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Gusto vs. SmartRecruiters, now part of SAP SuccessFactors

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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

    SmartRecruiters, now part of SAP SuccessFactors

    Score8.4 out of 10
    N/ASmartRecruiters was acquired by SAP in late 2025, and its functionality will be integrated into SAP SuccessFactors HCM. Check out the Sap SuccessFactors HCM listing for the latest updates.N/A
    Pricing
    GustoSmartRecruiters, now part of SAP SuccessFactors
    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
    GustoSmartRecruiters, now part of SAP SuccessFactors
    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.The software subscription is determined by the number of a company's full time employees. There is a one time cost to set up software, including customizations, integrations, data migration and training.
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    GustoSmartRecruiters, now part of SAP SuccessFactors
    Considered Both Products
    Gusto
    No answer on this topic
    SAP
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    92%
    Would buy again
    563 Answers
    96%
    Would buy again
    27 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    93%
    Delivers good value for the price
    464 Answers
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    22 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    95%
    Happy with the feature set
    576 Answers
    100%
    Happy with the feature set
    28 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    91%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    316 Answers
    100%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    16 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    94%
    Implementation went as expected
    376 Answers
    94%
    Implementation went as expected
    16 Answers
    Features
    GustoSmartRecruiters, now part of SAP SuccessFactors
    Payroll Management
    Comparison of Payroll Management features of Gusto and SmartRecruiters, now part of SAP SuccessFactors
    Feature
    Gusto
    9.1
    611 Ratings
    9% above category average
    SmartRecruiters, now part of SAP SuccessFactors
    -
    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
    Recruiting / ATS
    Comparison of Recruiting / ATS features of Gusto and SmartRecruiters, now part of SAP SuccessFactors
    Feature
    Gusto
    -
    Ratings
    SmartRecruiters, now part of SAP SuccessFactors
    8.6
    127 Ratings
    8% above category average
    Job Requisition Management00 Ratings9.8109 Ratings
    Company Website Posting00 Ratings9.9114 Ratings
    Publish to Social Media00 Ratings7.5112 Ratings
    Job Search Site Posting00 Ratings8.0116 Ratings
    Customized Application Form00 Ratings9.7104 Ratings
    Resume Management00 Ratings5.6119 Ratings
    Duplicate Candidate Prevention00 Ratings9.6114 Ratings
    Candidate Search00 Ratings8.1122 Ratings
    Applicant Tracking00 Ratings9.9126 Ratings
    Collaboration00 Ratings9.6117 Ratings
    Task Creation and Delegation00 Ratings9.997 Ratings
    Email Templates00 Ratings9.7114 Ratings
    User Permissions00 Ratings9.7109 Ratings
    Notifications and Alerts00 Ratings9.9119 Ratings
    Reporting00 Ratings1.7105 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    GustoSmartRecruiters, now part of SAP SuccessFactors
    Small Businesses
    Patriot Payroll
    Score8.6 out of 10
    Crelate
    Score9.1 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    APS
    Score5.7 out of 10
    CareerSiteBuilder
    Score10 out of 10
    Enterprises
    ADP Streamline Payroll
    Score6.1 out of 10
    JobDiva
    Score8 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    GustoSmartRecruiters, now part of SAP SuccessFactors
    Likelihood to Recommend
    9.1
    (633 ratings)
    7.9
    (129 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    10.0
    (14 ratings)
    6.0
    (15 ratings)
    Usability
    9.4
    (457 ratings)
    9.1
    (12 ratings)
    Availability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    Performance
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Support Rating
    4.3
    (27 ratings)
    9.0
    (10 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    9.1
    (3 ratings)
    9.1
    (2 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    -
    (0 ratings)
    7.1
    (12 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    GustoSmartRecruiters, now part of SAP SuccessFactors
    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
    SAP
    SmartRecruiters has allowed us to enable our hiring managers to self-service their requirements for recruitment, simplifying our internal processes. We have visibility of recruitment requirements and significantly improved our approvals process using the software. We have been able to configure our hiring processes relevant to different areas of the business. Collaboration for our hiring teams (managers and business partners) is simple and effective. Candidate experience is enhanced and engaging. The platform has brought many benefits to our Resourcing business partners and hiring managers. We have visibility and insightful data which has integrity, allowing us to make informed business decisions. Our offer process has seen significant improvements and provides an engaging candidate experience, previously this was a labour-intensive process that is now streamlined and automated. The recently launched Community for collaboration amongst customers is very helpful and insigtful for how other people are using the software and exploring ideas with each other
    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
    SAP
    • Job Referrals - can easily refer others to a job posting and view the status
    • Job Postings - can easily search for job openings and read job description and criteria
    • Application online - Can easily apply for the job directly and see who the hiring manager and hiring recruiter is
    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
    SAP
    • Settings page can be difficult to navigate & find what you're looking for
    • Job approval chains would be better with additional qualifying fields so that we can segregate different areas of the business better
    • The ability to edit an existing offer template in-system would improve the experience, rather than having to edit offline and upload a whole new version.
    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
    SAP
    I thoroughly enjoy using SmartRecruiters and have shared this feedback with those responsible, however I am not a decision maker in the process. I understand that at the moment there are lots of factors affecting the economy and business outcomes, so I cannot comment with certainty on the renewal of SmartRecruiters at this time, not involved in the confirmation of renewal.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    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
    SAP
    I would give this rating as overall it a great combo of all your problems. With just one click you can get away with all your problems such as recruitment, candidate update, Interview scheduling, updating candidates, reports of a job perspective, and recruiters perspective. Usability is worth of SmartRecruiters. The dashboard is also very attractive and once you open you will love working on this platform again and again. I would say it is the best platform to use once for smooth work in your organization.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Reliability and Availability
    Gusto
    No answers on this topic
    SAP
    Rarely is there an issue and if the product is down, it typically is restored quickly.
    Read full review
    Performance
    Gusto
    No answers on this topic
    SAP
    I have no complaints about performance. The system works virtually flawless.
    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
    SAP
    Response is normally very fast. There are times, however, when the response is not useful. It is difficult to work with the reporting and the offer letter templates, and the front line support agents usually are not very knowledgeable. Second, if there are any issues with integrations, the regular support agents will not be able to help you. You'll have to create that ticket and ask them to escalate it to an integration specialist.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    In-Person Training
    Gusto
    No answers on this topic
    SAP
    Quick and easy to learn.
    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
    SAP
    It really was a painless and easy process to switch to SmartRecruiters.
    Read full review
    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
    SAP
    I've really enjoyed using SmartRecruiters, but these other ATSs that we've checked out offer better reporting features and price points. Over time, we may be transitioning off of SmartRecruiters to one of these ATSs because the price is a set price where SmartRecruiters has employee-based pricing model. Also, these other software products offer better reporting features that would eliminate some of our manual tracking process that we're currently doing.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Scalability
    Gusto
    No answers on this topic
    SAP
    No explanation really, just a great product.
    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
    SAP
    • In terms of ROI, SR helped our business greatly in returning precious time to my productivity in business management, as well as my team's, so that we could get back to the main work we were hired for. The SR process did most of the heavy lifting.
    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