What users are saying about

Gusto vs Square Payroll

Gusto
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257 Ratings
See how Gusto works
Square Payroll
11 Ratings

Gusto

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257 Ratings
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Score 7 out of 100

Based on 257 reviews and ratings

See how Gusto works

Square Payroll

11 Ratings
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Score 6.2 out of 100

Based on 11 reviews and ratings

Feature Set Ratings

  • Square Payroll ranks higher in 1 feature set: Payroll Management

Payroll Management

7.7

Gusto

77%
8.5

Square Payroll

85%
Square Payroll ranks higher in 6/7 features
Square Payroll ranks higher in 6/7 features

Pay calculation

7.4
74%
105 Ratings
9.0
90%
6 Ratings

Support for external payroll vendors

8.5
85%
8 Ratings
8.7
87%
5 Ratings

Benefit plan administration

5.9
59%
77 Ratings
9.3
93%
5 Ratings

Direct deposit files

7.9
79%
108 Ratings
8.5
85%
6 Ratings

Salary revision and increment management

7.2
72%
92 Ratings
8.7
87%
4 Ratings

Reimbursement management

9.5
95%
11 Ratings
8.3
83%
5 Ratings

Off-cycle/On-Demand payment

N/A
0 Ratings
6.9
69%
4 Ratings

Attribute Ratings

  • Gusto is rated higher in 1 area: Likelihood to Recommend
  • Square Payroll is rated higher in 2 areas: Usability, Support Rating

Likelihood to Recommend

5.9

Gusto

59%
125 Ratings
5.6

Square Payroll

56%
8 Ratings

Likelihood to Renew

4.6

Gusto

46%
3 Ratings

Square Payroll

N/A
0 Ratings

Usability

7.3

Gusto

73%
2 Ratings
9.0

Square Payroll

90%
1 Rating

Support Rating

3.3

Gusto

33%
30 Ratings
9.0

Square Payroll

90%
2 Ratings

Likelihood to Recommend

Gusto

Gusto is great if you just want basic payroll. In our company, everyone is on salary and therefore it is usually quite simple to log in and process payroll. There are a few areas that really could do with improvement. * Customer service has really gone downhill lately, and I am finding that when I call the staff is friendly, but inadequately trained. We are a small company and I just do not have the time to spend an hour on a phone call and not even get a resolution. * the PTO area of the portal needs updating. I need to be able to actually see the dates that someone has taken off and when I make an adjustment to an employee's time there should be an area for notes so that we can look back and know why a change was made.

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Felice Geoghegan | TrustRadius Reviewer
Felice Geoghegan
View all 125 answers on this topic

Square Payroll

Square is an amazing platform to have total control over the payroll of all the employees of a company or a specific sector. This platform has a very good functionality to collect exact information on how long each employee works, that is one of its most outstanding characteristics, because it monitors work schedules and overtime and generates detailed reports on the work time of each employee. Square does not allow to schedule payments, that is one of the main problems, however, I consider that it is a very good option for small and medium-sized companies that are looking for a way to have more exact administrative control over the working hours of all their employees. It is a software that works in the cloud, so all the work information that is collected will remain safe without any risk of loss.

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Sasha Brito | TrustRadius Reviewer
Sasha Brito
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Pros

Gusto

  • Complete onboarding process from Offer to First Day. Offer letter templates can be customized for each candidate. Onboarding checklists can be customized for specific departments and roles. Welcome emails signed by the team are a fun option. Reminders for open checklist items keep everyone on track.
  • Expense reporting is super easy in Gusto. Employees upload the receipt and fill in details to be approved by management. Approved expenses are automatically added as reimbursement on the employee's next check.
  • Payroll processing is very straightforward and detailed reporting is available. We ofter have adjustments to employee's base salary that can be mapped to easily integrate with Quickbooks Online. It is easy to pay salaried and hourly employees in Gusto, as well as, contractors.

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Amy Reeves | TrustRadius Reviewer
Amy Reeves
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Square Payroll

  • 1099 contractor payments are easy, and they provide you with the IRS filing as part of the service.
  • Direct deposit/debit from your already connected account to the employee.
  • Reporting and management features are simple yet inclusive.
  • Low cost compared to alternative solutions.

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JoAnna Cohen | TrustRadius Reviewer
JoAnna Cohen
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Cons

Gusto

  • Reporting engine could use work - significant manipulation is needed in Excel for combination employee/payroll data reports.
  • State registration management is not a service offered by Gusto. A third-party registrar is linked as a partner.
  • Staffing doesn't meet demand at quarter and year-end.

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Louis Stone | TrustRadius Reviewer
Louis Stone
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Square Payroll

  • It's a bit pricey for larger companies at $5 per person paid per month.
  • Has a bit of a learning curve that seems steeper than necessary
  • reports can be confusing at first

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Anonymous | TrustRadius Reviewer
Verified User
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Pricing Details

Gusto

General

Free Trial
Yes
Free/Freemium Version
—
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
Yes
Entry-level set up fee?
No

Starting Price

$0 $12 per employee/contractor

Gusto Editions & Modules

Edition
Concierge: Includes everything in the Complete plan, plus access to certified HR pros and resources so you don’t have to go it alone.$149/month1
Complete: Includes everything in the Core plan, plus better HR tools so you can create a great place to work$39/month1
Core: Refreshingly easy payroll so you can get back to what matters most.$39/month2
  1. $12 per employee/contractor
  2. $6 per employee/contractor
Additional Pricing Details
Gusto offers three simple pricing plans for payroll, benefits, and HR, so you can choose the plan that meets your business needs.

Square Payroll

General

Free Trial
—
Free/Freemium Version
—
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
—
Entry-level set up fee?
No

Starting Price

—

Square Payroll Editions & Modules

—
Additional Pricing Details
—

Likelihood to Renew

Gusto

Gusto 4.6
Based on 3 answers
While Gusto does have a few flaws on the whole it is a very user-friendly software that does a great job of making a very complicated and mundane task quite easy and it is also very cost-effective. But I find that it is not a great fit for everyone and there have been a few mistakes in the payroll tax filings that have caused me and my clients some concern

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Lauri Paxton | TrustRadius Reviewer
Lauri Paxton
View all 3 answers on this topic

Square Payroll

No score
No answers yet
No answers on this topic

Usability

Gusto

Gusto 7.3
Based on 2 answers
The UI is clean and simple. It's incredibly easy to find what you need to find, and if you can't, a quick search of their help files will direct you where you need to go about 90% of the time. For that last 10%, a support e-mail will result in a quick answer. Almost any time I try to do something new I haven't done before with Gusto, I can do it in a few minutes.

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Christopher Cantrall | TrustRadius Reviewer
Christopher Cantrall
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Square Payroll

Square Payroll 9.0
Based on 1 answer
It could use a mobile-friendly interface. Other than that it's a simple layout and non-cluttered which allows you to get done what you need to get done. No unnecessary dodads or distractions.

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JoAnna Cohen | TrustRadius Reviewer
JoAnna Cohen
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Support Rating

Gusto

Gusto 3.3
Based on 30 answers
Gusto's support team is responsive and helpful and they have pretty good online resources. We've had a couple issues that didn't fit "in the box" so we've had to create a couple manual workarounds, but the tradeoff for the ease of use of Gusto is ok. Those limitations aren't because of the support team, but more technical limitations.

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Ed Hart | TrustRadius Reviewer
Ed Hart
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Square Payroll

Square Payroll 9.0
Based on 2 answers
I think they have quick and helpful customer service reps, however, I give them a 9 because I have had to wait on hold for long periods of time before.

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Joanna Knight | TrustRadius Reviewer
Joanna Knight
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Alternatives Considered

Gusto

Both tools do similar work. Insperity is a more rounded tool providing additional retirement solutions that Gusto instead links to rather than provides inside their solution. Gusto, however, is easier to navigate and a friendly environment for employees and employers to use. Gusto also gives the ability to do payroll advances while at the time Insperity did not offer the same solution.

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Anonymous | TrustRadius Reviewer
Verified User
View all 125 answers on this topic

Square Payroll

I liked patriot, but I found it to be more confusing than Square and took me too much time to setup. I setup Square Payroll in about an hour. I would also say the Square interface made more sense to me. I also like how Square offers more things like benefits, etc. that can be added on.

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Elizabeth Pampalone | TrustRadius Reviewer
Elizabeth Pampalone
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Return on Investment

Gusto

  • As a very small business, Gusto allows me to run payroll painlessly. I have more time to focus on other tasks, since I only spend about 10 minutes every two weeks on payroll.
  • Well, since one of our objectives is making money, Gusto helps with that by only costing $57 or so per month for our two employees.
  • Seeing the payroll numbers helps me understand where all the taxes are going.

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Katie Barrilleaux | TrustRadius Reviewer
Katie Barrilleaux
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Square Payroll

  • Square Payroll has dramatically reduced the time it takes to process payroll.
  • We could have a faster payroll with the Square POS integration for commission, but that is not something we've implemented yet.

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Alan Bloxham | TrustRadius Reviewer
Alan Bloxham
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Screenshots

Square Payroll

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