Gusto vs Paylocity

Verdict

Gusto is our pick for a small service business that wants self-serve payroll without a sales call. Paylocity fits a business that has outgrown simple payroll apps and needs more configurable rules for pay rates, locations, or seasonal staff. Gusto lists its plan tiers and every feature included in each one directly on its pricing page.

Paylocity instead segments its payroll product by company size and routes every prospect to a demo request form rather than a price list.

For a platform that adds IT device management on top of payroll, see Gusto vs Rippling.

Gusto vs Paylocity at a glance

Choose Gusto if

• You want self-serve setup and a published pricing page you can read before you sign up, rather than a sales call.

• Your payroll needs are straightforward: one or a few states, similar pay schedules across the team.

• You want domestic contractor payments and an employer mobile app included on every plan tier.

• You'd rather browse an app directory of roughly a hundred and fifty integrations than negotiate a custom integration.

Choose Paylocity if

• You manage multiple pay rates, locations, or seasonal staffing swings that need more configurable check types and time-off accruals.

• You want a payroll readiness dashboard with dozens of built-in audits that flag pay spikes or errors before you submit.

• You're comfortable requesting a demo and sharing your employee count to get a quote instead of reading prices online.

• You expect to grow past a small crew and want a platform that also serves midsize and enterprise teams without switching providers.

Key differences

Payroll and tax filing

Gusto's plans all include unlimited payroll runs, tax filings and payments, and multiple pay rates and schedules, even on its entry-level tier.

Paylocity builds tax compliance around a geolocation check that audits each employee against the correct tax jurisdiction, backed by tax specialists who prepare, review and file the documents.

Both automate the filing step; the difference is how much manual configuration sits underneath it. Gusto's flow is meant to be usable without an accountant, while Paylocity's setup accepts more customization of check types and general ledger mapping in exchange for a longer initial setup.

HR and benefits

Gusto folds HR into its plan tiers: its top tier adds a dedicated service advisor, access to certified HR experts, and performance and compensation management.

Paylocity treats HR as part of a broader workforce platform that spans payroll, time and labor, expense management and benefits, unified so that data moves between them without manual re-entry.

Paylocity markets itself as a single HCM platform covering payroll, talent, benefits administration and employee experience, sized and priced to match the size of the organization rather than a fixed feature list.

A one-location crew may only need Gusto's add-on HR tools, while a business managing several departments benefits more from Paylocity's unified employee data model.

Pricing model

Gusto states its pricing directly, including which features are bundled into each tier and which are paid add-ons, such as state tax registration or next-day pay.

Paylocity's payroll page routes every visitor toward a demo request form and segments its offering by company size band instead of publishing a price list.

Neither page states an exact dollar figure appropriate to repeat here; the pricing table on this page has the specific numbers Kitfinch has verified for each vendor.

Integrations

Gusto runs an app directory organized by category, including accounting, point of sale, time tracking and hiring, with roughly a hundred and fifty apps listed.

Paylocity's payroll product emphasizes built-in connections for retirement and benefit files plus open APIs for custom integrations, rather than a public directory of pre-built apps.

If your shop already runs a point-of-sale or scheduling tool, check Gusto's app directory first; if you need a custom data pipeline into a finance system, ask Paylocity's sales team what open API options exist for your stack.

Which trades each suits

A solo plumber or a small electricians crew with one location and simple pay rates fits Gusto's self-serve model well, especially if contractor payments and a mobile app matter more than deep HR tooling. A multi-location hvac company or a landscapers business with seasonal crews and varying pay rates by job or region is closer to what Paylocity's configurable check types and time-and-labor tools are built to handle. Roofers businesses that scale up quickly, adding crews and possibly new states, may outgrow Gusto's simpler tier structure and be better served starting on Paylocity or planning a migration path.

Switching between them

Gusto lists "payroll migration and account setup" as a named feature on its top-tier Premium plan, meaning Gusto expects to help import prior payroll history for businesses that sign up.

Neither Gusto nor Paylocity publishes a dedicated help-center article describing an export or import path specifically between the two platforms, so no public export/import documentation between Gusto and Paylocity was found in this review. Before switching either direction, ask the receiving vendor's onboarding team what payroll history, tax filings and employee records they can import, and confirm the cutover timing against your next filing deadline.

For a comparison against the platform that adds IT device management, see Gusto vs Rippling. To compare Paylocity directly against that same modular platform, see Paylocity vs Rippling. More payroll options are in Payroll tools.