OnPay vs Gusto: Which Is Best for Payroll in 2022?

OnPay and Gusto are both great choices and highly regarded software by users, as they offer excellent payroll and HR features with good customer service. However, there are some differences in function that may make one the better choice for your business. OnPay may have the more affordable plan, but Gusto provides multiple payroll plans that can cater to various needs, including a low-cost contractor-only option. And unlike OnPay, Gusto has a wider suite of HR solutions that include hiring, time tracking, and performance review tools.

Here are our recommendations to help you determine whether OnPay or Gusto is right for you.

• OnPay: Best for price-conscious companies looking for solid payroll tools to pay hourly workers
• Gusto: Best for small business owners wanting an all-in-one HR payroll software and employers with only contractors

OnPay vs Gusto Compared

	Visit Gusto	Visit OnPay
Best For	Small businesses looking for an all-in-one HR payroll software	Budget-conscious companies needing solid payroll and basic HR tools
Starter Monthly Pricing	$39 + $6 per employee	$36 + $4 per employee
Payroll Runs	Unlimited and automatic	Unlimited
Tax Filings and Year-end Tax Reports (W-2/1099)	✔	✔
Manual Paychecks, Pay cards, and Direct Deposits	✔	✔
Early Access to Earned Wages	Via Gusto Cashout	N/A
Employee Benefits*	Health insurance, 401(k), life and disability, commuter benefits, college savings plan	Health insurance, 401(k), life and disability, commuter benefits
Health Insurance Coverage	39 states	50 states
Workers’ Compensation (Pay-as-you-go Plans)	✔	✔
Time Tracking	Included in higher tiers	Via partner systems (Deputy, When I Work, and QuickBooks Time)
Onboarding Tools	✔	✔
Employee Self-Service Portal	✔	✔
Customer Support	Online help center; chat, email, and phone support; HR advisers; access to a dedicated support team	Online help center; chat, email, and phone support
	Read our Gusto review	Read our OnPay review

*Some benefits plans cost extra or have participation fees

When To Use OnPay & When To Use Gusto

Best for Value: Gusto

	Visit Gusto	Visit OnPay
Monthly Pricing	Core: $39 + $6 per employee Complete: $39 + $12 per employee Concierge: $149 + $12 per employee Select: Custom-priced; requires at least 25 employees; includes all of Gusto’s features (customized to fit your needs)	$36 + $4 per employee
Contractor-only Payroll Plan	$6 per contractor monthly	No special plan
Add-ons	Benefits administration using own broker: $6 per eligible employee monthly Health insurance: Pay for premium only 401(k) retirement savings: Starts at $49 + $8 per participant monthly 529 college savings: $6 per participant monthly (with an $18 monthly minimum) Device management: Custom-priced International contractor payroll: 1.5%–2% administration fee	W-2/1099 printing and mailing services: $2 per employee* Health and retirement plans: Pay for premiums
	Read our Gusto review	Read our OnPay review

*While OnPay can print and mail the tax forms to your workers, W-2/1099s are also available through its self-service portal where employees can print the online forms for free.

When comparing Gusto vs OnPay on pricing, OnPay is more budget-friendly ($36 plus $4 per employee monthly); however, Gusto wins because, overall, it provides better value for money given the wealth of HR features it offers. You get time tracking and performance reviews, including HR advisory services in its higher tiers—functionalities that OnPay lacks.

Gusto also beats OnPay with its low-cost contractor plan (OnPay doesn’t have this). Plus, you can add on other services to help you pay international contractors and manage computer devices issued to employees (MacBook units only as of this writing).

When To Consider OnPay

If you have a limited budget and don’t need Gusto’s advanced HR tools, then OnPay is a great choice. In addition to paying both employees and contractors, it can help you file payroll tax forms, onboard new hires, manage benefits, and offer health plans that are available in all 50 states (Gusto covers only 39 states)—all for a monthly fee of only $36 plus $4 per employee.

Best for Payroll: Gusto

	Visit Gusto	Visit OnPay
Full-service Payroll	✔	✔
Unlimited and Automatic Pay Runs	✔	Unlimited pay runs only
Multi-state Payroll	✔	✔
Payroll Tax Payment and Filing Services	✔	✔
Year-end Tax Reports (W-2/1099s)	✔	✔
Direct Deposit Processing Timelines	Two and four days; next-day option included in higher tiers	Two and four days (eligibility based on OnPay’s risk assessment)
Manual Paychecks	✔	✔
Pay card Option	✔	✔
Early Access to Earned Wages	Via Gusto Cashout	N/A
Wage Garnishment Services	South Carolina excluded	✔
Global Payroll Capabilities	Pays international contractors only	N/A
	Read our Gusto review	Read our OnPay review

When it comes to straight payroll features, OnPay and Gusto are very close. However, Gusto’s Core plan, the closest price-wise to OnPay, allows pay runs on autopilot. (OnPay doesn’t have this, which may make it more appropriate for hourly workers.) Gusto, which is our top-recommended payroll service for small businesses, also processes direct deposits more quickly, even offering a next-day option if you subscribe to its higher tiers. In addition, it doesn’t conduct risk assessments to determine standard direct deposit timelines as OnPay does. With Gusto, you are automatically granted access to two- and four-day direct deposits.

Apart from its low-cost payroll plan for contractors, Gusto can pay international contract workers. It can help you complete compliance documents and process cross-border payments in 80 countries (OnPay doesn’t have global contractor payroll services).

Gusto lets you manually add bonus amounts, hours worked, and PTO details when running payroll. (Source: Gusto)

When To Consider OnPay

What OnPay offers that Gusto doesn’t is the capability to process salary payments and payroll taxes for agricultural workers, including employees on H-2A visas. It even files Form 943s for you.

For businesses in non-agriculture industries, OnPay also handles payroll for hourly workers, salaried employees, and contractors. While it doesn’t have Gusto’s next-day direct deposits, you get two- and four-day direct deposits as standard processing timelines—provided you don’t mind going through OnPay’s risk assessment to determine eligibility for either of the two options.

With OnPay, you can run payroll in three easy clicks. (Source: OnPay)

Best for HR & Employee Benefits: Gusto

	Visit Gusto	Visit OnPay
Job Postings	Postings appear in Google Jobs; provides shareable job post links	N/A
Applicant Tracking	✔	N/A
Online Onboarding	✔	✔
State New Hire Reporting	✔	✔
Time Tracking	✔	N/A
Paid Time-Off (PTO) Management	✔	✔
Software Provisioning for Managing Employee Apps	Available in higher tiers	N/A
Employee Performance Reviews	✔	N/A
Standard Benefits Options	Medical, dental, vision, 401(k), FSA, HSA, commuter benefits, ACA/HIPAA/ERISA and COBRA compliances	Medical, dental, vision, 401(k), life and disability, FSA/HSA, commuter benefits
Non-standard Benefits Options	College savings plan, free Gusto Wallet (financial management app), early access to earned wage via Gusto Cashout	Assistance with car, liability, and other business insurance
Health Insurance Coverage	39 states	50 states
	Read our Gusto review	Read our OnPay review

If you want to track applicants, capture employee attendance, and monitor staff performance, then Gusto is your best bet. Its platform is more feature-rich than OnPay, providing you with an HR solution suite that can handle hiring to retiring processes (OnPay only offers basic HR tools).

Its new hire onboarding solution also comes with basic and advanced features like customizable onboarding checklists and a software provisioning tool for creating and removing employees’ access to systems that your business uses. And, unlike OnPay, it lets you track applicants and post open jobs. Although Gusto only provides shareable job posting links and it doesn’t post jobs to popular job boards—listings appear only in Google Jobs. .

Managing employee benefits may be challenging for new business owners, but Gusto makes this task easier to handle with its online benefits administration solution and access to a wide variety of benefits plans. It even provides non-standard benefits like a college savings plan and an option for employees to access a part of their earned wages between paydays. While its health insurance doesn’t cover all 50 US states like OnPay, we recommend Gusto if your business isn’t located in one of the 11 states that it has yet to expand to (Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, West Virginia, Alaska, and Hawaii).

Gusto’s HR tools include online offer letters, PTO management, device and app provisioning, and performance review solutions.
(Source: Gusto)

When To Consider OnPay

Gusto may have a wider range of HR solutions than OnPay, but many of the HR features it offers are included in its more expensive tiers. You need to get at least the Complete plan ($39 plus $12 per employee monthly), which is pricier than OnPay. Plus, Gusto’s feature-rich platform may be more than you need especially if you’re only looking for an efficient way to manage employee information, documents, PTO, and new hire reporting.

Using OnPay vs Gusto also makes better sense if you want to provide health plans that are available across the US. And although its non-standard benefits offerings are limited, it does provide assistance if you need to get car, liability, and business insurance.

OnPay’s HR module allows you to manage onboarding tasks, employee offers, staff information, and PTO requests.
(Source: OnPay)

Best for Reporting: Tie

	Visit Gusto	Visit OnPay
Basic Reports	✔	✔
Report Customizations	✔	✔
Capability to Create New Payroll Reports in the System	✔	✔
	Read our Gusto review	Read our OnPay review

In our evaluation of OnPay vs Gusto on reporting features, we found that both offer similar tools. Apart from letting you customize and download reports, you can build new ones directly in their systems.

While both may have similar reporting capabilities, creating custom reports is easier with OnPay because you simply drag and drop columns that you need. With Gusto, you have to click “select columns” and choose the fields that you want to appear in your report.

Gusto’s reporting tool (Source: Gusto)

OnPay’s reporting tool (Source: OnPay)

Best for Ease of Use & Customer Support: Gusto

	Visit Gusto	Visit OnPay
Ease of Use	Good	Good
Customizable Platform	Limited options	Customizable dashboard
HR Advisory Services	Available in higher tiers	$20 monthly
How-to Guides	✔	✔
Access to a Dedicated Support Team	Available in higher tiers	N/A
Third-Party Software Integrations	130+	9
Phone, Email, and Chat Support	Unlimited	Unlimited
Direct HR Advisory Support Line	Available in its most premium plan	N/A
	Read our Gusto review	Read our OnPay review

Gusto and OnPay have platforms that are easy to learn and use. You can easily get their software up and running with setup wizards. While both have intuitive interfaces, Gusto’s dashboard isn’t as customizable as OnPay—which lets you select how sections (like tasks and alerts) will appear on screen. Although, it does allow you to choose either to disable or enable specific functions, such as expense reporting and two-step verifications for system administrators.

Gusto’s settings module lets you select system preferences and permissions. (Source: Gusto)

Online how-to guides and helpful FAQs—including unlimited phone, email, and chat support—are also available, although Gusto offers HR advisory services, provided you get at least its Concierge plan (OnPay charges $20 per month for this). This allows you to contact HR professionals if you need expert advice in handling payroll, tax, compliance, and employee issues.

In addition, Gusto’s most premium plans (Concierge and Select) include access to a direct phone line for contacting a dedicated support team, something OnPay lacks. And if you need to integrate with other software, then Gusto is the clear choice, as it has more options in a variety of categories (such as accounting, learning management, legal, collaboration, and point-of-sale systems).

When To Consider OnPay

For business owners who don’t require robust integrations, OnPay is a good choice. It can even help you connect its platform with apps that most businesses use like Deputy, When I Work, Humanity, Mineral, PosterElite, Xero, QuickBooks Time, and QuickBooks Accounting.

OnPay also offers more options to customize its main dashboard. You can shuffle the sections to fit your preferences, enabling you to immediately see items that are more important to you.

Drag and drop sections to customize OnPay’s main dashboard. (Source: OnPay)

While it doesn’t assign a dedicated service team to its clients like Gusto (only for those on the Concierge plan), it provides general HR, payroll, and compliance support. This makes it optimal for businesses with in-house HR professionals who are knowledgeable in managing payroll and handling employee-related issues (such as absenteeism and attendance concerns) since they don’t need constant HR support. However, if you need to talk to an HR expert, OnPay offers advisory services via Mineral for $20 monthly.

Best for Popularity Among Users: Gusto

To compare Gusto vs OnPay on user popularity, we looked at each providers’ average overall ratings and the number of reviews on third-party review sites like G2 and Capterra. For user ratings, OnPay’s average score is slightly higher than Gusto’s (4.85 out of 5 versus 4.5 out of 5 as of this writing). However, Gusto’s average number of reviews online is higher—it has more than 2,000 compared to OnPay’s nearly 300 reviews.

However, many users commented that both have user-friendly platforms with features that are easy to navigate. They also said they appreciate the efficient and affordably-priced payroll tools that the providers offer. Although, many seem to prefer Gusto’s feature-rich HR system.

On the flipside, some reviewers wished that Gusto and OnPay offered more customization options. A few others said that OnPay’s integration options are limited, while others noted that Gusto’s support team is slow to respond at times.

How We Evaluated OnPay vs Gusto

We compared OnPay vs Gusto by using a five-star scale designed to assess payroll solutions and services for small businesses. Aside from pricing, we looked at both providers’ features—from pay processing and tax filings services to HR tools and employee benefits options. We also checked other key criteria like ease of use and customer support, including whether users have access to expert professionals who can provide HR and payroll advice.

In our evaluation, Gusto outscored OnPay—earning an overall rating of 4.48 out of 5 versus OnPay’s 4.39. Click through the tabs below for the detailed breakdown of our evaluation.

Bottom Line

When comparing Gusto vs OnPay, list your must-have features and those you are willing to pay a little more for, and then weigh them against your budget. Also, consider how you will grow and which payroll software will grow best with you. OnPay is best for businesses looking for an affordably priced solution to pay hourly workers. Its payroll plan, which is slightly cheaper than Gusto’s, includes efficient payroll tax filing services and basic HR tools. On the other hand, Gusto is great for small businesses that want full-service payroll and advanced HR solutions. It even offers dedicated HR support and a wider selection of software integrations, but its plans are more expensive.

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