Deel VS Gusto – Comparison, Pros n Cons and Features

Deel and Gusto are leading HR platforms.

They handle your domestic and global staff payments and offer compliance support to eliminate recruitment complications.

With these third-party service providers, companies can easily grow their workforce and simplify major human resource functions. 

This article covers Deel and Gusto’s core features and software comparison. 

I have also shared its pros and cons prices to help you choose the best solution for your business. 

Deel Overview

Deel is a global HR platform that sells digital tools and human resource expertise to hire and pay international employees and contractors remotely.

Via Deel, you get access to the international market and receive employment and payroll outsourcing services in over 100 countries. 

The platform is connected to 200+ local experts from all around the world, who oversee the onboarding and in-country compliance processes for you.

Deel also helps you with mobility support. It hosts immigration experts in 35 countries to assist with documentation and tracking.

Over 25,000 companies are currently using Deel to manage their global workforce. The platform attracts both domestic and foreign clients and entertains well-known brands like Nike and Red Bull.

Top services Of Deel;

• Employer Of Record.
• Contractor Management.
• Global payroll.
• US PEO.
• Mobility Support.
• Self-service HIRS platform.

You can purchase Deel services online via its official website. You will get the option to customize your plan to match your company’s requirements.

Gusto Overview

Gusto is a SaaS platform that helps you hire, onboard, and pay domestic workforce and international contractors. It primarily targets US-based companies, delivering a comprehensive digital platform to manage local and global HR functions with ease.

With Gusto, you can onboard US employees, run payroll remotely, pay contractors in 120+ countries, and handle taxes and compliance. The platform is user-friendly and offers tons of HR functions for workflow automation.

Gusto also delivers EOR services in some countries. It works with third-party platforms to provide onboarding and multi-country payroll support.

Top services Of Gusto;

• US and International contractor management.
• Hiring and onboarding.
• US payroll and taxes.
• Compliance support.
• Employer Of Record.
• Digital HR platform.

Gusto’s Global features are add-ons and can be purchased with the core packages. You can explore its packages on the official website.

Deel Vs Gusto—Feature Comparison

Deel and Gusto share several common features. They facilitate hiring and payments and offer HR support.

Let’s explore their core services, digital platforms, and integrations. The review might give you a general idea of their products and tech support.

1. Payroll 

Deel and Gusto provide a well-structured payroll system. Both offer domestic and global payments, and both cover benefits and taxes.

Below, I have summarized their payroll packages to highlight their areas of strength.

Deel Payroll

Deel delivers payroll services in 100+ countries and 50 states. The package covers onboarding, one-click payroll generation, salary disbursement, and benefits management.

Your salaries are automatically calculated and sent to individual accounts in their local currencies after your approval. You’ll get in-house expert guidance to handle compliance challenges.

You can buy the managed payroll service with your EOR package or purchase it as a standalone product for direct employees.

If you have domestic and overseas workforce, you can get both global and US services and consolidate your payroll.

In countries where Deel doesn’t offer payroll, it provides a complete payment file for salary processing.

Top Features of Deel Payroll;

• US and global payroll.
• Taxes and compliance.
• Benefits administration.
• Payslip generation.
• Equity incentives management.
• Reporting.

Gusto Payroll

Gusto sells US payroll as its core product and global payroll as an add-on service. The international payroll is part of its EOR package, but you can use Gusto independently for overseas contractors’ payments.

Like Deel, Gusto US product is a managed service where the in-house team handles salaries disbursement and government liabilities on your behalf.

You’ll get a digital platform to upload employee data and automate salary and tax calculations. The app supports flexible pay rates, tip credits, holiday pay, and reimbursements.

Onboarding and offboarding, time and attendance, and benefits administration are included in the package.

Top Features of Gusto Payroll;

• US payroll.
• Flexible schedules.
• International contractor payments.
• Hiring and onboarding.
• Benefits, taxes, and reimbursements.
• Gusto wallet and debit cards.
• Payslips.
• Team management.
• Reporting.

Verdict

Deel and Gusto sell similar products but target different markets. Where Deel facilitates overseas payments, Gusto offers a smooth in-country salary disbursement.

Their areas of strength give them an edge over each other.

2. Employment

Deel and Gusto’s employment services include domestic hiring and onboarding, overseas contractor payment, and international employee onboarding and payroll.

The packages have several other services to facilitate documentation and compliance.

Here’s the summary of Deel and Gusto’s employment features.

Deel Employment

Deel sells EOR and contractor packages. Both are separate products that can be bought together.

Through its EOR service, you can hire and pay permanent employees in 100+ countries. Deel will act on your behalf and take on onboarding and compliance responsibilities, such as paperwork, benefits administration, and salary payments. 

With Contractor Management services, you can work with international freelancers compliantly. You, as a client, will receive an online portal to collect invoices and process payment transactions.

For US employees, Deel provides PEO service. Via this product, you can outsource your HR, payroll, and benefits administration to Deel.

Top Features of Deel Employment;

• Employer of Record.
• Contractor onboarding.
• Time and attendance.
• Payroll.
• Benefits administrations.
• A digital platform for routine work and automation.

Gusto Employment

Gusto delivers domestic recruitment tools in its payroll software. Recruiters can post jobs, screen applicants, run background checks, and create offer letters.

For global hiring, it provides an add-on feature called Gusto Global. 

It’s a joint product with Remote—a third-party platform—to offer EOR services in 75 countries. 

You can buy this add-on to hire overseas workers compliantly and run multi-country payroll. If you work with local or international freelancers, you can go for the Gusto Contractor-Only package. It’s available in 120 countries.

Top Features of Gusto Employment;

• Domestic hiring and background checks.
• Paperwork and time and attendance.
• International contractors onboarding and payments.
• EOR services in 75 countries.
• Compliance.
• A digital platform for automation.

Verdict

Gusto’s domestic package is more extensive comparatively. Deel’s EOR services, on the other hand, have more coverage and support.

For contractors, Deel and Gusto are both great options.

3. Add-ons

Deel and Gusto’s add-on services are optional features that can only be purchased with the core products. They typically include side support with projects like benefits administration and visa sponsorships.

Some services also come free with the packages. 

Here’s the summary of their add-ons.

Deel Add-ons

Deel sells several features as optional services. They follow the “Pay As You Go” model, which means, you only pay for the products purchased. 

Some of its notable services include localized benefits, Deel expense cards, equipment shipments, and workspace provision. You can offer bonuses and expense allowance to your remote team, and provide stock options to employees. 

You can also purchase core products as add-ons—like Visa sponsorship.

Top Add-ons of Deel;

• Worker classification.
• Benefits administration.
• Equipment and workspace provision.
• Background checks.
• Immigration.
• US PEO.

Gusto Add-ons

Gusto’s add-on service mainly covers benefits administration and global services.

Its domestic product already has everything you need to run the payroll with ease. With add-ons, you can manage domestic and global teams together and offer attractive perks to employees.

Gusto additionally gives you the flexibility to upgrade or downgrade your main package features, enabling you to offer some core services as perks. For instance, a cash account is an employee benefit that is available in all the packages for free. You can activate or deactivate it at your convenience.

Top Add-ons of Gusto;

• EOR and contractor product.
• Health, tax, and financial benefits.
• Tax registration.
• Cash accounts with Gusto card.
• HR Expert support.

Verdict

Deel and Gusto’s add-on products are designed to support their core services. So, there might not be enough similarities for comparison. 

You can, however, measure Deel and Gusto’s level of flexibility by their optional services.

For instance, Deel background checks or equipment shipments add more weight to its services. 

Gusto add-ons include services that Deel offers as its core products—Like EOR— making them attractive to growing companies.

4. SaaS Platform

Deel and Gusto are both SaaS platforms. They deliver outsourcing services through digital apps and provide tech support to help companies manage their workforce from anywhere.

Here’s the summary of their SaaS products.

Deel

Deel provides a free HRIS platform for workforce management. Clients and employees are connected through an online portal and get access to tools and templates to automate workflows. 

Core capabilities of Deel software include self-service onboarding, leave and expense management, employee directory, and reporting. 

The app can be integrated with third-party platforms and delivers a Slack plugin for engagement.

Top Features of the Deel SaaS Platform;

• Self-service portal.
• Document upload and tracking.
• Leave and expense approval.
• Engagement tools.
• Built-in compliance.
• Reporting.
• App store.

Gusto

Gusto’s software is the core component of its service.

Here, you’ll receive several hiring and onboarding tools, self-service portals for employees, a document management facility, and custom reporting.

The app also comes with talent management features, such as goal tracking, engagement, and performance measurement. 

You can use the app on your mobile phones and connect Gusto with your productivity tools. 

Top Features of Gusto SaaS platform;

• Self-service portal.
• ATS and onboarding modules.
• Talent management.
• Built-in compliance.
• Reporting.
• Integration.
• Mobile friendly.

Verdict

Deel and Gusto are user-friendly and flexible platforms. Both have essential modules, and both allow integrations.

Gusto, however, is more advanced. If your primary target is payroll management, Gusto is the best option.

Prices

Deel and Gusto’s packages are structured differently.

Deel sells each service as a separate product, with the option to customize the plan as needed. Gusto, on the other hand, has opted for a tiered-based pricing model and its packages are categorized by features and add-ons. 

Here’s the summary of Deel and Gusto packages.

Deel Prices

• Employer Of Record: The package prices start at $599 per month. They are per-user rates.
• Contractors: The package starts from $49. You can include some add-ons to get extra services.
• Global Payroll: Deel quotes custom prices. You’ll receive onboarding and offboarding with the payroll service.
• US PEO: It’s a managed service for US employees. You can get prices from sales.
• Deel HR: It includes a self-service digital platform for workflow automation. The software is free for companies with less than 200 employees.
• Immigration: The prices vary from country to country. 
• Add-ons: Deel has different rates for each add-on service. For instance, background checking costs a minimum of $49.

You can check out more details here.

Gusto Prices

• Simple Plan: The monthly subscription costs $40 per month and $6 per user.
• Plus Plan: The package includes the Simple package’s features, plus extra upgrades and add-ons.
• Premium: It’s a custom package that covers everything. 
• Contractor: This plan is for businesses that specifically hire contractors. Per-user price is $6, and you’ll get free access for the first six months.
• Add-ons: Prices for each add-on vary. 

Gusto packages work on a monthly basis, and the account setup is free. You can check out its packages here.

Verdict

Deel and Gusto both offer domestic and global packages.

Deel is comparatively more expensive than Gusto, but has better global coverage and compliance features. Gusto has excellent payroll features, and its contractor plan is more advanced than Deel’s. 

Their EOR prices are more or less the same. 

From the price point, the difference between them is minimal. Deel prices begin at $49, and Gusto’s starting price is $46.

Pros and Cons

Deel and Gusto are well-established HR platforms. While they have their strengths and limitations, both simplify payroll for you.

If you need some points for comparison, I have shared a few pros and cons here. 

The list exhibits their unique selling points and main drawbacks.

Deel Pros

• Global coverage.
• Free HRIS platform for small companies.
• Great compliance management.
• Several billing currencies.

Deel Cons

• No multi-device support.
• The HR platform is comparatively basic.

Get Started with Deel

Gusto Pros

• Advanced software.
• The contractor plan is affordable.
• Transparent prices.
• Mobile app.

Gusto Cons

• Limited global support for permanent employees.
• Suitable for US companies only.

Get started with Gusto

Conclusion

Deel and Gusto are excellent platforms for SMBs. 

Both provide remote HR services with online platforms, allowing companies to hire and pay people from one place.

If you are a US resident and plan to grow your business overseas, Gusto and Deel are ideal for you. If your business is based in other countries, you should explore Deel. 

Good luck!