# Gusto

Hacker Approved page: https://hackerapproved.com/p/gusto/

9 people recommended Gusto in Hacker News comments, 2 had mixed feelings and 10 criticized it, November 2025 to October 2026. It was recommended in 6 of 12 months, in 6 threads. It does not meet the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** More people criticize it than recommend it. Payroll service people praise for running with little effort and reliability over years; the most common caveat is weak customer support.

Summary written by Claude from the comments below.

## What people warn about

- Poor, AI-driven customer support (4 comments in the sample): "The support from Gusto is very poor, even a supervisor that's offshore when you call em won't be able to understand your basic questions." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45806756)) "They charged me for premium support automatically and when I tried to dispute it I had to talk in circles with their AI named Gus." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47240598)) "they use LLMs to respond to support requests now and they don't seem to read what they're sending" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45807130))
- Strong dislike from some users (3 comments in the sample): "Gusto may be is #2, so the worst together!" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45817317)) "My wife tried using Gusto and hated it." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45805745)) "They're both awful companies at heart." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45807302))
- Trouble with unusual account setups (2 comments in the sample): "Gusto did not file a quarterly wage report, so even though I owed nothing I was delinquent." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49327200)) "Gusto is a nightmare if your account needs fall out of their happy path." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47240954))

## Why people recommend it

- Payroll runs with little effort (2 comments in the sample): "I basically do not even have to think about the problem or fiddle with it at all" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48861543)) "Gusto makes payroll zero clicks." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48134131))
- Reliable for years without issues (2 comments in the sample): "used them for several years (12 I think) with no incident" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45812367)) "this is what i buy and have no intent to replace" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47104968))
- Popular with startups and SMBs (2 comments in the sample): "Lots of startups avoid that problem by using Gusto." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45805924)) "they were helping SMBs with a real problem" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46443124))

## Where to get it

- [Visit the official site](https://gusto.com/)

## The badge

A product earns the Hacker Approved badge when at least 10 people recommend it, recommenders outnumber critics at least 2 to 1 (mixed feelings count toward neither side), it was recommended in at least 4 of the 12 months and in at least 5 different threads, and no single thread supplies more than half of the people who recommend it. Health and money products are never badged.

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Gusto", https://hackerapproved.com/p/gusto/ (9 recommend, 2 mixed, 10 criticize; Hacker News comments, November 2025 to October 2026).

Counts updated 2 Nov 2026, with data through October 31, 2026.