Gusto Review 2023: Pricing, Features, Pros and Cons

Yes, Gusto allows you to easily enroll in workers’ compensation insurance through its platform through an integration with NEXT Insurance. Gusto’s tech teams regularly test its software to prevent problems and outages and it has an on-site security team ready to take action in case any issues arise. Gusto helps employees automate charitable giving by deducting donations directly from their paychecks and donating to a chosen charity. Gusto comes with a few more perks that make the platform versatile and attractive to companies—and employees—across industries. Lastly, Gusto’s monthly pricing is a turnoff for a lot of companies—and, if it seems like an unnecessary cost for you, it may be.

After payroll submits, Gusto automatically files and sends payroll taxes, so you don’t have to concern yourself with security issues or human error. Gusto neatly organizes all tax forms in one place, including I-9s, W-2s and contractor forms. Turn on the time tracking app in Gusto to let employees and contractors track their hours right on the platform.

Every current service we’ve tested does a good job of simplifying this onerous process, but Gusto Simple stands out for its top-notch features, intuitive design, and excellent support options. Companies that need even more functionality, like built-in time and project tracking and user permission levels, need to upgrade to the more-expensive Complete version, however. For its very friendly, understandable approach to a rather unfriendly process, Gusto once again earns an Editors’ Choice award. Benefits administration is standard on all the payroll websites we’ve reviewed, but some sites excel at it. If your company has existing benefits providers, you can transfer their management to Gusto, which simplifies payroll deductions and eliminates the need to use multiple platforms and support teams. Or you can let Gusto help you choose the best plan for your needs.

What is Gusto good for?

You can access additional information and step-by-step instructions for a variety of topics ranging from initial product setup to accounting and integrations. Gusto features an intuitive interface that even new users will have no trouble navigating. The dashboard displays reminders to complete pending tasks, such as approving time-off requests or completing new employee offer letters. In addition to these forms, Gusto also processes 1099s for any contract employees you may have, as well as both state and local taxes for all employees.

You can offer the same health insurance you offer now with Gusto, or Gusto can act as your broker to find you new options. Gusto is designed with dynamic startups and growing small businesses in mind. Although the Plus plan doesn’t come with priority customer support, you can add on priority support and access to HR experts for an additional $8 per month per person.

Read on for our complete breakdown of what you get at each Gusto pricing tier, and how it compares to competitors. Discover the secrets to IT leadership success with these tips on project management, budgets, and dealing with day-to-day challenges. Another common complaint among users is that Gusto’s integration with QuickBooks can be clunky and time-consuming to set up for optimal use. Employees can get advances on their paychecks through the company’s Cashout program, available in 45 states at this writing. Individuals can request up to 40% of their estimated net wages for the next pay period (maximum $500) and get the cash as soon as the next day—or instantly with a Gusto debit card . Gusto is the brand name for the platform operated by the company ZenPayroll, Inc.

Gusto Add-Ons and Extras

Plus, even though Gusto integrates with QuickBooks, if you already use Intuit accounting and tax software, adding QuickBooks Payroll may be a logical next step. Lisa A. Anthony is a writer on NerdWallet’s small-business team, primarily covering payroll software and payment processing. She has over 20 years of diverse experience in finance, lending and personal taxes. Prior to becoming a writer, Lisa worked as a loan officer, business analyst and freelance marketing consultant. Over the years she has had the opportunity to interact directly with consumers to conduct product research, gather insights and evaluate user experiences. More than just payroll software, Gusto gives you a full set of tools for effectively managing your workforce.

Regardless of your plan level, Gusto also enables you to integrate with many types of third-party accounting, time tracking, expense management, point-of-sale and HR software. Integrations include popular accounting apps like QuickBooks, FreshBooks and Xero. The ability to sync data with Gusto means less time spent on manual entry. An alternative for larger businesses is OnPay, which has a very similar feature set, combining payroll and HR, but a simpler pricing structure. OnPay has a $36/month base fee plus $4/month/user, and you only pay for employees who are paid in any given month. With Gusto, you can set up your payroll to run with just a few clicks; it can even be set to run automatically on the schedule you choose.

You can pay employees on different schedules, and pay runs are unlimited. You can even set up pay schedules by compensation type, employees, and departments. For anything you have to sign, Gusto supports online signatures. Next, you supply any data needed for your state, such as the state unemployment insurance tax. Providing state tax details can be an especially complicated process, so Gusto now walks you through the state registration process and actually completes your registration.

Viewing Payroll With Gusto

Though Gusto has standard benefits offerings, they are exclusive to price tiers and aren’t as expansive as they could be. For example, some customer reviews complain that customer support isn’t accessible during the weekend. Additionally, customizable benefit options give employers more opportunities to individualize perks for their workers.

The Plus plan costs $60 a month, with each employee costing an additional $9. Finally, the Premium plan operates on a custom pricing model and is determined on a case-by-case basis. Businesses using Gusto’s Plus plan also benefit from their full customer support services, including access to extended live support hours.

Gusto: Final verdict

You can notes receivable a salary or hourly wage in an employee’s profile and set up payroll on autopilot to let Gusto run payroll for you automatically on the schedule you set. Gusto enables small businesses to easily manage payroll and human resources needs in one platform. We believe everyone should be able to make financial decisions with confidence. If you want to speak to Gusto sales, their website lists a number. But to get access to Gusto support, you need to be signed in to your account.

The admin mobile site opens to your Dashboard, and a link opens the site’s menu, which is exactly the same as on the desktop. Sometimes you have to scroll right and left on either to see content that appears horizontally on the desktop—or you can just turn the phone sideways to see more. Depending on whether you use the employee or admin version, you’ll have to do some maneuvering to see all the data on content-heavy screens like reports and pay stubs. Payroll is no one’s favorite accounting task, and anything you can do to make the user experience more pleasant is welcome.

Employee App: Gusto Wallet

The platform even includes extras, such as automated charitable donations and a wallet that helps employees have more control over how and when to use their money. We evaluated Gusto’s platform to help you decide if it’s right for your business. Gusto offers three plans — Simple, Plus, and Premium, — with a monthly per-person fee assessed, along with a standard monthly fee. There is also a Contractor-Only plan for small businesses that need to pay contractors but have no W-2 employees. When analyzing price, ADP comes out on top with the Essential plan pricing, with a $29 startup fee and $5 per employee.

• Compensation may impact the order of which offers appear on page, but our editorial opinions and ratings are not influenced by compensation.
• Has a user-friendly interface with simple step-by-step tools and checklists.
• The Personal screen contains data like social security number, birthday, address, and emergency contact.
• Firstly, while Gusto doesn’t offer a free plan, you can schedule a free demo with Gusto by contacting them through their website.

Gusto takes care of calculating and filing payroll taxes for you and your employees, and it keeps a record of pay stubs accessible to employees through their online profiles. Employees also get an email each payday letting them know their money’s coming in. NerdWallet strives to keep its information accurate and up to date. This information may be different than what you see when you visit a financial institution, service provider or specific product’s site. All financial products, shopping products and services are presented without warranty.

Gusto is designed with the end user in mind and is a great payroll solution for those charged with handling payroll for the first time. Gusto is also great for business owners who don’t have a lot of time to spend on payroll but still want access to a long list of features. Along with accessing their personal contact information, your employees can sign into their accounts to view digital pay stubs. This allows them to complete the onboarding process themselves, which includes completing contact information and filling out a W-4 and direct deposit details. Designed for those initially overwhelmed by the thought of preparing payroll, Gusto offers a variety of tools and resources designed with small businesses in mind.

Gusto’s monthly pricing structure makes it less cost-effective than some of its competitors.PopularityExcellent. Gusto boasts high ratings on review aggregator sites and is a respected brand name.Ease of UseExcellent. Gusto offers a good mix of features and has built a strong, positive reputation amongst HR professionals across industries. Our ratings take into account a product’s cost, features, ease of use, customer service and other category-specific attributes.

Taxes are calculated, filed and paid to federal, state and local agencies at no additional cost. Many or all of the products featured here are from our partners who compensate us. This influences which products we write about and where and how the product appears on a page. While Gusto is great for small businesses, it may not be as cost-effective for larger ones.

• With the help of this worksheet from TechRepublic Premium, you’ll be able to calculate …
• Without these types of solutions, your staff would struggle to remain as productive as needed.
• Gusto takes care of calculating and filing payroll taxes for you and your employees, and it keeps a record of pay stubs accessible to employees through their online profiles.
• It’s hard to imagine actually running a payroll on a phone as small as an iPhone SE, but it can be done.
• Gusto has its own performance review tool, but it’s not included in Gusto Simple.

At face value for each plan, you can add an employee to your payroll for $6 per employee on the Simple level, or $9 on the Plus level. Firstly, while Gusto doesn’t offer a free plan, you can schedule a free demo with Gusto by contacting them through their website. Secondly, Gusto used to have a tier below the Core plan, known as the Basic plan. This has been discontinued however, so if you see this elsewhere, know that you won’t be able to enroll in this. PURPOSE Some of the most important tools in business are used for collaboration.

You can also revisit some of the data presented on the previous page, including the Payroll Journal Report, or cancel the payroll. Payroll websites require a lot of information in a small space, the rows that contain the actual payroll data. Most sites limit the type of data that are contained in each column, so you sometimes have to scroll sideways. Gusto deals with the problem by putting multiple types of data in each column. Data labels are written out completely when you first open the screen, but they turn to initials once you enter a number. For example, Bonus becomes B and Additional Earnings, AE. You get used to it, but it’s an unusual way to handle the space problem and can be confusing.