Gusto is payroll for a small employer in the United States, and most people searching for a replacement have stopped fitting that description. They have hired abroad, grown into wanting HR and IT joined to payroll, or decided they would rather hand the whole obligation to a service. Where they go depends on which of those happened.
Sebastiaan SmitsFounderShort answer: Our rule for order: vendors outside the big brands go first, and the largest names are not placed in the top three. For Gusto users, the top three picks from our payroll software ranking are Rippling, Justworks and Deel. Pick Rippling if you want hiring, devices and payroll to happen as one action. Every one of the 11 products below comes from Best Payroll Software in 2026, with a note on how it departs from Gusto.
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All fifty states are covered, but international at Gusto means contractor payments, not payroll. An employer with staff abroad needs a second provider whatever happens, and some prefer to consolidate with a vendor that offers employer-of-record or multi-country payroll instead of running two.
Pricing is a monthly base plus a charge per employee, both published. That is clear, but the base fee sits beside the headline rate, so it is worth pricing your exact headcount against providers that charge per employee only, and asking each what a corrected or off-cycle run costs.
Gusto makes running payroll painless, yet the employer still runs it. Companies without an HR function sometimes want a named specialist, as Paychex provides, or a co-employer that carries compliance and benefits, as Justworks does. That is a different purchase, not a better Gusto.
| Alternative | Headquarters | Free option | Pricing model | Switch if | Our rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rippling | United States | No free tier | On request | you want hiring, devices and payroll to happen as one action | #9 |
| Justworks | United States | No free tier | Published | you are a small US company that wants the compliance burden taken off you entirely | #3 |
| Deel | United States | No free tier | Published | you are hiring people in countries where you have no legal entity | #8 |
| Paychex Flex | United States | No free tier | On request | you have no HR function and want a person who knows your filings | #11 |
| ADP Workforce Now | United States | No free tier | On request | you have become a large employer and filing accuracy outweighs everything else | #10 |
| Remote | United States | No free tier | Published | you want your overseas employer of record to own the local entity itself | #1 |
| Multiplier | Singapore | No free tier | Published | you need to employ one or two people in a country where you will not incorporate | #6 |
| PayFit | France | No free tier | Published | your employees are in the UK, France or Spain and you want to approve a pay run prepared for you | #4 |
| Nmbrs | Netherlands | No free tier | Published | you employ people in the Netherlands, or want your accountant to run payroll for you | #5 |
| SD Worx | Belgium | No free tier | On request | you run payroll in several European countries and want one provider with local specialists | #12 |
| Papaya Global | Israel | No free tier | Published | you pay employees and contractors in many countries and want one platform for all of them | #2 |
United States · On request
Treats payroll as one part of a joined system: a hire triggers payroll, laptop, software accounts and permissions in a single action, where Gusto's flow covers onboarding, filing, benefits and time off. Pricing is per employee by module, and the total climbs as modules are added.
Switch from Gusto if you want hiring, devices and payroll to happen as one action.
Where Rippling stands: place 9 of 18 in the payroll software ranking →
United States · Published
A professional employer organisation, so it becomes co-employer and carries the compliance and benefits weight that a Gusto customer still holds. Benefits come through its buying power, with less control over selection, and pricing is a simple published per-employee rate.
Switch from Gusto if you are a small US company that wants the compliance burden taken off you entirely.
United States · Published
Does the thing Gusto does not: pays employees in countries where you have no entity, with contracts, local compliance documents and tax forms handled. It charges per contractor or per employee, which adds up at scale, and owns payroll in fewer countries than its marketing suggests.
Switch from Gusto if you are hiring people in countries where you have no legal entity.
Where Deel stands: place 8 of 18 in the payroll software ranking →
United States · On request
Sells a named payroll specialist with software attached, the reverse of Gusto's self-service flow. The platform is average, pricing is quoted per organisation instead of published, and contract terms, notice periods and the cost of leaving are where customers report surprises.
Switch from Gusto if you have no HR function and want a person who knows your filings.
Paychex Flex comes 11 of 18 when payroll software products are ranked here →
United States · On request
The incumbent for large employers, chosen for filing accuracy and country coverage that reaches well beyond Gusto's United States. In exchange you accept a dated interface, opaque negotiated pricing, and service that depends heavily on which team your account lands with.
Switch from Gusto if you have become a large employer and filing accuracy outweighs everything else.
ADP Workforce Now holds rank 10 among 18 entries in our payroll software guide →
United States · Published
An employer of record that runs its own legal entities in most countries it covers, removing a layer of partner risk from the overseas hiring Gusto does not handle. Like Gusto it publishes its price. Its country list is shorter than the largest aggregators.
Switch from Gusto if you want your overseas employer of record to own the local entity itself.
See the full Remote entry, ranked 1 of 18 among payroll software products →
Singapore · Published
Employer-of-record hiring across 150 countries at a published price, for the international employment Gusto leaves to others. The monthly fee is many times what running your own payroll costs, so it suits a handful of people abroad, not a team in one country.
Switch from Gusto if you need to employ one or two people in a country where you will not incorporate.
Read our review of Multiplier (position 6 of 18 on the payroll software list) →
France · Published
A London-headquartered payroll and HR platform that runs payroll in the United Kingdom, France and Spain, none of which Gusto covers. It charges per employee on a monthly subscription, includes onboarding and corrections without extra fees, and offers a managed service in which its experts prepare the pay run. Its prices are given on request, not published. It does not file in the United States.
Switch from Gusto if your employees are in the UK, France or Spain and you want to approve a pay run prepared for you.
Open the PayFit profile, 4th of 18 in the payroll software guide →
Netherlands · Published
A Dutch payroll and HR system, now part of the Visma group, sold both directly to small businesses and through accounting firms that run payroll for their clients. Payroll and HR share one workflow, and customers add modules as they need them. It is built around Dutch employment rules and does not file US payroll taxes.
Switch from Gusto if you employ people in the Netherlands, or want your accountant to run payroll for you.
Our payroll software guide puts Nmbrs at 5 of 18; read why →
Belgium · On request
A Belgian provider, founded in 1945, that sells HR, payroll and time registration across Europe and runs managed payroll in 26 European countries through local experts on one platform. Pricing is by quotation. The scope is European, so a US-only employer has no use for it.
Switch from Gusto if you run payroll in several European countries and want one provider with local specialists.
SD Worx review, listed at 12 of 18 payroll software products →
Israel · Published
A multi-country payroll and employer-of-record platform that lists separate starting prices for global payroll, contractor management and employer-of-record hiring in over 160 countries. Gusto stops at contractor payments abroad. Papaya is built for companies with workers in many countries, so a single-country team pays for scope it does not use.
Switch from Gusto if you pay employees and contractors in many countries and want one platform for all of them.
Full verdict on Papaya Global, which sits at number 2 of 18 for payroll software →
Gusto is still the right choice for a small business whose employees are all in the United States and that wants to run payroll itself without a specialist. Filing in all fifty states, benefits, onboarding and time off sit in one flow, the pricing is published, and support answers. The alternatives either solve an international problem you may not have or charge for a service model you may not want.
The first live payroll on a new provider should be checked against a parallel run in Gusto. Differences in withholding or deductions show up as a mismatch between the two results, which is far cheaper to find there than on an employee's payslip.
Gusto keeps benefits, onboarding and time off in the same flow as the pay run. Leaving means deciding where each of those goes: into the new provider, into a separate HR system, or, with a PEO such as Justworks, into benefits you no longer select yourself.
If the replacement is payroll only, salaries and start dates will live in two places. Name one as the source of truth before switching, and test the link with a real change such as a mid-month salary increase; two systems disagreeing produces a wrong payslip.
Not as payroll. Gusto's international offer is contractor payments, so an employer with staff abroad needs a second provider. Deel, Remote and Multiplier sell employer-of-record services for countries where you have no entity, which is a different product with different per-employee prices and liabilities.
It is broader, not simply better. Rippling joins payroll to device and app provisioning, so one action sets up a new hire everywhere.
Its modular per-employee pricing adds up quickly and puts three unrelated jobs with one vendor. A team that already has strong IT tooling gains less from the switch.
With Gusto you remain the sole employer and run payroll through its software.
Justworks is a professional employer organisation: it becomes co-employer and takes on the compliance and benefits weight, with less control over benefits selection. Employers that want full control should stay with the Gusto model.
ADP Workforce Now is the usual destination for a large employer that needs filing accuracy above all, with coverage beyond the United States.
Expect quoted pricing, an old-fashioned interface and variable service. Paychex Flex is also quoted and sells a dedicated specialist instead of self-service software.
Choose Rippling if you want hiring, devices and payroll to happen as one action.
Choose Justworks if you are a small US company that wants the compliance burden taken off you entirely. Choose Deel if you are hiring people in countries where you have no legal entity.
Founder of The Knowledge Engineers and of 2 Steps Ahead, an AI search visibility agency. Editorially responsible for every page on this site; research and drafting are AI-assisted.
Sebastiaan Smits wrote and checked this page, most recently on 10 November 2026. See how we review.
