Gusto payroll review 2024: Cost, plans, features and more

Gusto payroll software review

Pricing and plans

Our experts have analyzed Gusto’s plans and the features that come with them to determine how cost-effective they are. Gusto offers three core pricing plans — Simple, Plus and Premium — as well as a contractor-only option for slightly less than its Simple plan. Gusto’s Premium plan offers exclusive pricing, requiring you to talk to its sales team for a quote. Here’s a breakdown of what’s included on each plan.

While Gusto’s software is impressive, many of its more useful features are hidden behind its Plus and Premium plans, which are relatively expensive compared to other payroll providers on our best payroll software list. Businesses looking to grow and exceed the 1000-employee mark might find the per-person pricing structure less economical. However, we would recommend Gusto’s Simple plan for startups and small single-state businesses with limited need for full HR services, as it offers a strong starter suite of features for a reasonable price.

However, if you need a more powerful payroll and HR solution to handle your company’s growth, Rippling might be better for you. You’ll need to get a quote to learn pricing details, so it lacks Gusto’s transparency, but you’ll be able to build your plan to your exact needs to get a more customized experience.

On the other side of the scale, if you’re looking to maximize the capabilities of your payroll software without the need for extra HR features, we’d recommend Patriot to keep your costs low. It’s an excellent choice for businesses on a budget, offering a full-service payroll for $37 per month plus $4 per employee.

Features and add-ons

Gusto’s pricing plans have the advantage of flexibility, so if you only need a limited set of features, it offers an affordable first-tier plan. Unfortunately, some of the more powerful features are within its expensive plans. Here’s a detailed look at what payroll features you’ll get with each plan.

Gusto also offers a host of other features in its plans, including:

Hiring and onboarding 

With Gusto’s hiring and onboarding capabilities you’ll get the following in all plans:

• Automated state-required new hire reporting.
• Employee self-onboarding tools.
• Digital copies of I-9s and W-4s.
• Offer letter templates, customizable offer letters and e-signature tools.
• Onboarding checklist with payroll, benefits and more.
• Compliant background checks through Gusto’s partner Checkr, with an additional fee per check.
• Document storage within Gusto.
• Provision and deprovision of employee access to emails.

If you purchase the Plus or Premium plan, you’ll also get access to public job postings, applicant tracking and provision and deprovision of employee access to software.

Employee benefits 

Gusto also provides employee benefits administration tools and capabilities, including:

• Health insurance administration brokered by Gusto, including medical, dental and vision. 
• Spending and savings accounts for employees, with debit cards available and savings goals. 
• Direct deposit two days early with Gusto spending accounts.
• Integration of existing health insurance brokers and plans if eligible (only available in Premium plan).
• Integration options.

Insights and reporting

Gusto provides various levels of insights and reporting. For example:

• You can create payroll reports with data on benefits, W-2 and 1099 employees, local, state, federal taxes and more.
• You can create time-off reports by date, department and employee.
• Plus and Premium members can create workforce cost reports and anonymous employee surveys.

Team management 

You can also access several team management tools and features, including:

• Remote team management with virtual onboarding, team building activities and more.
• Virtual welcome cards and birthday cards.
• Work delegation tools providing the ability to limit access to specific tasks for custom admin accounts.
• Employee directories (Plus and Premium members only).
• Organizational charts (Plus and Premium members only).
• Performance reviews (Plus and Premium members only).

Support

Gusto offers the following customer support features:

• Extended support hours via phone, email or live chat.
• 24/7 access to an online help center.
• Access to licensed advisors for benefits like health insurance.
• Compliance assistance with HIPAA, ERISA, and ACA regulations.
• Premium member access to priority support, federal and state compliance alerts, certified HR experts and an HR resource center.
• Plus member access to advanced support options via paid add-ons.
• Premium member access to a dedicated customer success manager.

Add-ons

Gusto offers several extra features as add-ons, including:

• Payments to international contractors in over 120 countries.
• Automated filing for payroll taxes in a new state.
• Up to $250,000’ savings in R&D tax credits.
• Health insurance, including medical, dental and vision.
• Integration of existing brokers and eligible plans into Gusto at $6 per month per employee.
• Workers comp and life and disability insurance.
• 401(k) retirement savings synced with payroll (prices vary by integration). 
• 529 college savings powered by Gradvisor for $6 per person per month ($18 per month minimum).
• Pre-tax HSAs at $2.50 per month per participating employee.
• Pre-tax FSAs, including dependent care, at $4 per month per participating employee ($20 per month minimum).
• Pre-tax spending accounts for the cost of commuting at $4 per month per participating employee ($20 per month minimum).

Mobile app

Gusto offers a mobile wallet app for employees with these useful features:

• Employees can receive their paychecks into a spending account, with automated savings features and goals.
• Employees also get a debit card with their spending account.
• Employees can set up direct deposits and get paid up to two days faster.

Gusto offers all the features you’d want from a strong payroll software provider. However, many of the most important and powerful capabilities are behind higher subscription paywalls. This is unfortunate: Gusto’s showing is quite strong, but a company within the size range to most benefit from all these features might find the price-per-employee relatively steep.

Customer support and experience

Gusto’s customer support team is available for customers by phone, email or chat. Its phone lines are open Monday to Friday from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Mountain Time. However, Premium members can skip the phone and email support queue with priority access, and Plus members can pay for priority access as an add-on.

Gusto also provides a help and support center on its website, with extensive coverage on all topics for employers and administrators, employees and managers, contractors and accountant partners. There is a handy search function you can use to look for answers to specific questions.

If you aren’t a Gusto customer, you can contact its team for help during the same hours or send an email via the form on its website. However, you won’t have access to live chat support. The absence of 24/7 support also isn’t ideal, even for Premium members with priority access.

To get a better understanding of customers’ experiences with Gusto, it’s useful to look at reviews and ratings left on user review platforms like Trustpilot, Capterra and G2.

Gusto’s reviews on G2 and Capterra are very good, with plenty of positive feedback about the simplicity of its payroll software and accuracy when it comes to compliance and tax filing management. There are multiple references to its intuitive interface and automation, as well as the overall efficiency of running a payroll. 

However, there are also a few negative comments, some focusing on lack of flexibility and customization, the long haul of data entry to set up the software and Gusto’s high price jumps for certain premium features.

Gusto’s score on Trustpilot is substantially lower, with just under a fifth of all ratings being one star. It doesn’t reply to negative reviews, either. While users praise the software’s easy-to-use interface, automation features and efficiency, some criticize Gusto’s customer support and occasional account errors. 

Using Gusto: A self-guided demo

We had the chance to try out Gusto’s self-guided demo. Something that stood out straight away was the very sleek and straightforward homepage, with a central tasks menu that lets you prioritize by due date.

We found running payroll to be simple, with easy instructions to guide you through the process:

1. The first screen lets you note important deadlines to ensure users make payroll on time. You’ll be able to search employees, edit hours, adjust reimbursements, select payment types, add notes and more.
2. The next screen allows you to make changes to PTO, sick leave and additional time off.
3. The final screen gives you an overview for the total payroll for any specified period, as well as the amount and date debited and the date the employee is paid.

Gusto vs. the competition

Let’s see how Gusto’s range of features compares to some of the best payroll providers on the market:

If you’re wondering whether Gusto’s plan is best for you, it might be helpful to see our top alternative recommendations based on features you may find useful:

• For stripped-back payroll software: If you’re only in need of payroll software to help manage a small business, or are a startup and don’t yet need any complex features, we would recommend Payroll4Free. True to its name, you’ll get access to all of its basic features, including the ability to pay employees and contractors via paper checks and direct deposits, time tracking and more for free if you pay 25 or fewer employees.
• For a full range of payroll and HR features on a budget: If you’re scaling up and considering Gusto’s Plus plan, you’ll get a similar range of features at a lower price (including multi-location payroll, multiple pay rates, time and attendance, HR and more) with Patriot.
• For a more complete suite of payroll, HR and accounting features: Rippling is our top pick out of all payroll providers, offering a truly global suite of features for managing your business. You can build your own package and get a customized quote. It’s perfect for ambitious businesses looking to expand their capabilities and reach.

Is Gusto right for your business?

Gusto is a good choice for your business if you want to take advantage of its sheer simplicity and automation features. It makes payroll as straightforward as it can be, although it does charge a relatively steep price for doing so. As such, we’d recommend Gusto for small, single-state businesses that can benefit from its Simple plan. 

Additionally, in its effort to ensure simplicity and cost-effectiveness for its users, Gusto is moving towards implementing AI in its products. This promises to be a useful venture that would benefit users looking to automate as much of its payroll processes as possible.

“What we’re trying to do is look at ways to apply AI that will be meaningful to small businesses, focusing on those resources that business owners lack the most, which are time and money,” said Jeremy Welland, Gusto’s Head of Data. “Our premise is that if we can build solutions with AI that save our customers one or both, then we’ll continue to lead the pack with Gusto being the people platform of choice.”

For larger companies needing strictly payroll processing without a steep price, consider Patriot. Its plans start at $17 per month per user plus $4 per employee and include unlimited payroll runs for unlimited employees, free setup, four and two-day direct deposit options and excellent customer support.

Frequently asked questions (FAQs)

Does Gusto offer a free trial?

Gusto does not offer a free trial for its employee payroll plans, though it does offer a free trial for its base contractor-only plan, which lasts for six months. In addition, it offers a free demo that lets you see how the software works. You’ll need to give your name, work email, company name, number of employees, company phone number, and the industry you’re in to gain access.

If you prefer to try before you buy with a free trial, you may be interested in:

• Roll by ADP, which offers a three-month trial.
• Homebase, which offers a 14-day trial of its All-in-One software.
• Workful, which offers a one-month trial.

Does Gusto offer direct deposit?

Gusto offers direct deposits in up to two or four days for all customers, as well as next-day direct deposits for Plus and Premium customers.

Does Gusto offer automated tax filing?

Gusto offers automated tax filing and payments in all of its plans.

Does Gusto offer time tracking?

Gusto offers time tracking and project tracking with its Plus and Premium plans, but not in its Simple plan.

Does Gusto have a mobile app?

Gusto offers a mobile wallet app for employees, but no app for employers and managers.

Does Gusto support integrations?

Gusto supports integrations with almost 200 third-party software providers, including:

• Accounting software such as QuickBooks Desktop and Online, Xero, Sage Accounting, Ignition, Freshbooks and more.
• Hiring and onboarding software like Breezy HR, JazzHR, Greenhouse and more.
• Legal and compliance software like Secureframe, Vanta, Drata and its own Gusto Checkr software.