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Gusto vs SAP HCM comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 4, 2024

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
4
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
SAP HCM
Ranking in Benefits Administration
4th
Ranking in Talent Management
3rd
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
57
Ranking in other categories
Cloud HCM (3rd)
 

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 SAP HCM is 10.6%, down from 13.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Benefits Administration
 

Featured Reviews

Mimi Evans - PeerSpot reviewer
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.
Renelia Villanueva - PeerSpot reviewer
Efficient payroll processing with comprehensive attendance management
I am currently heading the payroll benefits and HRIS team here in Manila. We are using SAP HCM on-premises, and we implemented SuccessFactors focusing on Employee Central and GMPM SAP HCM has helped a lot due to the always changing government regulations pertaining to taxation, social security…

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."
"Gusto is a really good payroll solution for small businesses."
"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."
"SAP HCM can handle a large number of employees. We can easily process payrolls and check the arrangements, and the client can also check the performance of the employees. Additionally, it has some advanced features."
"It simplifies everything for human capital management, and all users can do self-enrollment for leaves and those kinds of things. The employee self-service feature is quite a powerful feature for me. You can install it on your mobile phone or iPad and do your employee service activity there."
"SAP HCM has valuable features for analytics data management."
"The valuable features of SAP HCM include managing employee data from hiring to retirement."
"The platform is simple to use and has a user-friendly dashboard and integration features."
"The technical support is quite good."
"The most valuable feature is Organizational Management (OM)."
"Payroll is always the central area the tool focuses on. It needs to ensure things are flowing, employees are paid on time, and there are no issues related to location, pay, or hiring. SAP HCM helps observe all the work, from hiring to paying paychecks every month. It's a system that depends on the data you input. You don't want to work with bad data and expect miracles. If the data isn't clean, it's more work."
 

Cons

"My experience with Gusto's customer support sometimes shows they're not responsive, and they have definitely made mistakes in the past."
"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."
"The organizational structure visualization could be improved in future releases. The solution has a very poor interface."
"SAP HCM's long and tedious transactions can be improved."
"The speed of technical support can be improved."
"There's still room for improvement. We need end-to-end systems. Only the HR team uses HCM, but employees don't have access to their data. With Employee Central, employees can see their ratings, increment cycles, and other details, making things more transparent."
"The product significantly improved our organization by automating many processes, which reduced paperwork and provided clearer, more accurate goals and competencies."
"Its reporting feature could have customization options."
"SAP now does the most innovation for the cloud solution and less innovation for the on-premises client."
"What can be improved in SAP HCM depends on the industry it serves. The system's navigation could be simplified for users. The flow and integration between parts, like core HR, payroll, and recruiting, must be communicated properly. Users should focus on how doing things correctly from the start will improve things in the long run rather than feeling overwhelmed by tasks."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"The cost depends on the size of the organization. Compared to others, I'd say Oracle is number one, followed by Workday and SAP HCM."
"SAP is extremely expensive. The integration costs and customization costs are also a lot."
"Be careful and guard against future changes in licensing."
"The terms on which you buy licenses might change due to the way they license in a particular product."
"We have an annual license for this solution, and the price depends on the number of users."
"The cost of SAP HCM is high, the license should be reduced. SAP HCM has a lot of hidden costs."
"In my view, this product is a waste of money for SMB because there are much better products available and licensing is an issue."
"For implementation, SAP offers little support unless you buy SAP Safeguarding from SAP Consulting."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
No data available
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Comms Service Provider
7%
 

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.
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 do you like most about SAP HCM?
SAP HCM is the one of the best ERP for an organization with a small to large scale business. It has the most efficient payroll functionality. Regards : SAP HR classes in pune
What do you like most about SAP HCM?
HCM is a very important module that each organization should want to use. It will help any organization to calculate and control the cost of their human resources.
What is better, SAP HCM or SAP SuccessFactors?
When it comes to user experience, SuccessFactors is unquestionably superior, as it provides end users with a new experience and an advanced user interface. Additionally, the entire concept of SF is...
 

Comparisons

 

Also Known As

ZenPayroll
SAP Human Capital Management
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Farmgirl Flowers, Bevel, Pooch Pals, ALL MAVEN
City of Cape Town, ADAMA Agricultural Solutions Ltd., TransAlta Corporation, Keolis, PT XL Axiata Tbk, National Football League (NFL), Plan International, Yoh, A Day & Zimmermann Company, China Talent Group (CTG TMO), Umicore S.A., Butterfield Bank, Skrill Group Ltd.
Find out what your peers are saying about Gusto vs. SAP HCM and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.
865,384 professionals have used our research since 2012.