Is Groove or Gusto better?

Neither clearly leads. Groove starts at $12/month and Gusto at $49/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.

Which is cheaper, Groove or Gusto?

Groove starts at $12/month and Gusto at $49/month.

Does Groove or Gusto run on more platforms?

Groove runs on Web, Ios, Android. Gusto runs on Web.

What is Groove best used for?

Groove is most often used for shared inbox and help desk ticketing for small support teams, handling email, chat and messaging support in one queue. Of those, shared inbox and help desk ticketing for small support teams and handling email, chat and messaging support in one queue are not what Gusto is typically brought in for.

What can Groove do that Gusto cannot?

Groove covers Shared inbox, Knowledge base, Live chat, Automation rules. Gusto covers Automated payroll, Tax filing, Benefits administration, Time tracking. Both handle Slack, 2FA.

Software · head to head

Groove vs Gusto

Groove

Software

Simple, powerful support for growing businesses

From: $12/month
Rated: -

Full review Website

Gusto

Software

The people platform for small businesses

From: $49/month
Rated: -

Full review Website

The short version

Each has a real cost: Groove billed per ticket at $1 rather than per agent, so support cost scales with how many customers get in touch; Gusto customer service can be slow and unresponsive to issues
They diverge on capability: Groove covers Shared inbox, Gusto covers Automated payroll.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Groove and Gusto actually diverge.

Attributes where Groove and Gusto differ
Attribute	Groove	Gusto
Starting price	$12/month	$49/month
Pricing model	subscription	Unknown
Platforms	Web, Ios, Android	Web

Identical on both: free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Unknown), founded (2011).

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 Groove

Shared inbox
Knowledge base
Live chat
Automation rules
Reporting
Collision detection
Salesforce
Zapier

Only in Gusto

Automated payroll
Tax filing
Benefits administration
Time tracking
Employee onboarding
HR compliance
Workers' comp
401(k) management

Both cover

Slack
2FA

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Groove

Shared inbox and help desk ticketing for small support teamsnot Gusto
Handling email, chat and messaging support in one queuenot Gusto

Gusto

Payroll processingnot Groove
Benefits administrationnot Groove
Tax compliancenot Groove
Employee onboardingnot Groove
Time trackingnot Groove

Where each one falls short

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

Groove

Billed per ticket at $1 rather than per agent, so support cost scales with how many customers get in touch
A minimum of 250 tickets a month applies, which is a $3,000 annual commitment before any usage
A quiet month still pays the 250 ticket floor
No mailbox limit is published

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

Groove

$12/month

Standard$12/month
- 1 mailbox
- Knowledge base
- Live chat
Plus$20/month
- 5 mailboxes
- Full reporting
- Rules
Pro$35/month
- 25 mailboxes
- Salesforce
- Enterprise SSO

Gusto

$49/month

No published plan breakdown. See the Gusto review.

Which should you pick?

Choose Groove if

You need shared inbox.
You work on Web, Ios, Android.
You also want knowledge base.

Groove review

Choose Gusto if

You need automated payroll.
You also want tax filing.

Gusto review

Questions people ask

Is Groove or Gusto better?: Neither clearly leads. Groove starts at $12/month and Gusto at $49/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Groove or Gusto?: Groove starts at $12/month and Gusto at $49/month.
Does Groove or Gusto run on more platforms?: Groove runs on Web, Ios, Android. Gusto runs on Web.
What is Groove best used for?: Groove is most often used for shared inbox and help desk ticketing for small support teams, handling email, chat and messaging support in one queue. Of those, shared inbox and help desk ticketing for small support teams and handling email, chat and messaging support in one queue are not what Gusto is typically brought in for.
What can Groove do that Gusto cannot?: Groove covers Shared inbox, Knowledge base, Live chat, Automation rules. Gusto covers Automated payroll, Tax filing, Benefits administration, Time tracking. Both handle Slack, 2FA.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

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

Gusto: Does Gusto include unlimited payroll runs?

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

Source

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

Groove vs Gusto

Groove

Gusto

The short version

Where they differ

What each one covers

Only in Groove

Only in Gusto

Both cover

What people use each for

Groove

Gusto

Where each one falls short

Groove

Gusto

Pricing, plan by plan

Groove

Gusto

Which should you pick?

Choose Groove if

Choose Gusto if

Questions people ask

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Related pages

More on Groove

More on Gusto

Keep looking

Other head to heads