Justworks vs Gusto

by Gralio Feb 26, 2025

Justworks and Gusto are both all-in-one HR platforms for SMBs in the USA, but they cater to different needs. Justworks acts as a PEO, handling employer responsibilities and potentially offering better benefits, but with less flexible pricing. Gusto provides a more user-friendly interface, hiring/onboarding tools, and flexible pricing plans, but without the PEO services.

At Gralio.ai we help to simplify your decision-making process by offering detailed, side-by-side software comparisons like this one, to help you confidently choose the tool that aligns with your business goals.

This comparison was created by analysing 5922 reviews and 60 websites, saving 1 day, 9 hours, 24 minutes of reading.

Justworks

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Gusto

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About

Justworks is an all-in-one HR platform designed for small to mid-sized businesses in the USA. It simplifies HR tasks by offering payroll, benefits administration, compliance support, and HR tools within a single platform. Justworks acts as a PEO (Professional Employer Organization), meaning they handle employer-related responsibilities like payroll taxes and filings, allowing you to focus on managing and growing your team.

Gusto is an all-in-one HR platform designed for small and medium-sized businesses in the USA. It offers payroll, benefits administration, hiring and onboarding tools, and HR management features. Gusto aims to simplify and automate HR processes, ensuring compliance and saving you time. It's known for its user-friendly interface, strong customer satisfaction ratings, and comprehensive feature set.

Summary

Main difference

Justworks is better for you if you value a PEO (Professional Employer Organization) that handles employer-related responsibilities, provides access to potentially better benefits, and prefer transparent pricing. Gusto is better for you if you prioritize a user-friendly interface, need hiring and onboarding tools, and prefer a flexible pricing model with various plans.

Relative strengths of Justworks (compared to Gusto)

PEO service handles employer responsibilities, simplifying administration.
Access to potentially more competitive benefits through the PEO.
Transparent pricing model with no hidden fees.

Relative weaknesses of Justworks (compared to Gusto)

Limited benefit options compared to some competitors.
Higher fees for part-time employees.
Payroll funding requires almost a week in advance, potentially impacting cash flow.

Who is using Justworks and Gusto?

Adam Robinson

CEO @ Retention.com & RB2B

No data

Who should use Justworks VS. Gusto

Justworks is a user-friendly HR platform praised for its transparent pricing and helpful customer support. It streamlines payroll, benefits, and compliance, freeing up SMBs to focus on growth. Some users mention high fees for part-time employees and limited benefit options as drawbacks.

Gusto offers an ideal solution for small and medium-sized businesses in the US seeking streamlined payroll, benefits, and HR. Users praise its user-friendly interface and comprehensive features, while some note occasional payroll deposit delays and difficulties with one-time salary adjustments.

Ideal for small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) in the US.
Suitable for most industries except Agriculture and Automotive.

Best for small to medium-sized businesses (1-1000 employees) in the US.
Particularly well-suited for Professional Services, Real Estate & Construction, and Healthcare.

Justworks and Gusto features

Supported

Partially supported

Not supported

Type in the name of the feature or in your own words tell us what you need

Benefits Administration

Supported

Justworks supports benefits administration, including health insurance, retirement plans, and other benefits programs.

Supported

Gusto supports benefits administration, including health insurance, retirement plans, and other benefits programs.
Time Tracking

Supported

Justworks supports time tracking and integrates with payroll.

Supported

Gusto supports time tracking, including monitoring work hours and payroll calculations. Time-off requests are supported.
Hiring and Onboarding

Supported

Justworks streamlines hiring and onboarding with automated tools, integrations, and document management.

Supported

Gusto offers hiring and onboarding tools, including paperwork, payroll setup, and new hire information.
Mobile payroll

Supported

Employees can access payroll information via the Justworks mobile app.

Supported

Gusto supports mobile payroll through the Gusto Wallet app, enabling employees to view paychecks, tax documents, pay insights, and manage their finances.
Payroll integration

Partially supported

Justworks integrates with payroll systems and likely supports automatic deduction transfers.

Supported

Gusto seamlessly integrates with payroll systems, enabling automatic transfer of benefit deductions and other HR-related data.
Tax compliance

Supported

Justworks manages and submits payroll taxes, simplifying tax compliance for businesses.

Supported

Gusto fully supports managing and submitting payroll taxes.

Qualities

Value and Pricing Transparency

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Customer Service

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Ease of Use

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Reliability and Performance

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Ease of Implementation

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Scalability

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Justworks and Gusto Pricing

No data

See full Pricing page

Gusto offers flexible plans to support a variety of business needs, from simple payroll to comprehensive HR solutions. Additional features are available a la carte to further customize your plan.

Plans

See full Pricing page

Justworks and Gusto review insights

Users love

Transparent pricing model with no hidden fees
Easy-to-use platform and intuitive interface for admins and employees
Responsive and helpful customer support for general inquiries
Facilitates access to competitive benefits, especially for small businesses
Provides valuable online resources for HR management and compliance

Gusto is known for its user-friendly interface and ease of use.
Excellent customer support, readily available and responsive to queries.
Streamlined onboarding process, allowing employees to self-onboard and handle their information.
Comprehensive features covering payroll, benefits, hiring, and HR management.

Users dislike

High fees for part-time employees, disproportionate to services
Limited benefit options, especially considering PEO size
Health insurance premiums can be very high and increase significantly year over year
Limited proactive service and support after onboarding; customer support quality has decreased
Payroll funding requires almost a week in advance, impacting smaller businesses' cash flow

Accessing transit benefits through Gusto is overly complicated.
It is difficult to make one-time salary adjustments. The process requires adjusting the annual salary and then reverting it.
There is no option to set recurring amounts for contractors. Manual entry is required for each payment.
Some users report payroll deposit delays, occasionally extending into the afternoon.

Justworks and Gusto Ratings

G2

4.6/5

(661)
Capterra

4.6/5

(675)
TrustPilot

4.3/5

(13)
Glassdoor

3.6/5

(372)

G2

4.5/5

(2063)
Capterra

4.6/5

(2450)
TrustPilot

2.5/5

(60)
Glassdoor

3.2/5

(893)

Company health

Employee growth

19% increase in the last year

18% increase in the last year

Web traffic

9% increase in the last quarter

21% increase in the last quarter

Financing

July 2023 - $160M

October 2022 - $746M

How does Justworks' PEO service compare to Gusto's direct payroll processing?

Justworks offers a PEO (Professional Employer Organization) service, meaning they become a co-employer of your workforce and handle payroll taxes, filings, and other employer responsibilities. Gusto, on the other hand, provides direct payroll processing where you retain full employer status and they facilitate the payroll calculations and payments. This key difference means Justworks takes on more administrative burden and compliance risk, while Gusto provides the tools and support for you to manage these aspects yourself. Justworks may be more attractive to companies wanting to offload HR tasks, whereas Gusto suits those comfortable managing their own payroll and compliance.

Which platform offers better integration with existing accounting software?

Both Justworks and Gusto offer integrations with accounting software. However, the provided information doesn't offer enough detail to determine which platform has *better* integration capabilities. More details on specific accounting software integrations for each platform are needed for a definitive answer.

What are the advantages of Justworks?

Justworks's advantage lies in its PEO model, which handles employer responsibilities like payroll taxes and filings, freeing up businesses to focus on growth. Users praise Justworks for its transparent pricing, easy-to-use interface, and excellent customer support, particularly during onboarding. It also offers access to competitive benefits packages, which is especially valuable for small businesses.

What are the disadvantages of Justworks?

Justworks' disadvantages include high fees for part-time employees, a limited selection of benefits options, potentially high and increasing health insurance premiums, a decrease in customer support quality after onboarding, and a payroll funding process that requires almost a week in advance, which can negatively impact smaller businesses' cash flow.

Alternatives to Justworks and Gusto

Rippling

Rippling is a comprehensive employee management platform designed for businesses of all sizes. It streamlines and automates various HR, IT, and finance processes, including payroll, benefits, device management, and expense tracking. By centralizing these functions, Rippling aims to simplify employee lifecycle management, reduce administrative burden, and improve operational efficiency for businesses. The platform is particularly valuable for companies with global operations, offering localized solutions for international payroll, benefits, and compliance.

Paychex Flex

Paychex Flex is a cloud-based platform designed to simplify HR processes for businesses of all sizes. It offers a comprehensive suite of services, including payroll, time and attendance, benefits administration, HR consulting, and more. With Paychex Flex, you can manage employee data, automate tasks, and ensure compliance from a single, user-friendly interface. It integrates with other software and provides 24/7 support. Paychex Flex aims to streamline HR operations and provide businesses with the tools they need to manage their workforce effectively.

Paylocity

Paylocity is a cloud-based HR and payroll software platform designed for mid-sized businesses. It offers a range of features including payroll, benefits administration, talent management, time tracking, and employee experience tools. Paylocity aims to streamline HR tasks, improve employee engagement, and provide data-driven insights for better decision-making. They emphasize strong customer support and a partnership approach to help businesses achieve their goals.

Paycor

Paycor is a cloud-based software that streamlines HR tasks for businesses of all sizes, although it places a special focus on mid-sized to large companies in various industries like healthcare, manufacturing, and professional services. It brings together features such as payroll, recruiting, onboarding, benefits administration, time tracking, and talent management into a single platform. This helps businesses improve efficiency, reduce compliance risks, and gain insights into their workforce data to make better decisions. Paycor also boasts numerous integrations with other popular business software, ensuring data flows smoothly across different systems.

Ease

Ease is an HR and benefits software platform designed for small and medium-sized businesses. It provides tools for managing employee benefits, onboarding new hires, tracking paid time off, and maintaining compliance with regulations. Ease also offers integrations with payroll providers. It aims to simplify HR processes and centralize employee information in a single platform.

ADP Workforce Now

ADP Workforce Now is a comprehensive HR software suite designed for mid-sized companies (50-5,000 employees). This cloud-based platform combines core HR functions like payroll, benefits, and talent management into a single, easy-to-use system. ADP Workforce Now helps businesses streamline HR processes, improve compliance, and make better decisions with data-driven insights. It also offers a mobile app for convenient employee and manager self-service.

Page co-authored by

Michal Kaczor

CEO at Gralio

Michal has worked at startups for many years and writes about topics relating to software selection and IT management. As a former consultant for Bain, a business advisory company, he also knows how to understand needs of any business and find solutions to its problems.

Tymon Terlikiewicz

CTO at Gralio

Tymon is a seasoned CTO who loves finding the perfect tools for any task. He recently headed up the tech department at Batmaid, a well-known Swiss company, where he managed about 60 software purchases, including CX, HR, Payroll, Marketing automation and various developer tools.

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