Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Gusto
Score 8.7 out of 10
N/A
Gusto offers payroll, benefits and compliance capabilities. Gusto is scaled for small to mid-sized businesses, and emphasizes an easy to use interface.
$46
per month
QuickBooks Desktop Premier
Score 8.2 out of 10
N/A
QuickBooks Desktop Premier is an installed version of QuickBooks for general business, contractors, manufacturing and warehouse accounting, as well as nonprofits, professional services, and retail.N/A
Pricing
GustoQuickBooks Desktop Premier
Editions & Modules
Simple: A streamlined set of automatic payroll features and benefits integrations
$40/month + $6/mo per person
$12 per employee/contractor
Plus: Comprehensive payroll, benefits, and HR tools for employers building a great place to work
$80/month + $12/mo per person
Premium: Scalable payroll and benefits, expert HR, and dedicated support for the complex needs of growing teams
Exclusive pricing, contact Gusto
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
GustoQuickBooks Desktop Premier
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
GustoQuickBooks Desktop Premier
Considered Both Products
Gusto
Chose Gusto
Far superior and easier to use.
Chose Gusto
I selected Gusto due to the price point. It was much better priced for a small nonprofit association compared to others.
QuickBooks Desktop Premier

No answer on this topic

Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
GustoQuickBooks Desktop Premier
Payroll Management
Comparison of Payroll Management features of Product A and Product B
Gusto
8.8
504 Ratings
7% above category average
QuickBooks Desktop Premier
8.9
47 Ratings
23% above category average
Pay calculation9.1483 Ratings7.046 Ratings
Support for external payroll vendors8.58 Ratings00 Ratings
Benefit plan administration8.5355 Ratings10.020 Ratings
Direct deposit files9.0487 Ratings8.036 Ratings
Salary revision and increment management8.7376 Ratings9.927 Ratings
Reimbursement management9.4122 Ratings9.529 Ratings
Customization
Comparison of Customization features of Product A and Product B
Gusto
-
Ratings
QuickBooks Desktop Premier
1.3
20 Ratings
138% below category average
API for custom integration00 Ratings1.315 Ratings
Plug-ins00 Ratings1.320 Ratings
Security
Comparison of Security features of Product A and Product B
Gusto
-
Ratings
QuickBooks Desktop Premier
7.5
49 Ratings
4% below category average
Single sign-on capability00 Ratings4.943 Ratings
Role-based user permissions00 Ratings10.040 Ratings
Reporting & Analytics
Comparison of Reporting & Analytics features of Product A and Product B
Gusto
-
Ratings
QuickBooks Desktop Premier
6.9
57 Ratings
9% below category average
Dashboards00 Ratings4.948 Ratings
Standard reports00 Ratings7.956 Ratings
Custom reports00 Ratings7.954 Ratings
General Ledger and Configurable Accounting
Comparison of General Ledger and Configurable Accounting features of Product A and Product B
Gusto
-
Ratings
QuickBooks Desktop Premier
7.1
60 Ratings
3% below category average
Accounts payable00 Ratings7.058 Ratings
Accounts receivable00 Ratings7.059 Ratings
Cash management00 Ratings8.054 Ratings
Bank reconciliation00 Ratings8.057 Ratings
Expense management00 Ratings6.056 Ratings
Time tracking00 Ratings5.028 Ratings
Fixed asset management00 Ratings5.039 Ratings
Multi-currency support00 Ratings9.018 Ratings
Multi-division support00 Ratings7.033 Ratings
Regulations compliance00 Ratings1.819 Ratings
Electronic tax filing00 Ratings10.028 Ratings
Self-service portal00 Ratings8.017 Ratings
Global Financial Support00 Ratings9.03 Ratings
Primary and Secondary Ledgers00 Ratings7.06 Ratings
Intercompany Accounting00 Ratings9.08 Ratings
Localizations00 Ratings5.01 Ratings
Journals and Reconciliations00 Ratings7.014 Ratings
Enterprise Accounting00 Ratings9.05 Ratings
Configurable Accounting00 Ratings7.16 Ratings
Centralized Rules Framework00 Ratings9.93 Ratings
Standardized Processes00 Ratings4.37 Ratings
Inventory Management
Comparison of Inventory Management features of Product A and Product B
Gusto
-
Ratings
QuickBooks Desktop Premier
2.9
36 Ratings
80% below category average
Inventory tracking00 Ratings1.735 Ratings
Automatic reordering00 Ratings1.015 Ratings
Location management00 Ratings8.019 Ratings
Manufacturing module00 Ratings1.017 Ratings
Order Management
Comparison of Order Management features of Product A and Product B
Gusto
-
Ratings
QuickBooks Desktop Premier
7.0
38 Ratings
4% below category average
Pricing00 Ratings10.030 Ratings
Order entry00 Ratings10.031 Ratings
Credit card processing00 Ratings7.027 Ratings
Cost of goods sold00 Ratings6.334 Ratings
Order Orchestration00 Ratings10.03 Ratings
End-to-end order visibility00 Ratings1.04 Ratings
Order exception Resolution00 Ratings5.01 Ratings
Best Alternatives
GustoQuickBooks Desktop Premier
Small Businesses
Dayforce Powerpay
Dayforce Powerpay
Score 9.2 out of 10
QuickBooks Self-Employed (discontinued)
QuickBooks Self-Employed (discontinued)
Score 9.3 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Paypro Workforce Management
Paypro Workforce Management
Score 9.6 out of 10
Accounting Seed
Accounting Seed
Score 8.3 out of 10
Enterprises
Infor Human Resources
Infor Human Resources
Score 7.1 out of 10
Oracle Fusion Cloud ERP
Oracle Fusion Cloud ERP
Score 7.0 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
GustoQuickBooks Desktop Premier
Likelihood to Recommend
8.5
(528 ratings)
3.0
(63 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
10.0
(12 ratings)
1.3
(12 ratings)
Usability
9.3
(352 ratings)
7.0
(14 ratings)
Availability
-
(0 ratings)
8.9
(5 ratings)
Performance
-
(0 ratings)
5.7
(4 ratings)
Support Rating
1.2
(25 ratings)
1.0
(12 ratings)
Online Training
-
(0 ratings)
1.0
(1 ratings)
Implementation Rating
8.2
(1 ratings)
7.2
(7 ratings)
Configurability
-
(0 ratings)
9.0
(1 ratings)
Ease of integration
-
(0 ratings)
7.0
(1 ratings)
Product Scalability
-
(0 ratings)
6.2
(4 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
-
(0 ratings)
7.0
(1 ratings)
User Testimonials
GustoQuickBooks Desktop Premier
Likelihood to Recommend
Gusto
It's very easy to use, especially for smaller companies. The site is user-friendly and eye-catching. Everything you need is easily accessible. I have never had to use the customer service side of Gusto, but there is not much that you would need help with or have issues with. I also really enjoy the little pig when logging in.
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Intuit
QuickBooks Premier is not well suited to manufacturing industries, as it cannot handle the complicated inventory requirements of raw materials, work in process, and finished goods. Retailers and Wholesalers can use QuickBooks Premier as long as they have an add-on inventory tracking program or Point of Sale system that integrates with QuickBooks. Likewise, restaurants would need specialized restaurant software that integrates with QuickBooks Premier. Non-profits can use QuickBooks Premier non-profit edition, but if they use fund accounting, it will require some complicated work-arounds. QuickBooks Premier is well-suited to most construction trades, personal and professional services providers, small retailers, and rental property owners.
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Pros
Gusto
  • Gusto really kills it on the simplicity. The app and website are very clear and straightforward.
  • Gusto also does a great job at being easy to navigate, visually pleasing, and logically posed.
  • Gusto communicates very clearly and provides just the right amount of communication.
  • Gusto makes the onboarding process very easy. I recently started at a new company and the process of filling out the necessary documents, filling out forms, and getting my benefit information input was soooooo easy!
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Intuit
  • The program is easy to learn and use. We can train our clients' personnel how to use the program with out difficulty.
  • It is easy for clients to generate bills and manage accounts receivable.
  • It is easy to manage accounts payable and allows clients to pay their bills electronically.
  • Transactions can be imported electronically for credit card and banking transactions.
  • It is easy to reconcile bank and credit card accounts.
  • We can import data generated by QuickBooks into our tax and accounting software.
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Cons
Gusto
  • Adding in previous time manually could be more accessible.
  • Notifications for when employees manually change hours.
  • We should allow 1099 users to use the mobile app instead of restricting them to the website, especially since they can just log into the full website on their mobile device.
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Intuit
  • I would like to be able to choose how i want to view accounts receivable aging. I would like some flexibility to sort and choose how to present the data.
  • For a seasoned accountant, I would like to see some of the restrictive controls that are in place for novices to be able to be relaxed so that I can easily make some entries and adjust some balances that ordinarily a regular user would not be able to do.
  • I would like to see an easy way to clear old outstanding checks that need to be reversed without affecting prior balances/history.
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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.
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Intuit
Because we have been extremely happy with the product and our organization tends to be creatures of habit. We rarely leave a product that works this well for the latest and greatest. Typically we follow the "if it's not broken, don't fix it rule". While QB does make changes we typically just roll with it. If we do find something we don't like we work through it until we fully understand its functionality.
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Usability
Gusto
It is a great piece of software, something that I have used since its ZenPayroll days. Its weakest feature at this point is its timekeeping and lack of scheduling. If it adds that, it gets a 10/10 and cannot be replaced by any other payroll software. Like I said, I recommend it to all of my clients and associates.
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Intuit
QuickBooks is an amazing tool that provides all of the necessary features needed to run the finances of a company. I would like for QuickBooks to provide better resources for training. There are many features that go unused because of lack of knowledge. Procore offers chatting and calls on their platform and they make it easy and accessible to get answers and solutions.
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Reliability and Availability
Gusto
No answers on this topic
Intuit
This is very reliable software, the desktop version is fast. If there is a problem, it is most likely on your own hardware!
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Performance
Gusto
No answers on this topic
Intuit
It takes forever to load.
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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.
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Intuit
This is an awesome product and the support team is very knowledgeable. The product is mature, so there are not a lot of bugs and the support team really solves problems quickly. Usually it is a user error issue, but the support desk helps me out. I love the fact that it is US based support.
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Implementation Rating
Gusto
Super easy to implement and use!
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Intuit
It is important to do your research. There are tutorial videos online that could help new user of this accounting system. These tutorials are straightforward and easily understandable.
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Alternatives Considered
Gusto
I've used both Workday and Paylocity for years and they don't even compare. Between the mobile app and the website, everything feels seamless, well thought out, and easy to navigate. I'm so used to the frustration of navigating these apps, even after years of working with them. I never considered there was an option like Gusto out there. It's made everything so easy for me. If I ever get a say I'll be a diehard Gusto evangelist from here on out.
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Intuit
QuickBooks Premier handles most of my business functions efficiently in one package. It is not my "everything." I use Replicon for time rather than QuickBooks. I don't want my WIP data interfering with my accounting. I use PaySimple for it's web interface and back office processing. I don't have security issues since I don't have any credit card data in my possession. With today's identity theft environment, I have to protect myself as much as I can. Not having credit card data in my accounting software lets me sleep much better at night. Quicken will do basic accounting but does not have all the double entry accounting systems contained in QuickBooks. QuickBooks Online does much of the basic business functions but I don't like the pricing structure. As a professional accountant, that is very important to me. Bill.com provided a good service but the ability of QuickBooks to add bills and receipts to transactions makes it redundant.
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Scalability
Gusto
No answers on this topic
Intuit
They're getting better. Still room for improvement.
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Return on Investment
Gusto
  • It is definitely an easy, intuitive platform to utilize with lots of helpful features!
  • The Benefits package is very poor and is not useful to me at all.
  • I enjoy how it breaks up the spending insights into several categories such as Food, Transportation, Shopping, Housing Medical, etc.
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Intuit
  • Since our financials are kept very up to date, it helps us compare our financial results to prior years and it is used for our internal goal setting.
  • Due to the accountant copy function, we are able to provide better service since our clients are not waiting on us to fix historical data. They can continue their operations uninterrupted.
  • The import feature certainly speeds up the process of accounting for our payroll. As previously mentioned, it takes about a minute to do our entries for payroll and check them.
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ScreenShots

Gusto Screenshots

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