Softwr

Accounting · head to head

Circula vs Gusto

Circula logo

Circula

Accounting

Expense, travel and employee benefit management for German speaking finance teams

From
€15/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Gusto logo

Gusto

Payroll

The people platform for small businesses

From
$49/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Circula the module pricing stacks: expenses at fifteen euro per licence plus ninety nine euro for cards plus a hundred and forty nine euro for accounts payable means a fifty person company pays well over a thousand euro a month before add ons.; Gusto customer service can be slow and unresponsive to issues
  • They diverge on capability: Circula covers German per diem engine, Gusto covers Automated payroll.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Circula and Gusto actually diverge.

Attributes where Circula and Gusto differ
AttributeCirculaGusto
Starting price€15/month$49/month
Pricing modelPer user per monthUnknown
PlatformsWeb, iOS, AndroidWeb
CategoryAccountingPayroll
FoundedUnknown2011

Identical on both: free tier (No), 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 Circula

  • German per diem engine
  • Receipt capture and OCR
  • Corporate credit cards
  • Employee benefits
  • Accounts payable
  • Mileage and travel
  • DATEV and ERP export
  • Approval workflows

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.

Circula

  • A German company that must apply statutory per diem rates and meal deductions correctly to avoid payroll tax exposurenot Gusto
  • A finance team wanting card spend, expense claims and benefits in one DATEV exportnot Gusto
  • An employer offering the tax free monthly benefit allowance and needing auditable records of itnot Gusto
  • A mid sized business replacing spreadsheet mileage claims with rule enforced distance calculationsnot Gusto

Gusto

  • Payroll processingnot Circula
  • Benefits administrationnot Circula
  • Tax compliancenot Circula
  • Employee onboardingnot Circula
  • Time trackingnot Circula

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Circula

  • The module pricing stacks: expenses at fifteen euro per licence plus ninety nine euro for cards plus a hundred and forty nine euro for accounts payable means a fifty person company pays well over a thousand euro a month before add ons.
  • A minimum of ten licences excludes small teams, and the flexible licensing model for occasional claimants makes monthly cost harder to forecast than a flat per seat price.
  • Strength is in German tax rules, so companies with significant operations outside the DACH region gain little from the feature that justifies the price.
  • The accounts payable module includes only a hundred invoices per month, so invoice heavy businesses face metered overage on top of the platform fee.
  • Card issuing carries a per card transaction ceiling and depends on partner issuing, so high value procurement spend can hit limits that a bank issued corporate card would not.

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

Circula

€15/month
  • Employee and Travel Expenses$15/month
    • Per licence, billed annually
    • Minimum 10 licences
    • OCR receipt capture
  • Credit Cards$99/month
    • Platform fee, unlimited cards
    • Per card spend limits
    • Transaction limit of EUR 750,000 per card
  • Accounts Payable$149/month
    • Platform fee
    • Includes 100 invoices per month
    • Supplier invoice capture and approval
  • Benefits$1/month
    • Per licence
    • Tax free benefit allowances
    • Mobility and meal benefits

Gusto

$49/month

No published plan breakdown. See the Gusto review.

Which should you pick?

Choose Circula if

  • You need german per diem engine.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want receipt capture and ocr.
Circula review

Choose Gusto if

  • You need automated payroll.
  • You also want tax filing.
Gusto review

Questions people ask

Is Circula or Gusto better?
Neither clearly leads. Circula starts at €15/month and Gusto at $49/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Circula or Gusto?
Circula starts at €15/month and Gusto at $49/month.
Does Circula or Gusto run on more platforms?
Circula runs on Web, iOS, Android. Gusto runs on Web.
What is Circula best used for?
Circula is most often used for a german company that must apply statutory per diem rates and meal deductions correctly to avoid payroll tax exposure, a finance team wanting card spend, expense claims and benefits in one datev export, an employer offering the tax free monthly benefit allowance and needing auditable records of it, a mid sized business replacing spreadsheet mileage claims with rule enforced distance calculations. Of those, a german company that must apply statutory per diem rates and meal deductions correctly to avoid payroll tax exposure and a finance team wanting card spend, expense claims and benefits in one datev export are not what Gusto is typically brought in for.
What can Circula do that Gusto cannot?
Circula covers German per diem engine, Receipt capture and OCR, Corporate credit cards, Employee benefits. Gusto covers Automated payroll, Tax filing, Benefits administration, Time tracking.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Circula: Does Circula calculate German per diems automatically?

Yes, by destination country and trip duration, including meal and accommodation deductions, which is the main reason DACH finance teams buy it.

Gusto: 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.

Source
Circula: What does it actually cost for fifty employees?

Roughly seven hundred and fifty euro a month for expense licences alone at the fifteen euro rate, before the ninety nine euro card platform fee and any accounts payable module.

Gusto: Does Gusto include unlimited payroll runs?

Yes, all Gusto plans include unlimited payroll runs at no extra charge, including off-cycle payrolls.

Source
Circula: Is there a minimum commitment?

Yes. A minimum of ten licences and annual billing on the published rates.

Gusto: 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.

Source
Gusto: 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.

Source
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