Gusto Reviews

“Great Product at a Minimal Cost

Pros

Gusto simplifies payroll onboarding and tax management remarkably well. Its efficient and running payroll takes just minutes.

Cons

There are a few aspects of Gusto that I find unsatisfactory: glitches accountability and slow response times from their support team. The system frequently experiences glitches requiring reboots. Weve had issues with Gusto mishandling our taxes resulting in late fees which was quite frustrating. Their support ticket response time can stretch to several days which is problematic for urgent matters.

“Love the weekly options

Pros

While the routine tasks can become mundane Gusto adds excitement to the process.

Cons

Deliveries sometimes get stacked causing items inside to be squashed.

“Payroll solutions review

Pros

Gustos easy deployment for HR tasks like hiring and payment along with its user-friendly interface minimizes the need for extensive training.

Cons

As its a new system for us transitioning always comes with minor hiccups. It occasionally lags with heavy input but its performance seems to improve with increased usage.

“Gusto is so Slow when moving Funds

Pros

The accounting and monitoring features are satisfactory.

Cons

The fund transfer process is disappointingly slow. Improvement is needed in this aspect.

“Gusto Lead in HR and payroll software

Pros

I appreciate the platforms efficiency and responsiveness. Errors are minimal and their prompt support is commendable.

Cons

I have yet to come across ANY ISSUES WITH GUSTO; it seems highly unlikely.

“Great - as long as you never make a change

Pros

Dealing with Gusto was the most painful professional experience in years. Despite its potential a hiccup left my employees unpaid for two weeks requiring multiple contacts with no resolution.

Cons

Lack of escalation capability. While Gusto seems great in theory we faced an issue where my employees werent paid due to a hiccup. It took contacting five representatives over two weeks to resolve.

“Perfect payroll, frustrating tax problems

Pros

I've found payroll incredibly easy, just a handful of clicks and everything is taken care of, including taxes and year-end paperwork. Exporting to QuickBooks is flawless and integration never causes any trouble. Their support walked us through setup without hiccups, and we've been running biweekly payroll for years with zero errors. It removes a major stress because it reliably gets handled correctly every time.

Cons

One persistent problem I've experienced is that tax issues can linger for months without any meaningful resolution. The platform includes a lot of tax credit choices, but it fails to flag when some credits might overlap or cancel each other out, so I end up worrying about unintended consequences. On several occasions the support staff essentially shrugged and told me to contact the IRS myself which felt like being passed off. The instance that really infuriated me was when they submitted an amended 941X on my behalf without notifying me first . that decision caused a huge mess that could have been avoided if they'd just checked in. They've also changed the workflow so I can't immediately view contractor payment PDFs after submitting them, now I have to dig through Reports, then Payroll History, then Contractor Payments to download what I need, which is far more annoying and time-consuming than the old process.

“smart choice for small businesses

Pros

As a small business owner, finding an HR platform that offered customizable services felt nearly impossible until we found this one. Most other options were far too convoluted and never matched what we actually needed. After scanning user reviews, we gave it a shot and it turned out to be the smartest move we've made! What sold us were the Auto-Pilot Payroll, the automated tax filing, and the built-in compliance help. This system has really aligned our operations and I would happily recommend it to any small business looking for a dependable, all-in-one HR solution.

Cons

I genuinely can't find a single drawback to mention about this product.

“User-friendly

Pros

It's built as a full-featured payroll solution that suits companies with up to 500 employees. Getting everything set up was simple and adding new team members into the system is easy. The multi-state registration tool is especially helpful because it simplifies the often-confusing task of opening accounts across different states, removing a lot of the usual red tape. One standout feature for me is how the platform partners with insurance and retirement plan providers that connection is a real advantage for smaller businesses that might not otherwise have access to those offerings. I process payroll here regularly and runs are consistently smooth, the timekeeping functionality is dependable too. Integration with QuickBooks Online works without a hitch since that's what we use for accounting, and I haven't experienced any sync problems. The interface is clean and navigation makes routine tasks quick to complete. Their customer service deserves a mention as well, I typically request a callback and someone gets back to me within a couple of minutes to help with whatever issue I'm dealing with.

Cons

I find entering historical payroll data to be pretty cumbersome and there's no way for me to correct mistakes after I've submitted them into the system. If I screw something up, I'm forced to contact support and then sit and wait for their team to make the fix which is frustrating, time-consuming, and disrupts my workflow.

“awesome tool with helpful support

Pros

For me, the interface feels very clean and easy to move around. I've found their customer support team to be very helpful, especially whenever I've had questions about tax calculations or how to configure benefits. Getting new clients set up is simple and the integrations with third-party applications connect without any issues.

Cons

I'd love to be able to create automatic monthly recurring reimbursements, that feature would save a lot of time. Reporting has gotten better but I'm still hoping for more customization and export choices. It would help to see the documents that were uploaded with support tickets alongside the ticket outcomes. Because we handle several clients, being able to link client names to specific tickets or emails would be useful. Finally, entering time and other payroll details could be faster and smoother during payroll runs.

“top solution with great reminders

Pros

Honestly I found the interface very friendly and I barely needed any formal training to feel at ease using it. The thing that truly shines for me is the G-Cal add-on, which automatically imports everyone's birthdays and work anniversaries, so it's much simpler to keep up with the team and send timely congratulations.

Cons

Finding information about benefits and my total compensation required me to click through a few extra screens. The layout for those sections could be more interactive, although I do find it manageable once I've spent some time navigating it.

“Great payroll and HR solution

Pros

Managing multiple contractors used to be a headache but this platform has made it incredibly easy. There's virtually no administrative stuff left for me to deal with because they take care of all the paperwork, tax forms, and legal documents that need to go out to contractors. Everything is handled and paid on schedule, so I don't lose sleep over it. My contractors seem satisfied too, I've never gotten any complaints. Honestly I recommend this to every business owner I meet, it's that reliable.

Cons

The only real drawback I can point to is the price, I wouldn't mind if it were free but then again I get that a free product wouldn't make sense because the company needs a business model to keep the service running.

“Excellent support & business value

Pros

Running payroll and managing employee benefits has become incredibly simple with it and the interface is really interactive and easy to use.

Cons

Honestly, there aren't many negatives I can think of. A couple times I couldn't locate specific info, but support always helped me track it down when I called. The only real issue was figuring out how benefits worked for new employees, doing everything online instead of talking to someone face-to-face made it a bit confusing at first.

“good choice for nonprofits

Pros

As treasurer for our small non-profit railroad museum, It has honestly been a lifesaver for me. We have a mix of full-time employees and seasonal part-timers, and it takes care of the entire onboarding flow with no hiccups even automatically submitting new-hire reports to the state. Getting payroll set up was surprisingly simple and I can fly through our biweekly payroll runs without breaking a sweat. Every January the W-2s are generated and mailed out right on schedule, which is one less thing for me to worry about. What really wins me over is how the system tracks legal and regulatory changes . for instance, Illinois' new earned time off rules and updates to retirement enrollment . so I'm not constantly chasing compliance updates. During our Workers' Comp audit a quick query pulled every piece of data I needed, which was a huge time saver. It reliably keeps us compliant with withholding rules and manages quarterly filings with both state and federal agencies. On the rare occasions I've needed human help, their support has been quick and helpful. Honestly the service is so solid that I routinely turn down calls from other payroll vendors.

Cons

The website layout can be a little confusing at times and I've been thrown off a couple of times, but when that happens I can always reach out to their support team and they walk me through it.

“best partner for modern business

Pros

As a Gusto partner, I have access to a platform that keeps evolving thanks to committed developers and well-informed tax professionals. The support team really understands local payroll taxes and the tricky labor issues US employers face on a regular basis. This company has essentially transformed payroll automation and raised the industry standard, forcing competitors to play catch-up. What I find most notable is how it caters to small businesses, which account for roughly 44% of the economy. These employers need payroll solutions that are affordable and easy to use. Since payroll is often a company's largest expense and investment, picking the right system matters immensely. Too many small business owners don't fully appreciate how essential accurate payroll and employee data management are. While automation is a major draw, it also emphasizes data security, offering features like two-step verification. The team put together something that's both simple and transparent. I frequently recommend it to small business owners who need to see how paychecks connect with benefits, HR policies and compliance. The dashboard makes those connections clear, unlike other services that seem to obscure what's happening behind the scenes. The insights feel intelligently designed, nearly psychological in their approach. Tools such as performance surveys, onboarding checklists, offer letters with embedded legal language and compensation analytics all seem deliberately thought out. The payroll estimator for partners is especially useful. QuickBooks integration is included at no extra cost and saves a huge amount of time. Onboarding flows are smoother because employees enter their own information which cuts down on mistakes caused by manual entry or illegible handwriting. Reporting is easy to use, and setting up time tracking for sick leave, holidays and multiple pay rates across roles is surprisingly simple.

Cons

I've noticed a frustrating aspect of the onboarding experience: there's a heavy-handed sales push for Gusto Wallet and savings products that confuses employees. Many of them assume their employer is endorsing or requiring these financial services as part of the hiring process, when in reality it's a separate sales tactic. This should be handled outside of onboarding so employees don't feel pressured or believe it's a condition of employment.

“Works well but pricing bait

Pros

Everything runs really smoothly and I'm genuinely impressed by how reliable it is and by the dependable support team backing it. Installing the system was simple, although, like with many payroll platforms, getting started at the beginning of the year makes the process much less painful. The available features meet my needs and perform reliably.

Cons

My main disappointment came when they implemented a pricing change halfway through the year that drove my monthly bill up quite a bit. They shifted the single feature I relied on into a more expensive tier, which really hurt. I don't object to paying extra when the value is clear but this move felt like a bait-and-switch and wiped out the cost benefit that convinced me to sign up in the first place.

“supportive design

Pros

As someone who started my first small business, I have to say the interface is gorgeous and makes the whole experience enjoyable. The layout is very interactive, so I never felt lost or overwhelmed while using it. It really took a lot of the intimidation out of building and running my company and actually made it fun. Their customer service is outstanding, truly incredible and I honestly can't imagine running my business for the past six years without their steady support. They always go above and beyond whenever I need assistance.

Cons

Setting up the new CalSavers retirement program ended up being a bit of a headache for me because I discovered the platform hasn't partnered with them yet. That missing connection made the process more complicated and more time-consuming than it needed to be for my small business.

“Missing Key Payroll Features

Pros

For our workflow, having recurring reimbursements set up has been a real time-saver and convenient. Support staff are generally friendly and seem well-informed, although lately I've been hearing "No, Gusto can't do that" more frequently than I'd prefer.

Cons

I'm honestly annoyed that a payroll provider based in California doesn't offer CalSavers integration. it makes me suspicious they're steering clients toward other retirement options, maybe because they get incentives. Our performers have to log different hourly rates for rehearsals versus live shows, yet the platform forces us to set those up as separate job entries and only lets timekeeping happen on one of them. Trying to extract even basic reports is a nightmare: I can't generate a simple export that includes employee Social Security numbers and contact details, so every time we run payroll I end up manually entering SSN information for CalSavers enrollment. The fee model, roughly eighty dollars a month plus twelve dollars per person, pushes us into a cycle of terminating and rehiring artists during slow stretches because keeping them on the books gets prohibitively costly. All of this piles up into a huge administrative burden for our small team.

“easy but always broken

Pros

At this point I haven't come across any standout features that truly wow me.

Cons

I've run into endless obstacles when trying to accomplish simple tasks. For three days now, expense processing has been totally unusable and keeps spitting out "error communicating with server" even though other parts of the app are working fine. The tax configuration was miserable as well. I couldn't edit the workers' comp risk class code for one state, which resulted in me spending hours on hold with several different representatives. One rep told me to email the tax team, they finally replied after more than a week, despite their earlier warnings about possibly blocking our payroll. If you don't want to spend multiple hours each week troubleshooting with support, I'd recommend looking for an alternative.

“simple but can't get help

Pros

I really appreciate how interactive the interface is, finding reports is simple and adjusting withholdings couldn't be simpler. It handles IRS and state agency payments automatically which saves me tons of time since I don't have to deal with manual submissions. Overall, it's been a reliable payroll solution that I'd definitely recommend to others.

Cons

The pricing has increased and getting actual human support when you need help with complicated issues can be challenging. My state has really complex business tax filing requirements and I'd prefer speaking with someone who can answer my questions but that's often difficult to arrange.