Over the past few years, OnPay and Gusto have emerged as two of the top payroll providers for small businesses. While they both use modern, cloud-based interfaces and offer an array of HR and benefits-oriented services that go way beyond payroll, there are a few big differences between these two solutions.
We pulled together some of the latest ratings and reviews — as well as detailed pricing and feature information — to help you get a better understanding of whether OnPay or Gusto is a better fit for your business.
Jump to compare OnPay and Gusto by:
To get a high-level picture, start by checking out recent ratings and reviews. While the experts have great things to say about both providers, small business owners tend to think one of these two solutions does a little more to take good care of them and their teams.
OnPay
Ease of Setup
Ease of Admin
Quality of Support
Performance
Reliability
Customization
Reporting
Gusto
Ease of Setup
Ease of Admin
Quality of Support
Performance
Reliability
Customization
Reporting
When you’re considering Gusto versus OnPay, ratings and reviews are just one piece of the puzzle. It’s also important to check out the capabilities of each payroll platform and get a better sense of how much they all cost. Here’s a closer look at how features and associated costs stack up for each provider.
| OnPay | Gusto | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | ||
| Base price | $40 per month | Starting at $40 per month |
| Per worker cost | $6 per person. Only pay for active workers paid that month. |
Starting at $6 per person |
| Full-service payroll | ||
| Automated federal, state, and local tax filings and payments | Included | Included |
| Unlimited pay runs | Included | Included |
| Multi-state payroll | Included | Additional fees |
| Accounting and time tracking integrations | Included | Included |
| New hire reporting | Included | Included |
| Year-end filings, W-2s, and 1099s | Included | Included |
| HR and Team Management | ||
| Manage and track time off | Included | Additional fees |
| Employee directory | Included | Additional fees |
| Org charts | Included | Additional fees |
| Document storage and audits | Included | Included |
| Onboarding and Employee Self-Service | ||
| Employee self-onboarding | Included | Included |
| Employee self-service portal | Included | Included |
| Document e-sign for I-9s and W-4s | Included | Included |
| Customize and send offer letters for e-signature | Included | Additional fees |
| Employee lifetime account access | Included | Included |
| Custom onboarding workflows | Included | Additional fees |
| Benefits and Compliance | ||
| Medical, dental, and vision plans | Pay premiums only | Pay premiums only |
| Integrated workers’ comp plans | Pay premiums only | Pay premiums only |
| Integrated 401(k) plan | Pay premiums only | Pay premiums only |
| Reporting and Usability | ||
| Payroll and employee reports | Included | Included |
| Real-time reporting filters | Included | Included |
| Custom report designer | Included | Additional fees |
Payroll can be tricky, and you’re going to have questions from time to time. It can also save a ton of time to have support from your provider when you’re switching, entering employee payroll data for the first time, and making sure your account is set up right. And if there’s ever a tax issue, some providers even step up to offer extra support. Here’s how OnPay and Gusto compare:
| OnPay | Gusto | |
| Extended hours for live support | Included | Additional fees |
| Dedicated onboarding support representative | Included | Additional fees |
| Account setup and data migration | Included | Additional fees |
| Accuracy guarantee | Included | Not available |
Both Gusto and OnPay have very rich feature sets and a modern interface, so it’s not surprising to see them at the top of many “best payroll” lists. However, there are a lot of differences, especially once you start to look at specific plans and pricing. Here’s a rundown of what each provider offers in key feature areas.
Payroll and payroll taxes: If you want to make payroll fast and easy, while eliminating all the busywork associated with filing and paying payroll taxes, you can’t make a bad choice here. Both Gusto and OnPay handle the basics beautifully and process both employer payroll taxes and employee tax forms (like W-2s and 1099s) for no extra fee.
OnPay’s accuracy guarantee gives business owners the added assurance that payroll will be done right. And while both OnPay and Gusto have different levels of permissions that allow employers to delegate some of the payroll duties, Gusto requires an expensive upgrade to access this functionality. With Gusto, if you need to pay workers in multiple states it requires an upgrade that’ll double your base and per-employee cost.
Integrations: Your business finances don’t start and end with payroll, so your payroll provider should make it easy to get your data where it needs to be. From accounting software to time tracking apps, being able to sync with the other platforms you use will save tons of time and duplicated efforts.
OnPay offers the most robust integrations with leading accounting software like QuickBooks and Xero. Features like custom item mapping and employee-level detail let you (or your accountant) do more to set up the general ledger in a way that makes sense for your business. Both providers also offer integrations with top time tracking software, and Gusto has the option to use an internal time tracking feature for an additional fee.
Specialized payroll requirements: If you run a restaurant, a farm, or a nonprofit, the IRS throws a few different payroll tax wrinkles at you. If you’re making a choice between OnPay or Gusto (or any other payroll provider), it’s a good idea to make sure all the special filings, deductions, and exemptions for your industry can be processed without too much extra legwork.
OnPay is designed to serve every type of business well — in fact, it also receives the highest rating from accounting publication CPA Practice Advisor. Whether it’s filing Form 943 for ranches, processing payroll for workers on an H2-A visa, or helping churches with parsonage exemptions, OnPay does more to get all the little details right.
HR and employee benefits: Keeping a team healthy and happy — and keeping your business compliant — requires a lot more than just paying employees and filing taxes. OnPay and Gusto are among the top-rated payroll services because they help businesses do more to take care of their teams. Both offer employee self-service, e-signable offer letters, and new hire reporting. And both can help with integrated health plans, workers’ comp, and retirement plans.
In addition to basic HR functionality, OnPay offers some features that require expensive upgrades with Gusto (like org charts, PTO management, and HR document templates). OnPay also includes the ability to create custom HR workflows, delegate tasks around your organization, and perform compliance audits — all for the same low fee. You may want to keep in mind that OnPay can help with health benefits in all 50 states, while Gusto only covers some states.
Account setup and ongoing support: Moving to a new payroll provider can sometimes feel intimidating. Both these providers offer personal onboarding support that takes care of most of the work for you. When it comes to ongoing support, both OnPay and Gusto offer similar access to weekday support by phone, email, or on-site chat.
While the levels of service look similar on paper, OnPay’s customers approve of its customer support 97% of the time, while only 84% of Gusto customers give it the thumbs up. OnPay likely gets higher marks for its accuracy guarantee and its highly-trained support staff.
With Gusto or OnPay, you’re likely to get modern payroll that takes care of a lot of back office headaches and makes it easy to put your employees on a pedestal. There’s a reason experts put both of these choices at the top of their lists. Give OnPay a closer look if you prefer better support, more options to customize things to fit your business, and much lower prices.
We’ll even migrate all your employee info and prior wages for you.