What is Gusto?
Long gone are the days when the traditional payroll operations provided an effective solution. While the traditional payroll operations may have got the job done in the past, without a modern-day payroll operation organizations are more susceptible to financial folly, or worse, slow to pay their hard-working employees. This is where Gusto comes in.
Gusto, is an online-based full-service payroll, HR and benefits platform designed to help with all of the various payroll, HR and benefits operations that are the foundation of any successful business. And as one of the largest payroll platforms, serving over 200,000 small to midsized businesses nationwide, Gusto has firmly positioned itself as one of today’s most trusted payroll, HR and benefits being used today.
In fact, Gusto has been awarded the Best HR and Payroll Platform by NerdWalley in 2022 and has received 4.8/5 stars from FinImpact as of June 2021. So, where does this payroll platform lineup in our assessment? Let’s dig in and take a look.
Gusto has climbed the ranks as one of today’s most popular payroll platforms, allowing organizations within all fifty states to run payroll for W2 salaried, hourly and 1099 contract workers. This quick assent to become one of today’s most sought-after payroll platforms is most likely due to the ease of use, a feature Gusto is designed around.
To this, Gusto touts the ability to run payroll with just a few clicks, while also automatically filing taxes, helping with compliance and identifying tax credits. What’s not to love, right?
Gusto
What popular features do you get with Gusto?
- Unlimited payroll
- Payroll tax filing
- Automatic tax calculations
- State tax registration
- International contractor payments
- Time tracking synced with payroll
Customer Support is available at Gusto
Gusto offers several methods by which organizations can access their support team. For non-members, Gusto offers a free knowledge base platform known as Gusto Help Center. Here, non-members have access to hundreds of articles designed to help provide guidance with using the Gusto platform.
For organizations that have an active account, there are enhanced support options. For paying organizations, phone-based support and email-based support are both available.
Note that Gusto phone support is accessible Monday-Friday 7 am-6 pm EST.
What kind of business is Gusto ideal for?
Although Gusto is quite comprehensive for organizations of any size, there are some considerations for very small operations and very large operations. For freelances, very small businesses or consultants, some of the features on Gusto may seem over baring. Rather than looking at another solution, it’s our suggestion to simply leverage professional resources when getting onboarded if you don’t have a formal accounting background.
For very large organizations, our suggestion is similar. It’s a large undertaking to onboard a large commercial or enterprise-size organization, so consulting with a professional service provider trained to manage these larger onboarding operations can be very beneficial.
Pros and Cons
- Payroll is very user-friendly
- Simple set up
- Helps with state and federal compliance
- Offers highly customizable and detailed reports
- Cannot post and manage job listings
- Lack of applicant tracking system
- Missing some employee benefits
- Lack of expense management features
People like you also researched
Here are some products we think might be a good fit based on what people like you viewed.
BamboorHR
- Open APIs allow easy integration with other vendors and software
- Seven-day free trial
- Extensive and simple one-click reporting and analytics
- Excellent recruitment and applicant tracking systems
Zenefits
- Integrated platform
- Mobile Accessibility
- Built-in Compliance
- Dozens of integrations
Rippling
- Powerful automation workflows that increase operational efficiency
- Over 500+ integrations make it an easy fit into your technology stack
- Highly customizable
- All-in-one HR platform that’s cloud-based
How much does Gusto cost?
*based on information provided by the vendor. Actual cost may vary.
Gusto is available as a service-based offering where the organization pays month-by-month for the given services. Gusto offers three different categories regarding how the platform can be consumed known as Simple, Plus and Premium. Let’s take a look at each one.
Simple
$40/mo + $6/mo per person
- Full-service single-state payroll including W-2s and 1099s
- Employee profiles and self-service
- Basic hiring and onboarding tools
- Gusto-brokered health insurance administration
- Employee financial benefits
- Payroll and time-off reports
- Custom admin permissions
- Integrations for accounting, time tracking, expense management, and more
- Basic support
Plus
$90/mo + $12/mo per person
- Full-service multi-state payroll including W-2s and 1099s
- Next-day direct deposit
- Advanced hiring and onboarding tools
- PTO management and policies
- Time tracking and project tracking
- Workforce costing and custom reports
- Team management tools
- Full support
Premium
Exclusive Pricing
- HR Resource Center
- Compliance alerts
- Access to certified HR experts
- Full-service payroll migration and account setup
- Health insurance broker integration
- R&D tax credit discount
- Waived fees and exclusive pricing
- Performance reviews
- Employee surveys and insights
- Dedicated support
Final thoughts...
Hopefully, this exploration has provided you with some valuable actionable insight into Gusto. If you’re ready to get started, consider going through Gusto’s intuitive onboarding process. This approachable onboarding will walk you through all the needed steps to get started with Gusto!
