Gusto
Payroll, benefits, and HR platform for small businesses
What it does
Gusto runs payroll and files payroll taxes for small US businesses. You add employees or contractors, tell it what to pay them and when, and Gusto pushes the money and files the paperwork with the IRS and state agencies. It also handles health benefits, 401(k), workers comp, PTO tracking, offer letters, and I-9/W-4 collection. Think of it as the modern replacement for ADP or Paychex, aimed at businesses under 100 people who never want to think about a payroll tax deadline.
Free tier
No
Starts at
$40/mo
Setup
medium
Key features
Integrates with
QuickBooks, Xero, FreshBooks, Clover
Who this fits
- 1 to 50-person US small businesses with actual W-2 employees
- Solo founders paying themselves as an S-Corp employee (needs full payroll, not just contractor)
- Agencies, medspas, home services businesses, restaurants, dental offices - anyone with hourly and salaried staff in a single state
- Any business that hires contractors and pays them regularly (contractor-only plan at $35/mo is a steal)
- Businesses using QuickBooks or Xero that want native sync instead of manual entry
- First-time employers who need onboarding + tax setup handled for them
Who it does NOT fit
- Solo founders with zero employees and no contractors (you do not need payroll yet, wait until you actually hire)
- Multi-state businesses on a tight budget - the moment you hire in state #2, you are forced from Simple ($49) to Plus ($80) and per-employee cost doubles to $12
- Businesses with 100+ employees or complex international payroll (Rippling or Paylocity are better)
- Global-first companies hiring in 5+ countries (Deel is the answer, not Gusto)
- Businesses with heavy union, garnishment, or complex compliance needs (needs Enterprise-grade, likely Paylocity or ADP Workforce Now)
- Anyone already on ADP with less than 6 months left on their contract (wait out the term)
Pricing
Real gotchas
- **Multi-state expansion**: The Plus tier jump doubles per-employee cost. If a client is about to hire in 3-4 states, price it out on Plus before signing up on Simple.
- **50+ employees with complex benefits**: Gusto's health benefits marketplace is fine for basic plans. If the business has a broker running a custom plan structure with multiple carriers, Gusto's admin gets clunky.
- **Rapid international hiring**: Gusto has no path to pay a full-time employee in Canada, UK, Mexico. Deel or Remote is the graduation.
- **Restaurant with heavy tip credit complexity**: Gusto handles it, but the setup is fussy. A tip-heavy 30+ employee restaurant may find Toast Payroll or Restaurant365 fits better.
Integrations that matter
Otto’s take on this tool
> Example: "For your 4-person medspa, Gusto Simple at $49/mo plus $6/employee lands you at about $73/mo. That covers Arizona state payroll, quarterly and annual tax filings, direct deposit, and health benefits admin if you offer them. Your bookkeeper can pull the journals straight into QuickBooks with the native integration, which kills the manual entry you mentioned. Skip Plus until you open a second location outside Arizona."
Affiliate disclosure: if you sign up through the link above, Ottomately may earn a referral commission at no cost to you. We only feature tools we have actually used or vetted through our recommendation engine.Partnership: $100-500 per referral via Impact.
Editor's curated reviews
2,501 reviews across TrustPilot - avg 2/5Curated by Otto from TrustPilot public reviews (fetched 2026-08-31). Recent TrustPilot activity for Gusto is dominated by payroll-delay and support-response complaints; G2 and Capterra typically show higher aggregate scores. Not user-submitted on Ottomately.
“You can't mess around with paying your staff. We submitted everything days ahead of time, but Friday rolls around and none of my baristas got their direct deposits.”
TrustPilot2.0/5“Gusto completely failed our business and our team. The money never arrived. After wasting an hour getting the runaround from their customer support, I was casually told the payroll was delayed until Monday.”
TrustPilot1.0/5“I have called repeatedly simply trying to get one clear answer to the question: WHERE IS MY MONEY? A representative named Mikaela told me I had been calling all morning and then said she would not help me if I keep being a jerk.”
TrustPilot1.0/5“This has been the most unreliable payroll company I've ever worked with. When you reach out for help, you're met with empty promises, and when you follow up, you're often hung up on.”
TrustPilot1.0/5“When payroll issues came up, it was difficult to get timely, useful support. Payroll problems are time-sensitive and affect employees directly, so slow or unclear support creates real operational stress.”
TrustPilot1.0/5“Since then, Gusto has basically become a missing kid on the back of a milk carton. Bigfoot has been spotted more often than Gusto customer support.”
TrustPilot1.0/5
More in Productivity
Not Sure Gusto is Right?
Otto can pick for you.
30 seconds, one form, get a personalized stack with pricing and integration paths.
Get my recommendations