Side-by-side comparison
Better PTO tracking for teams already running payroll on Gusto
Payroll, benefits, and HR for small businesses. Here's how Gusto and Cabana compare on pricing, PTO tracking, and who each one actually fits.
vsCommon pain points
Why teams look for a Gusto alternative
- PTO tracking is a payroll-adjacent feature, not the core product
- No Slack integration for leave requests or approvals
- Employees must log into Gusto's portal to submit time off
- A $49/month base fee plus per-person pricing adds up fast for small teams
Feature comparison
Cabana vs. Gusto — side by side
| Feature | | Gusto |
|---|---|---|
| Slack slash commands | ||
| Approve from Slack DM | ||
| Microsoft Teams support | ||
| Google Calendar sync | Limited | |
| Outlook / Microsoft 365 sync | ||
| Accrual policies (tiers, tenure, carryover) | ||
| Unlimited PTO support | ||
| Multi-location / holiday calendars | Basic | |
| Custom leave types | Basic | |
| Admin web app | ||
| Org chart | ||
| Reporting | Payroll-focused | |
| Setup time | ~5 minutes | Hours to days |
| Price per user/mo | $4 ($20/mo min) | $6+ plus a $49 base fee |
| Free trial / no credit card | Demo only | |
| No monthly base fee | $49/mo base |
Pricing
Gusto pricing vs. Cabana pricing
Gusto charges a monthly base fee plus a per-person rate. Simple starts at $49/month plus $6 per person, with higher tiers adding time tracking and HR features. Time-off tracking is bundled in rather than a separate line item — a fair deal for payroll, just not a PTO tool you'd pick on its own merits.
| Gusto plan | Price | What's included |
|---|---|---|
| Simple | $49/mo + $6/person/mo | Payroll, basic PTO tracking, employee self-service. |
| Plus | Higher base + per-person rate | Adds time tracking, PTO policies, and team management. |
| Premium | Quote-based | Adds HR support and compliance assistance. |
What the pricing page doesn't show
- PTO policy configuration sits on the mid tier, not the entry tier
- The $49 base fee means a 5-person team pays it as much as a 50-person team
What it costs a small team
You're not choosing between these — keep Gusto for payroll. Running Cabana alongside it costs a 20-person team another $40–80/month, and buys back the daily workflow: requests and approvals in Slack, then a clean CSV at payroll time.
See Cabana pricing →Verify with the vendor. Last checked August 2026. Pricing and features are taken from each vendor's own published documentation, and they change fairly often. Check their site for the current details before you decide.
PTO tracking
How Gusto handles PTO tracking
Feature checklists hide the part that matters: where the workflow actually lives. Here's what using each tool looks like day to day.
Requesting time off
Gusto
Employees sign in to Gusto and submit a request from the time-off tab. There's no Slack path, so requests compete with a portal most people open twice a year.
Cabana
/cabana request in Slack. The request lands in the channel your team already has open.
Approvals
Gusto
Managers approve inside Gusto, usually prompted by email. Straightforward, but it's another tab.
Cabana
Approve or deny from a Slack DM with one tap. Balance updates immediately.
Policies and accruals
Gusto
Accrual and carryover are supported, with the more configurable policy tools on the mid tier. Adequate rather than deep.
Cabana
Accrual by pay period or hours worked, tiers by tenure, carryover caps, waiting periods, and unlimited PTO.
Payroll handoff
Gusto
This is Gusto's home turf — time off feeds payroll directly, which is exactly why you keep it.
Cabana
Cabana exports leave data as CSV for reconciliation. It does not run payroll and isn't trying to.
Team visibility
Gusto
A calendar inside the portal. Accurate, and rarely looked at.
Cabana
A daily who's-out digest in Slack, plus sync to Google Calendar and Outlook.
More on how this works: PTO tracking software for small teams.
Why Cabana
What makes Cabana different
Set up in 5 minutes, not 5 days
Import your team from Slack or CSV, pick a policy template, and you're live. No implementation project. No onboarding call. A founder can do it between meetings.
Your team never leaves Slack
Request with /cabana request. Approve with one tap in a Slack DM. Check balances with /cabana balance. The whole workflow lives where your team already works.
One source of truth, always accurate
Balances update automatically — accruals, carryover, holiday deductions. Approved leave syncs to Google Calendar and Outlook. No more spreadsheet reconciliation.
Built for Slack
Your team never has to leave Slack
Employees request time off with /cabana request. Managers approve with one button tap in a Slack DM. The daily digest posts who's out every morning — automatically.
#general
Cabana App
Cabana App
Reviews
Gusto reviews: strengths and complaints
What Gusto gets right
Excellent payroll product
Gusto is genuinely one of the best small-business payroll tools available. Nothing here is an argument for leaving it.
Time off feeds payroll automatically
Because tracking and payroll live in the same system, unpaid leave and PTO payouts flow through without a reconciliation step.
Bundled at no extra cost
You're not paying a separate line item for time-off tracking. It comes with the plan.
Where teams run into limits
Employees don't live in Gusto
A payroll portal is somewhere you go to look at a pay stub. Asking people to request time off there means requests keep arriving in Slack DMs anyway.
Time-off features are basic by design
Custom leave types and multi-location holiday calendars are thin compared with a dedicated leave tool. That's a reasonable scoping decision, not a defect.
No Slack workflow
There's no way to request, approve, or check a balance from chat, which is where the conversation actually happens.
Cabana's own assessment, based on Gusto's published documentation and pricing as of August 2026 — not aggregated user ratings. Check G2 and Capterra for verified customer reviews.
Best for
Which one fits your team
Stay on Gusto if…
- Payroll, benefits, and time off all in one system matters more to you than daily workflow
- Your team is small enough that PTO requests are rare and informal
- You want unpaid leave to hit payroll with zero reconciliation
Pick Cabana if…
- Your team asks how to request PTO in Slack even though Gusto exists
- You want richer leave policies than Gusto's time-off module expresses
- You're happy to keep Gusto for payroll and add a Slack layer on top
Is Cabana right for you?
Switch from Gusto if…
Gusto is great for payroll — and it's often the right choice to keep it there. Cabana works alongside Gusto as the Slack layer for daily PTO management: employees request in Slack, managers approve with one tap, and you export clean data to Gusto at payroll time. You get the best of both without forcing your team to learn yet another portal.
- You run payroll in Gusto but want PTO requests and approvals to happen in Slack
- Employees keep asking how to request time off and nobody knows the Gusto portal
- You want PTO and payroll to stay separate tools, each best-in-class
Teams that made the switch
Join hundreds of small teams who ditched the spreadsheet.
“We were paying way too much for software nobody used. Cabana was running in Slack within minutes. The whole team adopted it instantly.”
Sarah L.
Head of Ops, 32-person startup
“The Slack integration is the real difference. Approving a PTO request used to mean logging into a portal. Now I just tap Approve in a DM.”
Marcus R.
Founder, 18-person agency
“Balance tracking used to be a monthly reconciliation nightmare. Cabana just… handles it. I haven't touched the spreadsheet in months.”
Priya T.
HR Lead, 55-person SaaS
Migration
Switching from Gusto to Cabana
Four steps, and the only one that takes real time is deciding your policy. Nobody on your team needs training — they learn one Slack command.
- 1
Keep Gusto — this isn't a replacement
Payroll, benefits, and W-2s stay exactly where they are. You're adding a workflow layer, not migrating off anything.
- 2
Export current balances from Gusto
Pull the time-off balance report so opening balances in Cabana match what employees see on their pay stub.
- 3
Import into Cabana and pick a policy
Upload the CSV, choose a policy template, and set carryover. Balances come across as opening adjustments.
- 4
Connect Slack and reconcile monthly
Install the Slack app so requests and approvals happen in chat. Export Cabana's CSV at payroll time to reconcile against Gusto.
Honest limitations
When not to switch from Gusto to Cabana
We'd rather you pick the right tool than churn in month two. If any of these are dealbreakers, Gusto might still be the right fit.
Keep Gusto for payroll — Cabana doesn't replace it
Cabana is not a payroll tool. You still run payroll in Gusto. Cabana handles the day-to-day PTO workflow in Slack, then exports clean data when it's time to reconcile.
No benefits administration
Gusto handles health insurance, 401(k), and W-2s. Cabana doesn't touch any of that. The tools are complementary, not competitive.
Frequently asked questions
Can I run Cabana and Gusto at the same time?
Yes — this is the recommended setup for most small teams. Gusto handles payroll and benefits; Cabana handles the Slack-native PTO workflow day-to-day. At payroll time, export your leave data from Cabana and import it into Gusto.
Does Gusto have a Slack integration for PTO?
No. Gusto's time-off requests happen through their web portal. Cabana gives your team a /cabana request command in Slack so PTO requests never require a portal login.
Is Cabana cheaper than Gusto's time-off features?
Gusto includes time-off tracking in its plans — Simple is $49/month plus $6 per person. Cabana costs $4 per user per month with no separate base fee ($20/month minimum). If you're already on Gusto and the time-off experience isn't working, Cabana adds the Slack layer for a small additional cost rather than replacing anything.
More comparisons
Other full hr platforms
See how Cabana stacks up against similar tools your team might be evaluating.
Still working out what you need?
What to look for, and how Cabana handles it.
Best PTO trackers for small teams →Six tools compared, including this one.
PTO policy guide for small business →Write the policy before you pick the tool.
Free PTO accrual calculator →Work out balances and year-end projections.
Give your team the time off experience they deserve
Set up in under 5 minutes. No credit card required.