Gusto vs Intuit Payroll: Which Payroll Software Is Right For You?

Gusto far exceeds what QuickBooks Payroll offers for hiring, onboarding, talent management, and other HR features. In its base plan, Gusto offers a full suite of helpful HR tools for hiring and onboarding. With Gusto’s Premium plan, you are granted access to even greater HR tools, including a dedicated support team with live HR professionals and even an HR Resource Center.

• With Gusto, businesses can handle payroll processing, benefits management, compliance, and employee onboarding from one centralized platform.
• Moreover, employee handbooks, customizable employee profiles, and job posting tools provide clarity and consistency in employment practices, which further enhances the value of both Gusto and Intuit’s offerings.
• Gusto and QuickBooks are solid choices when it comes to choosing payroll software.
• This makes Gusto an attractive option for businesses looking for a straightforward, user-friendly payroll solution with comprehensive benefits management.
• Both Gusto and QuickBooks Online Payroll offer a self-service portal that employees can use to view their pay slips and benefits online.

Gusto simplifies time tracking by offering built-in tools that allow employees to log their work hours directly in the platform. The time-tracking module integrates smoothly with payroll and automatically syncs logged hours, overtime, and paid time off (PTO) data for accurate calculations during payroll runs. Additionally, Gusto supports time-tracking integrations with third-party apps like QuickBooks Time, Homebase, and When I Work, providing businesses with flexibility if they already use external systems. In particular, when it comes to payroll services, Gusto performs better in this comparison. Because of its platform’s special payroll processing optimization, managing employee compensation—including taxes and benefits—becomes simpler.

Gusto and QuickBooks Payroll alternatives

Companies can use Gusto to automatically run payroll on pre-set dates, make unlimited pay runs, and compensate both hourly and salaried team members. Gusto aims for empowering businesses to take control of their HR operations and offering employees benefits that boost retention and satisfaction. It is a go-to platform for startups and growing businesses looking to create a better workplace environment without adding complexity to their day-to-day operations. Note, each QuickBooks Live offering requires an active QuickBooks Online subscription and additional terms, conditions, limitations and fees apply. For more information about services provided by Live Bookkeeping, refer to the QuickBooks Terms of Service. QuickBooks Payroll’s Premium plan includes an HR support center, and its highest-tier Elite plan includes access to a personal HR advisor.

Best Payroll and Benefits Software Solutions in 2025

• Choosing the best payroll service for your business can significantly impact how efficiently you manage employee payments, tax filings, and HR tasks.
• QuickBooks Online Payroll offers several advantages over Gusto, especially for small to mid-sized businesses already using QuickBooks accounting software.
• I print out a stub for the employee and the money lands in their account by Friday morning.
• You can also submit automatic payments and get premiums calculated automatically.
• Its strength lies in its ability to cater to businesses with limited HR resources by offering tools that save time and ensure accuracy.
• Quickbooks leads the pack with its wealth of support systems when it comes to customer support and success.

For more information about Expert Assisted, refer to the QuickBooks Terms of Service. Gusto offers more HR-specific features than QuickBooks Payroll, like a business organizational chart, a coworker directory, customizable employee profiles, online offer letters and employee surveys. Larger businesses that need more support should consider the Premium plan at $180 per month plus an additional $22 per person.

Plans & pricing

Gusto optimizes payroll processing with its automation-focused design that allows businesses to set up and run payroll in a few clicks. Its standout capability lies in automatic payroll runs, where employers can set up recurring payroll schedules, ensuring that employees are paid on time without manual intervention. Expert Assisted is a monthly subscription service that requires a QBO subscription and provides expert help to answer your questions related to the books that you maintain full ownership and control. An expert can guide you through QBO setup and answer questions based on the information you provide; some bookkeeping services may not be included and determined by the expert.

However, QuickBooks Online Payroll has beneficial time tracking, job costing, and faster direct deposit features that make it a top choice for small to mid-sized businesses. RUN Powered by ADP could be a good match for business owners with 1-49 employees who don’t mind negotiating the right price. The service is exceptionally flexible and offers third-party integrations for benefits, accounting, time and attendance, recruiting and onboarding, productivity and POS. Businesses that grow beyond 49 employees, and all the way up to 999 employees, can upgrade to one of the company’s Workforce Now payroll packages. Regardless of which plan you have, Gusto allows you to integrate with third-party software for time tracking, point-of-sale and accounting software (QuickBooks Online included).

The catch, however, is that the Quickbooks payroll ecosystem is closed and limited to Intuit services, with the exception of a point of sale service (Square) and a payment platform (PayPal). Quickbooks and Gusto stand out as two of the best payroll services for small businesses, providing comprehensive payroll solutions to a combined 1.6 million users. While they both seemingly offer the same solution of automating and processing company payroll, there are some differences that set them apart. Gusto, launched in 2012, focuses heavily on providing an all-in-one payroll and HR experience. It integrates smoothly with various third-party software and offers more robust HR features than many competitors. QuickBooks Payroll, on the other hand, is part of the Intuit suite of financial tools and is ideal for businesses already using QuickBooks accounting software.

Live support

All information is subject to subsequent variations, without prior notice to our discretion. This means that with Quickbooks you need to be absolutely certain of your choices when you’re setting up your account. If you have all your information handy, you can probably complete the signup process in 25 minutes. Next, you’re offered a few add-ons before you’re taken to a screen to select your plan.

After you select your plan, you’re offered their bundled plans that include QuickBooks accounting features. While it’s difficult to judge these plans on pricing, since the Gusto plan is priced for each potential client, both offer quite a few benefits to employers. Gusto, again, has more robust HR tools, while QuickBooks offers tax penalty protection.

On the other hand, QuickBooks’s pricing starts at $30 for the Simple Start Plan, which includes live-assist bookkeeping. With intuitive and user-friendly interfaces, Gusto allows businesses to intuit vs gusto streamline their payroll operations and focus on what they do best – running their business. Providing a range of features, from automatic tax calculations to employee benefits management, Gusto has quickly become a top choice for companies of all sizes. QuickBooks is renowned for its robust accounting features tailored to small businesses. It streamlines financial management with easy-to-use tools for invoicing, expense tracking, and inventory management, as well as unlimited payroll runs.

The two payroll systems provide a direct deposit feature, but Quickbooks provides same-day direct deposit, provided the payment is initiated before 7 PM. Gusto’s direct deposit, on the other hand, takes a minimum of 2 business days. Both Quickbooks and Gusto automatically calculate, file, and pay your federal, state, and local payroll taxes.

# Payroll Services

Both payroll providers give employees a portal to review and manage their payroll. Both plans integrate with third-party providers, such as accounting and time-tracking services, although QuickBooks is best paired with other Intuit products. Both Gusto and QuickBooks Online Payroll offer a self-service portal that employees can use to view their pay slips and benefits online. Both solutions also offer access to expert customer service professionals you can contact to get HR, payroll, and compliance advice. Gusto’s user-friendly interface and all-inclusive approach to payroll processing and employee benefits make it the best option for Payroll and HR. Because of its expertise in these fields, it is the best tool for companies looking to streamline their payroll and HR processes.

Interestingly, Gusto also integrates with Quickbooks suites like Quickbooks Online and Quickbooks Time. From the above table, it is evident that Gusto wins as it offers the most features, making it a well-rounded platform. In addition to the typical payroll features like benefits management, direct deposits, etc., Gusto also has human capital management features such as hiring and onboarding, paid time off (PTO), and attendance management. This is in contrast to Quickbooks’ features that are strictly payroll-related. QuickBooks Payroll’s Premium and Elite plans come with QuickBooks Time software, including a mobile app to track your time on the go.

One of the major challenges business owners face is the complexity of managing payroll taxes and ensuring timely tax payment. Both Gusto and Intuit payroll platforms tackle payroll taxes head-on, utilizing features that support automatic calculations for federal taxes and other applicable tax credits. Intuit, on the other hand, integrates deeply with its accounting services, including QuickBooks Online, QuickBooks Accounting, and QuickBooks Desktop, providing tight coupling between payroll records and accounting processes. This integration allows for seamless data flow between payroll and accounting systems, reducing manual data entry and potential errors. Payroll software helps businesses of all sizes automatically calculate employee wages—withholding and filing all relevant taxes—and compensate workforces punctually, accurately, and compliantly every pay run. Gusto and QuickBooks both have features that streamline the payroll process and reduce the risk of manual errors.

Gusto has more HR functionalities to help you manage hiring processes and track your employees’ performance at work, while QuickBooks has slightly better health insurance coverage (available in 48 states vs Gusto’s 39 states). Comparing Gusto and QuickBooks as bookkeeping, accounting, and payroll providers in several vital aspects reveals that each platform is superior in its own right. As two of the most popular all-in-one platforms, Gusto and QuickBooks are top contenders for many entrepreneurs. Both provide robust features for tracking finances, running payroll, and more. While Gusto is initially cheaper, a compounding effect will show that Quickbooks is actually more cost-effective when the number of employees reaches a certain mark. For example, it will cost you $94 more to use Gusto than Quickbooks for 50 employees if you are on their lowest price tier.