Gusto vs QuickBooks: Which Is Best for Your Business?

Let’s see how these two online payroll platforms fare compared to each other. I’ll also outline the main features of both platforms and highlight the Gusto and QuickBooks Payroll differences and similarities.

Short on Time? Quick Comparison

Differences Between Gusto and QuickBooks

The main differences between both payroll platforms are:

• Gusto offers an all-inclusive payroll platform for small businesses. In addition, it offers management of many employee benefits, automated payroll for both salaried and hourly employees, and is easily integrated with multiple third-party accounting software.
• QuickBooks Payroll is best suited for businesses that use the QuickBooks accounting software. In addition, it only allows health benefits management, payroll automation for salaried employees only and has same- and next-day direct deposit processing.

Apart from these, Gusto and QuickBooks Payroll are very similar platforms. Both have three pricing plans with varying offerings and charge additional fees per employee. While both platforms have an employee portal, only Gusto allows employee self-onboarding, which significantly simplifies the onboarding process. With QuickBooks Payroll, you will get professional help transferring employee data from your previous payroll service only with their most expensive Elite plan.

Gusto Vs. QuickBooks Overview

Gusto Features

The Gusto payroll software has excellent functionalities that help small business owners run payroll without the fear of forgetting any important thing. Here is a list of Gusto’s core functionalities:

• Seamless payroll run
• Automation of payroll taxes
• Employee benefits
• Employee self-onboarding
• Payroll automation
• HR services
• Several payment options
• Simple and user-friendly interface

Gusto is straightforward payroll software, and it has an impressively simple onboarding process. The service supports both W1 and 1099 contractor onboarding and has automatic reports for new hires. In addition, the Gusto employee portal allows the employees and contractors to review pay stubs, hours, benefits, and more.

Gusto allows an unlimited number of payrolls each month, a convenient feature for business that needs to pay different types of employees: full and part-time W2 employee, freelancers, consultants, and 1099 contactors. It also provides the option to save the payroll and review it at a later date. The other Gusto features attractive for small business owners include HR tools, payroll taxes, several payment options, new hires reporting, paid time off management, and more.

QuickBooks Payroll Features

QuickBooks Payroll has plenty of functionalities that make it a good option for running payroll. Here is an overview of this software’s main functionalities:

• Effortless payroll run
• Payroll tax filing
• Automated payment to W2 employees
• Same and next-day direct deposit
• Time tracking option
• Sleek and easy-to-use interface
• Seamless integration with other QuickBooks platforms

QuickBooks Payroll is a well-designed software with plenty of useful functionalities for the seamless running of payroll. These include automated payroll of salaried employees, payroll tax reports and filing, and the option to track time. In addition, the direct deposit payments are processed the same or the next day, which many users find very convenient.

QuickBooks Payroll is a standalone app, but it can seamlessly integrate with other QuickBooks financial applications. You can do unlimited payroll runs with the app, and these are included with all the price plans. Also, the platform allows tracking paid time off and integrated management of health insurance in all 50 US states.

Pricing Plans Comparison

Let’s have a closer look at each platform’s pricing plans and what each of them includes.

Gusto has three pricing plans, each with different functionalities:

• Core – $39/month + $6/month per person. This plan offers full-service payroll, health benefits administration, employee self-service and profiles, employee benefits, and accounting and time tracking integrations.
• Complete – $39/month + $12/month per person. The Complete plan offers all the features from the Core plan; additionally, it has next-day direct deposit, time tracking and paid time off management, project tracking and workforce costing, hiring and onboarding, and team management tools.
• Concierge – $149/month + $12/month per person. The Concierge plan includes everything the Core and Complete plans have, plus certified HR professional help, compliance alerts, dedicated best-in-class support, and an HR resource center.

Apart from the base functions, users can add extra benefits to their select plan. These include 401(k) plans, FSA, worker’s comp, Gusto wallet, health reimbursement, and 529 college savings.

QuickBooks Payroll also has three pricing plans, each with different features:

• Core – $45/month + $4/month per employee. This plan offers full-service payroll, auto payroll, health benefits, 401(k) plans, 1099 e-file, and pay, expert support, and next-day direct deposit.
• Premium – $75/month + $8/month per employee. It offers all the features from the Core plan, along with a same-day deposit, worker’s comp administration, HR support center, time tracking, and expert review.
• Elite – $125/month + $10month per employee. The Elite plan offers all the functionalities of the Core and Premium plans, along with expert setup, 24/7 expert product support, track time and projects on the go, tax penalty protection, and personal HR advisor.

To better grasp the offerings of each payment plan, I’ve prepared the following comparison table between the Gusto and QuickBooks Payroll pricing plans:

Winner: Gusto has a cheaper base plan, but it comes with some up-sells.

Gusto Vs. Quickbooks Onboarding Process

Winner: Gusto

Comparison Between User Experience

Winner: Gusto

Gusto Vs. QuickBooks Customer Service

Winner: QuickBooks Payroll

When to Choose Gusto?

The Gusto payroll platform is a full-service payroll software designed with the needs of the small business. In my opinion, here is when to select Gusto:

• When you run a small business with less than 100 employees
• When in need of a wide array of employee benefits
• When you need an affordable full-service payroll
• When you need to pay both salaried and hourly workers, as well as contractors, freelancers, and consultants
• When you need a platform that integrates with third-party software

The Gusto payroll features are well-designed, and the platform has a straightforward design and intuitive navigation. The payroll and HR features are excellent; once you start using the platform, you can automate many processes like payroll runs, automating tax reporting and filing, and more.

With Gusto, the once tedious payroll process can take you less than five minutes. I particularly like the employee self-onboarding process that simplifies many things and prevents critical mistakes. The area it could use improvement is customer support; otherwise, Gusto is an excellent payroll platform for a small business.

When to Choose QuickBooks?

QuickBooks Payroll is a full-service payroll platform and is a part of the Intuit financial software apps. Here is when you should consider using QuickBooks Payroll:

• When running a small business with less than 100 employees
• When you need a next-day direct deposit
• When you want to offer health insurance for your employees across all 50 US states
• When you use other QuickBooks accounting software

QuickBooks Payroll is a well-designed full-service payroll platform and has good functionalities. The features are helpful, but the user interface could use some improvement, as it takes some getting used to. The onboarding process is a bit complex, but the platform offers a step-by-step guide to help with it.

QuickBooks Payroll enables payroll automation for salaried employees and automation of tax reports and filing. However, I think that they could use better, more efficient customer service with a faster response time. Of course, QuickBooks Payroll integrates seamlessly with the other QuickBooks accounting software, so it makes sense to use the software from the same developer.

The Bottom Line: Opt For The Payroll Service That Fits Your Needs

Gusto and QuickBooks Payroll are full-service payroll platforms that are best suited to the needs of small businesses. Both of them have excellent functionalities and affordable pricing plans. However, the final decision for the software you’ll use should depend on the number of employees you will pay and your HR support and software integration needs.

If you are already using the QuickBooks accounting software, then it makes more sense to use the QuickBooks Payroll platform, as these integrate seamlessly. Also, QuickBooks offers health insurance benefits for all 50 US states.

On the other hand, if you offer and need to manage more employee benefits and pay salaried, hourly, and contractors, Gusto is a better option for your business. The automation payroll processing is an appealing feature and one that Gusto excels at.