Gusto
PaidPayroll benefits and HR for small businesses
About Gusto
Gusto is the payroll-first HR platform that US small businesses graduate to from manual processes. Payroll handles federal and state tax filings automatically, direct deposit, contractor payments ($6/contractor/month add-on), and W-2/1099 generation at year-end. Simple plan is $40/month plus $6/person, Plus is $80/month plus $12/person, Premium is custom. New employee onboarding handles I-9 and W-4 collection through the Gusto portal. Benefits administration (health insurance, 401k) integrates with major carriers. The HRIS features are functional but not deep — no complex org chart management or detailed performance review workflows. The ATS is minimal. International payroll is limited; Gusto Global covers some countries but far fewer than Deel or Remote.com. The main r/humanresources feedback: customer support during tax season gets overwhelmed and resolving payroll errors requires working a support queue. Competes with Rippling (more features, higher price), BambooHR (better HRIS, weaker payroll), and ADP RUN (more established, worse UX). Best for US startups and SMBs under 100 employees that want payroll plus basic HR in one clean system.
Key Features
Pricing Plans
Simple
- Full-service payroll
- Employee self-service
- Health insurance
- Plus $6/person/month
Plus
- Next-day direct deposit
- Time tracking
- PTO management
- Plus $9/person/month
Premium
- Dedicated support
- Compliance alerts
- Performance reviews
- Custom pricing
Pros
- Best payroll experience for small businesses
- Automated tax calculations and filing
- Built-in benefits administration
- Clean friendly interface
- Contractor payments included
- Excellent onboarding experience
Cons
- Per-person pricing adds up quickly
- Limited HR features compared to BambooHR
- Not available outside the US
- Advanced reporting requires Premium
- No free tier or trial
- Benefits broker may charge additional fees
Best For
- US startups and SMBs under 100 employees needing payroll plus basic HR in one place
- companies running US-only payroll that want automatic tax filing in all 50 states
- founders who want to handle onboarding, payroll, and benefits without an HR team
- companies paying both W-2 employees and 1099 contractors from one system
Not Ideal For
- companies with significant international headcount (Gusto Global is limited vs Deel)
- mid-market teams that need deep HRIS workflows, performance management, or ATS
- organizations that need dedicated support outside tax season
Potential Deal Breakers
- international payroll coverage is thin compared to Deel or Remote.com
- customer support quality degrades significantly during Q1 tax season
- no meaningful ATS or performance management tooling
Data & Privacy
US payroll and HR platform handling highly sensitive financial data (SSN, bank accounts, tax info). SOC 2 Type 2 certified. No AI training on payroll data. US-only service — not GDPR applicable as it serves US businesses only. Full payroll data exportable.
Who Is This For?
Hands-on tested May 2026
Signup Experience
Email signup with company details, EIN, and bank account required. Setup wizard walks through pay schedule, employee onboarding, and benefits enrollment. Full-service payroll run takes about 5 minutes once configured. Employees receive self-service portals for pay stubs and tax documents.
For Home Users
Not applicable for personal or home use. Requires at least one employee to make sense.
For Business Users
Simple at $40/mo plus $6/person covers payroll, direct deposit, and basic HR. Plus at $80/mo plus $12/person adds time tracking, PTO management, and HR tools. Clean interface significantly reduces payroll complexity for small business owners running it themselves. ADP and Paychex offer more enterprise features but Gusto wins on usability for teams under 100.
Our Verdict
Gusto is the right default for a US startup that needs to run payroll correctly and doesn't want to deal with ADP's interface. The tax filing automation is genuinely valuable and works reliably. The ceiling hits fast though: international expansion, complex HR workflows, and enterprise headcount all push you toward Rippling or Workday faster than you might expect.