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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

    Namely

    Score7.7 out of 10
    N/ANamely is an end-to-end HR, benefits, and payroll solution for mid-sized businesses. The cloud-based platform can be used to manage the entire HR process.N/A

    PenScope

    N/AN/AN/AN/A
    Pricing
    GustoNamelyPenScope
    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
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    GustoNamelyPenScope
    Free Trial
    YesNoNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    YesNoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeRequiredNo setup fee
    Additional DetailsGusto offers three pricing plans for payroll, benefits, and HR.
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    GustoNamelyPenScope
    Considered Multiple Products
    Gusto
    No answer on this topic
    Vensure Employer Services
    Chose Namely
    We've used a variety of HRIS and payroll software in the past: ADP, Zenefits, Gusto, Namely, and now, Justworks.

    Of all of them but, Justworks and Gusto are far and away the winners. Namely is just not competitive with them from a UX perspective, attractiveness of benefits …
    Incentivized
    Chose Namely
    Namely was able to check all of the boxes in the most affordable way
    Incentivized
    Chose Namely
    Haven't used a similar product.
    Incentivized
    Chose Namely
    I selected Namely because it offered the most functions and integration that I was looking for at the time (two years ago). It was not the most affordable option, but worth the extra features.
    Incentivized
    Independent Transition Management
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    92%
    Would buy again
    563 Answers
    66%
    Would buy again
    59 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Delivers good value for the price
    93%
    Delivers good value for the price
    464 Answers
    72%
    Delivers good value for the price
    51 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Happy with the feature set
    95%
    Happy with the feature set
    576 Answers
    70%
    Happy with the feature set
    62 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    91%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    316 Answers
    54%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    31 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation went as expected
    94%
    Implementation went as expected
    376 Answers
    62%
    Implementation went as expected
    37 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Features
    GustoNamelyPenScope
    Payroll Management
    Comparison of Payroll Management features of Gusto and Namely and PenScope
    Feature
    Gusto
    9.1
    611 Ratings
    9% above category average
    Namely
    9.2
    128 Ratings
    12% above category average
    PenScope
    -
    Ratings
    Pay calculation9.5587 Ratings10.0112 Ratings00 Ratings
    Support for external payroll vendors8.58 Ratings10.054 Ratings00 Ratings
    Benefit plan administration8.7417 Ratings8.0110 Ratings00 Ratings
    Direct deposit files9.7592 Ratings10.0114 Ratings00 Ratings
    Salary revision and increment management9.0462 Ratings10.0101 Ratings00 Ratings
    Reimbursement management9.0196 Ratings6.657 Ratings00 Ratings
    Off-cycle/On-Demand payment00 Ratings10.058 Ratings00 Ratings
    Human Resource Management
    Comparison of Human Resource Management features of Gusto and Namely and PenScope
    Feature
    Gusto
    -
    Ratings
    Namely
    9.7
    144 Ratings
    17% above category average
    PenScope
    -
    Ratings
    Employee demographic data00 Ratings8.0133 Ratings00 Ratings
    Employment history00 Ratings10.0139 Ratings00 Ratings
    Job profiles and administration00 Ratings10.031 Ratings00 Ratings
    Workflow for transfers, promotions, pay raises, etc.00 Ratings10.0133 Ratings00 Ratings
    Organizational charting00 Ratings10.0135 Ratings00 Ratings
    Organization and location management00 Ratings10.0130 Ratings00 Ratings
    Compliance data (COBRA, OSHA, etc.)00 Ratings10.083 Ratings00 Ratings
    Leave and Attendance Management
    Comparison of Leave and Attendance Management features of Gusto and Namely and PenScope
    Feature
    Gusto
    -
    Ratings
    Namely
    10.0
    125 Ratings
    19% above category average
    PenScope
    -
    Ratings
    Approval workflow00 Ratings10.0122 Ratings00 Ratings
    Balance details00 Ratings10.0117 Ratings00 Ratings
    Annual carry-forward and encashment00 Ratings10.096 Ratings00 Ratings
    Employee Self Service
    Comparison of Employee Self Service features of Gusto and Namely and PenScope
    Feature
    Gusto
    -
    Ratings
    Namely
    7.2
    142 Ratings
    14% below category average
    PenScope
    -
    Ratings
    View and generate pay and benefit information00 Ratings10.0130 Ratings00 Ratings
    Update personal information00 Ratings10.0141 Ratings00 Ratings
    View company policy documentation00 Ratings7.0128 Ratings00 Ratings
    Employee recognition00 Ratings2.1117 Ratings00 Ratings
    View job history00 Ratings7.0135 Ratings00 Ratings
    Asset Management
    Comparison of Asset Management features of Gusto and Namely and PenScope
    Feature
    Gusto
    -
    Ratings
    Namely
    5.9
    53 Ratings
    31% below category average
    PenScope
    -
    Ratings
    Tracking of all physical assets00 Ratings5.953 Ratings00 Ratings
    HR Reporting
    Comparison of HR Reporting features of Gusto and Namely and PenScope
    Feature
    Gusto
    -
    Ratings
    Namely
    7.8
    122 Ratings
    3% above category average
    PenScope
    -
    Ratings
    Report builder00 Ratings8.0118 Ratings00 Ratings
    Pre-built reports00 Ratings8.0113 Ratings00 Ratings
    Ability to combine HR data with external data00 Ratings7.574 Ratings00 Ratings
    Onboarding
    Comparison of Onboarding features of Gusto and Namely and PenScope
    Feature
    Gusto
    -
    Ratings
    Namely
    6.5
    117 Ratings
    21% below category average
    PenScope
    -
    Ratings
    New hire portal00 Ratings8.0111 Ratings00 Ratings
    Manager tracking tools00 Ratings5.086 Ratings00 Ratings
    Performance and Goals
    Comparison of Performance and Goals features of Gusto and Namely and PenScope
    Feature
    Gusto
    -
    Ratings
    Namely
    6.3
    97 Ratings
    25% below category average
    PenScope
    -
    Ratings
    Corporate goal setting00 Ratings5.087 Ratings00 Ratings
    Individual goal setting00 Ratings3.194 Ratings00 Ratings
    Line-of sight-visibility00 Ratings10.073 Ratings00 Ratings
    Performance tracking00 Ratings7.090 Ratings00 Ratings
    Performance Management
    Comparison of Performance Management features of Gusto and Namely and PenScope
    Feature
    Gusto
    -
    Ratings
    Namely
    6.3
    108 Ratings
    24% below category average
    PenScope
    -
    Ratings
    Performance plans00 Ratings5.097 Ratings00 Ratings
    Performance improvement plans00 Ratings5.069 Ratings00 Ratings
    Review status tracking00 Ratings7.096 Ratings00 Ratings
    Review reminders00 Ratings7.099 Ratings00 Ratings
    Multiple review frequency00 Ratings7.485 Ratings00 Ratings
    Succession Planning
    Comparison of Succession Planning features of Gusto and Namely and PenScope
    Feature
    Gusto
    -
    Ratings
    Namely
    5.9
    21 Ratings
    29% below category average
    PenScope
    -
    Ratings
    Candidate search00 Ratings5.921 Ratings00 Ratings
    Recruiting / ATS
    Comparison of Recruiting / ATS features of Gusto and Namely and PenScope
    Feature
    Gusto
    -
    Ratings
    Namely
    8.8
    6 Ratings
    10% above category average
    PenScope
    -
    Ratings
    Job Requisition Management00 Ratings8.95 Ratings00 Ratings
    Company Website Posting00 Ratings8.85 Ratings00 Ratings
    Publish to Social Media00 Ratings8.85 Ratings00 Ratings
    Job Search Site Posting00 Ratings8.95 Ratings00 Ratings
    Duplicate Candidate Prevention00 Ratings8.85 Ratings00 Ratings
    Applicant Tracking00 Ratings8.95 Ratings00 Ratings
    Notifications and Alerts00 Ratings8.66 Ratings00 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    GustoNamelyPenScope
    Small Businesses
    Patriot Payroll
    Score8.6 out of 10
    UZIO
    Score9.4 out of 10
    Ease
    Score9.9 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    APS
    Score5.7 out of 10
    Zoho People
    Score8.6 out of 10
    Employee Navigator
    Score8.7 out of 10
    Enterprises
    ADP Streamline Payroll
    Score6.1 out of 10
    PeopleStrong
    Score10 out of 10
    ADP Mobile Solutions
    Score8.4 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    GustoNamelyPenScope
    Likelihood to Recommend
    9.1
    (633 ratings)
    7.6
    (146 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    10.0
    (14 ratings)
    8.0
    (10 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Usability
    9.4
    (457 ratings)
    8.0
    (72 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Availability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Performance
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Support Rating
    4.2
    (27 ratings)
    6.0
    (28 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    9.1
    (3 ratings)
    5.5
    (85 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Configurability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Vendor post-sale
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Vendor pre-sale
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    GustoNamelyPenScope
    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
    Vensure Employer Services
    Namely is aesthetically very pleasing and navigates like other social media platforms which can be appealing to potentially a remote workforce who interacts more online than in person. Unfortunately, it did not serve our population well as we are primarily manufacturing where people are not as interested in utilizing the HRIS for interactions when they would rather connect in person.
    Read full review
    Independent Transition Management
    No answers on this topic
    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
    Vensure Employer Services
    • Namely has helped with our COVID sick leave response. It has made a major difference both with the weekly payroll and the 941 tax filing
    • Keeping track of our multiple PTO plans. Thank goodness for Namely, I have shredded my old PTO spreadsheets.
    • Employees like the convenience of the cell phone app. As a payroll administrator, I like the Geo Tracking tool where I can see where some are when the clock is in or out.
    • The flexibility inside of the payroll system both as you are finalizing an employee profile and when you are processing payroll is a major advantage.
    • The reports I get out of Namely in Excel format work well for me.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Independent Transition Management
    No answers on this topic
    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
    Vensure Employer Services
    • Limits to custom reporting
    • No direct feed for Ohio Workers Comp (now a manual process on our end)
    • No option to place an employee on Leave of Absence and exclude them from payroll while they are "inactive"
    • No option to suppress certain deductions for certain pay types (i.e. allow 401K for commissions but block remaining deductions - also now a manual process to uncheck the suppress box for 401K for each commission check)
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Independent Transition Management
    No answers on this topic
    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
    Vensure Employer Services
    Administrators and employees love Namely. It is very easy to use and streamlined. Employees stay engaged with news feed updates and enjoy all the self service options. The time cards are very easy to access and clocking in and out for non-exempt employees is a breeze. Namely is part of our family.
    Read full review
    Independent Transition Management
    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
    Vensure Employer Services
    It is very simple to use for myself, the HR team, and our employees. I find the payroll process very user-friendly. Reporting is simple to navigate and produce the required information requested. I know our employees enjoy the self-service feature and use it on a regular basis, which saves me time.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Independent Transition Management
    No answers on this topic
    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
    Vensure Employer Services
    Namely platform has pretty good support: knowledgeable and relatively fast response times. Namely Payroll and Namely Benefits are very much depending on the quality of the support agent or CSM: we have had knowledgeable and attentive ones, but also ones that have provided erroneous information or failed to respond to urgent asks in a timely manner
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Independent Transition Management
    No answers on this topic
    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
    Vensure Employer Services
    Implementation was a bit complicated and our company had to carry most of the weight. It often felt like our implementation manager was giving us extra work that she did not want to do herself. It also took much longer than expected - I believe almost 2 months. I believe our company carried a bit too much of the weight.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Independent Transition Management
    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
    Vensure Employer Services
    The reason I continued to choose Namely at multiple employers is due to the continuity of employee experience. And the features have continued to grow since I initially onboarded in 2014. Also, through the years, I have had terrific benefits teams. The customer service has been the worst part of the experience outside of the benefits team.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Independent Transition Management
    No answers on this topic
    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
    Vensure Employer Services
    • We were able to transition to a fully digital onboarding process which saved us hours in time per new hire and made the process smoother for the new hire.
    • Namely is our first HRIS and has helped the HR department to find data and information quickly.
    • Namely helped us digitize our performance management process which the company undergoes on an annual basis.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Independent Transition Management
    No answers on this topic
    ScreenShots

    Gusto Screenshots

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

    Namely Screenshots

    Screenshot of the Namely employee dashboard. This creates a central hub to access payroll and benefits info, share announcements, celebrate milestones, and navigate everything HR, from a desk or on the go.Screenshot of Namely Payroll, which is backed by automation and built-in compliance.Screenshot of the Onboarding interface, for new hires.Screenshot of the Applicant Tracking interface, which supports processes from job posting to onboarding with tools for hiring teams and candidates.Screenshot of the Benefits Administration interface, which supports open enrollment, plan changes, and employee elections.Screenshot of the Workforce Management interface. From here, viewers can track time, manage schedules, and handle complex workforce needs.