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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

    QuickBooks Self-Employed (discontinued)

    Score4.2 out of 10
    N/AA now discontinued accounting solution, QuickBooks Self-Employed featured tools to help the self-employed drive growth and financial stability. It is replaced by the more advanced QuickBooks Solopreneur.N/A
    Pricing
    GustoQuickBooks Self-Employed (discontinued)
    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
    GustoQuickBooks Self-Employed (discontinued)
    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 Self-Employed (discontinued)
    Considered Both Products
    Gusto
    Chose Gusto
    I chose Gusto over Paycom for its superior user-friendliness and seamless integration of hour tracking with external insurance options, making it more efficient and convenient for my needs as a self-contractor.
    Incentivized
    Chose Gusto
    Gusto is WAY easier to use and I have had zero issues. Other payroll software I've used had multiple issues and requires way too much time being transferred from representative to representative to get the issues solved.
    Incentivized
    Intuit
    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
    GustoQuickBooks Self-Employed (discontinued)
    Payroll Management
    Comparison of Payroll Management features of Gusto and QuickBooks Self-Employed (discontinued)
    Feature
    Gusto
    9.1
    611 Ratings
    9% above category average
    QuickBooks Self-Employed (discontinued)
    7.8
    3 Ratings
    3% above category average
    Pay calculation9.5587 Ratings10.02 Ratings
    Support for external payroll vendors8.58 Ratings00 Ratings
    Benefit plan administration8.7417 Ratings5.02 Ratings
    Direct deposit files9.7592 Ratings8.03 Ratings
    Salary revision and increment management9.0462 Ratings8.02 Ratings
    Reimbursement management9.0196 Ratings8.03 Ratings
    Customization
    Comparison of Customization features of Gusto and QuickBooks Self-Employed (discontinued)
    Feature
    Gusto
    -
    Ratings
    QuickBooks Self-Employed (discontinued)
    10.0
    5 Ratings
    28% above category average
    API for custom integration00 Ratings10.04 Ratings
    Plug-ins00 Ratings10.04 Ratings
    Security
    Comparison of Security features of Gusto and QuickBooks Self-Employed (discontinued)
    Feature
    Gusto
    -
    Ratings
    QuickBooks Self-Employed (discontinued)
    10.0
    8 Ratings
    20% above category average
    Single sign-on capability00 Ratings10.08 Ratings
    Role-based user permissions00 Ratings10.05 Ratings
    Reporting & Analytics
    Comparison of Reporting & Analytics features of Gusto and QuickBooks Self-Employed (discontinued)
    Feature
    Gusto
    -
    Ratings
    QuickBooks Self-Employed (discontinued)
    10.0
    14 Ratings
    24% above category average
    Dashboards00 Ratings10.012 Ratings
    Standard reports00 Ratings10.014 Ratings
    Custom reports00 Ratings10.08 Ratings
    General Ledger and Configurable Accounting
    Comparison of General Ledger and Configurable Accounting features of Gusto and QuickBooks Self-Employed (discontinued)
    Feature
    Gusto
    -
    Ratings
    QuickBooks Self-Employed (discontinued)
    10.0
    15 Ratings
    27% above category average
    Accounts payable00 Ratings10.09 Ratings
    Accounts receivable00 Ratings10.010 Ratings
    Cash management00 Ratings10.09 Ratings
    Bank reconciliation00 Ratings10.010 Ratings
    Expense management00 Ratings10.014 Ratings
    Time tracking00 Ratings10.07 Ratings
    Fixed asset management00 Ratings10.04 Ratings
    Multi-currency support00 Ratings10.02 Ratings
    Multi-division support00 Ratings10.02 Ratings
    Regulations compliance00 Ratings10.03 Ratings
    Electronic tax filing00 Ratings10.013 Ratings
    Self-service portal00 Ratings10.08 Ratings
    Global Financial Support00 Ratings10.02 Ratings
    Primary and Secondary Ledgers00 Ratings10.02 Ratings
    Intercompany Accounting00 Ratings10.03 Ratings
    Localizations00 Ratings10.03 Ratings
    Journals and Reconciliations00 Ratings10.06 Ratings
    Enterprise Accounting00 Ratings10.02 Ratings
    Configurable Accounting00 Ratings10.04 Ratings
    Centralized Rules Framework00 Ratings10.03 Ratings
    Standardized Processes00 Ratings10.05 Ratings
    Inventory Management
    Comparison of Inventory Management features of Gusto and QuickBooks Self-Employed (discontinued)
    Feature
    Gusto
    -
    Ratings
    QuickBooks Self-Employed (discontinued)
    10.0
    3 Ratings
    31% above category average
    Inventory tracking00 Ratings10.03 Ratings
    Automatic reordering00 Ratings10.03 Ratings
    Location management00 Ratings10.03 Ratings
    Manufacturing module00 Ratings10.02 Ratings
    Order Management
    Comparison of Order Management features of Gusto and QuickBooks Self-Employed (discontinued)
    Feature
    Gusto
    -
    Ratings
    QuickBooks Self-Employed (discontinued)
    10.0
    5 Ratings
    30% above category average
    Pricing00 Ratings10.04 Ratings
    Order entry00 Ratings10.04 Ratings
    Credit card processing00 Ratings10.05 Ratings
    Cost of goods sold00 Ratings10.03 Ratings
    Order Orchestration00 Ratings10.02 Ratings
    End-to-end order visibility00 Ratings10.03 Ratings
    Order exception Resolution00 Ratings10.02 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    GustoQuickBooks Self-Employed (discontinued)
    Small Businesses
    Patriot Payroll
    Score8.6 out of 10
    Zoho Books
    Score8.8 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    APS
    Score5.7 out of 10
    MYOB
    Score8.3 out of 10
    Enterprises
    ADP Streamline Payroll
    Score6.1 out of 10
    Microsoft Dynamics GP
    Score5.4 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    GustoQuickBooks Self-Employed (discontinued)
    Likelihood to Recommend
    9.1
    (633 ratings)
    10.0
    (15 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    10.0
    (14 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Usability
    9.4
    (457 ratings)
    9.4
    (2 ratings)
    Support Rating
    4.3
    (27 ratings)
    10.0
    (2 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    9.1
    (3 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    GustoQuickBooks Self-Employed (discontinued)
    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
    Intuit
    QuickBooks is a great tool for new SoleTraders that need basic accounting software and require digital invoicing for their clients to send via email and access key features via a mobile app on the go. QuickBooks is a straightforward tool to use with a simple design and learning curve for business owners that are not very tech-savvy. For businesses that operate on a larger scale and need to provide access to other users on their team, QuickBooks is limited. This type of business may also require more insights into the business outside of accounting, and QuickBooks won't be able to supply insights outside of that.
    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
    Intuit
    • QuickBooks Self-Employed does keep a running total of your income and estimated taxes. Of course, this requires that your entries are accurate.
    • The mileage feature is particularly helpful. One just needs to either use the phone app in conjunction with QuickBooks Self-Employed, or keep a log of all mileage.
    • When tax time comes around, it's easy to use TurboTax software and import your data from QuickBooks.
    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
    Intuit
    • Doesn't integrate with Mint, which I use for my home expenses. I think this would be a nice addition to the program, so I could keep track of my whole financial situation.
    • A Windows 10 app would be a nice addition to the program, so I could access it securely from my desktop.
    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
    Intuit
    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
    Intuit
    I have been using this software for several years now and it has always put out my data in beautiful generated reports that I can use for verification purposes with my financial institute and the IRS. It has all the tools I need to run my business without loosing track of anything
    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
    Intuit
    I have never faced any difficulties that required me to contact QuickBooks customer service. QuickBooks has plenty of online tutorials, blog posts, and helpful tips and advice for almost any issues you may face using the desktop or app version of the software. Even if you can not find the right answer on the QuickBooks webpages, there are loads of YouTube videos from experts.
    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
    Intuit
    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
    Intuit
    FreshBooks limited my ability to categorize transactions, specifically removing duplicates or excluding them. I selected QuickBooks Self-Employed because it allowed me to be in control of items. Sometimes accounting is just making sure things are organized the way YOU think, and FreshBooks wasn't doing that for me.
    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
    Intuit
    • Overall, tagging expenses and mileage has saved me thousands in taxes, for a relatively low cost of around $8/mo.
    • QuickBooks allows me to get invoices to clients quickly and accept online payments, which helps with cashflow.
    • The app has stopped tracking mileage automatically on my device, so I worry that sometimes I am not tracking business miles effectively, which could end up costing me at the EOY.
    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