Gusto EOR review

Why does everyone recommend Gusto for payroll?

“Their customer support reps are masters of giving you the run-around because they don't have power to do anything to fix the garbage app. Like Intuit, they're too big to care about your issues.”

AI summary: Bookkeeper vents frustration with Gusto's customer support, compliance handling, and QBO integration bugs, calling the experience infuriating.

gusto worked fine until we hired someone outside the US

“two years on gusto. loved it. payroll ran itself, never thought about it. then we hired a dev in the philippines and a designer in portugal and i find out it just.. doesnt do international”

AI summary: Founder praises Gusto for domestic payroll but complains it has no international support, discovering this only after hiring overseas workers.

Why does everyone recommend Gusto for payroll?

“Gusto is great under 40/50 people. You can manage it or the client can. Both work well”

AI summary: Bookkeeper says Gusto works well for companies under 40-50 people and is manageable by either the accountant or client.

The hidden cost of Gusto that nobody talks about

“Gusto not being a PEO is likely a huge part of the problem.”

AI summary: Comment explains that because Gusto is not a PEO, tax filings go under the business's own EIN, and suggests this structural fact is likely a core reason for compliance/tax payment problems.

Why does everyone recommend Gusto for payroll?

“I think Gusto is doing a pretty big marketing push, and they know people go to reddit for advice.”

AI summary: Commenter speculates that Gusto's high Reddit recommendation rate is partly driven by a marketing push targeting Reddit users.

Advice needed: What’s the difference between Gusto v Rippling

“I own a staffing agency and have employed 100 people in the last two years. We have used gusto for the past 2 years but we are implementing Bamboo HRIS — it’s a complete in-house HRIS with an in-house payroll feature.”

AI summary: Two-year Gusto user recommends it for small businesses but criticises its customer support as 'absolutely terrible' and is switching away because of it.

Alternatives to Gusto for Payroll

AI summary: Author complains that Gusto moved customer service overseas, leading to errors with SSA reporting and poor resolution of payroll tax issues.

Has anyone signed up with a program like ADP or Gusto to pay a caregiver legally?

“Gusto is good and I think they have a sole proprietor version. For 2 people you dont need any bells and whistles”

AI summary: Commenter says Gusto is a good payroll option and sufficient for small setups like two people without needing extra features.

gusto worked fine until we hired someone outside the US

“There is Gusto International, powered by remote.com. It’s an EOR service adjacent to the international contractor offering. https://gusto.com/product/global”

AI summary: Commenter notes Gusto offers an international EOR service powered by Remote.com, linking to the product page.

Advice needed: What’s the difference between Gusto v Rippling

“I like how Gusto has gradually added feature after feature slowly over the years after they've been fully vetted and tested.”

AI summary: User switched from Gusto to Rippling in 2020, found Rippling inferior across the board including payroll, and switched back to Gusto, praising Gusto's gradual, well-tested feature rollout.

Payroll service for small business with three employees, is Gusto worth it or should I use something cheaper

“Gusto's support and built-in compliance stuff has saved me headaches, but I know people running Patriot just fine who are more comfortable with the bookkeeping side of things.”

AI summary: Author says Gusto's support and built-in compliance have saved them headaches, while acknowledging Patriot works fine for others comfortable with bookkeeping.

Oyster HR alternatives...

“hey i’ve been digging into oyster hr alternatives since i’m also wary of jumping into newer platforms for sensitive stuff like payroll and employee data i’ve used deel and remote for global payroll and eor and here’s my take deel is super reliable covers many…”

AI summary: Author notes Gusto's EOR is new and mostly US-focused, suggesting it may not suit global payroll needs.

Has anyone used an employer of record to hire someone abroad?

“My issue currently is that the people I want are both part timers, so the 600/month fee is pretty steep.”

AI summary: User notes Gusto's remote/EOR partnership has expanded beyond Canada and raises concern that the $600/month fee is too steep for part-time hires.

Has anyone used an employer of record to hire someone abroad?

AI summary: Gusto customer shares firsthand experience using Gusto Global EOR (powered by Remote.com partnership) to hire in India, calling it competitive on price and recommending it.

Why is payroll tech more expensive than actual payment processing?

“Gusto for me is $45/month. Extra contractor is $5/month for each month they're paid. All US based.”

AI summary: Commenter notes Gusto costs them $45/month base plus $5/contractor/month for US-based payroll, contrasting it favourably with Deel's $600/month EOR pricing discussed in the parent post.

Payroll service for small business with three employees, is Gusto worth it or should I use something cheaper

“If someone is comfortable learning payroll basics, tools like Patriot Software or OnPay usually feel more straightforward and less upsell-driven.”

AI summary: Commenter notes Gusto can feel sales-heavy during setup but offers stronger support and guardrails for payroll newcomers, contrasting it with cheaper alternatives like Patriot or OnPay.

need a payroll rec for a small startup, what's actually worth it?

“honestly nothing in this space feels designed for companies under 50 people, we're all just picking the least annoying option.”

AI summary: User used Gusto for six months but hit scaling limitations, prompting a switch to Rippling.

How's Gusto actually working for you?

“Gusto is definitely not recommended.”

AI summary: Commenter explicitly states Gusto is 'definitely not recommended' for international/global employment needs and suggests EOR alternatives instead.

Is there any way to sue Gusto?

“Seeing how much people have been screwed over by Gusto, is there any action we can all take?”

AI summary: Employee reports Gusto took an entire paycheck incorrectly when processing an advance repayment and is asking about legal recourse.

Why does everyone recommend Gusto for payroll?

“Saw your payroll rant — the Gusto/QBO unmapped-deduction loop especially. The “it’s a QuickBooks issue / we see nothing on our end” runaround while you’re literally looking at it in Gusto is maddening, and you’re right that it’s structural: neither system…”

AI summary: Author describes a frustrating Gusto/QuickBooks deduction-sync issue where neither vendor takes ownership of reconciliation failures, leaving the user to bridge the gap.

Breaks and lunchs time record

“I thought that the kiosk doesn't time the breaks rather it starts on the minute of the hour you clock out for break.”

AI summary: User reports that Gusto's time-keeping kiosk appears to round break time to the nearest minute from clock-out, potentially shortchanging employees on break duration.

PEO pulling payroll early

“I had two of our companies on it and ran into issues but more so couldn't get help for the life of us.”

AI summary: User reports poor support experience with Gusto across two companies and says many other owners they know have had bad experiences too.

Advice needed: What’s the difference between Gusto v Rippling

“Rippling tries to do everything and Gusto just does payroll and basic people management. I’ve been on Gusto and scaled from 2-50. We’re leaving for bamboohr because support has been beyond bad (I know more than them when I call half the time).”

AI summary: Long-term Gusto user scaled from 2–50 employees but is leaving due to deteriorating support quality, especially after losing their dedicated rep.