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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

    PowerSchool eSchoolPLUS

    Score7 out of 10
    N/AeSchoolPLUS is a student information system for managing student demographics, grades, scheduling & attendance, discipline & report cards, and other information in k-12. eSchoolPLUS was developed by Sungard K-12 Education which was acquired by PowerSchool in March 2017. It is now owned and supported by PowerSchool.N/A
    Pricing
    GustoPowerSchool eSchoolPLUS
    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
    GustoPowerSchool eSchoolPLUS
    Free Trial
    YesNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    YesNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional DetailsGusto offers three pricing plans for payroll, benefits, and HR.—
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    GustoPowerSchool eSchoolPLUS
    Considered Both Products
    Gusto
    No answer on this topic
    PowerSchool Group LLC
    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
    GustoPowerSchool eSchoolPLUS
    Payroll Management
    Comparison of Payroll Management features of Gusto and PowerSchool eSchoolPLUS
    Feature
    Gusto
    9.1
    611 Ratings
    9% above category average
    PowerSchool eSchoolPLUS
    -
    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
    Student and Faculty Administration
    Comparison of Student and Faculty Administration features of Gusto and PowerSchool eSchoolPLUS
    Feature
    Gusto
    -
    Ratings
    PowerSchool eSchoolPLUS
    8.4
    1 Ratings
    1% above category average
    Integrations with 3rd-Party Education Technology00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
    Online Registration Management00 Ratings5.01 Ratings
    District Communications, such as messaging and alerting00 Ratings5.01 Ratings
    Roster Management00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
    Platform Customization00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
    Teacher Self-Service00 Ratings6.01 Ratings
    Student Data Security00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
    Community Support00 Ratings8.01 Ratings
    Class Scheduling00 Ratings9.01 Ratings
    State and National-level Reporting00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
    Compliance Support00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
    Teacher and Parent Mobile Application00 Ratings8.01 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    GustoPowerSchool eSchoolPLUS
    Small Businesses
    Patriot Payroll
    Score8.6 out of 10
    No answers on this topic
    Medium-sized Companies
    APS
    Score5.7 out of 10
    Schoolmint Hero
    Score9.7 out of 10
    Enterprises
    ADP Streamline Payroll
    Score6.1 out of 10
    Schoolmint Hero
    Score9.7 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    GustoPowerSchool eSchoolPLUS
    Likelihood to Recommend
    9.1
    (633 ratings)
    10.0
    (6 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    10.0
    (14 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Usability
    9.4
    (457 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Availability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    7.0
    (1 ratings)
    Performance
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    Support Rating
    4.3
    (27 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    9.1
    (3 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    7.0
    (1 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    GustoPowerSchool eSchoolPLUS
    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
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    PowerSchool Group LLC
    It is well suited for Charter Schools. I say charter schools because most charts are built from the ground up, and using a specific set of tools from PowerSchool will help all departments to work seamlessly together. The hardest part of the education process is being able to track your own payroll, PD, overtime hours, emails and messages, grades and documentation for students. Schools in perpetual existence have a hard time converting all their documents and processes to a brand new portal. However, new schools, private schools, charter schools, even new online universities would have an easier and much more effective time purchasing and using every single tool that comes from PowerSchool. I believe that it is bigger than just using eSchoolPLUS for education, but using efinance, and atrieve are important also. In terms of eSchoolPLUS it is useful in all schools because it does make the teacher's jobs easier. Managing curriculum, lesson and grade data is quick and easy and engagement is relatively simple on the website and on my mobile iPhone.
    Incentivized
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    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
    PowerSchool Group LLC
    • One-stop resource for student data, from test scores to medical alerts.
    • Parent information, including contact and custody details, are readily accessible.
    • Clean and easy-to-use format makes finding what you need very easy.
    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
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    PowerSchool Group LLC
    • It can be difficult to find information when first beginning with it.
    • It can take many steps to perform one task.
    • Can run slowly on certain networks.
    Incentivized
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    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
    PowerSchool Group LLC
    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
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    PowerSchool Group LLC
    No answers on this topic
    Reliability and Availability
    Gusto
    No answers on this topic
    PowerSchool Group LLC
    This would be the same reasoning as in the previous question. It is all about having enough bandwidth to run it across your district and buildings.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Performance
    Gusto
    No answers on this topic
    PowerSchool Group LLC
    Reports do run in a reasonable amount of time based upon the number of entries you are working with. You are also able to continue working on other areas while the report is being created so your device is not tied up during this process.
    Incentivized
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    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
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    PowerSchool Group LLC
    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
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    PowerSchool Group LLC
    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
    PowerSchool Group LLC
    PowerSchool eSchoolPLUS effectively allowed for access to all data, while enabling links to other critical PowerSchool platforms like Kickboard, Enrollment, and other software platforms.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Scalability
    Gusto
    No answers on this topic
    PowerSchool Group LLC
    There are days when PowerSchool can be very slow when loading. You definitely have to make sure you have the bandwidth in your district to run the platform appropriately.
    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
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    PowerSchool Group LLC
    • Our Return on Investment is high, as it makes our jobs easier, allowing us more time to troubleshoot and train staff instead of digging for student information.
    • Overall our business objective is to store and access student information quickly, efficiently, and securely. eSchoolPLUS allows us to do that.
    • eSchoolPLUS has no negative impact on our ROI. Sometimes, after an update, there is a learning curve and bug fixes that need to be worked around, but in general, it is a great product and there is little downtime for our organization.
    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