Switch to Gusto from Paylocity: Honest Comparison + Checklist

Q: Can Gusto import my Paylocity data?

Paylocity isn't on Gusto's transfer-automation list. You'll enter earlier payrolls during setup. A January first payday keeps that short.

Dad’s short answer

Small team that wants a published price and fewer screens? Gusto is the easier fit. Running global payroll or Paylocity’s HR suite daily? Stay.

Paylocity quotes its price after a demo request. Gusto publishes its plans.⁶¹
Paylocity wins on size: global payroll in 100+ countries, payroll audits, garnishment services.⁶
Small team, mostly just payroll? Gusto is the simpler fit. Using the HR and spend tools daily? Stay.

Provider	Best for	Starting price
Gusto	Most small teams that want payroll taxes filed for them, in one state (Simple) or several (Plus)	Simple $49/mo + $6/person; Plus $80/mo + $12/person¹
Patriot Software	The lowest full-service price for teams of 2 or more	Full Service $37/mo + $5/worker; Basic $17 + $4 if you file taxes yourself⁸
QuickBooks Payroll	People already doing their books in QuickBooks	From $88/mo + $6.50/employee, bundled with Simple Start accounting⁹
Square Payroll	Shops and restaurants already on Square POS	$35/mo + $6/person; contractor-only $6/person¹⁰
OnPay	Teams in several states that want one flat rate	$49/mo + $6/person, multi-state included¹¹
Paylocity you	Mid-size teams that want one big HR, payroll and spend platform	Quote only⁶

Starting list prices from each company’s pricing page, verified Oct 31, 2026. Add-ons and promos not included. Confirm on their site.

Start on Gusto’s website →

Goes through our referral page first. We earn a reward if you sign up; your price doesn’t change.

Who this is for

You run payroll on Paylocity today. Gusto fits you if:

You want prices you can read without a demo.¹
Month-to-month, cancel anytime.¹
Unlimited payroll runs, off-cycle included, on every plan.²
One-person S-corp? Gusto Solo is built for that.⁷

Why Gusto, compared with Paylocity

Dad story

Picture a 22-person nonprofit.

The director wants to know what payroll costs.

Paylocity's pricing page has a form. Email, phone, job title, employee count.⁶

Gusto's pricing page has a number. Simple: $49 plus $6 a person. 22 people: $181.¹

Neither number is good or bad yet.

One of them you can see before lunch.

Dad likes a price he can read without a calendar invite.

(Made-up business. Real prices, checked Oct 31, 2026.)

List prices from each company's own site, read on Oct 31, 2026. Promos and quotes vary.

	Paylocity	Gusto
Published pricing	Not published. You request pricing with a free demo. See current pricing.⁶	Simple $49/mo + $6/mo per person. Plus $80/mo + $12/mo per person. Premium $180/mo + $22/mo per person.¹ Month-to-month, cancel anytime.¹
What's included	Automated and custom payroll workflows, 30+ payroll audits with automatic alerts, tax filings, on-demand pay options, plus HR, time, talent and spend modules.⁶	Unlimited payroll runs, including off-cycle. Automatic federal, state and local payroll tax filings, including W-2s, 1099s, Form 940 and Form 941.²
Contractor payments	Its pricing page doesn't list contractor terms. Ask in the quote.	US contractors cost your plan's per-person rate, and only in months you pay them.¹ The contractor-only plan closed to new customers on Oct 1, 2026.³
State tax filings	“Accurate, on-time tax filings,” plus global payroll support for 100+ countries.⁶	Simple covers one state. Plus and Premium cover multiple states.² Registering in a new state is an add-on; price varies by state.¹
Switching into Gusto	Not on Gusto's import list. Plan to enter earlier payrolls from Paylocity's reports, or start in January.	Not on Gusto's transfer-automation list, so you enter earlier payrolls in setup: quarter-to-date totals for past quarters plus this quarter's pay stubs.⁴⁵

What Paylocity customers complain about

We read recent public reviews on Oct 31, 2026 and kept only themes that came up more than once. These are our paraphrases, not quotes, and some reviews are from employees rather than owners. Your experience may be fine; if so, the fix is to stay.

Long holds and phone trees. The most common theme: hold times of 30 minutes to an hour, and an automated phone system that's hard to get past.²³
Filing accuracy. One accountant who ran dozens of client payrolls on it described frequent corrections on quarterly reports, then moved the accounts.²³
Screen changes. Admins describe interface updates that weren't fully tested and stayed broken for months.²³
Employee-side headaches land on you. Many reviews are employees stuck on spending-account claims or logins, and they bring those to the owner.²³

What it costs for your team

Change the numbers, or type in your last Paylocity bill. Dad does the multiplication.

Your numbers

✓ Prices checked Oct 31, 2026

Current provider

What you pay now ($/mo, optional)

W-2 employees

Contractors paid / mo

States

List prices from each company’s own pricing page. Promos, add-ons and taxes not included. Quote-only providers show “quote only.” How we calculate

Start on Gusto’s website →

Goes through our referral page first. We earn a reward if you sign up; your price doesn’t change.

Where Paylocity is genuinely better

Global payroll support for 100+ countries.⁶
Built-in payroll audits: 30+ checks with automatic alerts before you submit.⁶
Wage garnishment managed services, so someone else handles the court orders.⁶
Workforce tools: geofenced clock-ins, kiosks, shift swaps, scheduling rules.⁶
Scale. Its pricing form runs from 1–30 employees up to 5,000+.⁶

Your Paylocity-to-Gusto checklist

Do these in order. Grab a coffee. It's mostly downloading PDFs. Want to tick them off? Use the interactive switching checklist; it remembers your progress.

Company tax IDs. Your EIN, legal name exactly as the IRS has it, and whether you file Form 941 (quarterly) or 944. Pull your federal deposit schedule while you're in there.
State account numbers. State withholding account number, state unemployment (SUI) account number and current rate, and any local tax IDs. Paylocity has these on file. Copy them before you cancel.
Year-to-date payroll. A YTD payroll register for every employee paid this year, including people who quit. Gross pay, taxable wages, withholding, deductions, check dates.
Prior quarter 941s and tax payments. Copies of every Form 941 and state quarterly return filed this year, plus proof of tax deposits. Gusto asks for YTD reports and documentation of this year's tax payments.²⁴
Employee W-4s and direct deposit. Each person's federal W-4 (and state form), pay rate, pay schedule, deductions, garnishments, PTO balances, and bank details.
Contractors. Names, W-9s, and what you've paid each one this year, so 1099s come out right.
Plan to type in earlier payrolls. Gusto asks for quarter-to-date totals from the last pay stub of each finished quarter, plus every pay stub from the current quarter. Include people who already left.⁵
Agree who files what. Only one provider can file a quarterly return for a given quarter. If both file, the second one gets rejected.²⁴ Get Paylocity to confirm in writing which quarters it will file.
Run one payroll in Gusto, then cancel. Download every report and tax form from Paylocity first. Once you lose access, those PDFs get hard to find.

Why the end of the year is the easiest time to switch

Gusto handles quarterly returns starting with the quarter of your first Gusto check date.²⁴ So the cleanest plan is a first Gusto payday in January 2027.

Paylocity finishes 2026: the Q4 Form 941 and your 2026 W-2s. W-2s are due to employees and the SSA by February 1, 2027.²⁵ Get Paylocity to confirm in writing that it's filing them.
Gusto starts 2027 with a clean slate. With a first check date in Q1, Gusto's list is just the pay stubs from the current quarter.⁵ Start in January and that's close to nothing.
Any other quarter works too. You'll just be entering more history.

If you sign up through our link by Jan 31, 2027 and run a paid payroll, Gusto's referral terms say you get a $100 Visa gift card. We get a referral reward too.²⁶

FAQ: Paylocity to Gusto

How much does Paylocity cost?

Paylocity doesn't publish prices; you request pricing with a demo.⁶ Get the quote in writing, including setup fees, and compare the monthly total with Gusto's published plans.

Can Gusto import my Paylocity data?

Paylocity isn't on Gusto's transfer-automation list.⁴ You'll enter earlier payrolls during setup. A January first payday keeps that short.

Is Gusto a good fit if I have employees abroad?

Gusto's plans here are US payroll. If you run payroll in other countries through Paylocity, that's a strong reason to stay.

When should I leave Paylocity?

Aim for a first Gusto payday in January 2027. Paylocity files your Q4 2026 return and 2026 W-2s; confirm that in writing.

Sources, checked Oct 31, 2026

Every number on this page comes from one of these pages. Prices change; if a vendor updates its page, theirs wins.