Gusto vs Soteria

Gusto offers straightforward monthly plans, with options starting at a monthly base fee of $55, plus an additional $6 per employee per month. If you don’t have W-2 employees, you can use Gusto to pay your contractors for just $35/month plus $6/month per contractor (only in the months you pay them). There are no hidden fees, and our base price includes tax filing, multiple payroll runs, reporting, and other essentials.

How does that compare with Soteria? We wish we could tell you, but they don’t provide any upfront fee information—you’ll have to fill out a form and request a consultation. Their own website quotes $150–$250+ per employee per month, but it’s unclear if that’s an industry range, or referring to their actual rates. They state that pricing is based on your company size, service needs, and engagement level.

With Gusto, you can complete payroll in just a few clicks whether you’re at your desk or on the go. It takes our customers 11 minutes on average to process payroll, and you can even set up AutoPilot to process your payroll automatically. You have the power to set up multiple pay rates and schedules, and we offer next-day direct deposit at no extra cost.

We automatically calculate, file, and pay all your federal, state, and local taxes every time you run payroll. We even handle W-2s and 1099s for your employees and contractors come tax time. Got employees in multiple states? We’ve got you covered.

Soteria offers managed payroll services, so you are outsourcing all the work of running payroll to them. However, they don’t offer a native payroll platform—they connect to your existing payroll provider, or help you get set up with a new one.

We know you want to give your employees the best. That’s why Gusto provides leading medical, dental, and vision benefits with all of our plans. Our team has licensed health insurance brokers in all 50 states offering more than 9,000 plans from top-tier networks like Humana, BlueCross BlueShield, United Healthcare, and more. Our licensed advisors will work with you to find affordable insurance options that keep your employees happy and healthy.

As a core part of their services, Soteria also offers robust benefits administration. Dedicated account representatives will help you build a plan and manage claims. And with a focus on proactive compliance they can handle everything from ACA and COBRA to Form 5500. But they don’t provide any information on available plans, costs, or add-ons. You’ll have to reach out for a consultation.

Employee self-service

Gusto’s self-onboarding makes adding new team members a breeze while confidential information stays confidential. And with Gusto’s lifetime employee access, employees will always be able to access their W-2s and benefits information without having to contact anyone on your team—no matter how long it’s been since they left the company.

Soteria does not offer employee self-service in the traditional sense. Because Soteria is a managed services firm rather than a software platform, there is no employee-facing portal or app and HR tasks go through your dedicated Soteria team. This may feel more personal for some businesses, but it also means your employees can’t independently access pay stubs, update their information, or view benefits details on their own.

Hiring & onboarding

Both Gusto and Soteria offer support across the hiring and onboarding process, including offer letters and recruiting assistance. But the two approaches couldn’t be more different. Gusto provides powerful hiring tools like—applicant tracking, custom onboarding checklists, org charts, team directories, and automated new-hire paperwork—that your team manages directly.

Soteria provides human-led support: dedicated HR consultants who help scope roles, guide hiring decisions, and build onboarding processes. For businesses that want hands-on guidance, Soteria’s approach may feel more like having an internal HR department. For businesses that want speed, automation, and full DIY control, Gusto’s software-first model will likely be a better fit.

Time tools

Gusto’s Plus and Premium plans include time tracking and scheduling, so employees can track hours, request paid time off, and easily view PTO straight from their accounts. Employees can clock in and out via web, mobile, or time kiosk, and any approved hours automatically sync to payroll.

Soteria doesn’t offer any time tracking or scheduling tools, and if you’re using their managed payroll service, you’ll need to collect and export any timesheet data in order for them to run it.

All of Gusto’s products come with full access to our friendly sales and customer support teams via phone, email, and chat Monday through Friday. And our FAQ and Help Center are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Companies with more than 10 employees also benefit from our dedicated onboarding support team.

Soteria takes a different approach: every client gets a dedicated HR consultant as their direct point of contact—not a ticket queue or general support line. Client reviews highlight how responsive their dedicated support person is, but Soteria doesn’t publish support hours and has no self-service help center or on-demand documentation.

Our payroll platform integrates with over 120 leading software tools for time tracking, expense management, point of sale (POS), accounting, and more. And we never charge extra for integrations. Check out our full list of integrations here.

Soteria is designed to work alongside whatever payroll and HR tools you already use, coordinating with your existing systems rather than replacing them. This can be an advantage if you’re committed to your current stack, but Soteria brings no native integrations of its own, no app directory, and no published list of compatible platforms.