Database & Data Management · head to head
Amazon Redshift vs Gusto
Amazon Redshift
Database & Data Management
Fast, scalable cloud data warehouse from AWS
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Only Amazon Redshift has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
- Each has a real cost: Amazon Redshift on-demand pricing runs up to 75% higher than competitors like Snowflake and BigQuery; Gusto customer service can be slow and unresponsive to issues
- They diverge on capability: Amazon Redshift covers Columnar Storage, Gusto covers Automated payroll.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Amazon Redshift and Gusto actually diverge.
| Attribute | Amazon Redshift | Gusto |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | Free | $49/month |
| Pricing model | usage-based | Unknown |
| Free tier | Yes | No |
| Category | Database & Data Management | All industries |
| Founded | 2012 | 2011 |
Identical on both: platforms (Web), user rating (Not yet rated).
What each one covers
Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.
Only in Amazon Redshift
- Columnar Storage
- Massively Parallel
- Machine Learning
- AQUA Acceleration
- Data Sharing
- Federated Query
- Concurrency Scaling
- S3
Only in Gusto
- Automated payroll
- Tax filing
- Benefits administration
- Time tracking
- Employee onboarding
- HR compliance
- Workers' comp
- 401(k) management
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Amazon Redshift
- Business intelligencenot Gusto
- Data warehousingnot Gusto
- Real-time analyticsnot Gusto
- Reportingnot Gusto
- Machine learningnot Gusto
Gusto
- Payroll processingnot Amazon Redshift
- Benefits administrationnot Amazon Redshift
- Tax compliancenot Amazon Redshift
- Employee onboardingnot Amazon Redshift
- Time trackingnot Amazon Redshift
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Amazon Redshift
- On-demand pricing runs up to 75% higher than competitors like Snowflake and BigQuery
- Requires significant manual tuning including managing concurrency scaling costs and configuring Workload Management queues
- Performance degrades without proper design of distribution keys and sort keys
- Limited elastic resize options - can only halve or double current cluster size
- AWS lock-in makes it unsuitable for multi-cloud architectures
Gusto
- Customer service can be slow and unresponsive to issues
- Weak reporting capabilities, cannot export data to spreadsheets for analysis
- Support staff lacks deep payroll expertise and knowledge
- Rehired employees do not have settings reset, causing manual cleanup work
- City tax handling requires additional monitoring and monitoring
- Onboarding can have issues with bank account verification and tax registration
Pricing, plan by plan
Amazon Redshift
Free- Free TrialFree
- 750 DC2.Large hours
- 2 months free
- Full features
- On-Demand$0.25/hour
- Pay per node hour
- All features
- Standard support
Gusto
$49/monthNo published plan breakdown. See the Gusto review.
Which should you pick?
Choose Amazon Redshift if
- You need columnar storage.
- You want to start without paying.
- You also want massively parallel.
Questions people ask
- Is Amazon Redshift or Gusto better?
- Neither clearly leads. Amazon Redshift starts at Free and Gusto at $49/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Amazon Redshift or Gusto?
- Amazon Redshift has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Amazon Redshift and $49/month for Gusto.
- Does Amazon Redshift or Gusto run on more platforms?
- Both run on Web, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
- Can I use Amazon Redshift for free?
- Yes. Amazon Redshift has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Gusto starts at $49/month.
- What is Amazon Redshift best used for?
- Amazon Redshift is most often used for business intelligence, data warehousing, real-time analytics, reporting. Of those, business intelligence and data warehousing are not what Gusto is typically brought in for.
- What can Amazon Redshift do that Gusto cannot?
- Amazon Redshift covers Columnar Storage, Massively Parallel, Machine Learning, AQUA Acceleration. Gusto covers Automated payroll, Tax filing, Benefits administration, Time tracking.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
Amazon Redshift: What deployment options does Amazon Redshift offer?
Redshift offers Provisioned Cluster (with RA3 or DC2 nodes) and Serverless options to match varying workloads. The new Redshift RG instance family, powered by Graviton, delivers 2.4x faster performance than RA3 at 30% lower cost per vCPU.
SourceGusto: What is Gusto's starting price?
Gusto starts at $49 per month plus $6 per person. The company also offers a Contractor-only plan for $35 per month plus $6 per contractor.
SourceAmazon Redshift: What does Amazon Redshift cost?
Provisioned cluster pricing: RA3 on-demand starts at $1.086/hour for ra3.xlplus. Serverless costs approximately $0.375 per RPU-hour with 4-RPU minimum (roughly $1.50/hour active workload). Managed storage costs $0.024/GB-month.
SourceGusto: Does Gusto include unlimited payroll runs?
Yes, all Gusto plans include unlimited payroll runs at no extra charge, including off-cycle payrolls.
SourceAmazon Redshift: Does Redshift work with data lakes?
Yes, Redshift's integrated data lake query engine processes workloads on Apache Iceberg tables and other supported formats in Amazon S3, allowing you to run SQL analytics across your data warehouse and data lake from the same engine.
SourceGusto: What core features are included in Gusto?
All plans include payroll processing, tax administration, digital onboarding, benefits enrollment, time tracking, performance management, and next-day direct deposit for most plans.
SourceAmazon Redshift: Is there a free tier for Amazon Redshift?
AWS offers a free trial with $300 USD in Serverless credits valid for 90 days, but Redshift is not part of the permanent AWS Free Tier.
SourceGusto: Does Gusto support integrations?
Yes, Gusto integrates with accounting software, applicant tracking systems, benefits providers, time-tracking tools, and other business platforms to reduce data entry.
SourceRelated pages
More on Amazon Redshift
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