Item: Gusto
Rating: 9
Author: Patrick Yurick

Overall Satisfaction with Gusto

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

This is a set-it-and-forget-it program that helps us run payroll affordably and accurately. Our company CPA has access and receives quarterly tax information, which helps us stay on track as a small LLC. I still need to figure out how to add benefits using the platform—it’s not super intuitive. When the IRS sends a cryptic note, I just forward it along, and a Gusto rep either explains what to do or takes care of it for me. That kind of support is amazing. Great!

Pros and Cons

Pros

Quarterly tax access for CPA
Gusto makes it easy for our CPA to access quarterly tax data directly, which saves us time and ensures tax reporting stays accurate for our LLC.
IRS support via human reps
Whenever we get confusing IRS mail, I forward it to Gusto. A real human rep either walks me through next steps or handles it directly—huge peace of mind.
Payroll automation
Once payroll is set up, it runs smoothly and automatically with little effort on my part. It’s reliable, affordable, and a great “set it and forget it” solution for a small business.

Cons

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.

Return on Investment

Saved ~10+ hours/month on payroll and tax coordination
By automating payroll and giving our CPA direct access to quarterly reports, Gusto reduced the need for manual follow-ups and document sharing—saving me at least 10 hours per month as a founder.
Reduced legal/accounting risk during launch
Having a platform that handles state/federal tax filings and compliance helped us avoid potential fines or filing errors in our first year—critical peace of mind as we scaled.
Enabled growth without hiring admin staff
We’ve onboarded part-time employees and contractors without needing to hire a dedicated HR/payroll role. That’s thousands in annual savings while still operating professionally.

Usability

I gave it a 7 because while Gusto covers the essentials and automates payroll really well, certain features feel clunky or unclear—especially when you're a remote-first startup. For example, benefits onboarding wasn’t intuitive, and tasks like distributing labor law posters or understanding compliance requirements took more manual effort than expected. That said, once things are set up, the core functions (like running payroll and filing taxes) work smoothly with minimal input. More customizable dashboards and better UX for remote teams would easily bump this to a 9 or 10.

Key Insights

Do you think Gusto delivers good value for the price?

Yes

Are you happy with Gusto's feature set?

Yes

Did Gusto live up to sales and marketing promises?

Yes

Did implementation of Gusto go as expected?

Yes

Would you buy Gusto again?

Yes

Other Software Used

Hubstaff, Snagit, Discord

Likelihood to Recommend

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.

Gusto Feature Ratings

Comments

Please log in to join the conversation

Great for Startups Looking to Streamline Payroll and Compliance