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Review summary

Based on reviews, created with AI

Most reviewers were somewhat happy with their experience overall. Consumers appreciate the user-friendly interface, which they find intuitive and easy to navigate. People highlight the platform's reliability and ease of use for tasks such as payroll processing, onboarding new clients, and managing employee accounts. Some reviewers value the availability and helpfulness of the customer service team, particularly when resolving issues and answering questions. However, others express dissatisfaction with various aspects of the service. Several consumers report issues with payroll accuracy, incorrect tax filings, and problems with employee benefits setup. Some reviewers mention difficulties in getting timely and effective support, citing long hold times, transfers between representatives, and a lack of knowledgeable assistance. A few reviewers also report issues with payments, refunds, and the handling of specific situations.

Based on these reviews

Rated 3 out of 5 stars
Invited

Gusto does Payroll better than anyone else, but the support still is not there. It seems that every week I am on the phone with Gusto about something. Many times I run in circles getting transferred f... See more

Company replied

Rated 3 out of 5 stars
Invited

Works ok for a simple small business but benefits management is highly error prone with poor customer service. Payroll service is not fully compliant with California labor law. More specifically, ov... See more

Company replied

Rated 2 out of 5 stars
Invited

Does not support Portland Metro taxes. State tax setup not completed correctly. Support is not well trained and takes too long to resolve issues. They basically just refer you to support articles r... See more

Company replied

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

When I initially opened the account, I was given 3 months free but after the first month I was charged 256.80 (additional HR services) and when I called the customer service, it was a nightmare, they... See more

Company replied

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

The way Gusto handles Healtcare Spending Accounts (HSA) is wrong. All they're supposed to do is manage the payroll side of the effort as we have another service that manages the HSA accounts. Eve... See more

Company replied

Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Invited

I've used Gusto for over five years and have no complaints. The onboarding process for new business clients is effortless. A new reasonable compensation tool is now available to help calculate officer... See more

Company replied

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

If you value your time, your money, and your peace of mind, DO NOT USE GUSTO. I’m begging anyone reading this: learn from my nightmare!!!!!!! I’ve been dealing with a missing payment for we... See more

Company replied

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

I have called customer support 4 times, spent 3+ hours on the phone with these people, it is a nightmare. The staff is clueless, they give wrong and conflicting answers. Each call gets transferred mul... See more

Company replied

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Gusto is very difficult to work with. Getting setup is a nightmare. Every time I think I am done with my setup, I find out later there is more. I have had 5+ false starts. The customer care team acts... See more

Company replied

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

For all employees—especially international employees—who need an online payroll provider: AVOID GUSTO. RUN AND DON’T USE IT! They withheld my payment and kept replying with the same email tem... See more

Company replied

Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Invited

The completion of the transition from a manual payroll to Gusto was completed as promised. A week ago I called in to confirm the transition would be completed by the IRS deadline. During that call I... See more

Company replied

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

So many things have gone wrong in our Gusto platform just in the last few months. Locked me out of my account, made a back end error filing state tax documents, re-added an employee to a heath insuran... See more

Company replied

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Absolutely horrific experience using this service. On my first payroll using Gusto, they lost track of the money. I was meant to receive payment at the beginning of the month, it’s now nearly the... See more

Company replied

Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Invited

As an office manager for a small firm I use several programs/products to facilitate my various tasks from bookkeeping to HR to payroll, and more. But I have found Gusto to be both intuitive and reliab... See more

Company replied

Rated 4 out of 5 stars
Invited

My customer service phone call was awesome My person handled my issue without a problem - but finding a CS phone number and dealing with the bots and email support simply did not work - you should... See more

Company replied

Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Invited

Gusto helps us a great deal We have been using Gusto for 5 years and are very happy with the ease of use. We rely on them not only to send paychecks on time, but also to send information to the State... See more

Company replied

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Gusto debited my account for thousands of dollars worth of payroll taxes, didn’t pay it, and won’t give it back. Their “tax department” has supposedly been handling this issue for almost 3 months. I... See more

Company replied

Rated 4 out of 5 stars
Invited

While onboarding a new client into Gusto, I've received several follow-up calls to assist due to the fact that my new client hasn't yet determined when they will start payroll, as they aren't paying p... See more

Company replied

Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Invited

User friendly app that includes integrated 401k and benefits options. Good value and good customer service once you can find how to connect to one. Reports a bit cumbersome but workable.

Company replied

Rated 2 out of 5 stars
Invited

Every payroll had incorrect hours so we had to manually check, then change the amounts. It negated the savings using Gusto vs ADP. Tech support is excellent. The program interface was very good f... See more

Company replied

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

this is the worst run company I have ever dealt with. Run don't walk away from using this company. It is impossible to get someone on the phone that knows what they are doing. The lack of knowledge... See more

Company replied

Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Invited

Gusto is such an amazing software. Gusto came to my rescue as a small business owner, I didn't know what was needed for new employees, payroll as well as the price. Gusto is affordable, they help with... See more

Company replied

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Although their main sponsored Ad on Google highlights 6 months free, we signed up and somehow did not get the promo and won’t be getting the promo, bc seems we’re not one of their special Google Ad cu... See more

Company replied

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

I would put a 0 if I could. I had a disputed transaction that I trusted the fraud department to handle. Well wrong!! They couldn’t even do that right. After giving them all the information that they a... See more

Company replied

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Their customer service is horrible, they keep you on hold for long periods of time and when they answer they don't care about you as a customer and won't seek alternative solutions. I'm going to look... See more

Company replied

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

STAY AWAY FROM GUSTO! I’m extremely frustrated with Gusto. They refuse to pay my money and keep sending wrong proof of payment, as if that somehow solves the problem. Every time I ask for clar... See more

Company replied

Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Invited

I perform one operation once a year and reached out for support. This was all done thru emails with an account rep who kept the communication clear and promptly replied and moved the transaction thru... See more

Company replied

Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Invited

I find Gusto's interface to be intuitive and easy to navigate. Whatever questions I'm not able to get answered in their help section I'm able to get wonderful support through Gusto's friendly staff.

Company replied

Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Invited

I'm a small business owner and I'm good at my trade. I'm not a tax professional. Taxes have been a complete nightmare for me since I started my business. That is, until I found Gusto. I'm still battli... See more

Company replied

Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Invited

Gusto provides a great service for small to medium sized businesses. The solutions are relevant and the pricing is fair. Best of all the systems are easy to use and not time-consuming.

Company replied

Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Invited

Great customer service. Easy to use. I've recommended it to several people. Hopefully during tax time, it will be just as user friendly and do what I need it to.

Company replied

Rated 2 out of 5 stars
Invited

Very frustrating 2 big frustrations: 1) No matter how often I tell Gusto to remember my device, every time I login, I have to go through 2FA. Don't bother me with asking me if I want you to rememb... See more

Company replied

Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Invited

Easiest platform, designed for the web, accessible through phone app but also configured for mobile device access. Very intuitive, and easy for all users.

Company replied

Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Invited

We have been using Gusto for five years, from month two of our business, though so many stages of growth. It’s been easy and reliable and we’ve not once considered switching.

Company replied

Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Invited

Fiona F. helped guide me through the entire process. She was very knowledgeable and when she didn't know the answer to one of my questions she quickly reached out to her team to get the information I... See more

Company replied

Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Invited

I am giving 5 stars for Gusto based on: Ease of use, fair price point & stellar customer service when I called in. Thank you for your excellence!

Company replied

Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Invited

This has made the payroll process so much easier to navigate and anytime we have questions or need help the customer service is impeccable. Thank You!!

Company replied

Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Invited

Gusto makes payroll easy to process, employees like having access to their accounts and documents and the help desk is always available for questions. It's an excellent service.

Company replied

Rated 1 out of 5 stars
Invited

I signed up for the Rainy Day savings and I unenrolled because I don’t believe I should be paying to get my money, when you already have access to used my money to make money.

Company replied

Rated 1 out of 5 stars
Invited

I mistakenly reactivated an account for 3 days and did nothing with it... Customer service was very quick to tell me tough when I asked for a refund.

Company replied

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

We chose Gusto expecting a smoother, more modern experience. Instead, it has been one issue after another, and months later many of our problems still aren’t resolved. From the start, the per... See more

Company replied

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

We have had a terrible experience with Gusto due to repeated payroll errors and complete lack of accountability. Duplicate Payroll Error – Payroll was re-entered with the help of a Gusto cu... See more

Company replied

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

No complaints here always resolved any issues IVE had thank you ☺️

Company replied

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

We're thrilled with Gusto's customer service! Their rep was patient, answered all our questions, and welcomed future calls. Fantastic support!

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Company details

  1. #12 of 12 best companies in Payroll Service
  2. #20 of 20 best companies in Business Administration Service
  3. #34 of 34 best companies in Insurance Broker

About Gusto

Written by the company

Logo

Modern payroll built for small businesses.

Payroll image

Gusto was designed and engineered to make payroll, benefits, and HR easier for small and medium sized businesses.

- Automatic payroll tax filing
- Compliance support
- Easy benefits integrations
- Hiring and onboarding tools
- Access to HR experts

People platform image

Gusto is the people platform.

Running a business goes beyond payroll. Gusto also offers affordable health benefits options and even free financial benefits to help employees save and manage their money. Plus, 401(k)s, and 529 College Savings.

Favorite software? We integrate with that.

We sync with your favorite tools — QuickBooks, Xero, T Sheets, Homebase, Clover, Shopify, Expensify, and many more.

Plans start at just $49/month.

No matter your business size or goals we have a plan for you. Transparent pricing. Flexible features. No hidden fees.


Contact info

3.0

Average

TrustScore 3 out of 5

2K reviews

5-star
4-star
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2-star
1-star

Replied to 74% of negative reviews

Typically replies within 1 month


Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Wish I had switched to Gusto sooner!

Every aspect of using Gusto from setting up in the platform, onboarding employees, and running payroll has been exceptional. I switched from Paychex which was a complete nightmare and I am so happy that I did. Gusto makes it so easy to handle everything on your own including an incredibly helpful AI chatbot. And when you can't figure it out, customer service is great and responsive.

October 13, 2025
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Avoid Gusto

Save yourself the trouble and don’t use their services. You’ll end up spending all your time fixing their mistakes. If you need more convincing, just read the other reviews.

October 11, 2025
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

BAD COMPANY

I have called customer support 4 times, spent 3+ hours on the phone with these people, it is a nightmare. The staff is clueless, they give wrong and conflicting answers. Each call gets transferred multiple times. The solutions do not work. This is a very bad company. Avoid, avoid, avoid, then run away.

October 6, 2025
Unprompted review
Gusto logo

Reply from Gusto

Hi, Brian. We’re so sorry for all the back and forth you’ve experienced. That sounds incredibly frustrating. We've requested more information to help resolve this.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

‼️‼️‼️PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE STAY AWAY FROM GUSTO!!!

If you value your time, your money, and your peace of mind, DO NOT USE GUSTO. I’m begging anyone reading this: learn from my nightmare!!!!!!!

I’ve been dealing with a missing payment for weeks, and Gusto’s customer service has been a complete disaster. They keep repeating the same scripted lines, sending contradictory information, and refusing to take responsibility. Every response makes less sense than the one before.

I’ve provided bank proof, screenshots, and explanations, yet they still claim the missing payment was “successfully sent.” How? To where? No one knows. Their “logic” is so twisted it honestly hurts to read their emails.

It feels like you’re talking to a team that can’t even understand their own system, or basic English. It’s beyond frustrating and completely unacceptable when people’s money and livelihoods are on the line.

If you’re an international contractor or small business, please take this seriously, GUSTO IS NOT equipped to handle international payments properly. You’ll just end up wasting your time, your energy, and possibly losing your money.

Save yourself the headache. STAY AWAY from GUSTO!!!!! There are plenty of other platforms that actually know how to communicate, track payments, and treat people like humans.

October 1, 2025
Unprompted review
Gusto logo

Reply from Gusto

Hi, Linuih. We’re truly sorry for the frustration you’ve experienced. Your case has been escalated to our Leadership team, and our Client Relations team is actively prioritizing it to help reach a resolution as quickly as possible. We understand how important this is and appreciate your patience while we work to make it right.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Bad customer service, doesn't understand HSA's

The way Gusto handles Healtcare Spending Accounts (HSA) is wrong. All they're supposed to do is manage the payroll side of the effort as we have another service that manages the HSA accounts. Every month or two, Gusto stops withholding funds for our employees HSA accounts as they say "we're maxing out". They're wrong as they don't consider the persons age or marital status. This has caused our employees pain. Their customer support is the worst ever. It takes them several days (sometimes more than a week) to get back to us, just to argue with us (and they're wrong).

My advice is to STAY FAR AWAY from Gusto. Use a company who has good customer service and knows what they're doing.

October 6, 2025
Unprompted review
Gusto logo

Reply from Gusto

Hi, David. We’re really sorry to hear about the frustration this has caused your team. We completely understand how important it is for HSA contributions to be handled accurately and consistently. We've requested more information to get this resolved.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Gusto is very difficult to work with

Gusto is very difficult to work with. Getting setup is a nightmare. Every time I think I am done with my setup, I find out later there is more. I have had 5+ false starts. The customer care team acts like everyone should know every trivial detail about their operation. I was finally able to run a test payroll. When I tried to run the actual payroll - it failed. It failed because Gusto tested one thing, but did something very different for the actual payroll. It has been one headache after another and still cannot get it right. No one at Gusto can admit there is a problem on there end. Use someone else.

October 3, 2025
Unprompted review
Gusto logo

Reply from Gusto

Hi, David. We’re really sorry to hear how frustrating this experience has been. Getting set up should be smooth, not stressful. We’d like to take a closer look and help get your payroll running correctly. We've sent a request for more information.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Scam-Like Payroll Practices, Don’t Trust Gusto Ever DON'T USE THIER SERVICE!!!!!!

For all employees—especially international employees—who need an online payroll provider: AVOID GUSTO. RUN AND DON’T USE IT!

They withheld my payment and kept replying with the same email templates, saying they were “investigating the issue” without ever providing a real solution. My payment was marked as paid but never arrived in my account.

Customer service keeps giving vague excuses to avoid responsibility, instead of fixing the problem. It really looks like they are scamming people by holding payment money, blaming the system, and hiding behind empty phrases like “rest assured, we care and are investigating this issue.”

You will lose time and money dealing with their poor system and unhelpful customer service. They withhold employees’ money and blame “the system” as an excuse to avoid responsibility.

Don’t use Gusto—ever!

October 1, 2025
Unprompted review
Gusto logo

Reply from Gusto

Hi, Lina. We’re really sorry for the frustration you’ve experienced. We understand how important it is to receive your payment without delays. We have requested more information so we can review this further.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Gusto Sucks!!

I would put a 0 if I could. I had a disputed transaction that I trusted the fraud department to handle. Well wrong!! They couldn’t even do that right. After giving them all the information that they asked for. And then literally telling me multiple times through out the year that it takes months to get my money back from the bank. Instead of following through . They let my case slip through there fingers and blamed it on me . Saying that I didn’t give them the information that they asked for months ago . Complete waste of time. They are terrible. Damn I wish I didn’t have to use this crap app. A bunch of lazy liars.

October 1, 2025
Unprompted review
Gusto logo

Reply from Gusto

Hi, Curtis. Our team has thoroughly reviewed your dispute, along with all the documentation you provided. Based on that review, the claim was denied, and the decision is final. We understand this isn’t the resolution you were hoping for, and we truly regret the frustration this may cause. At this point, the dispute process has been fully completed, and no further action can be taken.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Absolutely horrific experience using…

Absolutely horrific experience using this service.

On my first payroll using Gusto, they lost track of the money. I was meant to receive payment at the beginning of the month, it’s now nearly the end of the month and still I haven’t been paid from my own company. They have no idea where it is

Customer service like others have mentioned is terrible. They leave you on hold for long amounts of time, the line conveniently drops and they don’t call you back. Honestly if I could give lower than a one star review I would. I typically don’t leave negative reviews but this has been so poor, I had to

September 22, 2025
Unprompted review
Gusto logo

Reply from Gusto

Hi, Calum. We’re truly sorry to hear about this experience. We've escalated your case to our Client Relations team. You can expect to receive an email shortly.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Invited

Great customer service

Great customer service. Easy to use. I've recommended it to several people. Hopefully during tax time, it will be just as user friendly and do what I need it to.

September 22, 2025
Gusto logo

Reply from Gusto

We really appreciate your feedback! :)

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Dre was amazing

Dre was amazing, the brunch was amazing, definitely recommended!

September 20, 2025
Unprompted review
Gusto logo

Reply from Gusto

Thank you for your review!

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Avoid Gusto – System Errors and Silence from Support

We have had a terrible experience with Gusto due to repeated payroll errors and complete lack of accountability.

Duplicate Payroll Error – Payroll was re-entered with the help of a Gusto customer service rep. Instead of canceling the first run, Gusto’s system duplicated the wages by entering them again as “overtime.” Employees were essentially paid twice — once as regular hours and once as overtime. This error inflated pay and withholdings. Gusto blamed us instead of owning their system’s mistake.

Bonus Withholding Error – A $100 bonus was processed where Gusto withheld nearly the entire amount. Net pay came out to just a few dollars, which is completely inconsistent with IRS Publication 15-T rules (bonuses should be taxed at 22% federal plus Social Security, Medicare, and state taxes). Gusto’s canned reply was “bonuses are taxed at 22%,” which didn’t explain why nearly 100% was withheld.

Lack of Support – After disputing these errors, Gusto went silent for four days with zero follow-up. For a payroll provider, this level of unresponsiveness is unacceptable.

Payroll accuracy is not optional — it’s the foundation of trust between a business and its employees. Gusto’s negligence, combined with ghosting and blame-shifting, has forced us to file formal complaints and begin the process of moving to another provider.

I strongly caution other businesses against trusting Gusto with payroll. *****Update: It has now been over a week since I filed this BBB complaint and three weeks since I first contacted Gusto about their payroll errors. I have had zero contact back from this company. Clearly, this matter is not being prioritized, and they have provided absolutely no resolution.****

September 14, 2025
Unprompted review
Gusto logo

Reply from Gusto

Hi, there. We can see you are in contact with our support team in case 39717269. We've flagged this to our team to ensure they are aware and they have confirmed that they are prioritizing a resolution.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Invited

Easy to Use

I find Gusto's interface to be intuitive and easy to navigate. Whatever questions I'm not able to get answered in their help section I'm able to get wonderful support through Gusto's friendly staff.

September 14, 2025
Gusto logo

Reply from Gusto

Thanks so much for your feedback! We’re glad you find Gusto easy to use and that our team has been able to support you whenever needed.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Invited

Easiest platform to use!

Easiest platform, designed for the web, accessible through phone app but also configured for mobile device access. Very intuitive, and easy for all users.

September 10, 2025
Gusto logo

Reply from Gusto

Hello AG,

Thank you for sharing your feedback. We are so glad to hear that you find Gusto easy to use and intuitive across devices. Making payroll simple and accessible wherever you are is exactly what we aim for.

We truly appreciate your review and look forward to continuing to support you and your team.

- Gusto Client Relations

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Their customer service is horrible

Their customer service is horrible, they keep you on hold for long periods of time and when they answer they don't care about you as a customer and won't seek alternative solutions. I'm going to look for another company because as I type this I've been on hold for 25 min and when you run a company, your time is valuable.

September 11, 2025
Unprompted review
Gusto logo

Reply from Gusto

Hello Anna,

We are sorry to hear about your recent experience and the frustration caused by long hold times. We know your time is valuable and we never want you to feel unsupported.

Your dedicated Support Advisor, Nick, has already reached out within the hour to assist and he will be your point of contact moving forward. If you would like, additional calls can be scheduled directly with him so you have a clear path to resolution without waiting on hold.

Thank you for sharing your feedback. It helps us improve and ensures we can provide the level of service you deserve.

-Gusto Client Relations

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