Gusto vs Sage People comparison

Gusto and Sage are both solutions in the Benefits Administration category. Gusto is ranked #11 with an average rating of 9.0, while Sage is ranked #33. Gusto holds a 1.0% mindshare in BA, compared to Sage’s 0.9% mindshare. Additionally, 80% of Gusto users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 81% of Sage users who would recommend it.

Gusto

Read 4 Gusto reviews

316 Views
253 Comparison Views

80% willing to recommend

Sage People

Read 15 Sage People reviews

699 Views
356 Comparison Views

81% willing to recommend

Gusto

Sage People

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 4, 2024

Sage People and Gusto are top contenders in the HR management solutions category, focusing on payroll, benefits, and employee management. Gusto appears to have an advantage with its payroll features, whereas Sage People is strong in core HR capabilities.

Features: Sage People focuses on comprehensive core HR management, including absence management, an employee database, and performance management tools. Gusto, on the other hand, provides robust payroll services, efficient benefits administration, and user-friendly onboarding features.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Gusto offers a straightforward deployment process with reliable customer support through live chat and email. Sage People provides thorough deployment support but may need more time for full integration, suiting larger organizations.

Pricing and ROI: Sage People has a higher initial setup cost, offering substantial ROI for companies in need of full HR capabilities. Gusto's more affordable pricing model delivers strong ROI for small to mid-sized businesses focusing on payroll and benefits, catering well to their streamlined HR needs.

To learn more, read our detailed Gusto vs. Sage People Report (Updated: July 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Gusto vs. Sage People

July 2025

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Helped 865,384 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

Sage People

Ranking in Benefits Administration

33rd

Ranking in Talent Management

31st

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

6.7

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Cloud HCM (28th), HR Analytics Software (12th), Talent Acquisition (18th)

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 Sage People is 0.9%, up from 0.9% 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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Spencer Gray

People Advisor at Thomas International

Highly customizable, robust, and access to helpful online community

In my opinion, the performance management module of this system could use improvement as it falls behind compared to other specialized performance management platforms. While I understand that this system is not solely focused on performance management and is more of a generalist solution, it still lacks the capabilities and features that you can find in other specialized platforms. If we were to switch to a provider solely focused on performance management, we would have access to a wider range of features and capabilities that are not currently available in this system. Sage People offers a wide range of functions that meet most requirements. However, there is still room for improvement. One feature that I would like to see added is the ability to detect and address any failures in the custom processes or functions built within the system. I would like to see a tool that can automatically sense and identify any issues in the system. Currently, when something goes wrong, it's not always immediately obvious and requires a lot of manual troubleshooting. It would be helpful if there was an error message that clearly explained why the system is failing. This would speed up the investigation process and make it ten times faster.

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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 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."

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

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

"Sage makes all the information accessible, like pulling a file because an employee needs something ASAP. It's all in the system. It's easy to find old reports if I need them for payroll purposes. It might take days to do some of this work by hand."

"Without a doubt, the most valuable aspect of this solution is the reports, as it offers endless possibilities for report customization. You can easily build any report you can imagine with this system."

"The reporting features are also very valuable because, on top of 300+ reports available on the system, you can also customize quite a number of reports."

"The most valuable feature of Sage People is the integration with our payroll system."

"I guess I would say maybe that it is a more robust system."

"The solution is beneficial overall."

"Compared to the other system that we were using, I think Sage is more friendly. As an administrator, Sage's dashboard is visually friendly and many tasks are easier to accomplish. Another feature that we've liked since we started using Sage is the reporting. With the other system, we needed to configure a lot of things manually when it came to reporting, but with Sage the reporting tasks are much simpler."

"The report builder and dashboard builder are very, very good."

More Sage People pros

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. 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."

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

"Its technical support could have been better."

"The automation in Sage People could improve. The solution is the best used for data storage but the automation could be better to have more functionality."

"If Sage People were to become a fully cloud-based solution, it could lead to significant improvements. With the COVID pandemic highlighting the benefits of remote work, a complete shift to cloud-based functionality would be a welcome development for users."

"In my opinion, the performance management module of this system could use improvement as it falls behind compared to other specialized performance management platforms."

"The integration with our payroll system could improve. However, it is managed by another company."

"The budget module does not work. Sage People need to maybe make it more user-friendly."

"Its stability could be better."

"There were a couple of things that we wanted to customize, but we couldn’t do it ourselves."

More Sage People cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available

"The pricing is reasonable."

"I think it's reasonably priced. But in comparison to other systems, I would choose them over Sage People, regardless of their prices."

"There is other software on the market that can do similar functions to Sage People that could be better in price. Some solution allows you to do your payroll processes by month or by the process. Small companies could benefit by using another solution."

"From an SME standpoint, I wouldn't necessarily describe it as expensive. However, for the average startup, it may not be affordable since our current annual expenditure on the system, which supports approximately 210-220 users, amounts to approximately £15,000 to £18,000."

"The cost of Sage People varies depending on the financial resources of the organization. While it may be affordable for middle-level companies, it may be more challenging for young companies to bear the cost."

"The price of the solution is reasonable."

"Its cost is moderate for a multi-group licensing model."

"We have to purchase the solution's license to use it."

More Sage People pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

No data available

Computer Software Company

20%

Comms Service Provider

15%

Educational Organization

Manufacturing Company

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...

See all answers

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

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Benefits Administration

July 2025

Download Gusto product report

Buyer's Guide

Sage People

July 2025

Download Sage People product report

Also Known As

ZenPayroll

Fairsail

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

Connect teams across borders

Customise communications: Deliver business updates to specific groups and gather feedback with surveys.
Personalise experiences: Create engaging, branded experiences – tailored by group or region.
Connect global teams: Manage your entire workforce, wherever they are. Embed global policies while enforcing local regulations.
Help teams thrive, anywhere: Support wellbeing, provide localised benefits packages, and more.

Get ahead with actionable HR analytics

Make informed decisions: Use People analytics for actionable insights in seconds.
Provide real-time insights: Give up-to-the-minute recommendations so leaders jump on trends and adjust plans.
Customise dashboards: Plan hiring, analyse attrition, manage absence, and more.
Get actionable feedback: Understand the employee experience through surveys, tailored to different groups.

Compete successfully for top talent

Deliver a differentiated, stand-out candidate experience with easy-to-use employer branding themes and options that shows off your culture and company story.
Fill roles faster with skilled talent using our unique, AI-powered, intelligent candidate matching.
Have new employees hit the ground running with seamless remote pre-boarding and onboarding experiences.

Sage

Sample Customers

Farmgirl Flowers, Bevel, Pooch Pals, ALL MAVEN

Rocketship Education, Monitise, u-blox, SolarWinds, Mitsubishi, SmartStream, Canonical, Betfair

Buyer's Guide

Gusto vs. Sage People

July 2025

Free Report: Gusto vs. Sage People

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We monitor all Benefits Administration reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.