# Gusto vs Zeal (slim)

> Gusto scores 63.3 (B) on agent readiness against Zeal's 45.4 (E), and leads in every scored category. Both do payroll run. Category scores, facts, verdicts and agent notes side by side.

- Full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gusto-vs-zeal.md (~1,950 tokens) · this version ~680 tokens · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gusto-vs-zeal.json · canonical https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gusto-vs-zeal
- Index: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt · API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json · Updated: 2026-10-08

Gusto scores 63.3 (B) on agent readiness against Zeal's 45.4 (E), and leads in every scored category. Both do payroll run.

- Gusto: B 63.3, rank #283 of 629 · https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/gusto.min.md
- Zeal: E 45.4, rank #569 of 629 · https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/zeal.min.md
- Gusto, good for A software platform that wants to run US payroll for its own customers and can pass Gusto's partner reviews. Ahead on Reliability, 58 against 42; Schema & documentation, 86 against 68; Agent ergonomics, 82 against 63; Security & auth, 60 against 34; Payments & pricing, 15 against 0; Maintenance & community, 76 against 61; Transparency & trust, 61 against 51.
- Zeal, good for A US staffing platform, marketplace or workforce product that will sign a partnership and run payroll for many employers under its own brand, including daily and on-demand pay. Also A hosted endpoint, with nothing to install.

| Category | Gusto | Zeal |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability (16%) | 58 | 42 |
| Performance (10%) | pending | pending |
| Schema & documentation (13%) | 86 | 68 |
| Agent ergonomics (13%) | 82 | 63 |
| Security & auth (14%) | 60 | 34 |
| Payments & pricing (10%) | 15 | 0 |
| Task success (10%) | pending | pending |
| Maintenance & community (7%) | 76 | 61 |
| Transparency & trust (7%) | 61 | 51 |

| Fact (where they differ) | Gusto | Zeal |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Vendor | Gusto, Inc. | Puzzl Group Inc. |
| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | `https://api.zeal.com` |
| Auth | OAuth | API key |
| Licence | Proprietary service under Gusto's API Policy and Developer Terms of Service. The API clients on GitHub are MIT, and the React SDK and the Gusto CLI are Apache-2.0 | Proprietary service. The npm SDK declares MIT. The SDK repositories on GitHub carry no licence file |
| Last release | 2026-10-01 | 2026-07-31 |
| Terms last updated | couldn't be read | 2026-01-16 |
| Privacy policy last updated | no document linked | 2026-01-16 |
| Customer content may train models | couldn't be read | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict automated access | couldn't be read | yes |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | couldn't be read | not found in the text |
| Terms or service can change without notice | couldn't be read | yes |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | couldn't be read | not found in the text |
| Popularity | 2 stars, 25k npm/wk | 0 stars, 8 npm/wk |