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Gusto vs Paylocity comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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
9th
Ranking in Talent Management
12th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
4
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Paylocity
Ranking in Benefits Administration
30th
Ranking in Talent Management
37th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
5.9
Number of Reviews
1
Ranking in other categories
Cloud HCM (30th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2026, in the Benefits Administration category, the mindshare of Gusto is 1.7%, up from 1.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Paylocity is 1.2%, up from 0.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Benefits Administration Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Gusto1.7%
Paylocity1.2%
Other97.1%
Benefits Administration
 

Featured Reviews

PS
Founder at SelectSoftware Reviews
Provides time-saving solutions for small business payrolls
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 for small businesses. Running payroll with Gusto costs half the price and saves us 5 to 10 hours a month. My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. I was not offered a gift card or incentive for this review. I rated Gusto 9 out of 10 because of some customer support issues that kept it from being a 10.
RP
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.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"I think the most value I have gotten from Gusto has been the interface, as it's very simple to use and it's very easy to understand."
"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."
"We used QuickBooks before Gusto; we switched because Gusto is much easier, and it also is used for payroll as an HR IT solution with multiple uses."
"I appreciated the templates that they offered for new hires and onboarding."
"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."
"Their enrollment e-signature, enrollment forms, and other documents need a lot of work."
"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."
"The integration is not so good."
"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
Comms Service Provider
14%
Construction Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Outsourcing Company
10%
Construction Company
19%
Outsourcing Company
15%
Comms Service Provider
14%
Manufacturing Company
10%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
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.
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...
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

 

Also Known As

ZenPayroll
No data available
 

Overview

 

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
Find out what your peers are saying about Workday, Oracle, UKG and others in Benefits Administration. Updated: August 2026.
913,683 professionals have used our research since 2012.