Gusto vs Warp

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 automated tax filing, unlimited payroll runs, time-off management, basic onboarding, benefits administration, invoicing and bill pay, and other essentials.

Warp’s base plan starts at $89 per month plus $35 per employee per month. At a much higher price tag, it comes with similar functionality to Gusto, including taxes and unlimited payroll runs, benefits administration, and PTO. Their higher base price includes state tax registration and multi-state payroll in up to 3 states, basic time tracking, expense reimbursements, and some HR and reporting tools that are only available on Gusto’s Plus and Premium plans, such as org charts, custom document fields, and employee directories.

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 or contractors across the globe? We’ve got you covered.

Warp offers a similar list of payroll features out of the box including unlimited payroll runs, automated taxes, autopay for salaried employees, and multiple pay rates and schedules. Next-day direct deposit is only available on their Premium and Enterprise plans, and while multi-state is supported on their Pro plan, it’s only valid for up to three states.

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. With no-cost, low-cost, and premium options, our licensed advisors will work with you to build a custom package that keeps your employees happy and healthy.

Warp also acts as a licensed benefits broker with plans from 30 carriers available. They offer medical, dental, vision, and 401(k)s with all of their plans. Unlike Gusto, their wellness and commuter benefits are only available for higher tier plans, and they don’t offer any no-cost benefits options such as free-financial planning tools.

Time tools

Gusto’s powerful time tools include scheduling up to six months in advance, clock-in via mobile, web, or time kiosk, and geolocation, and custom PTO policies for your team. Employees can clock in and out, swap shifts, and request PTO via the Gusto mobile app, and managers can review and approve time sheets and PTO requests from anywhere. Compliant breaks, meal times, and overtime are built right in, and hours sync to payroll with the push of a button.

Warp offers basic web-based time tracking with automated overtime compliance. They don’t have any shift scheduling, mobile clock-in functionality, geolocation, or time kiosks. They also don’t list any integrations with time tracking or scheduling software. Their time tracking is more focused on hourly remote office workers.

Hiring & Talent

Gusto has a full suite of tools to help you recruit, hire, onboard, and manage your team. From a native applicant tracking system to powerful performance management, our platform was designed to help you build and retain your dream team.

Warp offers basic onboarding tools including self-onboarding, e-signing, and secure document storage. However, they have no integrated recruiting or hiring tools, and they have no performance management, employee surveys, or anything targeted toward engagement, growth, or people.

Compliance:

Gusto’s Compliance Hub keeps you on top of upcoming tasks and deadlines, notifies you of changing labor laws in your state, and we automatically update payroll calculations for changes in minimum wage, overtime, and more.

Warp prides themselves on compliance and documentation that is fully powered by AI agents. AI agents will fill out all of your tax and registration forms, and automatically handle any notices that come in. AI agents will submit new-hire documentation and send out termination letters and COBRA notifications.

Warp does not help keep you compliant with minimum wage, overtime, or meals and breaks. They don’t offer labor law poster compliance, and they don’t have any certified HR pros to guide you if you have complex compliance questions.

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.

Warp prides themselves on fast response times and a dedicated account manager for every client, but you can only reach out via email, slack or text. They claim their average response time is under 1 minute. In a company that’s so proudly AI-powered, what are the chances there’s a real person texting you back?

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.

While Warp has a long list of integrations listed on their website, you’ll notice most of them say “Coming Soon.” At the time of writing, Warp only integrates with QuickBooks, Xero, NetSuite, Okta, Checkr, and Slack. And they charge you $49 a month to use them. Want to use their API? Only their Enterprise plan offers access.