Gusto Reviews

Pros

Gusto is easy and straightforward to use. But it doesn’t sacrifice accuracy for ease. What I like most about Gusto is that it makes it easy for small businesses to be legally compliant with complicated wage laws across jurisdictions. I haven’t found a legal error yet — and I can’t say that about any other payroll software or service I’ve worked with over the last 15 years.

Cons

I wish the price didn’t jump up so much for time clock feature. Getting clients to use the integrated time clock can be a challenge, and it creates unnecessary problems. It should be included in the base fee.

Alternatives Considered

QuickBooks Payroll, Paychex Flex, Paylocity and RUN Powered by ADP

Reasons for Choosing Gusto

Gusto is easier to use than RUN and is cheaper. It also has much better support. ADP plays sales games sometimes.

Switched From

RUN Powered by ADP

Reasons for Switching to Gusto

I’ve got experience with all of these payroll companies. I feel that Gusto is the most reliable and easiest to understand and use.

Pros

Wonderful customer service, really responsive and easy to work with.

Cons

We have struggled adjusting to the change in when direct deposit gets settled. Most payroll companies, the banks will release funds to employee's accounts once it clears the employer's account. But with Gusto the funds don't clear the account until it the day employees are to be paid. So, employees who used to receive their checks early due to who they bank with no longer get that, they now have to wait until pay date later in the afternoon before their check is deposited.

Pros

Easy to track payroll, able to be useful with low number of employees

Cons

Not able to support large businesses, help desk doesn't assist.

Pros

The easy-to-use platform can really help us manage and reduce errors with automated payroll for a midsize organization.

Cons

Sometime it takes us more time to figure out exactly how to run the reports.

Pros

How easy and straightforward the system is not complicated and identifying errors so that payroll can be completed

Cons

Very simplistic unfortunately it doesn’t have all the data categories. You’re larger more expensive systems will have however, if you have the time that they worked, and you use a application that integrates it the most bang for your buck.

Alternatives Considered

QuickBooks Time

Reasons for Switching to Gusto

Easy to set up and price effective

Pros

I liked Gusto's easy-to-use UI and extensive payroll management capabilities. Managing HR activities was made simple by its smooth connection with compliance and benefits administration technologies. Both small and growing enterprises found the software's scalability to be advantageous, and the customer assistance was competent and responsive.

Cons

The payroll and HR software Gusto has limitations. Its user interface, which some find complicated and challenging to use, is one frequent problem. Furthermore, there may be irregularities in the customer service, which causes delays in the resolution of problems. For new users, the learning curve can be quite severe.

Pros

Gusto is extremely user friendly,even if you dont have extensive accounting/payroll experience.Payroll processing would sometimes take hours to process but Gusto has allowed us to simplify payroll.I have also found time and vacation tracker very useful.

Cons

Nothing really it is easy to move around the website, Pricing is great and customer support is almost always fantastic and quick.

Pros

Onboarding new employees takes no time at all.With a few clicks Gusto sends the online form to your candidates and alerts you once it is ready for approval.Its like having a full HR team at your fingertips but literally for a fraction of cost.

Cons

As the time grows it can be slightly expensive.

Pros

The support, they always get back to you and be able to provide a solution

Cons

Not a PEO. And repones sometimes can be slow

Pros

They have a decent range of products for a one off treat

Cons

The high pricing structure doesn't make it ideal

Pros

Tracking and requesting PTO is incredibly easy and manageable.

Cons

I don't really have any negative feedback; Gusto has been helpful for everything I've needed it for.

Pros

These guys make me compliant with the evolving landscape of HR and payroll without distracting me from the core functions of my small business. They made on-boarding from my old payroll system easy. They found mistakes I'd made and helped me to correct them so even my tax history was compliant. Their customer service is excellent and I'm incredibly pleased with their Homebase integration. Super clean!

Cons

While the onboarding was much smoother than I anticipated, it was still a bit more cumbersome than described. It's definitely a hands-on process.

Alternatives Considered

OnPay

Reasons for Choosing Gusto

QuickBooks is incredibly cumbersome and I was often left with enormous doubt as to whether what I needed to do was actually done. Their integrations for payment of taxes were difficult and I was still left to the legwork of filing. The amount of time I spent doing HR was eating up my ability to react and get ahead of all the other COVID-19 requirements.

Switched From

QuickBooks Desktop

Reasons for Switching to Gusto

Gusto made their pricing clear and demonstrated their ability to make onboarding as clean and easy as possible.

Pros

We used to do around payroll through a company called pay soft.. or ProPay maybe another name for it. The program was decent a little bit cumbersome and the check stock was extremely expensive. They did their own payroll as a bureau. As a result of having their own proprietary software built they also sold it which was overpriced and in the long run didn't make us money. Just being a recommendation agency essentially and controlling if you ever clients payroll through gusto it's made us more money and they offer way more than ADP or paychecks ever has offered us.

Cons

There's not much I don't like about this software besides maybe the fact that it isn't really a software that you download it's an internet interface so if you're internet somehow becomes unreachable or it's down you can't really print out checks with proper taxes withheld. This is An occurrence few and far between and can always be advanced and then paid back once you can access it again. A desktop GUI that just calls in the website would be a handy tool for owners and accountants to be able to take more effort into their own hands on payroll

Pros

-It's web based
-one login for staff for access to all clients.
-MFA ability for each login
-ability to control which clietns assigned to which login.
- like other payroll engines, it does automatic paymetns (immediately) and automatic filings
- multiple reports available, quarterly/monthly/yearly, etc.
- tracks PTO, SIck, and auto generates if needed,
- great integration with Tsheets for time clock

Cons

There is no ONE consolidated report for all clients on a custom period.

EG, if I wanted a 1st quarter payroll report, with selected clients on each row of the report, and the columns having the headings for say, different data points like "gross payroll, net pay, 401K deferred, 401K roth, IL state tax paid, 941 done?" then that style of report is ONLY available if you pull that report down client by client, NOT for all clients or selected clients as a consolidated report.

Email alerts are not there for specific things, like if a client exceeds a payrol amount or if a large net reimbursement check is done.

There is NO mobile app.

There is NO standard custom 401K year end "Annual census" report which ties in all the data points for a 5500 filing.

Gusto also competes with providers for health insurance and 401K. Financial advisors like me only want Gusto to do the payroll part, not compete with us on the benefits part.

Alternatives Considered

QuickBooks Enterprise, Paychex Flex, Paylocity and RUN Powered by ADP

Reasons for Switching to Gusto

The ability of one login for us as accountants/payroll processors, and to have the dashboard where we have access to all of our clients without the need for multiple logins. The ability to parse out clients for different logins is also key. The security this software offers is better than most. Just need email alerts and the consolidated reports which spans all clients in one report is what's needed, along with a mobile app.

Pros

Onboarding process is easy and easy interface for employees.

Cons

Customer service is absolutely horrible. There's no problem-solving solutions in place. There are many times that I call and hang up to call back once I hear Someone that I know will not be any help to me. I keep calling until I hit the lottery and actually get someone who is invested in helping me resolve issues. There's no care for the actual business owner. This company only cares about their monthly fee and could care less about your issues with their company. They take forever to resolve issues, like a whole week. SO, make sure you don't have any payroll issues during the pay week because your staff will not get paid through this platform.

Pros

There are many products available that handle payroll, benefits, and employee database. My favorite thing about Gusto is that it uses a very human and personal approach to what could very easily be a cold and lifeless system or department.

I love the option to add contractors through he payroll system too.

The gusto customer service team is top notch.

Turbo Tax integration is fantastic

Cons

There’s very little to complain about with Gusto. I do wish it had a more catered option for freelancer one man band type of operations.

Alternatives Considered

FreshBooks and QuickBooks Online

Reasons for Choosing Gusto

Gusto is a product that feels like it’s designed by people who think about people.

Switched From

FreshBooks, QuickBooks Online and Wave

Reasons for Switching to Gusto

Gusto has a personal touch and they’re customer service team is fantastic too

Pros

I use Gusto for my clients as well as for our own company. I find it very user friendly, especially for my tech-phobic clients. I also like their tech support. They are easy to reach by phone, chat or email and the technicians are very patient.

Cons

The import mapping. This is the only reason I wouldn't give 5 stars. When the payroll is simple, the mapping is fine but for more complicated payrolls, the mapping is a nightmare.
Also, that it imports to Xero as a bill. Clients find it really difficult to grasp how to work with this. In their mind payroll has already been "paid" so when they see it show up as an unpaid bill, they get confused or worried that their employees didn't get paid.

Alternatives Considered

RUN Powered by ADP

Reasons for Switching to Gusto

We give the pro's and con's to our clients and let them make their choice. Our company chose Gusto because we use Xero and they are partnered.

Pros

It's like someone was listening to me complain about Quickbooks payroll and ADP (and Tsheets) and made a software just for me. It's so simple - I was using an accountant to run payroll through ADP - Gusto saves so much time I can do it myself.

Cons

The reporting tools aren't super robust.

Alternatives Considered

QuickBooks Payroll

Reasons for Choosing Gusto

ADP is so archaic and the employee experience was too confusing for them. Plus, it has time tracking so I don't have to pay for tsheets anymore.

Switched From

RUN Powered by ADP

Reasons for Switching to Gusto

Great sales and onboarding experience and multiple people referred me to them.

Pros

I love how easy it is for my employees to see their paycheck stubs, get their tax documents, and even do a early cash out option if they need a little extra money before payday. They have recently introduced time tracking, which solved another issue I had with keeping track of everyone's hours in another product.

Cons

I don't have many cons regarding Gusto. So far it has met all my needs flawlessly. The one con I would say is that the insurance process could be a little less confusing.

Alternatives Considered

FreshBooks

Reasons for Switching to Gusto

Gusto has more features regarding paycheck stubs and they are adding new features all the time. Most other products seem to be stagnant.

Pros

It's pretty, modern GUI, and marketing and PR are nice. Lots of VC cash spent on social media and GUI to promote it. Phone support folks are pleasant but limited in what they can help with.

Cons

If problem, then your fault as they say software is designed to be self-serving and thus everything is your fault if does not work. But, if you want to grant restricted stock to people and generate 1099s and edited W-2s , then sorry, there software and support team could not help and there are no fields for me to "self-service" this data into their software. I've been in contact with Gusto since December and trying to get some 1099s and W-2s created and that are due by Jan. 31st. I finally spoke with someone today who said I could email them directions on where and how to enter into W-2s and 1099s, but I was then told that if a person's name was not in their software by Dec. 31st then software cannot create forms, even though there is time to still file. At the same time, I am receiving notices from IRS that 941s were not received, but Gusto software states filed.

Pros

This software is easy to setup and has basic things for businesses. Gusto has a nice user website site that you can do many things very quickly. If you are looking for simple reports and processing than this is good.

Cons

The Absolute worst customer service! If you ever need help with your payroll especially benefits administration good luck getting help. Gusto completely messed up our health insurance plans and signed up our employees with health plans that are not even offered in our state. It took 5 months and threats from our lawyers before they would finally respond from someone that knew what they were doing.

Alternatives Considered

ADP Workforce Now

Reasons for Choosing Gusto

Wanted something that is easier to use.

Switched From

Paychex Flex

Reasons for Switching to Gusto

Gusto seemed to be easier to use than ADP.

Pros

I cannot say enough about how much our company loves this product. If any company tries to sell us a product that claims to do the same things, we turn them down flat! So many companies are "Ala Cart". Not Gusto. We have been using Gusto since 2017 and hope that we can always use them. This is very user friendly, allows self-onboarding by the employee, allows time tracking for hourly employees, time tracking by project, handles your benefit plans, open enrollment, workers compensation insurance payments, payroll, taxes, new employee reports, tax reporting, W-2's, 1099's, payment of contractors both domestic and international (in November 2023, you will be able to pay international employees). Nothing is complicated in any way shape or form. Gusto is so stress free and works with many other programs. We use their partner EasyLlama for training (yes, that is a minimal fee payable to EasyLlama) and that is amazing. I can't say enough about how wonderful this is. If I ask the owners if they want to add a benefit, their first questions is always, "do they work with Gusto"?

Cons

In 8+ years, I have not found a single negative thing with Gusto, even through COVID, they seemed to not miss a beat with their customer service.

Pros

User interface for employees is ok. It looks nice.

Cons

For those searching if Gusto is a good choice...its not...I thought it was...had a few hiccups, nothing major...and then they overdrew my account, cool fixed it quickly, then I switched our benefits to them. They messed up the withdrawl dates, blamed me and then [sensitive content hidden]
clearly stated they made the change), and then took no responsibility for it. Worst than that, then they penalized me bc the change they made overdrew my bank account bc it pulled two months of benefit premiums and then wouldn't change my processing time back. After SEVEN different people "helping" and "responding" to my issue, I switched. While I like their feature set, its not worth the massive headache that comes when any little thing goes wrong- steer clear!!!

Pros

Gusto makes managing employee relations, payroll, and benefits so simple. You truly get a lot of bang for your buck. We're able to manage payroll processing; time/attendance; benefits; onboarding; and salary offers all in place. Their web-based technology has great up-time and is very easy to use. I also like the fact that Gusto does all of your federal and state payroll document filings and return (quarterly and annual). Every form needed to remain in compliance with the feds and state are filed by Gusto on your behalf. That takes the headache away and allows my company to focus on matters that are more critical at this time.

Cons

There is not much I can say here other than their support isn't necessarily a phone call away. That said, they answer emails and tickets super quick. I haven't been much in a pinch to need an immediate response to issues, and their self-service support center is rather extensive.

Alternatives Considered

Paycom

Reasons for Switching to Gusto

Pricing; bang for buck.

Pros

We had thought it was a user friendly platform with a support platform that had actually cared about their customers.

Cons

The Gusto customer support and billing team is very cheap and stingy. They had rather lose our business than refund us a small amount of money that we were overcharged on the platform. Essentially, we had paid for something we didn't use the and the right thing to do for your customers - especially one that knows many other business owners - would be to work with them and not brush them off as nothing.