Gusto vs IBM Kenexa comparison

Gusto and IBM are both solutions in the Talent Management category. Gusto is ranked #38, while IBM is ranked #23 with an average rating of 6.0. Gusto holds a 0.3% mindshare in TM, compared to IBM’s 0.7% mindshare. Additionally, 75% of Gusto users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 90% of IBM users who would recommend it.

Gusto

Read 3 Gusto reviews

247 Views
182 Comparison Views

75% willing to recommend

IBM Kenexa

Read 30 IBM Kenexa reviews

733 Views
443 Comparison Views

90% willing to recommend

Gusto

IBM Kenexa

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Download the report

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 4, 2024

IBM Kenexa and Gusto are competing products in the HR management and payroll space, each catering to different business needs. IBM Kenexa has the upper hand in talent management, while Gusto shines in payroll and benefits management.

Features: IBM Kenexa offers recruitment, job analysis, and performance management, providing advanced analytics tools that offer insights into workforce potential. Gusto specializes in payroll processing, benefits administration, and compliance management, streamlining these processes for small to medium-sized businesses.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: IBM Kenexa requires more professional setup assistance due to its extensive features. Gusto offers a simpler deployment process and is known for its responsive and accessible customer service, making it appealing to smaller businesses with fewer IT resources.

Pricing and ROI: IBM Kenexa involves higher setup costs but offers strong ROI for talent acquisition-focused businesses. Gusto provides a more affordable entry with lower monthly fees, delivering significant ROI for companies needing efficient payroll solutions.

To learn more, read our detailed Gusto vs. IBM Kenexa Report (Updated: April 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Gusto vs. IBM Kenexa

April 2025

Download the complete report

Helped 847,959 peers since 2012

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Categories and Ranking

Gusto

Ranking in Benefits Administration

22nd

Ranking in Talent Management

38th

Average Rating

7.0

Reviews Sentiment

7.4

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

IBM Kenexa

Ranking in Benefits Administration

14th

Ranking in Talent Management

23rd

Average Rating

7.6

Reviews Sentiment

5.3

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Applicant Tracking and Recruiting Software (17th)

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Talent Management category, the mindshare of Gusto is 0.3%, down from 0.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM Kenexa is 0.7%, down from 1.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Talent Management

Featured Reviews

Mimi Evans

Owner/Operator at Fearless Bookkeeping Services LLC

Simple to use solution that offers a lot; gives employees the option to get cash advances

I think it's great that it syncs with QuickBooks Online and any payroll software that syncs with QuickBooks Online is great. My issue with their syncing was that every single account for a deduction went to a liability account, but not a lot of businesses run that way. As of September, they did not have the ability for me to put an employee's deduction for benefits in anything but a liability account; which made it not difficult, but added a manual step to the syncing of the entering of our payroll between Gusto and QuickBooks Online. I would also like for the tech support to be more responsive. Gusto also advertises their health benefits, but they don't do a good job of explaining why it's a better option to go through them. I think there's more communication that could be done on that. I also think that there are some HR benefits that they could be offering to these lower plans, without having to go to the Premium Plan. I think that that's something that they should consider in the future.

Read full review

Karan Grover

Senior Manager at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees

Suitable for larger-scale companies aiming to streamline and automate their processes digitally

The deployment of the solution took between six to eight months. When we introduced BrassRing at my company, we encountered several challenges. First, moving data from our old system to BrassRing was tough because it needed reformatting. Second, connecting BrassRing with our HR data was tricky due to manual processes for roles and departments. Third, setting up the workflow in BrassRing was complex. Fourth, configuring user access and approval levels was a detailed task. We also had to manage the change process, including running both old and new systems in parallel, communicating changes, and training users. Lastly, monitoring and reporting were needed to ensure data accuracy and proper system usage once everything was in place. We had a team of six to eight people managing the project from our side during the BrassRing deployment. I'm not sure about the size of the BrassRing team, and we also had our own technical team, which had three to four members. The solution required maintenance, particularly from my side as the administrator. Maintenance responsibilities were divided into two parts: some tasks we, as end-users, could control, while others were the responsibility of the BrassRing team. Payment-related tasks were a regular part of our responsibilities. I wasn't the only person maintaining the solution. There were three power users from Infosys, each responsible for a specific geography. My counterpart managed it in the US, and I, along with my colleague in India, managed it for other geographies.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Pros

"I appreciated the templates that they offered for new hires and onboarding."

"I like the payroll part. We also use documents and forms whenever we hire, such as a new hire form for each state, and we like that as well."

"The most valuable features are that we can upload documents and download them on demand."

"IBM Kenexa is fairly stable. We don't have any downtime."

"It is extremely user friendly. It is very flexible in managing recruitment, especially when you have thousands of applicants as we did. We easily had over 20,000 applicants within a year for some of our positions, so it made it very easy to manage a large application pool. It was very easy to customize by recruiter preference. When you open up someone's profile to see their experience, education, or other things, you can customize that for yourself. It was flexible in that, and each recruiter could set up their preferences. It didn't have to be set up so that everyone had to have the same landing platform, which was very helpful. As someone who trained other HR people on how to use the system, it was very easy to pick up and learn."

"The ease of scaling is one of BrassRing's biggest strengths, making it a trusted choice for large companies."

Cons

"In the beginning, their support was top-notch. And then around the beginning of 2022, and end of 2021, their support tanked. We used to get responses in the beginning within one to two business days, and towards the end, we were getting responses in one to two business weeks."

"Their enrollment e-signature, enrollment forms, and other documents need a lot of work. Once we fill in the information, we cannot go back and change any of that. It's a time-taking process. If there is any mistake in the document and if we need to go and change a specific field in the form, it's not possible. We have to redo the entire form."

"I would like to have a better and more user-friendly interface."

"It needs to update its reporting and analytics tools."

"The reporting tool is helpful, but it is not the easiest to train on or is not as understandable for other HR pros. Their Workbench site, which is the administrator site that you use to update your website, is not user-friendly. When updates are required, it is not that easy to manage because Workbench is not user friendly. It required more work from the admins. They have Workbench training, which actually was very unhelpful. It took eight hours to complete, and it was not very helpful. Their customer service when it comes specifically to their Workbench site is not helpful."

"I would not recommend IBM Kenexa to others."

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available

"Kenexa was fairly priced. However, in 2019, before I left my previous organization, they significantly increased their pricing. It can be affordable, but their pricing is going up. It is not just licensing; it is how many applicants you have in your system on the database side."

See which vendors are best for you

Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Talent Management solutions are best for your needs.

See recommendations

847,959 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

No data available

Financial Services Firm

17%

Comms Service Provider

13%

Computer Software Company

11%

Manufacturing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

Questions from the Community

Ask a question

Earn 20 points

What do you like most about IBM Kenexa?

The ease of scaling is one of BrassRing's biggest strengths, making it a trusted choice for large companies.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM Kenexa?

As a large company, we first bought the complete BrassRing package, which had various features. Later on, we paid extra for specific features like customer test management. When we integrated with ...

See all answers

What needs improvement with IBM Kenexa?

BrassRing needs improvement in a few areas. First, it should update how it tracks where candidates come from and avoid duplicate entries. Right now, it is not very flexible. Also, its way of making...

See all answers

Comparisons

Namely vs Gusto

Compared 100% of the time

More Gusto Competitors

SAP SuccessFactors vs IBM Kenexa

Compared 57% of the time

HR Software Solutions vs IBM Kenexa

Compared 24% of the time

UKG vs IBM Kenexa

Compared 19% of the time

More IBM Kenexa Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Benefits Administration

April 2025

Download Gusto product report

Buyer's Guide

IBM Kenexa

April 2025

Download IBM Kenexa product report

Also Known As

ZenPayroll

IBM Smarter Workforce, Outstart

Overview

Gusto provides payroll, benefits and HR to modern companies, by handling payments to employees and contractors and also electronically handling the paperwork necessary to help companies comply with tax, labor, and immigration laws.

Gusto

Kenexa provides business solutions for human resources. We help global organizations multiply business success by identifying the best individuals for every job and fostering optimal work environments for every organization.

IBM

Sample Customers

Farmgirl Flowers, Bevel, Pooch Pals, ALL MAVEN

Sweet Spot International (SSI), Leo Burnett Worldwide (LBW), Sika AG, Legacy Health, Apollo Group Inc., Regeneron, Transurban Group, National Health Service, New Zealand Police, Overland Footwear, Yealands, Johnson Controls, Allscripts, Kerry Foods, Masterpet, AMD, Balfour Beatty

Buyer's Guide

Gusto vs. IBM Kenexa

April 2025

Free Report: Gusto vs. IBM Kenexa

Find out what your peers are saying about Gusto vs. IBM Kenexa and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.

DOWNLOAD NOW

847,959 professionals have used our research since 2012.

See our Gusto vs. IBM Kenexa report.

See our list of best Talent Management vendors and best Benefits Administration vendors.

We monitor all Talent Management reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.