# Guideline Reviews 2026. Verified Reviews, Pros & Cons | Capterra > Is Guideline the right Benefits Administration solution for you? Explore 22 verified user reviews from people in industries like yours to make a confident choice. Source: https://www.capterra.com/p/206399/Guideline/reviews --- Guideline 3.4 (22) Provider data verified by our Software Research team, and reviews moderated by our Reviews Verification team. [Learn more](https://www.capterra.com/our-story/) * * * Last updated April 10th, 2026 # Reviews of Guideline Ease of use 3.7 Customer Service 3.2 ## Pros and Cons in Reviews SK Scott K Co-founderMarketing and Advertising, 51 - 200 employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “Guideline has a clean interface and they make 401k and or Roth management for small and medium business simple.“ July 15, 2025 HK Henry K Sr VP of ProductBiotechnology, Self-employedUsed the software for: 1-2 years. “Getting a lot of runaround while they hold $64K of my money in limbo!“ August 16, 2023 Stephen G CEOMarketing and Advertising, 11 - 50 employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “Setting up the plan and onboarding employees took no time at all. Plus, their transparent fee structure is a breath of fresh air – it saves me money and keeps things simple.“ April 5, 2024 ## Showing most helpful reviews Showing 1-22 of 22 Reviews Sort by: Most Helpful Rating Company Size Reviewer's Role Length of Use Frequency of Use Stephen G. CEO Marketing and Advertising Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Stress-free retirement for my team (and me)" April 5, 2024 5.0 Guideline has been fantastic. It's taken a huge weight off my shoulders knowing my employees have a great retirement option, and it's affordable for my business. Pros The ease of use was incredible. Setting up the plan and onboarding employees took no time at all. Plus, their transparent fee structure is a breath of fresh air – it saves me money and keeps things simple. Cons Honestly, I love guideline. There could be a wider range of reporting for 401(k) and investing nerds, but nothing major. Overall, very happy. Reason for choosing Guideline Guideline won me over because it was so easy to set up and manage. The other options seemed more complex and had hidden fees. Review Source AR Arka R. Associate Scientist Biotechnology Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Guideline is the premier retirement account management platform" March 4, 2025 5.0 Guideline has been exceptional in management my financial goals. The interface and user experience is standalone. I have never felt more in control in my life regarding retirement plans. Pros Guideline is likely the best retirement account management software out there. Cons I can't really say I dislike anything about Guideline. Switched from [TriNet HR Plus](https://www.capterra.com/p/133019/Zenefits/) Guideline has a better management team than TriNet. Review Source SK Sarah K. People Ops Manager Computer Software Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Great for smaller companies getting started with 401(k)" July 17, 2025 3.0 We began using Guideline as a small startup and have continued as we've grown to a few hundred employees. Most of our experience has been easy because 401(k) has not been a high priority (e.g. we're not doing any customizations or offering a match). However, we're now looking to make some changes to our investment plan, and Guideline is pretty limited in the ability to do so. Ultimately, though, the last few years that we've been on Guideline have been a positive experience. Pros Guideline is a great option to support 401(k) offerings for startups and is easy enough to use when you're a smaller company. They also have a helpful payroll integration with Rippling, which makes this very much set it and forget it. Cons As our company has grown beyond 200 employees, the customizations in Guideline feel much more limited than their competitors. Additionally, most Guideline customers don't have dedicated support, and it can be challenging to find all of the documents and reports needed for an audit. Review Source VR Verified Reviewer Software Engineer Information Technology and Services Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "They really nailed a critical and oft-neglected feature. Excellent UX." August 6, 2025 5.0 Pros It was very easy to rollover my money out of Guideline--I did it from my phone in like 2 minutes. Best experience doing this out of the 5-6 times I've had to do it in my career. TBF, the money has to make its way into my other account, but I'll be sure to report back if anything goes awry =) Also customer support was very responsive. I'm loathe to email CS in general, but I'm glad I emailed Guideline; I got a response within minutes, not days. Cons The info in the user portal could be slow to update at times. I'm not typically looking for lightning-fast updates so it didn't bother me too much, but there's definitely an opportunity for Guideline to provide more peace of mind. Review Source VR Verified Reviewer Co-founder Marketing and Advertising Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Functional and affordable modern investment platform" July 15, 2025 5.0 Very good overall experience and would recommend to small or medium business owners who want a simple and modern 401k experience for their team at a reasonable price point. Pros Guideline has a clean interface and they make 401k and or Roth management for small and medium business simple. Cons Sometimes it's hard to find documents, the UX is fine but documents are categorized in ways that don't always make intuitive sense. Review Source EP Ekaterina P. CFO Medical Practice Used the software for: 2+ years ### "terrible service" April 30, 2025 1.0 Pros Nothing Cons they do not execute distribution requests, the customer service is useless Review Source VR Verified Reviewer HR Director Health, Wellness and Fitness Used the software for: 2+ years ### "401k Provide that works" April 26, 2023 5.0 Pros Guideline is a very easy to use tool for facilitating 401k and roth. We don't need any user support in order to utilize the tool - in essence it's a great tool if you want to provide 401k with little to no hastle! Cons I've experienced some issues with customer support, but for the most part I haven't seen any cons. Review Source Ian L. COO Financial Services Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Guideline- Review" December 9, 2022 5.0 Our overall experiences has been positive. In the past we have had issues with 401k providers and Guideline has totally wiped out all of those issues, for administrators and employees alike. Pros This 401k provider is very easy to set-up and connect to our payroll system, Gusto. Employees enjoy the plan and the investment choices and it has been easy to use. Cons The one con that we have is that the coding of the expenses into our internal quickbooks requires some manual entries. Otherwise, it's great. Review Source Eileen S. Assistant Controller Computer Software Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Best use of my time " June 26, 2022 5.0 Wonderful experience. They have exceptional customer service Pros Guideline has such great integration with my payroll services that I literally do nothing except review for tasks. They fulfill all areas of administration for the retirement accounts and do it timely and accurate. Cons Nothing, I’m a big fan. Everything needed is on the portal Review Source VR Verified Reviewer BDR Computer Software Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "Guidline is amazing " November 20, 2020 5.0 Pros By far one of the highest quality software I have used. Incredibly user-friendly, easy to navigate--the engineers behind this app are excellent. I'm very obsessed with keeping good track of my savings/investments, and Guideline does an outstanding job of helping me achieve this. Their system for 401Ks is perfect, and actually taught me some things I wasn't aware of. Overall amazing app and if your company offers benefits, they should definitely be using Guideline. Cons Maybe a little more interaction. For some people, it may be nice that Guideline stays quiet unless you log in, but I wouldn't mind if maybe, once a month, they checked in to see if what you previously filled out was what you currently wanted. Maybe something like "Hey, you filled out that you want to deduct \_\_\_\_ much money per paycheck for your 401K, is that still alright with you? etc..." Review Source SC Sierra C. Owner Hospital & Health Care Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Accessible" March 21, 2025 5.0 Pros I like that it was accessible to me through Gusto and that I was able to set it up on my own as a small business owner. Cons Had to keep paying for a while after stopping the service. Review Source DH Daniel H. SEO Strategist Marketing and Advertising Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Horrible Customer Support and Bad Standard Operating Procedures" June 18, 2024 1.0 Poor experience. I would not recommend anyone using them Pros Good returns. I don't have much else good to say the platform has been complicated to use and the customer support has been horrible. Cons The bad standard operating procedures leading to lies on their own site. I did a hardship request due to medical issues and was expecting the money at the latest 7 business days after as their documentation says. After 5 business days they first wrote me for documentation with no instructions and have taken so far 10 business days. Review Source CB Christopher B. Sr. Director Finance Financial Services Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Awful" March 5, 2021 1.0 Since outgrowing Gusto, we've had nothing but problems. When we moved to a payroll system that supports more employees Guideline assured us they would handle, as per their agreement, the changes to employee contributions, new hires, termination, employer contributions, etc... They have been so slow to make changes that we are being charged for the earnings that our employees would have earned if Guideline had made the contributions sooner. As of yesterday, they still hadn't contributed the employer contributions from the first January payroll. They're requiring us to update owner information for compliance testing but their system doesn't allow us to add all the owners (who have been on the employee roster for years) so that's failed. I've emailed them but don't expect a response for at least a week. We're considering legal action to get them to comply. The audit (that we wouldn't have to do if Guideline would allow us to change our plan document to include common, IRS/DOL approved ways for removing participants) is going to be awful due to Guideline's performance. Pros When we were with Gusto it was fine although with limited choices for 401k plan options such as automatically removing terminated employees (sending a check, rolling into an IRA, etc...) This drove up our participant count and Guideline fees and made us a larger plan requiring an audit much sooner. Cons The service is terrible. We often don't receive responses to our email support inquiries for 7 or 8 days if there is a response. In the past their phone support kicks you off after waiting for an hour; so if they don't pick up within the hour you have to call back to get back in queue. Since outgrowing Gusto, we've had nothing but problems. Review Source TN Tom N. Human Resources Director Medical Devices Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Great for Very Small Employers, Not Recommended for Anyone Else" April 21, 2022 1.0 Overall, I can only recommend Guideline for very small employers looking to offer a 401(k) to employees. Other 401(k) providers quickly outclass them as the company grows. Pros This was our first 401(k) system and was very easy to set up and get published. Cons Features of the system are non-existent and investment options are very limited. Customer Service is incredibly terrible, sending emails constantly and never receiving any response back. Review Source JM Jessica M. Director of Human Resources Health, Wellness and Fitness Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Meh." October 13, 2020 2.0 Looking forward to moving away from Guideline. The ONLY positive is that our payroll provider is connected to Guideline but otherwise, we've been pretty disappointed. Pros It connects with our payroll program so I do not have to do anything to get an employee started with a 401(k) account. That is handy! Cons Employees cannot borrow from their 401(k) to buy a home. Not legal! Awful experience when we furloughed all staff and rehired later, Guideline was slow to help and it was a mess. As an administrator, I feel I have to jump through hoops to get generic information to answer questions I have. GENERIC, not even information that relates to an actual employee. Very frustrating. Review Source Response from Guideline October 26, 2020 Jessica, we're sorry to hear about your recent experiences and would be happy to help resolve this matter. You can reach our Account Management team at 888-228-3491 for live assistance or to share additional feedback with our team. We have also shared a relevant article regarding our loan policy here: https://bit.ly/31HxGsM. Feel free to share with your employees. We're committed to providing our customers with excellent service. We take great care in investigating and resolving issues our customers may encounter to improve our product and processes. HK Henry K. Sr VP of Product Biotechnology Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Trouble with rollover and bad customer service" August 16, 2023 1.0 Pros Nothing is of value to this company. They claim to have customer service that is responsive but they are not. There are a lot excuses for not acting to resolve problems that are raised. Cons They are a criminal organization that prevents its customers from accessing their money in a timely manner. Initiated a rollover of my 401K. They claimed they sent a check and it would arrive in 5-10 days. on day 10 it did not arrive. I inquired through support and then they said to wait 14 days. I waited 14 days, and they said wait 10 business days. Getting a lot of runaround while they hold $64K of my money in limbo! Started seeing similar reviews on various sites and on the BBB site. I am now considering legal options. Review Source LL LISA L. Therapist Mental Health Care Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Terrible (especially with rollovers)" December 12, 2023 1.0 Very negative. I've been trying to get my money out for over two and a half months and I expect it to take more. I'm talking with guideline now and they're still responding to me in circles. Pros It's fine when you don't need to do anything, but the moment you need to transfer money out it's the biggest pain I've ever experienced rolling money over. Cons They don't send checks out, they go in circles with customer support. On other reviewing sites, I noticed the same issue from others. They have over 50% 1 star reviews. I do not recommend- avoid at all costs. Review Source BW Brian W. President & Co-Founder Information Technology and Services Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "The perfect way to offer 401(k) for a small business." September 29, 2020 5.0 I would recommend Guideline to any business that thinks offering a 401(k) to its employees is too hard or too expensive. It's awesome! Pros Our team really wanted to have a 401(k) option, but we were hestitant to incur the cost. Guideline allows us to offer 401(k) to our employees (and ourselves as owners) at an extremely reasonable cost. It was easy to set up and they have great customer service. It also automatically integrates with Gusto, our payroll provider and they do all of the necessary compliance reporting for us. Cons Honestly, nothing. This software was simple to set up and helped us meeting a key benefit request for our employees. Review Source AC Andrea C. Head of People Operations Writing and Editing Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Easy to set up 401k Administrator " June 15, 2022 5.0 Pros Very easy to set up. Employees were able to sign up very quickly. Cons I wish they had chat customer service. Calling is too time consuming Review Source HS Hunter S. Developer Marketing and Advertising Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Great 401k Software" March 2, 2022 4.0 Pros I like how easy it is to see how your money is invested and how your portfolio is doing with a breakdown of every dividend and investment that happens. Cons There's about a week delay from when money is pulled from your paycheck to when it is invested in your portfolio, missing some potential gains . Review Source AB Aaron B. Owner Law Practice Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "Disappointing Setup and Customer Service Experience" January 12, 2022 1.0 Pros It integrates with Quickbooks, which is very helpful in managing payroll. This was our primary draw to the product. I wish there were more alternatives in this regard. Cons I did not feel valued as a customer. The communication style was impersonal and inflexible. Review Source MS Miles S. Engineer Renewables & Environment Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "Capterra is solid" November 2, 2022 4.0 Pros It was easy to use and seamlessly integrated. I hardly knew we used it. Cons I have no strong emotions about the service, so apparently it is not that bad. Cool. Review Source Similar Products Featured ## Related categories [Benefits Administration](https://www.capterra.com/benefits-administration-software/)