Top 6 Gusto alternatives and competitors for HR teams in 2025

Gusto worked fine when it was just you, a few teammates, and the office cat. As soon as you added a couple more virtual and physical desks, you were back in the market for a new payroll software.

If that's where you are right now, or you're worried it'll soon be, this article will help you find a better provider before your next finance meeting. It contains six of the best Gusto alternatives in the market, built for scale.

What is Gusto?

Gusto is a popular cloud-based payroll provider that offers HR tools and support primarily to small businesses and startups. 

At its core, it handles:

• Payroll processing with unlimited runs for salaried and hourly employees.

• Automatic tax calculations and filing at the federal, state, and local levels.

• Employee self-service portal with pay stubs, tax forms, and benefits access.

• Benefits administration, including health insurance, retirement plans, commuter perks, and wellness stipends.

Why choose a Gusto alternative

Gusto is easy to get started with, which explains why so many small business owners adopt it early. However, if you're focused on growth, Gusto’s scaling limitations may not meet your long-term goals.

Here's why:

• Their limited out-of-the-box permissions make it difficult to give colleagues access to take on more tasks.

• Initial setup requires up-front data entry, which can be substantial if you have a large workforce.

• It doesn’t cover IT or device management, so you need third-party systems to onboard fully.

• Reporting is limited to basic payroll journals and employee reports.

• Mobile features are tied to higher pricing tiers.

• No invoicing or accounts receivable features.

Gusto is undeniably a strong starter payroll tool, but one that you will eventually outgrow once you need deeper automation, global scale, or unified HR and IT.

Why choose a Gusto alternative

Here are three big reasons companies switch from Gusto:

Compatibility or integration issues

Gusto integrates with QuickBooks Online, Xero, and Sage, which are common accounting systems. However, if you graduate to NetSuite one day, or want HR, IT, and finance data in one place, you’ll have to switch your HRIS or use another third-party solution.

Customer support limitations

Reviewers often mention that Gusto’s support can be slow or scripted when you need urgent help with payroll errors or tax filings.

Compliance shortcomings

Gusto will file your federal, state, and local payroll taxes, but that's about where their automation stops. They won’t enroll your employees into compliance training, apply role-based guardrails for hiring, or automate recurring tasks like scheduling new hire orientations every Monday morning. 

That leaves you chasing signatures, scheduling trainings by hand, and double-checking work that should have been automated.

“Rippling solved all the issues we had with Gusto — what used to take hours now takes minutes. I’ve texted every single one of my entrepreneur friends in DC and told them to check out Rippling, because it changed my life.” — Ex. Gusto Customer

Quick comparison: Best Gusto alternatives at a glance

To help you decide, here's an overview of the six Gusto competitors we'll be reviewing in this article:

Methodology: How I chose the best Gusto competitors

To write this review, I pulled information from official product pages, recurring strengths and pain points from customer reviews, and limitations from support documentation. I also watched product demos to see how setup and integrations actually work in practice. 

What I looked for:

• Core functionality: Payroll processing, tax filing, time and attendance tracking, contractor payments, and employee self-service portals.

• Ease of use: How quickly a new hire can be onboarded, how easily admins can run payroll, and whether reporting is actually customizable.

• Scalability: Multi-state and global compliance, support for hundreds of employees, and automation that keeps up as you grow.

• Integration depth: Accounting systems like QuickBooks Online and NetSuite, plus HR, IT, and finance apps.

Rippling editorial policy: Rippling puts our customers (and prospective customers!) first. The Rippling team is committed to providing information supported by product data, insights, and customer feedback to inform our content.

Best Gusto alternatives

1. Rippling

Rippling unifies HR, IT, and Finance systems into one easy-to-use platform. Rippling is also highly rated by customers.

Why Rippling stands out

Rippling separates itself from Gusto and other payroll providers with automation at scale. 

Every repetitive HR process — from employee onboarding to compliance training enrollments — can be fully automated with custom workflows in sync with job titles, departments, or locations.

Rippling also brings global reach that Gusto can’t match. You can pay workers in 185+ countries, in local currency, with built-in tax filing. If you're eyeing international growth, this completely eliminates the need to piece together multiple payroll providers or rely on slow third-party aggregators.

Finally, Rippling gives you scale without sacrificing visibility. With over 650 built-in integrations and customizable reporting, you can pull in payroll data, benefits costs, and time tracking metrics alongside accounting or IT information. The result is a true single source of truth — something Gusto and most of its alternatives still can’t deliver.

Where Rippling can fall short

You get the best value from Rippling when it's deployed as an all-in-one system for HR, Finance, and IT. If you're a payroll-only buyer, you may not appreciate its full breadth.

Is Rippling right for you?

Choose Rippling if you want to automate repetitive HR busywork across every system, including global payroll management, benefits, time tracking, app and device management, and more, without third-party integrations.

Feature snapshot

Pay on time, every time

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2. ADP Workforce Now

Founded in 1949, ADP is one of the oldest payroll service providers. Its Workforce Now platform is a cloud-based payroll solution for small- to mid-sized businesses with complex payroll needs like multi-state tax filing, unionized workforces, or a mix of salaried employees and hourly staff.

Why ADP stands out

ADP's features include automated payroll processing, time and attendance, benefits, employee management tools, compliance management, and an employee self-service portal through a mobile app.

Businesses that require airtight compliance tools often stick with ADP because it has years of experience navigating federal, state, and local regulations.

Where ADP can fall short

• ADP’s long history is also its drawback. Built from 100+ acquisitions, its modules often feel fragmented and require navigating multiple teams to resolve cross-product issues.

• Limited ability to combine payroll data, benefits, and HR tools in one customizable report.

• Smaller teams may find the platform dated and overly complex compared to modern payroll software.

Is ADP right for you?

As your business scales, you’ll likely need to move between ADP systems, adding complexity and retraining. If you want better reporting, more automation, and a unified platform across HR, IT, and finance, Rippling is the more scalable choice.

Feature snapshot

3. Paychex 

Paychex is another Gusto alternative that offers payroll, time and attendance, and benefits administration to different-sized businesses in customizable packages.

Why Paychex stands out

Paychex stands out for its breadth of add-ons: you can bundle retirement plans, health insurance, workers’ compensation, and HR services into your payroll plan. For small and medium-sized businesses, having one vendor that covers compliance, employee onboarding, and payroll management can simplify operations.

Where Paychex can fall short

• Most of Paychex's modules are hinged on integrations and SSOs. This means no single source of truth for your employee data.

• Reviewers often mention that some parts of the platform feel dated compared to newer cloud-native payroll software.

• While marketed as enterprise-ready, Paychex is often better suited to SMBs under 1,000 employees rather than fast-growing or global companies.

• Certain benefits (like medical, dental, or vision), advanced reporting, or even access to the employee self-service portal often come with extra fees.

• Compliance monitoring is not built in; customers must monitor on their own.

• Cost grows with multiple payroll runs, and add-ons can get expensive for small businesses.

Is Paychex right for you?

Paychex works for small and mid-sized businesses that want payroll, benefits, and HR handled by one provider and don't mind relying on add-ons.

Feature snapshot

4. BambooHR

BambooHR is HR management software for small- to medium-sized businesses. It’s an affordable and easy-to-use platform that includes features like employee data management, hiring and employee onboarding tools, time and attendance, performance management, and reporting capabilities. 

Why BambooHR stands out

Its clean design and user-friendly interface are major selling points. Reviews highlight how easy it is to roll out to both managers and employees. Also, its flat-rate pricing is cost-effective for companies with 25 or fewer employees.

Where BambooHR can fall short

• Payroll is a secondary feature and is provided via an acquired partner. Theirs doesn’t have the same depth or automation as Rippling, ADP, or Paychex.

• No native learning management or headcount planning modules.

• Workflow automation is limited to approvals and notifications.

• No proactive notifications for infractions (e.g., exceeded overtime limits).

• BambooHR does not automatically track compliance with employee benefits or onboarding, such as I-9 verification

• International payments aren’t built-in, so you'll need another system for global staff.

Is BambooHR right for you?

BambooHR works for small, single-state businesses that want affordable, easy-to-use HR tools with the option to add payroll later. If payroll is your top priority, you’ll likely hit limitations quickly.

Feature snapshot

Your business is complex. Payroll software shouldn’t be.

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5. Paylocity

Paylocity delivers highly configurable payroll services to businesses of all sizes and across various industries, including nonprofits.

Why Paylocity stands out

What sets Paylocity apart is its focus on employee engagement. The platform includes a built-in social feed, peer recognition tools, pulse surveys, and performance management. This gives HR teams a way to boost culture and retention while managing payroll.

It also supports custom calculations — like payroll per production unit — and special scenarios such as retroactive payroll.

Where Paylocity can fall short

• Paylocity lacks pre-built automations, such as state and local labor policies.

• Reporting is limited. You can combine data across a few modules, but not all at once. For example, you can’t create a single report that ties together payroll, benefits, and time tracking.

• Paylocity doesn't natively support paying contractors.

Is Paylocity right for you?

If your team values internal culture tools like surveys and recognition alongside payroll, Paylocity is a strong contender. If you’re scaling globally or want to automate compliance-heavy workflows, Rippling is the better long-term solution.

Feature snapshot

“We’d basically hit a wall with Paylocity — they couldn’t scale with us.” — Ex. Paylocity Customer

6. UKG

UKG is best known for its enterprise-grade payroll and HCM solutions, offered through UKG Ready for small to midsize companies (100-2500 employees) and UKG Pro for larger organizations (500-15,000 employees). 

The platform covers the full suite: automated payroll processing, tax filing, time and attendance tracking, and a customizable employee self-service portal.

Why UKG stands out

UKG's compliance management and workforce scheduling strengths are a strong draw for companies with hourly employees or complex labor rules. UKG also delivers deep analytics and reporting tools, allowing HR teams to track everything from overtime costs to labor distribution in real time.

Where UKG can fall short

• UKG has a steep learning curve and longer implementations that often require professional services, billable by the hour.

• If your team is small, you may end up paying for features you won’t use.

• While strong in the U.S., international payroll support requires third-party solutions.

• Transitioning between the two options (Ready and Pro) is difficult, making scaling a challenge.

Is UKG right for you?

If your workforce is large, spread across multiple states, involves complex scheduling, or requires detailed reporting, UKG delivers.

Looking for more? Other Gusto alternatives include: TriNet, Justworks, Square Payroll, Workday, Onpay, and QuickBooks Payroll.

Feature snapshot

Close payroll in minutes, not days

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How to choose a Gusto alternative

The “best” payroll provider for you depends on how you balance payroll features, your HR needs, and long-term growth plans. 

Here are the factors to weigh before you make the jump:

Core payroll features

Your provider should cover the essentials: unlimited payroll runs, multiple pay rates, and support for both salaried employees and contractors. Look for built-in tax calculations and filing that cover federal, state, and local taxes, plus extras like same-day or next-day direct deposit and tax penalty protection.

Automation features

Your payroll provider should reduce admin, not add to it. Look for one with employee self-service portals, mobile access, and automated workflows for recurring tasks like compliance training.

Scalability

If you plan to expand across multiple states or countries, you'll need global payroll support and HRM tools. For small teams, a payroll-only option might be fine. For fast-growing teams, an all-in-one platform like Rippling scales from startup to enterprise without forcing a costly migration later.

Reporting and analytics

Don’t settle for basic pay stubs or one-off reports. Strong payroll platforms let you pull in any HR data, generate compliance reports, and even tie in project tracking or expense data.

Integrations

Payroll doesn’t live in a vacuum. Every time you hire, promote, or offboard someone, that data needs to flow across your HR, accounting, and IT systems. The best platforms handle this automatically, syncing employee data without manual updates.

HR and benefits

If you need more than payroll, check for native HR solutions like new hire reporting, employee onboarding, applicant tracking, and access to employee benefits packages (health insurance, retirement plans, commuter perks, and business insurance).

Providers like Rippling also offer a professional employer organization (PEO) model for outsourcing HR services.

Which Gusto alternative is best for you?

Here’s how the top Gusto competitors stack up depending on where your company is today.

Based on your company's stage

Based on your persona

Rippling: The best Gusto alternative for 2025

If you’re looking for a payroll platform that won’t hold you back as you grow, Rippling payroll software is the clear choice. You can administer benefits, manage time and attendance, reimburse expenses, and set up employee accounts and devices, all in one place. 

Where Gusto and other competitors struggle with integrations, Rippling excels. It offers 650+ native integrations across HR, finance, and IT, so your employee data flows everywhere it’s needed. Compliance work is automated, too, so you can have peace of mind about applicable tax laws — no matter where your employees live.

Rippling also delivers global scale. With payroll in 185+ countries, you no longer need multiple providers or third-party aggregators to pay your distributed workforce. And because Rippling is built around a single employee record, every change you make — compensation, title, location — instantly updates payroll, benefits, and compliance rules.

Here are some advantages our clients enjoy: 

• Faster onboarding and device provisioning: Highnoon cut HR and IT admin time in half and accelerated technology setups 10x via fully automated workflows.

• Major reduction in manual administration: Superhuman saved 75% of admin hours and trimmed onboarding time by over 50%. The Head of People now spends only 15 minutes a day in Rippling, down from hours in their previous system.

• Radical admin reduction: Compass (a former Gusto customer) reduced HR and IT admin task time by 96%, saving 15 hours a month. Onboarding corporate employees went from ~2 hours down to ~20 minutes.

Fully customizable payroll software

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FAQs about Gusto alternatives