Gusto vs Paylocity comparison

Gusto and Paylocity are both solutions in the Benefits Administration category. Gusto is ranked #11 with an average rating of 9.0, while Paylocity is ranked #26. Gusto holds a 1.0% mindshare in BA, compared to Paylocity’s 0.7% mindshare. Additionally, 80% of Gusto users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Paylocity users who would recommend it.

Gusto

Read 4 Gusto reviews

316 Views
253 Comparison Views

80% willing to recommend

Paylocity

Read 1 Paylocity review

375 Views
244 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Gusto

Paylocity

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Gusto and Paylocity based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out what your peers are saying about Workday, Oracle, SAP and others in Benefits Administration.

To learn more, read our detailed Benefits Administration Report (Updated: July 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Benefits Administration

July 2025

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Helped 865,484 peers since 2012

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Categories and Ranking

Gusto

Ranking in Benefits Administration

11th

Ranking in Talent Management

16th

Average Rating

7.6

Reviews Sentiment

6.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Paylocity

Ranking in Benefits Administration

26th

Ranking in Talent Management

48th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

5.9

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Cloud HCM (30th)

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the Benefits Administration category, the mindshare of Gusto is 1.0%, up from 0.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Paylocity is 0.7%, up from 0.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Benefits Administration

Featured Reviews

Mimi Evans

Owner/Operator at Fearless Bookkeeping Services LLC

Simple to use solution that offers a lot; gives employees the option to get cash advances

I think it's great that it syncs with QuickBooks Online and any payroll software that syncs with QuickBooks Online is great. My issue with their syncing was that every single account for a deduction went to a liability account, but not a lot of businesses run that way. As of September, they did not have the ability for me to put an employee's deduction for benefits in anything but a liability account; which made it not difficult, but added a manual step to the syncing of the entering of our payroll between Gusto and QuickBooks Online. I would also like for the tech support to be more responsive. Gusto also advertises their health benefits, but they don't do a good job of explaining why it's a better option to go through them. I think there's more communication that could be done on that. I also think that there are some HR benefits that they could be offering to these lower plans, without having to go to the Premium Plan. I think that that's something that they should consider in the future.

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Rae Passo

HR Specialist with 201-500 employees

Has a comprehensive and intuitive knowledge base, and time saving payroll administration features

Paylocity is not great at communicating customer support related issues such as account manager changes. They claim to provide concierge level of support, but it has not been great. Some of the Paylocity systems are limited. For example, I can't create custom offer letters. I can create generic offer letters with a logo, but I can't edit them or create sections. It does not read like a MS Word document and needs to be more robust. At present, I can't send attachments, add hyperlinks to videos, or embed questions in videos. Also, the number of notifications regarding benefits needs to be increased so that new employees get reminders more than once.

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Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Pros

"I appreciated the templates that they offered for new hires and onboarding."

"I like the payroll part. We also use documents and forms whenever we hire, such as a new hire form for each state, and we like that as well."

"Gusto is a really good payroll solution for small businesses."

"My favorite feature is payroll administration, which has been awesome. You can import as many batches as you want to and run them synchronously or asynchronously. Since I work in a finance company with commissions, bonuses, and distribution, it's great to be able to do that. I can upload multiple things. Also, I can upload different sets of commission lists into the same payroll batch and upload the time card imports and overtime imports if I want to and separate them. I can create multiple batches around an individual or one one set of audit backing, and then I can approve them or leave them open. The way that Paylocity has set up their payroll system is really good and saves us a lot of time. It's very specific and helpful."

Cons

"In the beginning, their support was top-notch. And then around the beginning of 2022, and end of 2021, their support tanked. We used to get responses in the beginning within one to two business days, and towards the end, we were getting responses in one to two business weeks."

"My experience with Gusto's customer support sometimes shows they're not responsive, and they have definitely made mistakes in the past."

"Their enrollment e-signature, enrollment forms, and other documents need a lot of work. Once we fill in the information, we cannot go back and change any of that. It's a time-taking process. If there is any mistake in the document and if we need to go and change a specific field in the form, it's not possible. We have to redo the entire form."

"Some of the Paylocity systems are limited. For example, I can't create custom offer letters. I can create generic offer letters with a logo, but I can't edit them or create sections. It does not read like a MS Word document and needs to be more robust."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

No data available

Computer Software Company

20%

Comms Service Provider

Construction Company

Retailer

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with Gusto?

I wish Gusto's customer support was better for improvements. My experience with Gusto's customer support sometimes shows they're not responsive, and they have definitely made mistakes in the past.

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What advice do you have for others considering Gusto?

I would say, relative to another payroll solution, running payroll with Gusto probably costs half the price and saves us 5 to 10 hours a month. I would say Gusto is a really good payroll solution f...

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What is your primary use case for Gusto?

Our main use case for Gusto is for payroll, and we pay our US employees through it. Gusto helps with our payroll process because we use it for tax filings and benefits.

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Comparisons

Namely vs Gusto

Compared 50% of the time

isolved vs Gusto

Compared 50% of the time

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UKG vs Paylocity

Compared 100% of the time

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Benefits Administration

July 2025

Download Gusto product report

Buyer's Guide

Cloud HCM

August 2025

Download Paylocity product report

Also Known As

ZenPayroll

No data available

Overview

Gusto provides payroll, benefits and HR to modern companies, by handling payments to employees and contractors and also electronically handling the paperwork necessary to help companies comply with tax, labor, and immigration laws.

Gusto

Our all-in-one software platform gives HR pros a way to easily manage daily tasks in payroll, benefits, talent, and workforce management. But what makes us different is that our technology is backed by a culture that truly cares about our clients’ success.

Providers will merely sell you a product. But a partner actually cares about you and your business. A partner takes the time to get to know you and understand your needs. We work with you to identify the best solutions that will benefit your business today, while paving the way to a better tomorrow. And tomorrow is all about your team.

Everything we do is designed to support you in reaching your goals. Together, we tackle your day-to-day work so you can spend more time building the culture you and your employees crave.

For professionals who crave true partnership, Paylocity is the HR & Payroll company that frees you from the tasks of today, so together, we can spend more time focused on the promise of tomorrow.

Let's go forward together.

Paylocity

Sample Customers

Farmgirl Flowers, Bevel, Pooch Pals, ALL MAVEN

POLYWOOD, University Clinical Healthcare, New England Authentic Eats, Revere Plastics, Stonewall Kitchen, Circuit Transit, Powerhouse Retail, Mountainside Fitness, Crafton Tull, Noble House Hotels & Resorts, Gurley Leep Automotive, Taco Johns

Buyer's Guide

Benefits Administration

July 2025

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