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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

"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."
"Gusto is a really good payroll solution for small businesses."
"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."
"Paperless record keeping has made accounting between various store branches easy, and has made it easy to track cash flow and all transactions, which allows for quick determination of profit or loss."
"The best features of QuickBooks are ease of use and intuitive design."
"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."
"For most small businesses, QuickBooks Desktop is the best solution."
"The most valuable feature of the solution stems from its reporting capabilities."
"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."
"Without QB, we would be a much smaller business."
"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. 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."
"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."
"The area that I don't use as much is the area about reconciliation with the bank accounts. I do all of that manually, so the area that they can probably improve upon is just better reconciliation with the bank accounts."
"We would like to have data conversion and upload applications included, without having to pay separately for them."
"As of right now, you cannot edit secondary lists in a batch feature."
"The reporting in QuickBooks is terrible and there's no flexibility in it. It only has standard reports that you can modify slightly."
"In their journal entries, you cannot use Accounts Payable or Accounts Receivable more than once."
"It would be beneficial to enhance inventory and manufacturing features, as it currently depends on third-party applications like Fishbowl Inventory to address these specific needs."
"While the data protection is commendable, there is room for improvement in the dashboard."
"In their journal entries, you cannot use Accounts Payable or Accounts Receivable more than once. For example, I owe company "A" $100, so company "A" is Accounts Payable, and I just want to list it one by one by one. If I want to add more companies, say, company "B" with $200, I can't list Accounts Payable in that entry. I would have to just say, company "A", $100, company "B", $200, Accounts Payable, $300." That's a shortcoming of it."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"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."
"QuickBooks is an amazingly priced solution since it's a very cheap product, making it so good for small organizations since you can get a lot out of it without paying a large amount."
"The price point is higher because you are paying for a whole year in advance. They recently moved to subscription pricing."
"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 tool's pricing is extremely reasonable."
"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 a bit on the high side, but it is affordable."
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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

Farmgirl Flowers, Bevel, Pooch Pals, ALL MAVEN
West Egg
Find out what your peers are saying about Workday, UKG, SAP and others in Benefits Administration. Updated: April 2026.
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