Is Gusto or Workato better?

Neither clearly leads. Gusto starts at $49/month and Workato at $99/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.

Which is cheaper, Gusto or Workato?

Gusto starts at $49/month and Workato at $99/month.

Does Gusto or Workato run on more platforms?

Gusto runs on Web. Workato runs on Web, On-premise.

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 Workato is typically brought in for.

What can Gusto do that Workato cannot?

Gusto covers Automated payroll, Tax filing, Benefits administration, Time tracking. Workato covers Process orchestration, Master data management, Integration templates, Real-time sync. Both handle SOC2.

All industries · head to head

Gusto vs Workato

Gusto

All industries

The people platform for small businesses

From: $49/month
Rated: -

Full review Website

Workato

All industries

The enterprise integration platform

From: $99/month
Rated: -

Full review Website

The short version

Each has a real cost: Gusto customer service can be slow and unresponsive to issues; Workato the pricing page names four product lines, Enterprise iPaaS, Agentic solutions, API Management and Data Orchestration, and publishes no figure for any of them, gating all of it behind Schedule a demo
They diverge on capability: Gusto covers Automated payroll, Workato covers Process orchestration.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Gusto and Workato actually diverge.

Attributes where Gusto and Workato differ
Attribute	Gusto	Workato
Starting price	$49/month	$99/month
Pricing model	Unknown	subscription
Platforms	Web	Web, On-premise
Category	All industries	Unknown
Founded	2011	2014

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 Gusto

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

Only in Workato

Process orchestration
Master data management
Integration templates
Real-time sync
Error handling
Monitoring
API management
Workflow analytics

Both cover

SOC2

What people use each for

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

Gusto

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

Workato

Workflow Automationnot Gusto
Data Integrationnot Gusto
Process Automationnot Gusto
App Integrationnot Gusto
API Connectivitynot 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

Workato

The pricing page names four product lines, Enterprise iPaaS, Agentic solutions, API Management and Data Orchestration, and publishes no figure for any of them, gating all of it behind Schedule a demo

Pricing, plan by plan

Gusto

$49/month

No published plan breakdown. See the Gusto review.

Workato

$99/month

Starter$99/month
- Up to 50 recipes
- Basic integrations
- Email support
Professional$299/month
- Unlimited recipes
- Premium integrations
- Priority support
Enterprise$999/month
- Custom SLA
- Dedicated support
- Advanced security

Which should you pick?

Choose Gusto if

You need automated payroll.
You also want tax filing.

Gusto review

Choose Workato if

You need process orchestration.
You work on Web, On-premise.
You also want master data management.

Workato review

Questions people ask

Is Gusto or Workato better?: Neither clearly leads. Gusto starts at $49/month and Workato at $99/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Gusto or Workato?: Gusto starts at $49/month and Workato at $99/month.
Does Gusto or Workato run on more platforms?: Gusto runs on Web. Workato runs on Web, On-premise.
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 Workato is typically brought in for.
What can Gusto do that Workato cannot?: Gusto covers Automated payroll, Tax filing, Benefits administration, Time tracking. Workato covers Process orchestration, Master data management, Integration templates, Real-time sync. Both handle 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

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

Gusto vs Workato

Gusto

Workato

The short version

Where they differ

What each one covers

Only in Gusto

Only in Workato

Both cover

What people use each for

Gusto

Workato

Where each one falls short

Gusto

Workato

Pricing, plan by plan

Gusto

Workato

Which should you pick?

Choose Gusto if

Choose Workato if

Questions people ask

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Related pages

More on Gusto

More on Workato

Keep looking

Other head to heads