Is Gusto or Calendly better?

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

Which is cheaper, Gusto or Calendly?

Calendly has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $49/month for Gusto and Free for Calendly.

Does Gusto or Calendly run on more platforms?

Gusto runs on Web. Calendly runs on Web, iOS, Android.

Can I use Calendly for free?

Yes. Calendly has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Gusto starts at $49/month.

What is Gusto best used for?

Gusto is most often used for payroll processing, benefits administration, tax compliance, employee onboarding. Of those, payroll processing and benefits administration are not what Calendly is typically brought in for.

What can Gusto do that Calendly cannot?

Gusto covers Automated payroll, Tax filing, Benefits administration, Time tracking. Calendly covers Calendar sync, Automated scheduling, Custom availability, Time zone detection. Both handle Slack, Google Calendar, SOC2.

Software · head to head

Gusto vs Calendly

Gusto

Software

The people platform for small businesses

From: $49/month
Rated: -

Full review Website

Calendly

Software

Scheduling automation platform for eliminating back-and-forth

From: Free
Rated: -

Full review Website

The short version

Only Calendly has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
Each has a real cost: Gusto customer service can be slow and unresponsive to issues; Calendly the free plan allows one event type and one calendar connection, so it cannot handle different meeting formats
They diverge on capability: Gusto covers Automated payroll, Calendly covers Calendar sync.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Gusto and Calendly actually diverge.

Attributes where Gusto and Calendly differ
Attribute	Gusto	Calendly
Starting price	$49/month	Free
Free tier	No	Yes
Platforms	Web	Web, iOS, Android
Founded	2011	2013

Identical on both: pricing model (Unknown), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Unknown).

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 Gusto

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

Only in Calendly

Calendar sync
Automated scheduling
Custom availability
Time zone detection
Reminder emails
Buffer time
Meeting polls
Embed on website

Both cover

Slack
Google Calendar
SOC2

What people use each for

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

Gusto

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

Calendly

Sales meetingsnot Gusto
Interview schedulingnot Gusto
Customer callsnot Gusto
Office hoursnot Gusto
Webinar registrationnot Gusto

Where each one falls short

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

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

Calendly

The free plan allows one event type and one calendar connection, so it cannot handle different meeting formats
Automated reminders and multiple calendars need Standard at $10 per seat per month
Round-robin routing, lead qualification and Salesforce integration require Teams at $16 per seat per month
SAML single sign-on, audit logs and domain control are Enterprise only, starting at $15,000 a year
Advertised prices are the annual rates

Pricing, plan by plan

Gusto

$49/month

No published plan breakdown. See the Gusto review.

Calendly

Free

FreeFree
- 1 event type
- 1 calendar connection
- Basic confirmation email
Standard$10/month
- Unlimited event types
- Multiple calendars (up to 6)
- Integrations with HubSpot, Mailchimp, Stripe, PayPal
Teams$16/month
- All Standard features
- Salesforce integration
- Round-robin meetings
Enterprise$15000/year
- All Teams features
- Salesforce routing lookup
- Microsoft Dynamics 365

Which should you pick?

Choose Gusto if

You need automated payroll.
You also want tax filing.

Gusto review

Choose Calendly if

You need calendar sync.
You want to start without paying.
You work on Web, iOS, Android.
You also want automated scheduling.

Calendly review

Questions people ask

Is Gusto or Calendly better?: Neither clearly leads. Gusto starts at $49/month and Calendly at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Gusto or Calendly?: Calendly has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $49/month for Gusto and Free for Calendly.
Does Gusto or Calendly run on more platforms?: Gusto runs on Web. Calendly runs on Web, iOS, Android.
Can I use Calendly for free?: Yes. Calendly has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Gusto starts at $49/month.
What is Gusto best used for?: Gusto is most often used for payroll processing, benefits administration, tax compliance, employee onboarding. Of those, payroll processing and benefits administration are not what Calendly is typically brought in for.
What can Gusto do that Calendly cannot?: Gusto covers Automated payroll, Tax filing, Benefits administration, Time tracking. Calendly covers Calendar sync, Automated scheduling, Custom availability, Time zone detection. Both handle Slack, Google Calendar, SOC2.

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

Calendly: Does the free tier include automatic reminders?

No. The free plan only includes a basic confirmation email when someone books. Automated reminder workflows, SMS reminders, and follow-up sequences require the Standard plan ($10/month or higher).

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

Calendly: Can I offer multiple meeting types on the free plan?

Only one event type can be active at a time. You can create multiple event types, but only one booking link works simultaneously. Switching between different meeting lengths requires manually activating another event type.

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

Calendly: Does Calendly work with Apple Calendar and iCloud?

No longer for new users. As of August 20, 2024, new users cannot connect iCloud or Apple Calendar. Existing connections continue to work, but Calendly ended support for new Apple Calendar integrations citing Apple's security changes.

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

Calendly: What platforms can I use Calendly on?

Calendly is available on Web, iOS, and Android. Browser extensions are available for Safari. There are no dedicated Windows or Mac desktop applications.

Source

Calendly: What does the Standard plan ($10/month) add over free?

Unlimited event types, multiple calendar connections (up to 6), integrations with HubSpot, Mailchimp, Salesforce, Stripe, PayPal, Zapier, and webhooks, plus automated reminders and email sequences.

Source

Gusto vs Calendly

Gusto

Calendly

The short version

Where they differ

What each one covers

Only in Gusto

Only in Calendly

Both cover

What people use each for

Gusto

Calendly

Where each one falls short

Gusto

Calendly

Pricing, plan by plan

Gusto

Calendly

Which should you pick?

Choose Gusto if

Choose Calendly if

Questions people ask

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Related pages

More on Gusto

More on Calendly

Keep looking

Other head to heads