Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Gusto
Score 8.9 out of 10
N/A
Gusto offers payroll, benefits and compliance capabilities. Gusto is scaled for small to mid-sized businesses, and emphasizes an easy to use interface.
$496
per month
Paycom
Score 7.4 out of 10
N/A
Paycom supports HR and payroll with automated, employee-first technology that supports every stage of employment. Its single database enables seamless data management, to reduce errors, endless data entry and time-consuming administrative tasks.N/A
Pricing
GustoPaycom
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
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
GustoPaycom
Free Trial
YesNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional DetailsGusto offers three pricing plans for payroll, benefits, and HR.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
GustoPaycom
Features
GustoPaycom
Payroll Management
Comparison of Payroll Management features of Product A and Product B
Gusto
9.2
Ratings
11% above category average
Paycom
8.1
Ratings
2% above category average
Pay calculation9.60 Ratings9.10 Ratings
Support for external payroll vendors8.50 Ratings6.40 Ratings
Benefit plan administration8.90 Ratings8.00 Ratings
Direct deposit files9.50 Ratings9.80 Ratings
Salary revision and increment management9.30 Ratings7.10 Ratings
Reimbursement management9.50 Ratings7.20 Ratings
Off-cycle/On-Demand payment00 Ratings8.70 Ratings
Human Resource Management
Comparison of Human Resource Management features of Product A and Product B
Gusto
-
Ratings
Paycom
7.9
Ratings
1% above category average
Employee demographic data00 Ratings9.00 Ratings
Employment history00 Ratings8.60 Ratings
Job profiles and administration00 Ratings8.20 Ratings
Workflow for transfers, promotions, pay raises, etc.00 Ratings7.10 Ratings
Organizational charting00 Ratings7.30 Ratings
Organization and location management00 Ratings7.60 Ratings
Compliance data (COBRA, OSHA, etc.)00 Ratings7.30 Ratings
Leave and Attendance Management
Comparison of Leave and Attendance Management features of Product A and Product B
Gusto
-
Ratings
Paycom
7.7
Ratings
4% below category average
Approval workflow00 Ratings7.90 Ratings
Balance details00 Ratings7.50 Ratings
Annual carry-forward and encashment00 Ratings7.80 Ratings
Employee Self Service
Comparison of Employee Self Service features of Product A and Product B
Gusto
-
Ratings
Paycom
8.9
Ratings
10% above category average
View and generate pay and benefit information00 Ratings9.80 Ratings
Update personal information00 Ratings9.60 Ratings
View company policy documentation00 Ratings8.70 Ratings
Employee recognition00 Ratings7.30 Ratings
View job history00 Ratings8.90 Ratings
Asset Management
Comparison of Asset Management features of Product A and Product B
Gusto
-
Ratings
Paycom
4.9
Ratings
49% below category average
Tracking of all physical assets00 Ratings4.90 Ratings
HR Reporting
Comparison of HR Reporting features of Product A and Product B
Gusto
-
Ratings
Paycom
6.7
Ratings
11% below category average
Report builder00 Ratings7.20 Ratings
Pre-built reports00 Ratings7.20 Ratings
Ability to combine HR data with external data00 Ratings5.80 Ratings
Onboarding
Comparison of Onboarding features of Product A and Product B
Gusto
-
Ratings
Paycom
7.8
Ratings
1% below category average
New hire portal00 Ratings8.00 Ratings
Manager tracking tools00 Ratings7.60 Ratings
Performance and Goals
Comparison of Performance and Goals features of Product A and Product B
Gusto
-
Ratings
Paycom
5.5
Ratings
36% below category average
Corporate goal setting00 Ratings4.20 Ratings
Individual goal setting00 Ratings6.90 Ratings
Line-of sight-visibility00 Ratings4.80 Ratings
Performance tracking00 Ratings6.20 Ratings
Performance Management
Comparison of Performance Management features of Product A and Product B
Gusto
-
Ratings
Paycom
7.0
Ratings
11% below category average
Performance plans00 Ratings7.40 Ratings
Performance improvement plans00 Ratings7.10 Ratings
Review status tracking00 Ratings7.50 Ratings
Review reminders00 Ratings7.20 Ratings
Multiple review frequency00 Ratings6.00 Ratings
Succession Planning
Comparison of Succession Planning features of Product A and Product B
Gusto
-
Ratings
Paycom
6.8
Ratings
14% below category average
Create succession plans/pools00 Ratings9.10 Ratings
Candidate ranking00 Ratings6.80 Ratings
Candidate search00 Ratings5.80 Ratings
Candidate development00 Ratings5.40 Ratings
Recruiting / ATS
Comparison of Recruiting / ATS features of Product A and Product B
Gusto
-
Ratings
Paycom
5.7
Ratings
30% below category average
Job Requisition Management00 Ratings5.80 Ratings
Company Website Posting00 Ratings5.30 Ratings
Publish to Social Media00 Ratings4.80 Ratings
Job Search Site Posting00 Ratings5.30 Ratings
Duplicate Candidate Prevention00 Ratings6.30 Ratings
Applicant Tracking00 Ratings5.40 Ratings
Notifications and Alerts00 Ratings7.10 Ratings
Best Alternatives
GustoPaycom
Small Businesses
Dayforce Powerpay
Dayforce Powerpay
Score 9.5 out of 10
Dayforce Powerpay
Dayforce Powerpay
Score 9.5 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Paypro Workforce Management
Paypro Workforce Management
Score 9.7 out of 10
Paypro Workforce Management
Paypro Workforce Management
Score 9.7 out of 10
Enterprises
Infor Human Resources
Infor Human Resources
Score 7.1 out of 10
PeopleStrong
PeopleStrong
Score 9.9 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
GustoPaycom
Likelihood to Recommend
9.2
(0 ratings)
7.9
(0 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
10.0
(0 ratings)
8.9
(0 ratings)
Usability
9.5
(0 ratings)
9.1
(0 ratings)
Availability
-
(0 ratings)
9.1
(0 ratings)
Performance
-
(0 ratings)
9.1
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
1.3
(0 ratings)
9.1
(0 ratings)
In-Person Training
-
(0 ratings)
6.4
(0 ratings)
Online Training
-
(0 ratings)
9.1
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
8.2
(0 ratings)
8.2
(0 ratings)
Configurability
-
(0 ratings)
9.1
(0 ratings)
Ease of integration
-
(0 ratings)
5.5
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
-
(0 ratings)
9.1
(0 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
-
(0 ratings)
9.0
(0 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
-
(0 ratings)
9.0
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
GustoPaycom
Likelihood to Recommend
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.
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It's very mobile friendly, especially for people that aren't tech savvy. We have an aged workforce where we were really concerned about how they would adapt, going from the comfort of using paper to a mobile and online application. But the training was really easy and the adaptation has been simple for us as a company.
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Pros
  • Gusto makes onboarding employees and ensuring their documents are signed very easy.
  • The way you can integrate things like Google Workspace makes both onboarding new employees into the apps you use a breeze, as well as when you need to offboard them.
  • Managing benefits is simple, because they take care of all the heavy lifting. I just have to review the options, make a selection, and they take it from there.
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  • I think that it's just really user friendly on both sides, the employer and the employee side. I think from the employer side, once you get a niche of it and how it works, it's really easy to troubleshoot on your own. At least from my experience, you rarely have to call your contact because it's just so easy to try to figure out on your own. And on the employee side, I feel like the fact that we get to see what employees see, but before we put anything out really helps us help them if they are running into any issues. But typically when we do send something out, we just did our performance reviews, no issues whatsoever. It kind of takes you step by step. I feel like it just does a really good job of seamlessly taking people step by step in every process throughout whatever they're doing in Paycom.
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Cons
  • 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.
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  • We wish that Paycom would offer more hands-on help. A lot of our specialist is great in helping us to resolve whatever issues that we have. However, it's just a list of steps to get there. It's not necessarily like, "hey, here you go, here's the resolution to your problem." So if we don't already understand how to do something, providing steps doesn't necessarily clear that understanding up or provide any clarification.
  • Additionally, I find that for our organization in particular, we have specific niches within it that Paycom doesn't really address or has any solution on how to address it. It just remains unresolved to this day and we continue to have errors in that area.
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Likelihood to Renew
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.
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Because it has everything that we need and as we grow, we are learning how robust Paycom can actually be but we need to be willing to spend the money. It's not expensive but we, as a company, are not used to spending that much on a system for HR and payroll.
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Usability
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.
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The interface is very intuitive, you can navigate it pretty well. Everything's pretty much spelled out and the features just flow really well. They make it easy for you to go back and forth with the UX/UI type of interface. So I think it was built pretty well.
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Reliability and Availability
No answers on this topic
They are very dependable and I have never experience any outages
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Performance
No answers on this topic
Yes, Paycom's performance is excellent, no issues.
Read full review
Support Rating
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.
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Our TSR has been wonderful to work with. Every step of the
way he was quick to respond and answer any questions we had. I knew I could
reach him at any time (day or night) and he would be available to assist.
Implementing a new HRIS system is obviously a huge task and I contribute all
our success to our rep Kurt! Of course, with any implementation, there were
bumps along the way and issues. But I always knew we would work as a team to
get those issues figured out. Working in the Paycom system has been smooth and
easy to learn and I enjoy the employee self-service interface. Our managers
have had positive things to say and are all excited about the changes we have
been able to make to our organization due to Paycom being implemented.
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In-Person Training
No answers on this topic
They were a sales person and not really a good trainer.
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Online Training
No answers on this topic
It was good, but hard to know what questions you need to ask until you actually get in there and start working with a live product. But Paycom is also very helpful every time I call and can't figure something out. Nathan has been very friendly and helpful no matter what I call him about. He is always eager to help out.
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Implementation Rating
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
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Not at all satisfied it was a nightmare we spent over 8 months with the implementation team having issues after issues all related to the Puerto Rico regulations (half my employees are in Puerto Rico) and at the end we were moved over from the implementation team to the production team without all the issues being resolved
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Alternatives Considered
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.
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We really only had Paychecks and that was our biggest problem is that with several different companies, it was very hard If you had a salary employee and didn't terminate them in the prior company, they get paid twice, so this has really been definitely a big help for us.
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Scalability
No answers on this topic
Paycom is very user friendly
Read full review
Return on Investment
  • I am not involved enough to know well, but I would say that Gusto has saved me about 1-2 hours in my onboarding process with my new company compared to my past experiences trying to onboard with ADP. I have also finished the process and am not frustrated like usual.
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  • I would think the most time would come from applicant tracking and I don't think that's a Paycom issue necessarily. I think it was a training issue during implementation. I would say that that has improved now that we had onsite training. But initially the applicant tracking piece can be difficult when you're used to just using an ATS. That's specifically for talent acquisition because there's a lot of nuances that goes into the system that Paycom bills.
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ScreenShots

Gusto Screenshots

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

Paycom Screenshots

Screenshot of a new study that reveals that for a composite organization representative of interviewed clients, unifying HR and payroll in a single-database software with automation and streamlined workflows achieved a three-year 362% ROI and resulted in: $1.4M net present value*; over 45% total time saved by HR; 80% time saved on compliance work.Screenshot of IWant, which is a command-driven AI engine in a single database, for instant access to employee data.Screenshot of Direct Data Exchange®, which takes a detailed pulse of how employees interact with Paycom. It automatically assigns a dollar value of savings based on Ernst & Young research.