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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

    Vertex

    Score8.8 out of 10
    N/AVertex is global indirect tax compliance software for enterprise tax and finance teams. Indirect tax covers transaction-based obligations, such as sales and use tax, value-added tax (VAT), and goods and services tax (GST). Vertex supports tax determination, electronic invoicing (e-invoicing), reporting, filing, and audit-readiness workflows. Vertex’s official website Key Capabilities Tax determination: Calculates applicable indirect taxes…N/A
    Pricing
    GustoVertex
    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
    GustoVertex
    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
    Features
    GustoVertex
    Payroll Management
    Comparison of Payroll Management features of Gusto and Vertex
    Feature
    Gusto
    9.1
    611 Ratings
    9% above category average
    Vertex
    -
    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
    Type of tax
    Comparison of Type of tax features of Gusto and Vertex
    Feature
    Gusto
    -
    Ratings
    Vertex
    8.2
    142 Ratings
    7% above category average
    Sales and Use Taxes00 Ratings9.3139 Ratings
    Cross-border Taxes00 Ratings7.945 Ratings
    VAT / GST Taxes00 Ratings8.568 Ratings
    Energy and Fuel Taxes00 Ratings7.311 Ratings
    Tax Reporting & Compliance
    Comparison of Tax Reporting & Compliance features of Gusto and Vertex
    Feature
    Gusto
    -
    Ratings
    Vertex
    8.6
    136 Ratings
    10% above category average
    Geolocation for Tax Assessment00 Ratings8.6103 Ratings
    3rd-Party Software Integrations00 Ratings8.795 Ratings
    Tax Data Reporting00 Ratings8.7122 Ratings
    Compliance Administration Management00 Ratings8.786 Ratings
    Tax Exemption Processing00 Ratings8.7100 Ratings
    Tax Document Management00 Ratings8.783 Ratings
    Complex Tax Scenario Management00 Ratings8.096 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    GustoVertex
    Small Businesses
    Patriot Payroll
    Score8.6 out of 10
    Intuit Lacerte
    Score9.4 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    APS
    Score5.7 out of 10
    Lappa
    Score8.8 out of 10
    Enterprises
    ADP Streamline Payroll
    Score6.1 out of 10
    ADP SmartCompliance
    Score8.2 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    GustoVertex
    Likelihood to Recommend
    9.1
    (633 ratings)
    9.0
    (167 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    10.0
    (14 ratings)
    8.0
    (20 ratings)
    Usability
    9.4
    (457 ratings)
    8.6
    (63 ratings)
    Availability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.5
    (10 ratings)
    Performance
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.5
    (10 ratings)
    Support Rating
    4.3
    (27 ratings)
    7.5
    (25 ratings)
    In-Person Training
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.7
    (3 ratings)
    Online Training
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.6
    (5 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    9.1
    (3 ratings)
    9.9
    (17 ratings)
    Configurability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (80 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.9
    (7 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.7
    (57 ratings)
    Vendor post-sale
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.9
    (20 ratings)
    Vendor pre-sale
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.0
    (13 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    GustoVertex
    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
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    Vertex Inc.
    I have used Vertex since the very beginning of my career. I have always found the information clear, and easy to use. The documentation to use the product was thorough. We file returns in all 45 states that have sales / use taxes and having the ability to import data, key additional data in and print out a signature ready return has made life easy. I've never wanted to look at any other return preparation software as none of them come close to the product that Vertex created.
    Incentivized
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    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
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    Vertex Inc.
    • Vertex does a great job of building in-house industry expertise (leasing in our case) so they truly understand the tax technical and compliance obstacles we face day to day.
    • Vertex actively solicits for and responds to customer feedback on development and product roadmap suggestions. The Leasing users group is an example where Vertex takes an active role in communicating with and taking feedback from our industry.
    • Vertex tax updates are very timely and thorough, which makes the compliance process less stressful for our team.
    Incentivized
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    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
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    Vertex Inc.
    • Reporting: Vertex VAT Compliance is not fully ready to support all EU country's requirements.
    • Data storage.
    • Online reporting in VVC: many countries require to report VAT Declaration in an electronic way. This function is still missing for some of the countries from VVC.
    Incentivized
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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.
    Read full review
    Vertex Inc.
    We are satisfied with the overall performance of Vertex. The software has provided my company with many efficiencies. We have shorted our audits and found that many audits are happy that we are using Vertex to calculate our taxes. We no longer need to worry about updating our rates each month since Vertex sends us a file to upload
    Incentivized
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    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
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    Vertex Inc.
    Vertex itself is very good software. Its tax calculation is very accurate, and there should be no doubt whether Vertex is calculating the tax. Customer support is also good, and the response is quick. The updates are also good and easy to understand, making this an excellent application.
    Incentivized
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    Reliability and Availability
    Gusto
    No answers on this topic
    Vertex Inc.
    I have always felt VERTEX support was available when needed, and I have felt comfortable calling in some heavy hitters when needed
    Incentivized
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    Performance
    Gusto
    No answers on this topic
    Vertex Inc.
    Our Vertex performance is good, although we are now experiencing Error 502 when adding additional data points to our transaction tester single tests. At Exchange, I was told to reach out to support....that most likely the On Demand system needed some additional CPU resource added. I have a currently open ticket, that has not yet been fixed on this matter
    Incentivized
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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.
    Incentivized
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    Vertex Inc.
    Level 1 support has always been kind and understanding but times they do not always provided the technical help sometimes their response or protocol is not related. I feel that I have to beg for a developer to look over my issue. On the other hand, there have been times a Level 1 support person has taken the time to research my issue and provide valid feedback & solution
    Incentivized
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    In-Person Training
    Gusto
    No answers on this topic
    Vertex Inc.
    By training I'm referring to our engagement with Vertex Consulting's professional services group. Each person on the engagement had prior leasing industry tax experience and most if not all used O Series before joining Vertex. Consultants with industry specific tax experience provide so much more than just "training". They are able to engage in deep tax technical discussions with actual experience while in private practice. This coupled with having visibility to how numerous other leasing peers approach similar tax issues is a huge plus on top of the standard training.
    Incentivized
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    Online Training
    Gusto
    No answers on this topic
    Vertex Inc.
    Vertex has offered multiple webinars for the products we have purchased that are informative and helpful. I've also attended a few of the Vertex annual conferences where I was able to strength my knowledge of Vertex. I also found that their online library and videos can be helpful in resolving issues and answering questions.
    Incentivized
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    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
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    Vertex Inc.
    The implementation is challenging, make no mistake but will provide much value over time. Make sure you have full support of IT and your major stakeholders in your company. I found that while many people claimed to understand tax was important, they had no idea how deep tax in entrenched throughout the lease life cycle.
    Incentivized
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    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
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    Vertex Inc.
    In comparison specifically with Avalara, Vertex is better in every way. It is much more customizable and allows us to change the way our tax software is set up for our business needs. Avalara is much more constricted, and is using the SST system which can allow for simplified returns, but in our case was causing more problems. Avalara is also much more expensive than Vertex, for less capabilities. Vertex' customer support is much stronger than Avalara's, as they are focused on obtaining and retaining customers whereas Avalara was continually trying to find ways to get money from us
    Incentivized
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    Scalability
    Gusto
    No answers on this topic
    Vertex Inc.
    There needs to be a time-consuming setup both in the Enterprise Resource Platform and in Vertex and the related tools as well but once this is all established, Vertex is very proficient at calculating Sales and Use Tax in the USA and in Canada with GST/HST, as well as several of the provinces where we are located. As we added plants in different jurisdictions via greenfield expansion and aquisition, Vertex was able to integrate those as long as the tax department is fully informed of the system.
    Incentivized
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    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
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    Vertex Inc.
    • We use Vertex on a monthly basis to see if tax has been over-accrued or over-charged on invoices. We do save tax every month using the tool. Not at liberty to share too much more - the technology does assist the human efforts.
    Incentivized
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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

    Vertex Screenshots

    Screenshot of Vertex dashboard