Gusto vs Workday HCM

A detailed comparison of Gusto and Workday HCM. See how they stack up on features, pricing, and user ratings.

At a Glance

Gusto Workday HCM
Rating 4.5/5 4.0/5
Starting Price $40/mo N/A
Free Trial No No
Free Plan No No
Features 9 9
Best For SMB Enterprise

Gusto

Cloud-based payroll and HR platform for small businesses handling payroll processing, benefits administration, time tracking, hiring, and compliance in one system.

Rating 4.5/5
Best for SMB
Free trial No
Free plan No
Visit Gusto →

Workday HCM

Enterprise cloud HCM platform covering HR, payroll, talent management, and workforce planning for large organisations with 1,000+ employees.

Rating 4.0/5
Best for Enterprise
Free trial No
Free plan No
Visit Workday HCM →

Feature Comparison

Feature Gusto Workday HCM
Workflow Automation
Reporting Dashboard
EEO/OFCCP Compliance
GDPR Compliance
API Access
HRIS Integration
Slack Integration
Zapier Integration
Mobile App

Pricing Comparison

Gusto

Simple $40/mo
Plus $80/mo
Premium Custom

Workday HCM

Enterprise Custom

Integrations

Both tools integrate with

Gmail Google Calendar Google Workspace Microsoft 365 Outlook Outlook Calendar Salesforce Slack Zapier

Only Gusto

QuickBooks Xero

Only Workday HCM

ADP Azure AD DocuSign Greenhouse LinkedIn Microsoft Teams Okta OneLogin

Pros & Cons

Gusto

Pros

  • +Best-in-class payroll for small businesses
  • +Very easy to set up and use
  • +Transparent, affordable pricing
  • +Excellent employee self-service portal

Cons

  • -Limited to US-based companies (mostly)
  • -HR features less deep than dedicated HRIS tools
  • -Reporting not as robust as enterprise solutions
  • -Not ideal for companies over 200 employees

Workday HCM

Pros

  • +Industry-leading reporting and analytics engine (Prism Analytics)
  • +True single-platform architecture — HR, payroll, talent all share one database
  • +Continuous product innovation with bi-annual feature releases
  • +Strong security and compliance posture for regulated industries

Cons

  • -No pricing transparency — custom enterprise pricing only
  • -Long implementation timelines (6-12 months typical, can be longer)
  • -Requires dedicated admin resources or implementation partner
  • -Overkill and cost-prohibitive for organisations under 1,000 employees

Which Should You Choose?

Choose Gusto if:

  • • Your company is SMB size
  • • Higher user ratings matter to you (4.5 vs 4.0)
  • • Best-in-class payroll for small businesses
Visit Gusto

Choose Workday HCM if:

  • • Your company is Enterprise size
  • • Industry-leading reporting and analytics engine (Prism Analytics)
Visit Workday HCM

How we evaluate tools

Our ratings combine verified user reviews from G2 and Capterra with hands-on feature analysis. Pricing is checked against official sources. We may earn a commission through affiliate links, but this never influences our rankings or recommendations. Read our full methodology.