What both platforms actually handle

Before getting into the differences, it is worth establishing what Gusto and ADP RUN share. Both platforms handle the core functions that any payroll software needs to cover: running payroll for W-2 employees, calculating and filing federal and state payroll taxes automatically, generating W-2s and 1099s at year end, reporting new hires to the appropriate state agencies, processing direct deposit, and providing mobile access for administrators.

Both also integrate with QuickBooks Online, which matters for the majority of small businesses using QuickBooks as their accounting platform. If your primary requirement is reliable, compliant payroll that syncs to your books, both options get you there.

Where they diverge is on pricing transparency, ease of use, benefits administration, complexity handling, and the support model. Those differences are significant enough that picking the wrong one is a real operational headache, not just a minor inconvenience.

"Both platforms run payroll and file taxes. The real question is whether your business needs Gusto's simplicity and transparency or ADP's depth and compliance muscle."

Gusto vs ADP: side-by-side comparison

Feature Gusto ADP RUN
Pricing transparency Publicly listed Quote required
Base cost Simple: $40/mo · Plus: $80/mo · Premium: custom Not published — requires a quote
Per-person cost Simple: $6/person/mo · Plus: $12/person/mo Not published — generally higher than Gusto
Benefits admin Built in — health, 401k, more Available — varies by plan
Contractor payments Included on all plans Available — additional fees may apply
Multi-state payroll Supported — best for simpler scenarios Strong — handles complex multi-state
HR features Strong at Plus/Premium tiers Robust — dedicated HR support options
Time tracking Available (Plus and above) Available — hardware options included
Integrations QuickBooks, Xero, FreshBooks, more QuickBooks, plus enterprise integrations
Best for 1–50 employees, simple payroll, modern UI Complex needs, multi-state, scaling toward mid-market

Gusto deep dive

Gusto Best for 1–50 employees, transparent pricing

Gusto was built for small businesses that want modern payroll without needing an HR department or a dedicated payroll administrator to run it. The UI is consistently rated as the most intuitive in the payroll category, and the pricing is one of the few in the industry that is fully public.

The three plans are Simple ($40/month + $6 per person per month), Plus ($80/month + $12 per person per month), and Premium (custom pricing for larger or more complex businesses). All plans include full-service payroll, automatic tax filing at federal and state levels, W-2 and 1099 generation, new hire reporting, and direct deposit.

Where Gusto wins:

  • Transparent, predictable pricing with no hidden fees or required sales calls to get a number.
  • Benefits administration — health insurance, dental, vision, 401k, FSA, HSA — is built in, not bolted on through a third party. For small businesses that want to offer benefits without juggling separate vendor relationships, this matters a lot.
  • Contractor payments are included on all plans, which matters for businesses that use a mix of employees and 1099 contractors. Gusto handles both in the same payroll run.
  • HR features at the Plus and Premium tiers include offer letter templates, onboarding checklists, PTO policies, and document management — functional HR tooling without requiring a separate HRIS.
  • Integrations with QuickBooks Online, Xero, and FreshBooks cover the most common small-business accounting platforms.
  • You do not need payroll expertise to use it correctly. Startups and small teams consistently cite this as a reason they stick with it.

Where Gusto has limitations:

  • Multi-state payroll works, but Gusto is optimized for businesses with simpler payroll scenarios. Businesses with employees in many states, complex deduction structures, or union payroll may find ADP's compliance infrastructure more robust.
  • Dedicated account management is not the norm at lower tiers. Support is primarily chat and email, which works fine for straightforward payroll but can be frustrating when non-standard situations arise.
  • Premium pricing is not listed publicly, which makes it harder to plan costs for larger teams before getting a quote.

Gusto pricing example: A 10-person business on the Simple plan pays $40 + (10 × $6) = $100/month. On Plus, that same team pays $80 + (10 × $12) = $200/month. Both include full-service payroll, taxes, W-2s, 1099s, and new hire reporting. The Plus plan adds time tracking, next-day direct deposit, HR tools, and more granular PTO management.

ADP deep dive

ADP RUN Best for complex payroll, scaling businesses

RUN Powered by ADP is ADP's small-business payroll product, for businesses that need more than basic payroll but are not yet at the scale where they need ADP's enterprise HR suite. ADP is one of the largest payroll and HR companies in the world, and that size shows up in the product — particularly around compliance, multi-state payroll complexity, and dedicated support options.

ADP does not publish its pricing for RUN publicly. Getting a quote requires contacting their sales team, and pricing varies based on company size, selected plan, and negotiation. ADP is generally more expensive than Gusto, but the cost gap depends on which plan you select and what you negotiate.

Where ADP wins:

  • Multi-state payroll is a genuine strength. For businesses with employees in multiple states — especially those with complex tax situations, varying local tax requirements, or union labor agreements — ADP's compliance infrastructure is more mature than Gusto's.
  • Dedicated account management and support reps are available. When payroll issues are time-sensitive and you need a human who knows your account, that matters. Gusto's lower tiers are primarily self-serve.
  • Compliance support is more robust, particularly for businesses operating in highly regulated industries or states with complex employment law requirements.
  • Time and attendance hardware options — physical time clocks that integrate with the payroll system — are available for businesses where employees punch in and out physically. Gusto is primarily software-based for time tracking.
  • ADP TotalSource, ADP's PEO (Professional Employer Organization) option, is available for businesses that want to co-employ their workforce under ADP's HR umbrella, which can provide access to large-group benefits rates and deeper HR support.
  • More appropriate for businesses scaling past 50 employees toward the mid-market, where payroll complexity typically increases and compliance exposure grows.

Where ADP has limitations:

  • Pricing opacity is a real friction point. Not knowing what you will pay before talking to sales makes budgeting harder and makes comparison shopping more time-consuming.
  • The user interface for RUN is functional but widely regarded as less modern and less intuitive than Gusto's. Teams used to Gusto or other modern SaaS tools often find the ADP interface more cumbersome.
  • For businesses with straightforward payroll and 1–50 employees, ADP is typically more expensive than Gusto without delivering proportional value at that scale.
  • Contractor payment handling may involve additional fees depending on plan selection — Gusto includes this on all plans without additional cost.

"ADP's depth is real, but you pay for it — in cost and in setup complexity. If your payroll is straightforward and your team is under 50 people, that depth often goes unused."

How we choose at Aplos AI

When working with small-business clients on payroll setup, we look at two things before recommending a platform: the complexity of the payroll itself, and where the business expects to be in two years.

Our decision logic

We recommend Gusto when: The business has 1–50 employees, runs payroll in one to a few states, wants transparent pricing, and needs benefits administration without managing separate vendor relationships. Gusto is also our default for startups and small professional services firms that pay a mix of salaried employees and contractors. Non-HR staff can run it without training.

We recommend ADP RUN when: The business has multi-state payroll with complex local tax requirements, needs physical time-clock integration, operates in a highly regulated industry where compliance support justifies the cost, or is actively scaling toward 50-plus employees and expects to need mid-market features within 12–18 months.

We flag the trade-off when: A business is right on the edge — multi-state but not that complex, growing fast but not there yet. In those cases, start with Gusto and plan a migration review at 50 employees. Migrating payroll platforms is not trivial, but it is manageable if you plan for it. Getting locked into ADP pricing at 20 employees is harder to undo.

The decision framework

Answer these questions honestly before you commit to either platform:

  1. How many states do your employees work in? If you have employees in one or two states with straightforward tax situations, Gusto handles this well. If you have employees in five or more states, or in states with complex local tax codes, ADP's compliance depth is worth investigating.
  2. Do you offer or plan to offer employee benefits? If yes, Gusto's built-in benefits administration (health insurance, 401k, FSA, HSA) simplifies vendor management significantly. ADP has benefits options too, but Gusto's native integration is consistently cleaner for small businesses.
  3. Do you pay contractors as well as employees? Gusto includes contractor payments on all plans. If you regularly pay 1099 contractors alongside W-2 employees, this simplifies year-end 1099 filing with no extra cost.
  4. How much does pricing transparency matter to you? If you want to know exactly what payroll will cost before signing a contract, Gusto is the only major option in this comparison with publicly listed pricing. ADP requires a quote and negotiation.
  5. How large is your team today, and where will it be in two years? Gusto is optimized for 1–50 employees. If you are at 30 employees and growing fast into a more complex org structure with multiple pay schedules, deduction types, and state registrations, ADP may be the longer-term platform.
Gusto ADP RUN QuickBooks Online Xero FreshBooks Slack Zapier n8n ADP TotalSource

The automation gap

Both Gusto and ADP RUN automate the payroll run itself — taxes are calculated and filed, direct deposits go out on schedule, and year-end W-2s and 1099s are generated without manual intervention. That is the core value proposition of payroll software, and both platforms deliver it reliably.

But neither one automates the workflows that surround payroll. The manual steps before and after the payroll run still eat up meaningful time for HR and operations staff.

Neither Gusto nor ADP solves these natively: collecting new hire paperwork through a structured onboarding workflow before the employee's first pay period; notifying managers when a direct report's pay rate changes or a new deduction is added; syncing headcount and compensation data to financial planning or reporting tools in real time; routing payroll change requests through an approval workflow before they reach the payroll administrator. All of it still lands in someone's inbox or on a shared drive.

That is what Aplos AI builds on top of your existing payroll platform. We do not replace Gusto or ADP. We connect them to the rest of your business and automate the manual handoffs between payroll and everything else your team touches.

Still manually chasing new hire documents, sending payroll change emails, or building headcount reports by hand? We map your current workflow in a free audit and show you exactly which steps can be automated — on top of Gusto, ADP, or whatever payroll platform you are already running.

Get a Free Automation Audit →