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Gusto vs QuickBooks comparison

 

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
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
4
Ranking in other categories
Benefits Administration (10th), Talent Management (12th)
QuickBooks
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
20
Ranking in other categories
Billing Software (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

Gusto and QuickBooks aren’t in the same category and serve different purposes. Gusto is designed for Benefits Administration and holds a mindshare of 1.8%, up 0.8% compared to last year.
QuickBooks, on the other hand, focuses on Billing Software, holds 4.3% mindshare, down 8.2% since last year.
Benefits Administration Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Gusto1.8%
Workday10.0%
UKG6.9%
Other81.3%
Benefits Administration
Billing Software Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
QuickBooks4.3%
Zuora5.2%
NetSuite ERP4.2%
Other86.3%
Billing Software
 

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.
Sushil Bhau - PeerSpot reviewer
Technical Lead at Avalara
Has enabled smooth cloud integration for tax calculation and improved collaboration across teams
Regarding improvements or enhancements in QuickBooks, there is limited customization that QuickBooks Online supports regarding reports. It's too rigid for complex financial analysis. Data visualization needs improvement, particularly in the dashboard and live monitoring tools. Multi-entity and multi-currency reporting can be cumbersome without a third-party tool. Users experience syncing errors or duplicate transactions with bank feed accuracy. Workflow automation in QuickBooks Online could expand beyond rules for transactions, such as automation approval and recurring journal entries; these are opportunities for improvement.

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 appreciated the templates that they offered for new hires and onboarding."
"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 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."
"The most valuable feature of the solution stems from its reporting capabilities."
"QuickBooks is very reliable and stable; being cloud-based allows me to access it from anywhere, and it is very useful."
"QuickBooks is known for its inventory and manufacturing features, it's a versatile accounting software that covers various aspects of financial management."
"For most small businesses, QuickBooks Desktop is the best solution."
"QuickBooks Desktop is the perfect software program for a startup company to begin keeping track of its accounts, to work with banks, and to present financials to its CPAs so that they can get their taxes done."
"The main benefits I have seen from QuickBooks are that it helps our partners do their business impactfully with the help of QuickBooks Online."
"QuickBooks Online has improved my organization by offering a vast array of integrations with other products that allow you to improve process efficiencies while keeping the cost of your ERP or accounting software affordable."
"The most valuable feature of QuickBooks Desktop is its ability to import into QuickBooks Online files easily."
 

Cons

"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."
"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."
"The integration is not so good."
"The only concern that I've always had, and it's been a consistent issue that I've heard from others, which is when a file is exported from QuickBooks Desktop and imported into QuickBooks Online, there are accounts that are inactivated or deleted and duplicated. I don't know if it's a bug in the system or what it is, but there's the chart of accounts and the issue is always in the chart of accounts."
"The search functionality in the solution has shortcomings that can be improved in almost every area of the solution."
"In terms of expansion, we stopped using QuickBooks POS at some point because you can’t scale. We couldn’t scale to more than 32 locations when the business grew. The scalability, support and price could be improved."
"I would like to have data conversion and upload applications included, without having to pay separately for them."
"The customer response team is slow and sometimes causes the user to have a loss."
"Technical support could be easier to reach."
"The main issue we are facing is related to licensing and the need to review invoices and product-wise details for international clients."
"You just need to jump through more hoops than is probably necessary to make it happen, but it's a pretty solid product."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"The tool's pricing is extremely reasonable."
"The pricing is considered reasonable and reflects the value provided, falling neither in the extremely expensive nor very cheap category."
"When I first started, the only other options were the very expensive programs. QuickBooks Desktop you can find anywhere between $200 and $300 on Amazon or Costco."
"The price point is higher because you are paying for a whole year in advance. They recently moved to subscription pricing."
"It is a bit on the high side, but it is affordable."
"They're trying to catch up with more expensive platforms, so they switched to a subscription model, which makes it even more expensive."
"It is relatively expensive."
"Regarding pricing, QuickBooks needs to make its point-of-sale system more affordable to onboard more small businesses. Many retail stores need a retail ERP, and QuickBooks POS is a good option. The pricing is a barrier for some businesses. If QuickBooks offered a more affordable package, it would be easier for businesses to choose QuickBooks POS and get the benefits of a retail ERP. It also gives you discounts."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
No data available
Comms Service Provider
12%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Computer Software Company
10%
Construction Company
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business13
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise4
 

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.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for QuickBooks Desktop?
The pricing, setup cost, and licensing cost have different levels, including simple, basic, essential, plus, enterprise, or advanced. The advanced rate is $275 per month.I find it cost-effective in...
What needs improvement with QuickBooks Desktop?
Regarding improvements or enhancements in QuickBooks, there is limited customization that QuickBooks Online supports regarding reports. It's too rigid for complex financial analysis. Data visualiza...
What is your primary use case for QuickBooks Desktop?
The main use cases for QuickBooks currently involve applying taxes on orders, estimated and any kind of exemption that is applying on the orders. Our team is doing an API call with our server, and ...
 

Comparisons

 

Also Known As

ZenPayroll
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

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West Egg
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