Gusto vs ADP to Power Your Business’s Payroll
Businesses with employees need a payroll platform to ensure that their employees are paid and receive the benefits that they deserve. Gusto vs ADP will be an inevitable comparison that you’ll need to make at some point.
Both solutions can help you satisfy payroll, but they have key differences that can make one better than another.
While we recommend Gusto for our clients, ADP does have a few advantages that may make it a better choice for you.
Note: Do you need assistance setting up your payroll? We can help. Read more about our payroll solutions.
Gusto vs ADP: 2025 Comparison
Gusto is upfront about its pricing, causing many startups and smaller businesses to choose the platform. Pricing still starts at $40 per month and $6 per person on payroll, even after two years of originally writing this article.
You can also upgrade to the Plus or Premium tier for:
- Plus: $60/mo + $8 per person. Additional features include multi-state payroll, next-day direct deposit, PTO management, scheduling, workforce costing, custom reports, team management tools and more.
- Premium: $180/mo + $22 per person. Everything in Plus is included, along with a customer success manager, HR resource center, compliance alerts, full-service payroll migration, HR experts, priority support and more.
- Contractor: $35 + $6 per person. The contractor only plan is often available for free and is the right choice for someone who is a contractor and hasn’t hired a W-2 employee yet.
One of the main disadvantages of comparing ADP vs Gusto pricing is that ADP doesn’t have upfront pricing. You have to go through a four-step process and then a sales rep will reach out to you. ADP also charges additional fees for:
- Setup fees
- Per payroll
- Filing W-2s
- Filing 1099s
- Multiple state options
In terms of pricing, you benefit from Gusto’s payroll pricing being upfront. You can budget for your payroll expenses without worrying about a slew of additional fees. However, you do benefit from household employee payroll on ADP, which Gusto doesn’t offer at the time of writing this comparison.
If you want to learn about ADP’s pricing, you’ll need to contact the company. After a recent discussion with a rep, pricing was $59 per month with an additional $4 per person (subject to change).
Gusto’s core plan offers high-end features that ADP offers only as an add-on, making it our preferred option. However, there are a lot of benefit features that you’ll also want to consider.
Benefit Features
Benefits help you differentiate your business from others. You’ll find that ADP charges you for the premiums (they all do) plus additional fees for:
- Health benefits
- Workers’ comp
Gusto charges for premiums only, saving you on overhead and allowing you to spend more money on offering your team the best benefits possible.
Add-on Options
Gusto and ADP have add-ons available that empower you to provide your employees with even better benefits. The main differences between the two platforms are that ADP offers HRA benefits, and Gusto offers 529 college savings plans.
Otherwise, both offer the option of adding the following benefits to your plan:
- 401(k) retirement
- Broker integration
- Commuter benefits
- HSA and FSA
- Life and disability insurance
You’ll find both platforms offer great benefit options that are very similar, so there isn’t a clear winner in this department. Integrations with the platforms that you already use are another point to consider, and there is a clear winner in this area.
With Gusto, you also have the flexibility to add more to your Gusto core plan. For example, if you’re on the Simple Plan and receive a lot of time off requests and approvals, you can add this option as an add-on to your plan.
The ability to quickly add the additional services you want without upgrading to a plan filled with features you may not need is a nice perk.
Integrations
When setting up Gusto, you’ll notice that you can integrate Gusto with the platforms that you already use. Integrations allow platforms to share data and make managing faster, less error-prone and more streamlined.
Both platforms integrate with:
- QuickBooks
- Xero
ADP also added Wave integration to their list of accounting integrations.
However, Gusto has integration with Google SSO, Xendoo, ZarMoney, Freshbooks and Sage, too. If you use any of these platforms, it makes more sense to use Gusto. Otherwise, both ADP and Gusto integrate nicely with QuickBooks and Xero.
HR Tools
Gusto and ADP both offer HR tools to help businesses better manage their operations, such as:
Offer Letters and Onboarding
Gusto’s Plus and Premium plans allow users to create and issue offer letters to help simplify the onboarding process. ADP also offers this feature, although additional fees may apply.
ADP does offer background checks, which is something Gusto does not offer.
With Gusto, employees have the ability to self-onboard and maintain lifetime access to their information on the platform. Self-onboarding allows information to be kept confidential, and lifetime access means that employees can access their W-2s and benefits information long after they’ve left your company without you having to get involved.
Both platforms make it easy for businesses to onboard new employees, which is an important step that many business owners overlook. In fact, research shows that a strong onboarding process can improve new employee retention by 82%.
Time Tracking
Gusto subscribers get access to time-tracking tools that sync hours and vacation time with payroll automatically. The platform also integrates with other popular time-tracking tools like Tsheets and Homebase.
ADP also offers time tracking with their Complete & HR plans. However, these features may come at an additional fee.
Gusto’s Advancements Since 2023
Gusto continues to offer new features to better meet the needs of today’s businesses. A few of the notable features that add a lot of functionality to users are:
- Smart CSV uploads to make it easier to upload CSV files with hours and earnings.
- Payroll flows were optimized for faster loading and updates.
- Employee compensation updating received a revamp with the option to bulk update compensation from a single screen.
Gusto also added significant improvements to time tracking and new 401(k) partnerships. You can read all about the changes Gusto made on their site here.
ADP’s Advancements Since 2023
ADP leaned heavily into artificial intelligence in recent years, adding a lot of integrations to help users get the most out of the platform. For example, they partnered with Salesforce to offer AI-driven insights and more personalization.
ADP assist was added to help streamline:
- Payroll
- HR tasks
The assist product is meant to reduce time and increase informed decision-making. Integrated solutions are also being added, such as an easier way to offer absence management.
Gusto vs ADP advancements are interesting. ADP focused heavily on AI, while Gusto continues doing what it does best and focuses on user experience.
ADP vs. Gusto: Who’s the Winner?
Both ADP and Gusto are excellent platforms for payroll. However, Gusto offers many advantages for businesses.
- You can run payroll in multiple states without additional fees
- You can run unlimited payrolls using Gusto
- The platform automatically calculates and files payroll
- So much more
But to make the most of the Gusto platform, it’s important to ensure it’s set up and implemented properly. Your team must also be trained, and this requires expertise. That’s why we offer Gusto help for business owners.
To learn more about our payroll services or how we can help you with setting up Gusto, schedule a consultation now!
