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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Gusto

    Score8.9 out of 10
    N/AGusto offers payroll, benefits and compliance capabilities. Gusto is scaled for small to mid-sized businesses, and emphasizes an easy to use interface.

    $49

    per month

    Middesk

    Score8.9 out of 10
    N/AMiddesk is a business intelligence (BI) software used to onboarded clients working in three primary verticals — Fintech, Credit Reporting, and Business Marketplaces.

    $1,000

    per month

    Pricing
    GustoMiddesk
    Editions & Modules
    Simple: A streamlined set of automatic payroll features and benefits integrations
    $49/month + $6/mo per person
    per month
    Plus: Comprehensive payroll, benefits, and HR tools for employers building a great place to work
    $80/month + $12/mo per person
    per month
    Premium: Scalable payroll and benefits, expert HR, and dedicated support for the complex needs of growing teams
    $180/month + $22/mo per person
    per month
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    GustoMiddesk
    Free Trial
    YesNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoYes
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    YesNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional DetailsGusto offers three pricing plans for payroll, benefits, and HR.Users may also pay per use if they are expecting a lower volume of usage.
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    GustoMiddesk
    Considered Both Products
    Gusto
    No answer on this topic
    Middesk Inc.
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    92%
    Would buy again
    563 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Delivers good value for the price
    93%
    Delivers good value for the price
    464 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Happy with the feature set
    95%
    Happy with the feature set
    576 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    91%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    316 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation went as expected
    94%
    Implementation went as expected
    376 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Features
    GustoMiddesk
    Payroll Management
    Comparison of Payroll Management features of Gusto and Middesk
    Feature
    Gusto
    9.1
    611 Ratings
    9% above category average
    Middesk
    -
    Ratings
    Pay calculation9.5587 Ratings00 Ratings
    Support for external payroll vendors8.58 Ratings00 Ratings
    Benefit plan administration8.7417 Ratings00 Ratings
    Direct deposit files9.7592 Ratings00 Ratings
    Salary revision and increment management9.0462 Ratings00 Ratings
    Reimbursement management9.0196 Ratings00 Ratings
    BI Standard Reporting
    Comparison of BI Standard Reporting features of Gusto and Middesk
    Feature
    Gusto
    -
    Ratings
    Middesk
    7.7
    1 Ratings
    6% below category average
    Pixel Perfect reports00 Ratings8.01 Ratings
    Customizable dashboards00 Ratings7.01 Ratings
    Report Formatting Templates00 Ratings8.01 Ratings
    Ad-hoc Reporting
    Comparison of Ad-hoc Reporting features of Gusto and Middesk
    Feature
    Gusto
    -
    Ratings
    Middesk
    8.0
    1 Ratings
    0% below category average
    Drill-down analysis00 Ratings8.01 Ratings
    Formatting capabilities00 Ratings8.01 Ratings
    Integration with R or other statistical packages00 Ratings8.01 Ratings
    Report sharing and collaboration00 Ratings8.01 Ratings
    Report Output and Scheduling
    Comparison of Report Output and Scheduling features of Gusto and Middesk
    Feature
    Gusto
    -
    Ratings
    Middesk
    6.4
    1 Ratings
    25% below category average
    Publish to Web00 Ratings7.01 Ratings
    Publish to PDF00 Ratings5.01 Ratings
    Report Versioning00 Ratings5.01 Ratings
    Report Delivery Scheduling00 Ratings8.01 Ratings
    Delivery to Remote Servers00 Ratings7.01 Ratings
    Data Discovery and Visualization
    Comparison of Data Discovery and Visualization features of Gusto and Middesk
    Feature
    Gusto
    -
    Ratings
    Middesk
    7.3
    1 Ratings
    9% below category average
    Pre-built visualization formats (heatmaps, scatter plots etc.)00 Ratings7.01 Ratings
    Location Analytics / Geographic Visualization00 Ratings7.01 Ratings
    Predictive Analytics00 Ratings8.01 Ratings
    Access Control and Security
    Comparison of Access Control and Security features of Gusto and Middesk
    Feature
    Gusto
    -
    Ratings
    Middesk
    8.5
    2 Ratings
    0% above category average
    Multi-User Support (named login)00 Ratings7.01 Ratings
    Role-Based Security Model00 Ratings8.52 Ratings
    Multiple Access Permission Levels (Create, Read, Delete)00 Ratings9.52 Ratings
    Single Sign-On (SSO)00 Ratings9.02 Ratings
    Mobile Capabilities
    Comparison of Mobile Capabilities features of Gusto and Middesk
    Feature
    Gusto
    -
    Ratings
    Middesk
    6.3
    1 Ratings
    21% below category average
    Responsive Design for Web Access00 Ratings8.01 Ratings
    Mobile Application00 Ratings8.01 Ratings
    Dashboard / Report / Visualization Interactivity on Mobile00 Ratings3.01 Ratings
    Application Program Interfaces (APIs) / Embedding
    Comparison of Application Program Interfaces (APIs) / Embedding features of Gusto and Middesk
    Feature
    Gusto
    -
    Ratings
    Middesk
    8.0
    1 Ratings
    3% above category average
    REST API00 Ratings8.01 Ratings
    Javascript API00 Ratings8.01 Ratings
    iFrames00 Ratings6.01 Ratings
    Java API00 Ratings8.01 Ratings
    Themeable User Interface (UI)00 Ratings8.01 Ratings
    Customizable Platform (Open Source)00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    GustoMiddesk
    Small Businesses
    Patriot Payroll
    Score8.6 out of 10
    Cyfe
    Score4 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    APS
    Score5.7 out of 10
    Qlik Cloud Analytics (Qlik Sense)
    Score8.1 out of 10
    Enterprises
    ADP Streamline Payroll
    Score6.1 out of 10
    Sisense
    Score6.9 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    GustoMiddesk
    Likelihood to Recommend
    9.1
    (633 ratings)
    8.5
    (2 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    10.0
    (14 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Usability
    9.4
    (457 ratings)
    7.5
    (2 ratings)
    Support Rating
    4.3
    (27 ratings)
    9.0
    (2 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    9.1
    (3 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    GustoMiddesk
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Gusto
    I think Gusto is well-suited for any business, big or small, to use for accounting purposes. It makes it easy to keep track of many things, such as pay stubs, benefits, paid time off, and much more. Where I could see it being less useful is maybe for enterprise businesses with way more employees.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Middesk Inc.
    Middesk majorly provides us with real-time access to the data and documents which are required for automating KYB and CIP regulatory compliance, mitigating front and backend risk. In addition, it is the easiest way for financial services companies to verify and monitor their business customers. It for us very much makes the process of onboarding customers very easy.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    Gusto
    • New employee/contractor onboarding - all the documents are stored and easily accessible (the same goes for off-boarding).
    • A one-click option for syncing hours worked with payroll.
    • The option to run payroll on auto-pilot.
    • Ensuring I'm tax compliant with the states we have employees in.
    • Always having digital records of payroll runs.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Middesk Inc.
    • Gathering information needed for registration.
    • Making the registration process efficient.
    • Guiding us through the process when we hit snags.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    Gusto
    • Digital compliance tools for remote teams
    • Gusto upsold us labor law posters, but I later found them available for free online. Since we’re a fully remote team, I had to manually download and distribute them digitally. It would be much more efficient if Gusto offered free, auto-distributed digital posters tailored to remote compliance.
    • Benefits setup is unintuitive for startups
    • While our rep was helpful, navigating the benefits system felt complex and not tailored to early-stage companies. More guided flows or simplified options for small, remote startups would be a big help.
    • Limited dashboard customization for remote workflows
    • As a fully online company, we’d benefit from dashboard options that highlight relevant tools for remote operations—like compliance tracking, digital communications, or onboarding checklists.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Middesk Inc.
    • Better navigation.
    • More marketing and make it very reachable to customers.
    • Login is difficult.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    Gusto
    Unless they break it, I'm never leaving. It's just too easy. Gusto is also really affordable, and for what I pay, it's worth having the historical record within the system. I like that I can go back and pull up W2's for year's past. This sort of easy access reporting, has been helpful especially when getting reports for PPP loans.
    Read full review
    Middesk Inc.
    No answers on this topic
    Usability
    Gusto
    Gusto is pretty user-friendly, and the website is easy to navigate overall. They also offer good, responsive customer support and have helpful articles available when needed. So far, I have not had any major issues with the platform and am overall very happy with it.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Middesk Inc.
    UI is not as intuitive as other systems we use. For states that require income tax withholding, some of them require registration with multiple agencies - the UI doesn't easily tell you which login credentials are tied to which agency.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Support Rating
    Gusto
    Gusto's customer service has really deteriorated lately and they seem to have really changed their focus. It used to be when you called you were routed to an individual who knew about payroll, benefits, reporting, etc. but now you get someone who seems to have not received the correct training. My last call about a dismissal payroll took me over an hour of my time and the person still could not help me and finally transferred me to someone else.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Middesk Inc.
    The user experience of this tool must be rearchitected. I am able to observe a lot of lag in the process when initiated. There are sometimes when the tool's navigation becomes difficult. The time taken at times is large to process a request and this can also be highly improved in the future.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Implementation Rating
    Gusto
    Reach out to support immediately if you are having trouble setting up Gusto. Rather than being confused and trying to figure it out yourself, it's much better to talk to someone who knows what they are doing. Save yourself time and frustration and reach out to support
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Middesk Inc.
    No answers on this topic
    Alternatives Considered
    Gusto
    While I never actually got to the point of trying out ADP, I had several conversations with an ADP representative, and it seemed that they would be able to provide the same (if not less) level of service for a significantly higher price
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Middesk Inc.
    ADP Workforce Now offers a module to handle payroll tax registrations. The interface is confusing and the information is hard to find. The service and support are awful - nobody ever knows who can answer tax account questions, they escalate to a different department and promise a callback but they never call back.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Return on Investment
    Gusto
    • Time tracking + payroll calculations me 30-60 minutes every time I run payroll.
    • Integrated workers' comp, so I didn't have to find an outside carrier and get quotes—it's all taken care of in the same platform.
    • Improved employee experience with onboarding.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Middesk Inc.
    • Better speed.
    • Better quality for optimal cost.
    • Saves a lot of time.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots

    Gusto Screenshots

    Screenshot of Gusto's automated payrollScreenshot of the time-off tracking interfaceScreenshot of the source of truth for HR data

    Middesk Screenshots

    Screenshot of Middesk