Gusto Reviews

“hr compliance made simple”

Pros

As an HR professional with limited (basically no) background in U.S. labor compliance law, it has helped me understand the requirements without making mistakes. The platform also keeps improving, there are constant upgrades and new features, like International Contractor Payroll...and they consistently keep you informed about what's coming next.

Cons

Their reporting features could use some improvement.

“Clean dashboard”

Pros

The biggest thing I appreciate is how simple this software feels to use. The layout is pretty self-explanatory and all the key options are right there on the left side. Everything I need is easily accessible without digging around.

Cons

Nothing really stands out as a drawback for me on it. I even started out as someone who wasn't very tech savvy and getting around my Gusto dashboard has been simple.

“saves time!”

Pros

Self onboarding feature is a standout for me, it lets employees enter all their personal details online so the office administrator doesn't have to collect and input everything. That flow feels a lot more organized and employee-friendly.

Cons

Honestly there's nothing coming to mind. I've really enjoyed using it.

“very smooth tool”

Pros

This software makes onboarding for every employee much more manageable. Employee records are stored securely and can be accessed whenever needed. It also helps you evaluate employee performance easily through the system's built-in features.

Cons

Calculating taxes and handling deductions for each employee is still pretty hard to get right with the software. Also, leave management is limited to the administrator only so noone can handle it directly.

“team management made simpler”

Pros

Managing my team is a lot easier with this.

Cons

I honestly can't point out anything negative.

“regulated employee management”

Pros

It makes it surprisingly simple for a small business to handle employee management in a highly regulated space. From onboarding, to making sure company policies are properly distributed and that we've got receipt confirmations and signature records, it covers the essentials. It also lets us send care packages to a distributed workforce which has made day-to-day coordination feel much more organized for both our admins and employees.

Cons

Even though the interface is fairly simple to navigate, switching between the administrator and employee views can get confusing at times.

“so nice”

Pros

As a small business, it has been a solid choice for handling payroll. The dashboard is pretty simple to navigate and the payroll tools are simple enough to help keep costs down while still covering an essential HR task.

Cons

Wish there were an option to schedule only specific payroll runs for automation.. so our salaried payrolls could run automatically while hourly payroll would still need to be processed manually.

“messy tax corrections”

Pros

The interface is really clean and the account dashboard makes it pretty simple to see what's going on.

Cons

After a few years with it (and even a previous 5-star review from me), I'm coming back with an updated second review because things fell apart. Gusto was fine, right up until a refinance on our house turned into a tax reporting issue, it had incorrectly reported information on our W2s. That mistake triggered a chain reaction of complications that ended up taking weeks to sort out, plus lots of repeated calls to get it corrected. I understand I share some responsibility since I'm the one reviewing the forms but when I attempted to make corrections, the process was extremely difficult, slow and frustrating. I expected at least some level of real expertise when it comes to getting tax forms filed correctly. The support I reached didn't seem to have the depth needed to handle the complexities that come with 5013 organizations. The trouble kept dragging on into this year too... whenever something went wrong, it consistently took far too long to reach someone who could actually resolve the issue. What I experienced felt like classic bureaucratic runaround, multiple layers of hierarchy just to get to a person who knew the situation and had the authority to make changes. Eventually, after several years, I decided to cancel Gusto. If you're running a business or nonprofit and you already know the tax rules, Gusto might work well. If you want a payroll provider that offers excellent, timely customer service and solid guidance to help you stay protected on tax and payroll matters, I'd look elsewhere.

“Good experience”

Pros

Having access to multiple HR-related details without needing to reach out to HR is a big win. Requesting time off is my favorite part, being able to see my available days and manage the request all in one place saves a lot of back-and-forth.

Cons

I don't have any questions or complaints about the features. Everything available to me has been working really well and since I'm not on the HR side, I can't really speak to how it performs there.

“simple to use”

Pros

This tool is pretty simple to use. I'm able to check my pay stub and also look through my pay stub history. When tax time comes around, I can send a PDF of my tax document to my own email so I can handle everything for my taxes. It also lets me update my profile whenever something changes which is handy. Overall, it functions as a simple payroll management tool.

Cons

The reporting features for the average employee aren't very deep or flexible so you can't get as much detail as you might want.

“UI is great”

Pros

User interface and overall design of this product are truly spectacular. Most payroll tools I've tried feel confusing or dated but it stands out by being genuinely adaptive. Using Gusto has been a great experience... almost the opposite of how I've felt with most other payroll platforms.

Cons

A few features still need to be added or fully built out. There's definitely room for it to expand and add more functionality over time.

“Useful reminders”

Pros

Best part is how adaptive it feels. Whenever I need to fill out a form or update something, it's usually already on the radar... there's a notification right on the home screen telling me what I need to handle that week. This has caught me more than once when I would've otherwise missed something and after logging in the platform nudged me to take care of it.

Cons

I get why two-factor identification is necessary but the constant prompts were a bit much. It kept reminding me until I finally complied and now every time I log in I have an extra step of checking my phone which gets mildly annoying.

“helps alot”

Pros

So using it for our small business has been simple and genuinely helpful for day-to-day management. The pricing feels fair for the level of compliance support we actually need. Setup and navigation are really user friendly and it guides you through the compliance steps one by one instead of leaving you to figure things out on your own. Anytime we had a question, customer service was easy to reach and responsive. The auto-generated PPP forgiveness information was a big win as well, it made that part a lot less stressful.

Cons

The payroll schedule we have doesn't line up with any of the available sync options though the payroll feature itself still worked smoothly enough to run payroll.

“affordable”

Pros

This feels like a real all-in-one setup. Benefits and payroll are built together so there's less juggling between systems and that definitely makes things smoother. Also, the pricing is surprisingly affordable which is a big win.

Cons

If there's one upgrade I'd love to see, it would be a dedicated mobile app. Having everything accessible on the go would add a lot of convenience.

“navigation is easy”

Pros

It has been really simple to use for checking my paycheck details, requesting sick days and managing vacation time. It also made open enrollment much easier to work through without a ton of hunting around.

Cons

Would be helpful if they displayed my employee number for my startup and if it showed the date of my next paycheck, our company pays twice a month but the specific dates shift.

“support is a total nightmare”

Pros

The website layout is readable and fairly simple to navigate.

Cons

When something goes wrong.... or if Gusto mishandles something, it turns into a complete nightmare. Getting any real help is basically impossible, calling leads nowhere and support feels like generic, matter-of-fact responses instead of actual troubleshooting or guidance. Since our business is small (we only have 6 staff), we expected payroll issues to be handled by someone but that help just doesn't show up.

“reasonable pricing”

Pros

Reasonably priced plans, a clear payrolling flow and solid tax handling features make it a top pick for smaller businesses. The day-to-day experience is also the most user friendly compared with the other options I reviewed.

Cons

It would be nice if they offered more dashboard customization, like your preferences. When there are lots of alerts, the dashboard can feel a bit crowded and harder to scan quickly.

“quick payroll payments!”

Pros

This is a really solid tool for handling payments, not just for employees but also for contractors. The compliance filing workflow feels simple and the benefit setup is all in one place. I'm also using the integrated time management for hourly employees and it's been working well. Also, the connections to QBO and Expensify make the whole process much smoother.

Cons

Only area that still feels a bit behind is benefit reporting, it needs improvement to be more useful and complete.