Gusto Review 2026: Pricing, Pros and Cons
Reviewed November 1, 2026 by Loïc Joachim
A leading US payroll provider whose time tools and kiosk come with the Plus and Premium payroll plans.
| Best for | US businesses choosing Gusto for payroll that want time tracking in the same place. |
|---|---|
| How staff clock in | Tablet kiosk, Mobile app |
| Free plan | No |
| 20 staff | $320 / month |
| 50 staff | $680 / month |
| 100 staff | $1,280 / month |
| Made in | USA |
| Website | gusto.com |
Prices are in US dollars for the cheapest plan that includes a time clock, as of our last review. Check the vendor's site for current pricing.
Our Gusto review
Gusto is primarily a payroll and HR platform, and a very good one. Its time tools, including the Time Kiosk, mobile clock in and location verification, come with the Plus plan (around $80 a month plus $12 per employee) and above, or as an add-on for Simple.
If you have already chosen Gusto for payroll, the built in time tracking is a sensible default because there is nothing to sync. As a standalone time clock it does not make sense: you are paying payroll prices for every employee. It is also US only.
Note that Gusto accepts timesheet imports from other time clocks too, so you are not locked into its kiosk if you want a faster clock in experience.
Pros
- Hours go straight into Gusto payroll with no export step
- Time Kiosk, mobile clock in and location checks on Plus and above
- Excellent payroll and HR product overall
Cons
- Only makes sense if you use Gusto for payroll
- Time tracking is not in the cheapest Simple plan without an add-on
- You pay a per employee fee for payroll whether or not you use the time clock
- US only
Gusto features
- Tablet kiosk app
- Clock in from a phone
- Desktop app
- Proprietary hardware clock
- Paper card punching
- PIN entry
- NFC cards or tags
- Face recognition
- Fingerprint reader
- GPS location checks
- Cloud based
- Ongoing subscription
- Locks you into their hardware
Looking for something simpler?
Timeclock.Kiwi was built by people who were fed up with time clocks that take three screens and a training session to use. Staff tap their name and a PIN on any tablet, a photo is taken in the background, and hours export straight to your payroll. You pay per kiosk, not per employee, from $5 a month.
Free for 3 months, no credit card required.
Gusto alternatives
- Homebase A broad scheduling, time clock and HR toolkit for hourly teams, with a free plan for small single location businesses.
- 7shifts Restaurant scheduling software with a separate time clock app called 7punches.
- Connecteam An all in one app for deskless teams with a time clock, scheduling, chat and forms, priced with a flat base for the first 30 users.
- Smartplan A UK scheduling app with a punch clock on tablet and mobile.