Gusto Reviews

“Decent payroll but Fsa is a nightmare”

Pros

It comes close to being a four-star payroll app. It gets the job done, sends you nice emails letting you know payday is coming and it's really easy to use when it comes to just payroll.

Cons

When they started using elevate to handle Fsa, it turned into a nightmare! This week, a pharmacy transaction was denied because It marked the pharmacy as non-Fsa, which caused so many issues. The pharmacy couldn't undo the transaction and we had to pay out-of-pocket. gusto even asked for a receipt for a denied transaction! Honestly, I'd recommend it for payroll but they need to either drop Fsa or partner with someone who does it right.

“simple and feature-rich”

Pros

I found the platform to be very simple to use. It's more than just a time clock, It tracks hours, PTO, vacation requests, where you're clocking in from and all your tax forms.

Cons

The location tracking wasn't always accurate. sometimes it showed I was next door when I was actually in my office. Not great for someone who needs to keep track of employees.

“a complete tool that saves me time”

Pros

I use it for managing team payroll and what I like is not just one thing but the whole suite of tools that help me save time and stay efficient every day.

Cons

Overall, it's a pleasant tool to use. It helped me set up payroll, time management and integration that fits our needs. There's really nothing wrong with it. It gives a great user experience and does what I need.

“valuable tool but no weekend support”

Pros

It offers great value for money and aligns several business tasks, especially payroll, taxes and onboarding new employees. It truly makes my life easier.

Cons

They're closed on weekends when it comes to customer support. sometimes I wish the built-in reports were a bit different but it's not a big deal. I've learned to make my own work better.

“Promised a smooth migration but delivered frustration”

Pros

I like the smiley face icons and the price. The sales consultation was very simple and it left me feeling confident that the migration process would be smooth.

Cons

Unfortunately, the migration process was frustrating. after we signed up, the sales consultant disappeared. Our first payroll was delayed because our bank didn't support PLaID.

“all-in-one app for smBs”

Pros

It is a fantastic all-in-one payroll platform especially for small businesses. as an employee, it's reassuring to be able to check out upcoming paychecks, paystubs, tax docs and account history all in one handy app. It even has fun features like birthday and anniversary reminders for coworkers.

Cons

It doesn't yet have a direct messaging option for employees to get in touch with the HR team which would be very helpful.

“makes offering benefits surprisingly easy”

Pros

What I liked most about this tool is how it provides such a comprehensive set of tools that make it easy and accessible for small business owners to offer HR services and benefits.

Cons

What I didn't like was the uncertainty around reclaiming agency for tax purposes after discontinuing the service. It was a bit unclear.

“a helpful tool when it decides to work”

Pros

When this tool worked, it worked great. I was really impressed with the variety of reports and customization options available.

Cons

We had the platform go down randomly a few times and the support team wasn't very helpful. For example, when the card on file expired, the system shut down but no one reached out to let us know what was going on. We could've fixed it right away if we knew. also, It lacks some employee communication tools that we found in another platform.

“The easIesT platform”

Pros

as an HR pro who's tested tons of HR and payroll systems, I can confidently say that it is the easiest to use, the quickest to learn and the most interactive. It's hands down the best platform for small teams.

Cons

It has limited features, so I wouldn't recommend it for big companies. It works great for smaller teams, though.

“easy payroll but needs better scheduling”

Pros

It's very easy to sign people up and submit payroll without any confusion about where the money is going.

Cons

I wish the scheduling feature was more flexible, it would make keeping everything organized so much easier.

“amazing for small teams, not for scaling”

Pros

honestly, it was perfect for our startup. It supported everything we needed, payroll, benefits, taxes, while we grew from 5 to 100 employees. Their customer service is amazing. They were always quick to jump on a call to help with last-minute payroll fixes.

Cons

It didn't feel like it could handle us when we hit 100 employees. We'd get stuck on pages that were loading forever because there was too much data to process. The reporting was also lacking compared to other tools.

“excellent time tracking”

Pros

Time tracking is easy with the start/stop function, and I can also manually add time. Plus, I can set a time limit for changes, and any edits are logged by name, which helps keep everything organized. The admin role also allows you to view and edit all time accounts.

Cons

One feature that would be a game-changer is the ability to leave regular feedback directly in the tool. Right now, we have to upload a document to an employee's profile, which feels a bit clunky. Having a dedicated space for it right in the platform would make the process so much smoother.

“great for HR but poor integrations”

Pros

This really helps manage my team and track their tax docs and monthly payments. It's a great tool for keeping HR-related tasks organized.

Cons

It doesn't connect well with other software like QuickBooks. I don't see a lot of practical applications for that.

“strong tax document”

Pros

This app really helps organize team info and the paperwork needed for taxes and monthly payments. I also like how it lets you keep an eye on HR-related tasks without everything turning into scattered documents.

Cons

Doesn't integrate well with other tools, like QuickBooks. There also aren't many other practical applications beyond what it covers for taxes, payments and basic HR tracking.

“easy HR system”

Pros

Really helped me manage my small plumbing business and it's also been useful for financing my campaign.

Cons

That said, the turnaround time on what I invested felt way too long.

“dated interface”

Pros

The interface looks noticeably better than QuickBooks and it even tries to include a hiring module with an online application form.

Cons

Gusto missed one of our paydays, funds were withdrawn but the deposits didn't show up the next day as promised. That delay hit our 45 employees hard and really hurt their trust in the company. After that, hours of back-and-forth with support via both chat and phone still didn't get a workable solution. It also seems like there's no real human support coverage after 7pm CST. Also, the user interface feels dated, the bottom of the page still shows "25 records" as the total so you repeatedly have to manually switch to 50 or 100 just to view the full list. There are also limitations around org setup, for example, you can't assign employees to multiple departments within the same location. Alerts pop up on the home screen and aren't simple to dismiss. Finally, the hiring module doesn't handle an applicant who applies to multiple jobs properly, the system treats each application as a separate applicant record, instead of linking them to one person.

“simple onboarding”

Pros

It tries to keep things simple on its platform without turning payroll and onboarding into a complicated mess. The overall flow feels more organized which makes it easier to get set up and keep payroll running without too much friction.

Cons

That organized approach does come with some limits.. there's not as much customization as you might want so certain processes can feel a bit restricted depending on how your business operates.

“Clean UI”

Pros

Ease of use. It feels really convenient thanks to a clean, simple UI. Navigation is simple and the overall user experience is solid. The mobile app also delivers a very similar experience which makes switching between devices feel consistent.

Cons

UI flow around editing and saving time is the one area that feels a bit off. When you update a time entry while adding a note, pressing "Enter" won't save the change. Instead, hitting "Enter" just closes the window and the update doesn't go through. In most apps, the Enter key typically submits/saves the form so this behavior is a little unexpected.

“simple access to paystubs”

Pros

The platform is genuinely simple to use and I've never run into bugs or errors. Tax documents have always been available when I needed them and I can quickly view all my paystubs in one place.

Cons

There's not much detail shown on the actual paystubs which seems more like a limitation from the company that I worked for rather than the software itself.

“positive experience”

Pros

Lets you dial things in from super simple to really detailed, depending on what your setup needs. In one office I was just using it for basic 1099 contractor info and everything stayed pretty minimal. At another location where I was a W2 employee, the same platform provided a lot more detail, including requiring employees to submit time tracking through it.

Cons

Visuals feel a bit distracting... especially the colored graphics and the animated pig jogging while it slowly spins up. Loading time is also pretty sluggish and mobile compatibility is quite poor.