Based on 37 verified reviews published in the last 18 months
TrustRadius Community Insights are summaries of user sentiment data from TrustRadius reviews and, when relevant, HG Insights data.
Overview
Synthesised from 37 reviews | Last Published June 10, 2026
Gusto serves as a comprehensive platform for payroll and HR management, primarily addressing challenges related to manual processing, compliance, and administrative efficiency for organizations. In TrustRadius reviews, users value its ability to automate calculations, manage multi-state tax filings, and simplify W-2 and 1099 distribution. Its exceptional payroll processing capabilities, often described as simple and automated, are a dominant strength, cited by 57% of reviewers.
Reviewers also commend its responsive customer support and streamlined new employee onboarding. However, the mobile application experience is a notable point of friction, with 14% of reviewers citing a lack of functionality and ease of use. Additionally, integration capabilities, particularly with accounting software and retirement systems, and reporting tools are areas identified for improvement. Overall, Gusto is seen as a valuable tool for optimizing operational costs and maximizing strategic output through significant time and cost savings.
Pros
Automated and simplified payroll processing, including calculations and tax filings.
Streamlined management of multi-state tax filings and W-2/1099 distribution.
Responsive and helpful customer support for user queries.
Intuitive interface and straightforward navigation for ease of use.
Efficient and streamlined onboarding process for new employees.
Cons
Mobile application lacks key functionalities like document uploads and is harder to use on certain platforms.
Limited or insufficient integrations with specific accounting software (e.g., QuickBooks) and retirement systems.
Reporting tools can be confusing to set up and use, requiring improved clarity.
Healthcare options are not diverse enough in plans and providers.
Payroll features need refinement, such as improved hour tracking for split pay and automated payroll runs.
It tracks my time efficiently. I really value this as a private contractor because I always have to track my hours but Gusto lets me just clock and clock out and then I can write notes after describing my work.
Pros
Clocking in
Tracking time accurately
Providing a notes section
Cons
Communication with your boss
Likelihood to Recommend
I really believe that for businesses that are just starting out and need to establish a payroll, then Gusto is perfect. It might not be that useful for anyone who gets paid a salary or is at a bigger, more well-established firm.
VU
Verified User
Administrator in Research & Development (11-50 employees)
We use Gusto for our payroll, overview of employment benefits and requesting timeoff
Pros
The interface is very clean and organized
Easily accessible throughout different pages
Likelihood to Recommend
It is easy to navigate Gusto to look for the information I need (e.g., payroll, benefits, timeoff) and that is very helpful for me personally with my employment info easily accessble.
Gusto is used for payroll and employee benefits, and it works just fine. Everyone can download their benefits documents from a central location and we don't have to worry about distributing it individually. It's used across the company of over 100 employees and it can be cumbersome to find your own information at that scale, but it does a pretty good job only showing docs that are relevant to oyu.
Pros
Payroll
Insurance
Time Off
Company Documents
Cons
Time off scheduling is cumbersome
Information can be overwhelming
Very dense GUI means visually impaired users have trouble navigating
Likelihood to Recommend
Best for large business ventures, less useful for small businesses. If you can effectively distribute information without it, Gusto will only slow you down. But if you need a large group of people across the world to be able to access information, Gusto can solve that problem for you. It works well for managing pay but is not effective for simple requests where a DM to a manager would work.
VU
Verified User
Employee in Professional Services (201-500 employees)
Gusto is a payroll and benefits provider. We use the system to provide payroll to all our employees and 1099 contractors.
In an ideal world, Gusto makes it easier to ensure payroll and HR compliance by workflowing elements of HR processes such as onboarding and termination. The greatest strength in Gusto is the theoretical integration with a number of other services such as Expensify, Xero and learning management softwares.
Pros
They have the best benefits comparison system of any of the systems I have trialled as we attempted to navigate benefits. (we did not purchase through Gusto)
If all employees and contractors are on direct deposit, payroll is very streamlined.
Gusto is very effective at invoicing the business owner.
Cons
In the scenario of our particular case, client feedback was ignored for months. On several occasions, by the time we received any interaction regarding the client feedback, it was months past, and frankly I have little interest in helping this organisation improve at this point.
By our observation, communications regarding tax errors made by Gusto have taken months to appear. The resolution was faster than communication, however, a communication to affected customers should have been provided as soon as the error was identified.
The "integration" with Xero was weak and perfunctory. I have no way to determine which categories my personnel expenses fall into and we were unimpressed with being forced from Xero to Gusto in the first place.
We did not try any of the other integrations as we had to cancel our Expensify subscription to cover the cost of our Gusto subscription.
Gusto will charge for all employees on the books - regardless of if they take a wage that month or not. Therefore, inactive employees cost quite a bit of money annually. This cost should be taken into account when compared to alternatives.
The "Direct Deposit" authorisation provides Gusto with permission to remove money from employee bank accounts. Frankly, this is not an acceptable risk to employees, however, is standard across the industry. (for example: what if the system is hacked and used to remove money from all employee bank accounts?)
Likelihood to Recommend
If you want the ability to manage your own benefits, have a small team, and appreciate pretty and expensive apps, I think Gusto is probably a good solution.
