
    Incentivized
    Chose Gusto
    It's been a while since I used QuickBooks for payroll, but it doesn't even come close to it. Gusto is infinitely easier, allowing for employee time tracking, handling calculations and payments of payroll and payroll taxes, managing regulatory compliance in the background, and …
    Incentivized
    Chose Gusto
    Gusto is much easier to use! Cheaper as well.
    Incentivized
    Chose Gusto
    We went from running payroll manually as ACH transactions through our bank straight to Gusto. We didn't look at other systems. Gusto checked all the boxes.
    Incentivized
    Chose Gusto
    Gusto is more approachable with a less corporate, more personalized feel. When we started, it was helpful for Paychex to be a one-stop shop where they offered a ton of add on services we hadn't thought of but found useful. Now that we are better able to navigate our needs, …
    Incentivized
    Chose Gusto
    Neither service I've used before has been so informative and had so much to offer. I think Gusto leaves other companies in the dust.
    Incentivized
    Chose Gusto
    We found Gusto to be a better fit for our size and needs. Gusto is much more user-friendly and transparent with pricing. It’s easier to set up, and we liked that everything, from payroll to benefits to time tracking, is in one place without feeling overly complex. ADP felt …
    Incentivized
    Chose Gusto
    We used ADP previously. But I don’t know the specific platform. We left when we were acquired.
    Incentivized
    Chose Gusto
    Gusto is incredibly user friendly and leaves you with a step by step guide of what you need to do, what you're missing and helps catches everything you might have missed.
    Incentivized
    Chose Gusto
    Workful was a budget-conscious choice last year. However, it couldn't handle the nuances of a non-profit and was also not available to automate payroll tax filing in every state. They abruptly stopped offering payroll service, leaving me to switch clients immediately. Justwork…
    Incentivized
    Chose Gusto
    Gusto is way easier to use and understand than other platforms. They just focus on what they're really good at without cluttering up the experience with other offers. The customer service is much better as well. Support is very responsive and helpful.
    Incentivized
    Chose Gusto
    Too complicated for some users, frustration for some users on constantly having to change password too frequently. Not easily accessabile to all employees.
    Incentivized
    Chose Gusto
    ADP was a pain to use. Gusto is easier and I don't feel overwhelmed. I've also saved some money with Gusto in comparison, though not a large amount.
    Incentivized
    Chose Gusto
    I think Quickbooks is hard to navigate and it has too many outages/down times. In my experience, you have to jump through hoops to get your information updated. I think it is slow and ugly
    Incentivized
    Chose Gusto
    Gusto is much easier to use than Quickbooks payroll. Gusto HR is better sutied for our needs compared to Bambee HR.
    Incentivized
    Chose Gusto
    I honestly don't remember any others besides Paychex.. I don't recall having the ability (as an employee) to split my own direct deposits, or even remember a nice portal to log into. Perhaps they do have it and it wasn't communicated well to me. Gusto has always been super easy …
    Incentivized
    Chose Gusto
    Gusto is very easy to use and navigate around their site. It offers individual care and concern when I run into a situation Where they speak English! They are easy to understand.
    Incentivized
    Chose Gusto
    Gusto is the only payroll processor I have used.
    Incentivized
    Chose Gusto
    Overall, Gusto was the easiest human resources platform to use. Its UI is very intuitive and no complex at all. It is very simple to find anything you want, update information when needed and much more. Its price is fair and it is less expensive than other HR platforms. …
    Incentivized
    Chose Gusto
    Gusto has many more features than this other program has to offer.
    Incentivized
    Chose Gusto
    Gusto seems to offer everything that ADP Payroll does, but at a much more affordable cost. Gusto's prices are much more reasonable for very small businesses and startup businesses. Most of my clients fall into that category. I would say ADP is more for larger small …
    Incentivized
    Chose Gusto
    Almost the same price BUT Gusto actually could run the payroll I needed (in multiple states for one employee) and that was ultimately why I switched. Square also didn't make me feel confident about their customer service and I often needed to call a few times about the same …
    Incentivized
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    91%
    Would buy again
    488 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    92%
    Delivers good value for the price
    395 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    94%
    Happy with the feature set
    501 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    89%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    254 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    93%
    Implementation went as expected
    311 Answers
    Features
    Gusto
    Payroll Management
    Comparison of Payroll Management features of Gusto
    Feature
    Gusto
    9.2
    514 Ratings
    11% above category average
    Pay calculation9.6493 Ratings
    Support for external payroll vendors8.58 Ratings
    Benefit plan administration8.9358 Ratings
    Direct deposit files9.5497 Ratings
    Salary revision and increment management9.4383 Ratings
    Reimbursement management9.5127 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    Gusto
    Small Businesses
    OnPay
    Score9.9 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    APS
    Score1.4 out of 10
    Enterprises
    ADP Streamline Payroll
    Score6.4 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Gusto
    Likelihood to Recommend
    9.2
    (538 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    10.0
    (12 ratings)
    Usability
    9.5
    (362 ratings)
    Support Rating
    1.3
    (25 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    8.2
    (1 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Gusto
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Gusto
    Gusto is a great fit for small teams and startups that want a simple, reliable way to run payroll, manage tax filings, and give CPAs access without constant micromanagement. It’s especially useful for founders who need something that “just works.” The human support has been excellent—especially when forwarding confusing IRS mail.
    That said, it’s a bit less intuitive when it comes to benefits and compliance for fully remote companies. For example, labor law poster distribution isn’t streamlined for digital teams, and setting up benefits felt more complex than it needed to be. Still, I’d recommend Gusto to any startup looking to get payroll right from day one.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    Gusto
    • Gusto really kills it on the simplicity. The app and website are very clear and straightforward.
    • Gusto also does a great job at being easy to navigate, visually pleasing, and logically posed.
    • Gusto communicates very clearly and provides just the right amount of communication.
    • Gusto makes the onboarding process very easy. I recently started at a new company and the process of filling out the necessary documents, filling out forms, and getting my benefit information input was soooooo easy!
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    Gusto
    • Adding in previous time manually could be more accessible.
    • Notifications for when employees manually change hours.
    • We should allow 1099 users to use the mobile app instead of restricting them to the website, especially since they can just log into the full website on their mobile device.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    Gusto
    Unless they break it, I'm never leaving. It's just too easy. Gusto is also really affordable, and for what I pay, it's worth having the historical record within the system. I like that I can go back and pull up W2's for year's past. This sort of easy access reporting, has been helpful especially when getting reports for PPP loans.
    Read full review
    Usability
    Gusto
    The overall platform and its speed of response are amazing. I would recommend this to any other business owner for ease of use and reliability. Email reminders are great if I’m super busy and have forgotten a few tasks. The price point compared to local payroll service is hands down a huge win.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Support Rating
    Gusto
    Gusto's customer service has really deteriorated lately and they seem to have really changed their focus. It used to be when you called you were routed to an individual who knew about payroll, benefits, reporting, etc. but now you get someone who seems to have not received the correct training. My last call about a dismissal payroll took me over an hour of my time and the person still could not help me and finally transferred me to someone else.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Implementation Rating
    Gusto
    Reach out to support immediately if you are having trouble setting up Gusto. Rather than being confused and trying to figure it out yourself, it's much better to talk to someone who knows what they are doing. Save yourself time and frustration and reach out to support
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Alternatives Considered
    Gusto
    It's been a while since I used QuickBooks for payroll, but it doesn't even come close to it. Gusto is infinitely easier, allowing for employee time tracking, handling calculations and payments of payroll and payroll taxes, managing regulatory compliance in the background, and more. I had a lot of moments using QuickBooks Payroll where I thought, "Am I even doing this right?" — it felt like you had to have additional knowledge of HR regulations in your state to do everything correctly. Gusto has it ALL handled so you can focus your time on higher-impact tasks in your business.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Return on Investment
    Gusto
    • For me, it is hard to quantify payroll software as having an ROI. It does save quite a bit of time per pay period, so perhaps we could assign a theoretical number to an employee taking that time. I'd say, at the least, it saves 30-60 minutes a pay period compared to a more difficult-to-use payroll software.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots

    Gusto Screenshots

    Screenshot of Gusto's automated payrollScreenshot of the time-off tracking interfaceScreenshot of the source of truth for HR data