Gusto vs Namely

Gusto offers straightforward monthly plans with options starting at a monthly base fee of $49, 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 setup, tax filing, multiple payroll runs, reporting, and other essentials.

Namely is targeted solely at midsize businesses with 50–1000 employees, so if you're smaller than that, it's not the platform for you. Namely has no transparent pricing, and you'll need to set up a call to get a quote, but you can expect to pay anywhere from $16–$25 per employee per month in addition to some hefty setup fees totaling 10–25% of your annual billing costs.

With Gusto's transparent pricing, what you see is what you get, and setting up your account is always free.

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 8 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 pay and unlimited payrolls every month at no extra cost.

While Namely has a similar suite of payroll tools available, they can't handle multiple pay rates and schedules, and they don't support international contractor payments or tip credits. But most important to note—payroll isn't part of their base offering. You'll have to pay extra for that. And their more advanced payroll functionalities are only included in their highest-tier plan.

For those who are willing to shell out the cash, Namely offers a Managed Payroll service that will take payroll off your plate completely. With Managed Payroll you receive a dedicated payroll consultant to run your payroll calendar, administer garnishments, handle tax filing and reporting, and print and distribute W-2s to employees at year's end…for a price.

Employee benefits

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 37 U.S. states and counting offering more than 3,500 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.

In addition to traditional health benefits, both Gusto and Namely offer worker's comp, as well as flexible benefits like 401(k)s, FSAs, and HSAs, life and disability insurance, along with compliance support for COBRA and ACA.

While both Namely and Gusto can automatically sync benefit deductions to payroll, neither payroll nor benefits administration are included in Namely's core offerings. You'll have to pay extra for that.

But when it comes to benefits, what really sets Gusto apart is our wide range of no-cost and low-cost options including commuter plans, 529 college savings plans, and the Gusto Wallet mobile app that lets employees manage their paychecks, save money, access emergency cash, and more. With Gusto, we can help craft a unique benefits package for any budget that can grow as your business grows.

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.

The employee self-service portal is also a core piece of Namely's offerings, and it's included in all pricing packages they offer, however they don't provide lifetime access for former employees.

Time Tracking & PTO

Gusto's Plus and Premium plans include time tracking, so employees can track hours, request paid time off, and easily view PTO straight from their accounts or on the go with our mobile app. And any approved hours automatically sync to payroll.

Namely also offers time and attendance tracking, mobile clock-ins, and scheduling, but time tracking is not a core feature, so you'll have to pay extra if you want to add it.

Hiring & onboarding

Both Gusto and Namely offer a full suite of tools to help you hire, onboard, and retain your team. While basic tools like e-signing, onboarding checklists, and secure document storage are included with all of Gusto's plans, our Plus and Premium plans give you access to advanced tools like applicant tracking, offer letters, and job postings.

Looking for dedicated HR support but don't need all the bells and whistles of our Premium plan? You can add HR specialist support to the Plus plan for just $8 per employee per month.

With Namely, their basic employee management tools like onboarding, document storage, and e-signing are included with their core package, but recruitment tools such as job postings, applicant tracking, and offer letters are reserved for their higher-tier packages.

Performance management

With Gusto's Premium plan, you get access to employee engagement surveys, performance management, career development resources, and robust people analytics. We also integrate with leading performance management and rewards apps including Lattice, 15Five, CultureAmp, and more.

Performance management is one place where Namely is focused, so you can expect solid tools to track company goals, objectives, performance-related tasks, and 360 performance reviews. However, they don't offer employee pulse surveys—a critical tool to keep your team happy and engaged while facilitating agile decision-making to better serve your business.

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 Help Center is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Companies with more than 10 employees also benefit from our dedicated onboarding support team.

According to a review in Forbes, Namely offers limited customer support, and getting a hold of the right person when you have a question can be challenging. You can request a call through a form on their website, or you can call a general helpline from 9am to 9pm EST. They don't have any email or chat support, but they do have a community forum as well as a library of downloadable ebooks on a variety of HR topics.

Our payroll platform integrates with nearly 200 leading software tools for HR, 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. Gusto also supports custom integrations through our open API.

Namely currently has 64 integrations listed on their website, though they also offer custom integrations via API.