Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Gusto
Score 8.9 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.
$49
per month
Sympa
Score 9.0 out of 10
N/A
Sympa is a powerful platform for building data-driven HR that supports your people. We're proud to serve more than 1000 multi-location, growth-focused customers of all sizes in 100+ countries.
$4.76
per month per user
Pricing
GustoSympa
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
GustoSympa
Free Trial
YesNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
YesYes
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeRequired
Additional DetailsGusto offers three pricing plans for payroll, benefits, and HR.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
GustoSympa
Features
GustoSympa
Payroll Management
Comparison of Payroll Management features of Product A and Product B
Gusto
9.0
568 Ratings
9% above category average
Sympa
-
Ratings
Pay calculation9.4545 Ratings00 Ratings
Support for external payroll vendors8.58 Ratings00 Ratings
Benefit plan administration8.8392 Ratings00 Ratings
Direct deposit files9.3550 Ratings00 Ratings
Salary revision and increment management9.0425 Ratings00 Ratings
Reimbursement management9.1164 Ratings00 Ratings
Human Resource Management
Comparison of Human Resource Management features of Product A and Product B
Gusto
-
Ratings
Sympa
9.8
1 Ratings
19% above category average
Employee demographic data00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
Employment history00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
Job profiles and administration00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
Organizational charting00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
Organization and location management00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
Compliance data (COBRA, OSHA, etc.)00 Ratings9.01 Ratings
Leave and Attendance Management
Comparison of Leave and Attendance Management features of Product A and Product B
Gusto
-
Ratings
Sympa
10.0
1 Ratings
20% above category average
Approval workflow00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
Balance details00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
Annual carry-forward and encashment00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
Employee Self Service
Comparison of Employee Self Service features of Product A and Product B
Gusto
-
Ratings
Sympa
10.0
1 Ratings
20% above category average
View and generate pay and benefit information00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
Update personal information00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
View company policy documentation00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
View job history00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
Asset Management
Comparison of Asset Management features of Product A and Product B
Gusto
-
Ratings
Sympa
10.0
1 Ratings
23% above category average
Tracking of all physical assets00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
Performance and Goals
Comparison of Performance and Goals features of Product A and Product B
Gusto
-
Ratings
Sympa
10.0
1 Ratings
22% above category average
Corporate goal setting00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
Individual goal setting00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
Performance tracking00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
Performance Management
Comparison of Performance Management features of Product A and Product B
Gusto
-
Ratings
Sympa
10.0
1 Ratings
23% above category average
Performance plans00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
Performance improvement plans00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
Review status tracking00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
Best Alternatives
GustoSympa
Small Businesses
Dayforce Powerpay
Dayforce Powerpay
Score 9.4 out of 10
Dayforce Powerpay
Dayforce Powerpay
Score 9.4 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Paypro Workforce Management
Paypro Workforce Management
Score 9.7 out of 10
Paypro Workforce Management
Paypro Workforce Management
Score 9.7 out of 10
Enterprises
Infor Human Resources
Infor Human Resources
Score 7.1 out of 10
PeopleStrong
PeopleStrong
Score 9.9 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
GustoSympa
Likelihood to Recommend
9.0
(589 ratings)
9.0
(1 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
10.0
(12 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Usability
9.5
(413 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
1.3
(26 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
9.1
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
GustoSympa
Likelihood to Recommend
Gusto
Gusto is a great fit for small teams and startups that want a simple, reliable way to run payroll, manage tax filings, and give CPAs access without constant micromanagement. It’s especially useful for founders who need something that “just works.” The human support has been excellent—especially when forwarding confusing IRS mail.
That said, it’s a bit less intuitive when it comes to benefits and compliance for fully remote companies. For example, labor law poster distribution isn’t streamlined for digital teams, and setting up benefits felt more complex than it needed to be. Still, I’d recommend Gusto to any startup looking to get payroll right from day one.
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Tellent (Recruitee, Sympa, Javelo, kiwiHR)
In my usage of Sympa, I find that it's very useful for onboarding, goal management, and organizational structure lookups. I haven't yet experienced any areas where it doesn't work well or isn't appropriate. We have many other software systems that work in tandem with Sympa.
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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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Tellent (Recruitee, Sympa, Javelo, kiwiHR)
  • Customized interface.
  • Global Org Chart/Employee lookup.
  • Onboarding tasks.
  • Updating and reviewing personal goals, quotas, and PDP.
Read full review
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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Tellent (Recruitee, Sympa, Javelo, kiwiHR)
  • Loading speeds have been a bit slow at points.
  • Our customized interface is easy to use but beginning to feel a bit dated (could use a refresh).
  • Minor user-interface features could be added to take it to the next level.
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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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Tellent (Recruitee, Sympa, Javelo, kiwiHR)
No answers on this topic
Usability
Gusto
The overall platform and its speed of response are amazing. I would recommend this to any other business owner for ease of use and reliability. Email reminders are great if I’m super busy and have forgotten a few tasks. The price point compared to local payroll service is hands down a huge win.
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Tellent (Recruitee, Sympa, Javelo, kiwiHR)
No answers on this topic
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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Tellent (Recruitee, Sympa, Javelo, kiwiHR)
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
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Tellent (Recruitee, Sympa, Javelo, kiwiHR)
No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
Gusto
It's been a while since I used QuickBooks for payroll, but it doesn't even come close to it. Gusto is infinitely easier, allowing for employee time tracking, handling calculations and payments of payroll and payroll taxes, managing regulatory compliance in the background, and more. I had a lot of moments using QuickBooks Payroll where I thought, "Am I even doing this right?" — it felt like you had to have additional knowledge of HR regulations in your state to do everything correctly. Gusto has it ALL handled so you can focus your time on higher-impact tasks in your business.
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Tellent (Recruitee, Sympa, Javelo, kiwiHR)
No answers on this topic
Return on Investment
Gusto
  • For me, it is hard to quantify payroll software as having an ROI. It does save quite a bit of time per pay period, so perhaps we could assign a theoretical number to an employee taking that time. I'd say, at the least, it saves 30-60 minutes a pay period compared to a more difficult-to-use payroll software.
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Tellent (Recruitee, Sympa, Javelo, kiwiHR)
  • Provides visibility to all things HR.
  • On demand access so you don't need to wait on replies from HR.
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

Sympa Screenshots

Screenshot of Sympa's customisable frontpage can highlight favourite reports based on any data saved in the system in any format. Pending tasks and approval requests will be shown, as well as a clear view of all team members.Screenshot of Sympa’s customisable reports offer a clear and real-time overview of any type of absences, sick leaves and holiday planning in the team. Users can highlight any report on the customisable front page for an even better overview.Screenshot of Sympa smooths the appraisal process by collecting learning management, training, skills, appraisals and all other relevant information under a single hood. This supports a motivated, enjoyable and happy work place.Screenshot of Report data in any format and present it in visual reports or on live dashboards. All reports can be shared with the right people without compromising sensitive data.Screenshot of Sympa offers a real-time overview of all things HR related, accessible on every device imaginable. Sympa can be used from anywhere at anytime, ensuring that users have all information within arm’s reach with just a few clicks.