Gusto vs. ADP: Differences, pros and cons in 2024

Gusto and ADP are both heavyweights in the cloud-based payroll software space. They enable small business owners to set up and process payroll, tend to employee benefits and fulfill tax obligations.

We’ve found that Gusto is best for automation, from administering employee payroll with a click of a button to automatically calculating federal, state and local taxes. On the other hand, Roll by ADP (short for Automatic Data Processing) is our top pick for mobile payroll solutions, offering unique and flexible capabilities to run payroll via chat. 

Gusto vs. Roll by ADP side-by-side comparison

Price

Winner: Roll by ADP

Gusto and Roll by ADP are comparable in their pricing and features. Gusto’s pricing starts at $40 plus $6 for every employee for its Simple Plan, which is the lowest plan available. Roll by ADP currently has one plan available, and it’s $29 plus $5 per employee. In addition, Roll by ADP offers a 3-month free trial, which puts around $100 back into your pocket. 

Direct deposit 

Winner: Roll by ADP

Both Gusto and Roll by ADP allow you to pay employees with direct deposit, however, Roll by ADP offers faster direct deposit options.

Gusto’s average turnaround for direct deposit is two days, and some employers might be eligible for next-day direct deposit. Though, Gusto offers employees a few ways to get paid even quicker. With a Gusto Wallet spending account (debit card account), employees can qualify to get paid up to two days quicker than their scheduled payday. That being said, the turnaround time between when employers run payroll and the money showing up in the employee’s bank account is still two days. 

Roll by ADP lets you pay your employees with direct deposit the next day or the same day (for a fee). In addition, employers get alert reminders when its time to run payroll, and employees get payday alerts letting them know their pay is on the way. 

Time tracking

Winner: Gusto

Gusto offers time tracking for employees, a feature Roll by ADP does not offer. There are two ways employees can clock in and out and log their work hours on Gusto: the Time Kiosk and through the Gusto employee app, Gusto Wallet.

The process is streamlined through the app. Geolocation enables mobile time tracking for work-from-home employees and independent contractors so employees can easily and accurately log their hours.

Third-party integrations

Winner: Gusto

Gusto and Roll by ADP both offer third-party integrations. However, Roll by ADP only currently offers integration with QuickBooks Online. While QuickBooks Online is a major business software that can help you keep your books accurate and, in turn, stay on top of financial reports and tax filings, as your small business expands and evolves, you might need integration with other platforms. On the other hand, Gusto offers integration with nearly 200 apps and third-party software. 

Here are a few examples of apps that integrate with Gusto: 

• Accounting: Freshbooks, Sage Accounting and Xero. 
• Business operations: Docusign, Freshdesk and Hubspot. 
• Collaboration: Asana, Dropbox and Google Workspace.
• Expense management: Expensify and Relay. 
• Hiring and onboarding: Gusto Recruiting, Gusto Checkr and ApplicantPro. 
• Analytics: Domo and Amplitude. 
• Learning management: Gusto Learning and Engagedly. 
• Legal and compliance: Vanta and Drata. 
• Performance management: Goalspan and Gusto Performance.
• Rewards and recognition: Incentfit and Pave. 
• Tax preparation: Year End and TaxTaker.
• Time Tracking: Justworks Hours and Homebase. 

Benefits administration

Winner: Gusto

Gusto includes benefits administration in its payroll plan. It helps you create a healthcare package with options for health savings accounts (HSA) and flexible spending accounts (FSA), medical, dental, vision and life insurance. Premium plans offer guidance from benefits advisors to help you get set up. And, if you like your company’s current benefits plan, you can likely switch it over to Gusto when you switch payroll software.

On the financial end, Gusto allows you to set up and offer 401(k) plans, workers’ comp and 529 college savings accounts. It also takes it a step farther and offers your employees tools to manage their money, budgets, and plans to reach short-term and long-term financial goals. 

Roll by ADP doesn’t offer much in the way of benefits administration. It’s largely focused on payroll and calculating deductions for tax filings. However, it does automatically calculate benefits deductions if you use a benefits administration plan elsewhere. 

Tax compliance

Winner: Roll by ADP 

Gusto and Roll by ADP both offer tax compliance tools. Frankly, they’re quite similar. Both offer automatic calculations, deductions and filings for payroll taxes at the federal, state and local levels across all 50 U.S. states. Both also offer payroll reports and will send them to users and their tax professionals.

While many users will be happy with either company’s tax compliance features and capabilities, Roll by ADP has a slight edge. Gusto’s Simple plan ($40 per month plus $6 per worker) only offers single-state payroll services, which means you only get single-state automated tax filings. For multi-state payroll and tax filing services, you’ll need Gusto’s Premium plan ($80 per month and up). In contrast, Roll by ADP provides these services in all states on its single plan, which costs $29 per month plus $5 per employee. 

However, Gusto may still be worth it if you have the budget. Its tax features include notifications for tax credits your small businesses might be eligible for, and its software integrates with two major accounting platforms: QuickBooks and Xero.

Gusto vs. Roll by ADP customer feedback

Winner: Tie

Our testers found Gusto’s user interface sleek and easy to navigate, with intuitive tools. For example, a centrally-located task menu shows users what tasks should be completed first based on their due dates. In addition, personalized recommendations appear to the right of the screen that reflect users’ company size, location and industry. Payroll run pages have an easy-to-read and -edit layout with instructions to guide the user through the payroll process, complete with key deadlines the user must heed.

Gusto has over 1,900 user reviews and averages 3.5 out of five stars on Trustpilot. Interestingly, the majority of ratings were either five stars (70%) or one star (18%). Positive ratings note its simple onboarding, ease of use, navigation and automated payroll features. Conversely, negative reviews centered on Gusto’s customer service. 

On Reddit, the same positive remarks and complaints are echoed:

“I’ve been with Gusto for 7 years without incident. They are the single best platform I use to help manage the entire business (11 staff). It just works and works very well.”

“Just adding that I love Gusto payroll until there’s an issue and customer support needs to be involved. So far issues I’ve had:

• not properly updating an employees deduction in the proper period, which led to a bunch of back and forth and snarky responses from customer service.
• requiring a screenshot of banking information with no advance notification prior to payroll being run. Ultimately led to clients payroll being delayed 2 days.
• delays in getting an employees payroll unblocked in a state that takes 8-11 weeks to complete registration and setup.

The customer support through all of these instances have been terrible. I’ve dealt with ADP and Paychex and I can confidently say they would’ve been able to resolve these things quickly.”

Unfortunately, as a relative newcomer to the payroll software space, no user reviews exist for Roll by ADP on TrustPilot, G2 or the Better Business Bureau. However, as a software designed to be used as a mobile app, user reviews are available on Google Play Store and the Apple App Store. Its app earns a 4.4 out of five stars on the Google Play Store with over 1,000 reviews and a 4.9 out of five-star rating on the Apple App Store with over 700 reviews. Customers complain about deficiencies in customer service and software glitches. However, many praise the apps for its ease of use, time-saving features and the payroll and tax reminders that keep them from missing important deadlines. 

Gusto and Roll by ADP alternatives

Rippling 

It’s hard to contend with Rippling, as the payroll software powerhouse is notable in all areas: from swift onboarding to a global payroll system that can accommodate both employees and independent contractors to streamlining your benefits administration.

Rippling is robust and designed for businesses that are scaling. It prides itself in taking small businesses through the entire growth process, even to developing a global enterprise workforce. If you’re a small business with fewer employers and more straightforward needs, Gusto and Roll by ADP, which are easier to set up and navigate, could be a better fit. However, if you’re a small business with big growth plans, consider Rippling to help you get there. 

QuickBooks

Integration:

Gusto integrates with nearly 200 apps and third-party software, while Roll by ADP only integrates with QuickBooks. However, QuickBooks Payroll stands out with its healthy number of third-party integrations: 750. As such, Quickbooks is the better option if you hope to integrate it with your entire company tech stack.

Benefits administration:

That being said, Quickbooks Payroll is heavy on the accounting and bookkeeping features and lighter on the benefits administration features. While Gusto offers advanced benefits options like savings accounts, Quickbooks Payroll focuses on the basics of vision, medical and dental. So, Quickbooks is the better bet if you’re looking to streamline your accounting and bookkeeping with payroll. But, if you want features to keep and retain top talent, consider Gusto. 

Business size:

Quickbooks Payroll is also designed only to manage payroll for 50 people and caps the number of workers you can pay at 150. The. As such, it is best for small businesses, whereas Gusto and Roll for ADP can easily manage payroll for mid-sized and even large businesses. Roll by ADP is the clear winner here with one comparatively low-priced plan that offers unlimited payroll runs across states and the ability to run payroll any time you want. 

Mobile apps:

Quickbooks Payroll is not specifically designed for mobile devices like Roll by ADP. For example, Quickbooks Payroll’s mobile app serves employees but is unavailable for employers. In contrast, Roll by ADP offers a mobile app for both employee and employer needs. Business owners can hire employees via Roll by ADP’s app, and employees can update their information and view benefits from their side of the app. As such, if you have a service or field business, Roll by ADP is your better bet for managing employees and payroll on the go. 

Learn more: Read our guides to the best ADP competitors and Gusto competitors.

Final verdict 

Who is Gusto best for?

Gusto stands out with ample integration options, multi-state payroll processing, time tracking capabilities, benefits administration plans and 24/7 dedicated customer support. Its benefits selection spans the entire life cycle from college savings, vision, medical and dental insurance to retirement plans. However, its tiered plan approach means you may need to pay more to access the features you need. Its first-tier payroll plan only offers payroll processing for one state. You’ll need a higher-tier plan to process payroll in multiple states. Premium plans include multi-state payroll processing, advanced HR support and dedicated customer success managers. 

Gusto’s robust benefits offerings coupled with its time-tracking capabilities, make it a great fit for franchise companies looking to expand regionally or nationally, such as restaurants, retail stores or brick-and-mortar service firms. 

Who is Roll by ADP best for?

Roll by ADP is a great fit for on-the-go business owners and companies that work primarily on mobile devices, such as field service companies. The mobile payroll app heavily leans on its chat and AI-powered features. By sending a few commands via chat on your mobile phone, business owners can run payroll, give raises and do wage garnishments. The use of artificial intelligence also helps you get ahead on payroll tasks and upcoming deadlines with helpful app notifications.