Payroll software keeps all your important salary or hourly pay information in one place. Gusto and Paychex are both respected software services, but which is better for you?
Good payroll software can make managing your organization, no matter how small or large, a lot easier. Gusto and Paychex are both established options that offer convenient payroll services.
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What is Gusto?
enthusiasm is a payroll management software that brings together various workforce management tools such as pay, time off, and benefits in one place. Gusto also offers reporting tools with customizable reports, compliance reports, and team research capabilities. This payroll management software is best for small organizations that don’t foresee much growth.
What is Paychex?
paychex is a payroll and human resources software service. It provides online services such as geolocation and geofencing for organizations whose employees are often on the road. Paychex’s core capabilities are payroll, billing, insurance administration and compliance, workers’ compensation and benefits.
Common features of Gusto vs Paychex
Both payroll software services offer a typical dashboard with a main menu on the left and other displays in the middle if needed. However, Gusto and Paychex break down information in a different way, in a way that may be more or less suitable for larger companies.
| Feature | enthusiasm | paychex |
|---|---|---|
| payroll | Yes | Yes |
| Benefits | Yes (like Plus) | Yes |
| HR | Yes | Yes |
| Compliance Support | Yes (Gusto Premium) | Yes |
| PTO | Yes | Yes |
| Taxes | Yes | Yes (Paychex Flex Select) |
| Benefits | Yes | Yes |
| Recruitment and onboarding | Yes (Advanced tools in Gusto Plus) | Yes (Paychex Flex Select) |
Dashboard
Paychex Dashboard (Image A) is like the classic Windows philosophy, providing insight into what the software itself does and the ability to play around with many settings.
Image A
In comparison: Gusto’s dashboard (Figure B) is more like Apple, initially hiding more information to promote a more user-friendly approach. In Gusto, instructions run chronologically, while Paychex generally lets the user view more information at once.
Figure B
Both dashboards offer a wide range of features and organize a lot of information useful for businesses. For example, Figure C is an example of Gusto platform data.
Figure C
Portals for employees
Employees can log in to Paychex or Gusto (Figure D) to track their working time if they work by the hour and to check the status of payments. Gusto’s app guides employees through onboarding, while Paychex integrates with several proprietary hardware tools, including a facial recognition “clock-in” device, the Iris, or similar retina scanning. Gusto does not offer hardware add-ons.
Figure D
Prices per subscription
Gusto’s Simple tier costs $40 per month plus $6 per employee. For $60 per month and $9 per person, you can get Gusto’s Plus plan, which includes multi-state tax services, next-day direct deposit, PTO management, time tracking, and other features. For the top-notch Premium plan, you need to talk to Gusto’s sales department to discuss the pricing plan.
Paychex’s lowest price tier, Flex Essentials, costs $39 per month and $5 per employee. For information on additional subscriptions, prospective customers may contact a sales representative. Please note that the basic level does not include HR services or time tracking, just payroll.
Because the costs are relatively similar at an introductory level, the decision between Gusto and Paychex can come down to ease of use, what features your organization needs, and the size of your business.
Choosing likes vs. paychex
Larger organizations with more complicated payroll needs may want to choose Paychex for its greater number of customization options and for a display built to display much more information. Growing companies may want to choose Paychex because of the ease with which larger teams can be managed.
Gusto is a good choice for organizations that want a user-friendly payroll system. Gusto is designed to hold a small business owner’s hand through the process of doing taxes according to state and federal regulations, so there are fewer opportunities for a less experienced business owner, or someone who wants to focus on improving their own product or service, be surprised by unexpected salary problems.
Read about for more payroll software options the best payroll software for your small business in 2022, why companies are spending more on productivity technology and the best HR analytics software.
