Gusto vs UKG comparison

Read 125 UKG reviews

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89% willing to recommend

Gusto

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 4, 2024

UKG and Gusto are competing in the human capital management solutions category. Based on user feedback data, Gusto seems to have the upper hand in terms of user satisfaction, particularly for pricing and ROI.

Features: UKG's key features include robust time tracking, talent management, and advanced analytics capabilities. Gusto offers intuitive onboarding, efficient payroll processing, and streamlined benefits administration.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: UKG's deployment process is more involved, tailored for large enterprises with complex needs. In contrast, Gusto's deployment is straightforward, benefiting smaller businesses. Gusto is praised for its responsive customer service.

Pricing and ROI: UKG requires a higher initial investment, but its ROI is optimized for businesses needing wide-ranging HR functionalities. Gusto provides a more budget-friendly setup, delivering substantial ROI due to its cost-to-benefit ratio, appealing to smaller enterprises.

To learn more, read our detailed Gusto vs. UKG Report (Updated: December 2025).

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Gusto vs. UKG

December 2025

Helped 881,082 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

10th

Ranking in Talent Management

13th

Average Rating

7.6

Reviews Sentiment

6.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

UKG

Ranking in Benefits Administration

4th

Ranking in Talent Management

6th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.7

Number of Reviews

125

Ranking in other categories

Employee Scheduling Software (1st), Cloud HCM (5th), Employee Time Tracking Software (1st), HR Analytics Software (2nd), Talent Acquisition (6th), AI-Agents for HR (1st)

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Benefits Administration category, the mindshare of Gusto is 1.6%, up from 0.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of UKG is 7.3%, up from 7.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Benefits Administration Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
UKG	7.3%
Gusto	1.6%
Other	91.1%

Benefits Administration

Featured Reviews

Phil Strazzulla

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.

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Harish_Mahanta

Works

Streamlined time tracking boosts operational efficiency across multiple regions

The time tracking feature is the most effective for employee management. UKG is used in Europe, the United States, Australia, and East Asian countries for HR activities like payroll. The application is like an ERP, providing comprehensive features for organizations, simplifying their processes, and reducing the need to use multiple software solutions.

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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

"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."

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

"The fact that I can see the whole HR information in a single point is valuable. There is a unified view of everything, which is good. Previously, we had many different systems for each part of the information. Now, it is all centralized. It is very good."

"The tool improved employee onboarding efficiency, especially in healthcare, where timely onboarding is crucial. This change directly impacted retention rates positively. It was a massive project that involved various teams working together. It took about a year to revamp the entire process and ensure compliance. However, once implemented, it improved employee satisfaction by saving them two whole days in the onboarding process."

"The solution's UI is good. Also, it is very easy to use."

"We use the tool for various functions, including payroll, HR, recruiting, onboarding, and workforce management. We've implemented all these modules across all the clients I've worked with."

"The pay policies and approvals are valuable features."

"The solution has improved our organization by helping us cut hours and lessen our labor force. It saved us probably over $100,000 in just the last couple of years."

"It enables us to manage the system ourselves. We don't need an additional team to do a lot of maintenance and add the things that we want."

"I like UKG's integration."

More UKG 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."

"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 product's integration features need improvement."

"The solution could use better reporting with standard reports. We use the Cognos platform in BI for a lot of our reporting. However, they need to have more robust standard reporting available to their user base."

"Since UKG is a SaaS software, other parts of the application or add-on solutions are not the best in class or very configurable."

"The tool needs improvement on the configuration side."

"The solution could improve by simplifying it even more core reports, such as more sample reports, more generic reports that you can edit and improve on yourself."

"One area where UKG could improve is in its ability to understand its own competency and then work hard to improve it."

"The navigation on the screen could be better. Sometimes, I have to dig a little bit deep to find what I need. Everything is there. It just needs to be a little bit smoother."

"The system is slow sometimes."

More UKG cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available

"I wasn't involved in the pricing part. I'm a user, and I believe it is based on the user count. One thing that is nice about Ultimate is that you can learn how to use the system without additional fees. The learning aspect is the life of a product, and the training was a huge reason why we went with Ultimate. We did have some integration costs. They were a part of the implementation because of the integrations to other systems that we included in our implementation."

"The platform is not affordable but also not the most expensive."

"UKG's pricing and licensing model involves ongoing expenses based on the number of employees paid. The initial implementation cost is low when UKG implements it directly. However, when partners handle the implementation, it becomes more expensive since partners don't receive the monthly recurring fees."

"The pricing depends on the number of licenses we buy."

"If you're going for the full suite, it can be fairly pricey."

"While I am unsure of the licensing cost itself, the total cost of implementation and licensing for a company with over 5000 employees would be around 6,00,000. So, there are additional costs beyond licensing."

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881,082 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

No data available

Comms Service Provider

10%

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

Healthcare Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	48
Midsize Enterprise	43
Large Enterprise	48

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?

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 needs improvement with UKG?

UKG needs more publicity. It is a productive ERP ( /categories/erp ) application, but many people in the IT market are not aware of it. Greater awareness could increase its adoption.

What is your primary use case for UKG?

I worked for a healthcare organization and a university. Most organizations use UKG ( /products/ukg-reviews ) to track employee timesheets, capturing accurate swipe-in and swipe-out data. UKG ( /pr...

What advice do you have for others considering UKG?

Publicity is very important for any software. If people aren't aware of UKG, despite its productivity, they won't use it. Expanding the awareness is essential for greater adoption. Overall, I would...

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Product Reports

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Benefits Administration

December 2025

Download UKG product report

January 2026

Also Known As

ZenPayroll

UKG Pro, UKG Dimensons, UKG Ready

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

At UKG, our purpose is people — real people with real challenges, and a simple request. Help me keep my employees productive, connected, and happy. So that’s what we did.

We’ve created an unmatched suite of HR and workforce management solutions, backed by our people who care about yours. Our solutions deliver global workforce experiences that truly reflect the connection between life and work today. That means insights are deeper. Work is easier. And interactions are more meaningful.

Sample Customers

Farmgirl Flowers, Bevel, Pooch Pals, ALL MAVEN

Tesla, Marriott, Yamaha, Aramark, Feeding America, Samsung, Sony Music, Dave & Buster's, Revlon