Gusto vs BambooHR: Price, Features & What’s Best

Gusto and BambooHR provide HR payroll solutions to help small to midsize businesses (SMBs) handle employee management processes. These two systems may have similar functionalities, but Gusto’s core platform is ideal for payroll while BambooHR’s software is great for managing various HR processes. Gusto also processes global worker payments, whereas BambooHR only offers US payroll services.

To help you gauge whether Gusto vs BambooHR is right for your business, here are our recommendations.

• Gusto: Best for full-service payroll and handling essential HR functions
• BambooHR: Best for managing employee information, onboarding, and training

These two systems appear in several of our buyer’s guides for small businesses given the solid suite of HR tools that each offers. Gusto ranks high in our best payroll software for small business users and best payroll services guides, while BambooHR is on our lists of top HR information systems (HRISes) for small business owners and best HR solutions.

Gusto vs BambooHR: Quick Comparison

	Visit Gusto	Visit BambooHR
Overall HR Payroll Software Evaluation Score	4.72 out of 5	3.96 out of 5
Starter Pricing($/Month)	$49 per month + $6 per person per month	$250 for up to 25 employees;$10.25 per employee for more than 25 workers
Add-on Solutions($/Month)	Benefits plans: Pricing varies depending on the benefit Priority support: $30 per month + $3 per employee per month (for Simple and Plus plans; free with Premium plan)  HR resources: $50 per employee + $5 per employee per month (for Simple and Plus plans; free with Premium plan)	Pricing for up to 25 workersPayroll: $190 base feeTime tracking: $4 per employeeBenefit administration: $140 base fee Pricing for over 25 workersPayroll: $7.47 perTime tracking: $2.97 per employeeBenefit administration: $5.48 per employee
Contractor-only US Payroll($/Month)	$35 base fee + $6 per worker	Included in payroll add-on
International HR and Payroll Services	Contractor payments Employer of Record (EOR) services, or Gusto Global, to hire and pay international workers	None
Key Features	Job posting and applicant tracking New hire onboarding Unlimited and automatic pay runs Performance reviews Employee surveys Software and email account provisioning	Job posting and applicant tracking (with hiring app) New hire onboarding Unlimited payroll Performance reviews Training tracking Employee surveys
Learn More	Read our Gusto review	Read our BambooHR review

When to Use Gusto and BambooHR

Top Alternatives

There may be times when neither BambooHR nor Gusto’s HR and payroll functionalities fit your requirements. We recommend the following options:

	Visit Rippling	Visit ADP	Visit Paychex
Best For	Companies looking for an all-in-one HR, payroll, and IT solution	Fast-growing businesses that want flexible payroll tools	Startups and SMBs that need customizable HRIS and payroll tools
US & Global Payroll Tools	✓	✓	✓(Global payroll via partner solution)
Starter Pricing ($/Month)	US payroll : $35 base fee + $8 per employee	Call for a quote	Custom-priced
Contractor Payments Plan($/Month)	US contractors: included in US payroll planGlobal contractors : $20 per worker	Included in payroll plan	Included in payroll plan
Learn More	Read our Rippling review	Read our ADP Run review	Read our Paychex Flex review

Need help deciding which provider to choose?

Check out our guide on

how to select a payroll service

.

Best for Value: Gusto

Score	5 out of 5	1.5 out of 5
Pricing Methodology	All business sizes: Charges per employee and software base fees every month	Companies with 25 or fewer workers: Charges a flat monthly rate Companies with over 25 workers: Charges per-employee fees per month
Pricing Plans($/Month)	Simple: $49 per month + $6 per person per month Plus: $80 base fee + $12 per employee Premium: $180 base fee + $22 per employee	Companies with 25 workers   Core: $250 Pro: $425 Companies with over 25 workers   Core: $10.25 per employee Pro: $17.50 per employee
Contractor Payments($/Month)	US contractors: $35 base fee + $6 per worker Global contractors: Call for a quote	US contractors: Included in payroll add-on Global contractors: None
EOR Services($/Month)	Gusto Global: $699 per employee	None
Add-ons($/Month)	Health insurance and workers’ comp: Pay only for premiums 401(k) plans: Call for a quote State payroll tax registration: Pricing varies per state Health insurance broker integration: $6 per eligible employee Next-day direct deposits: $15 base fee + $3 per employee Performance reviews: $3 per employee Priority support: $30 base fee + $3 per employee HR resources: $50 base fee + $5 per employee	Companies with up to 25 workers  Payroll: $190 Time tracking: $4 per employee Benefits administration: $140 Companies with over 25 workers  Payroll: $7.47 per employee Time tracking: $2.97 per employee Benefits administration: $5.48 per employee

Comparing BambooHR vs Gusto in terms of value for money is a bit difficult since the starter plans of both providers contain different solutions and depend on the HR functionalities that you want. Plus, BambooHR and Gusto have different pricing matrices that may make one a more reasonably priced option than the other, especially if you have a very small team and don’t need a payroll module.

However, if you’re looking for pricing transparency, Gusto wins because most of its fees are posted on its website (BambooHR requires you to call its sales team for a quote). It also offers the best value for money especially if you require a pay processing solution, as this feature is included in all Gusto plans (whereas, BambooHR charges extra for it).

Upgrading to its higher tiers will grant you access to time tracking and performance review solutions (both are paid add-ons with BambooHR). And, if you only need to pay contract workers, Gusto has a reasonably-priced contractor-only payroll plan (BambooHR doesn’t have a standalone plan—contractor payments are included in the payroll package).

Pricing Comparison: Gusto vs BambooHR

Let’s do a quick computation by comparing Gusto’s Plus plan with BambooHR’s Core tier for 25 employees (pricing based on the quote we received). I opted to use Gusto’s Plus plan because its features are similar to BambooHR’s Core package—both have hiring and time off tracking tools. However, you still need to pay extra for BambooHR’s payroll and time tracking modules, features that Gusto offers in its Plus plan.

For a company with 25 employees, you have to pay:

• Gusto: $380 monthly
• • Computed as $80 base fee + ($12 per-employee fee × 25 workers) = $380 monthly
• BambooHR: $515 monthly
• • Computed as $250 pricing for 25 workers + $190 payroll pricing for 25 workers + ($3 per-employee time tracking fee × 25 workers) = $515 monthly

Note that BambooHR charges a flat monthly fee if you have 25 or fewer employees. Businesses with more than 25 workers are billed per-employee fees each month. Meanwhile, Gusto doesn’t have multiple pricing matrices. Regardless of the size of your workforce, its monthly fees include a base software rate and per-employee costs.

Best for Payroll: Gusto

Score	4.75 out of 5	4 out of 5
Handles Payroll & Payroll Tax Filings	✓	✓(Payroll is a paid add-on)
Global Payroll	✓	US payroll only
Flexible Pay Schedules	✓	✓
Automatic Pay Runs	✓	✕
Multi-state Payroll	Included in higher tiers	✓
Wage Garnishment Services	South Carolina excluded	Costs extra
Expenses and Reimbursements	✓	✕
Time Off Requests & Approvals	✓	✓
Time Tracking	Included in higher tiers	Paid add-on
Payment Options	Pay card, direct deposits, and manual checks you print yourself	Direct deposits and manual checks you print yourself

In comparing Gusto and BambooHR for payroll, Gusto wins with its payroll features that can even handle global contractor payments in more than 120 countries and international employee payments in nine countries with Gusto Global. Plus, you don’t have to pay extra for its payroll module as you would with BambooHR.

You get full-service payroll along with basic tools for managing employee profiles, benefits plans, and time-off requests. Gusto will handle payroll tax reporting and wage garnishment payments (except in South Carolina) for you. Employees can even submit reimbursement requests for business-related expenses and Gusto will include the approved transactions in its pay runs.

It supports unlimited payroll, allowing you to process worker payments as many times as you need in a month. If you don’t expect changes in your pay runs for salaried employees and hourly-paid staff with fixed working hours, you can set up Gusto to automatically run payroll for each pay period.

You can turn on/off Gusto’s automatic pay runs from its payroll settings. (Source: Gusto)

When to Use BambooHR for Payroll

BambooHR is the optimal choice for payroll if you’re already using its platform to store staff data and don’t want to manage separate systems to pay employees. Similar to Gusto, its payroll and HR modules connect seamlessly with each other. This means you don’t need to manually input your workers’ pay- and attendance-related information into its payroll solution because it will automatically get the required details from its centralized database and other HR tools (like time tracking and benefits).

BambooHR allows you to track payroll both on desktop computers and mobile devices. (Source: BambooHR)

Best for HR Features: Tie

Score	4.75 out of 5	4.75 out of 5
Online Employee Profiles	✓	✓
Onboarding and Offboarding Tools	✓	✓
Health Insurance and Retirement Benefits	✓(with Gusto as the health insurance broker)	✓(via partner brokers)
Health Insurance Coverage in All US States	✓	Depends on the selected broker
Job Postings and Applicant Tracking	✓	✓
Background Checks	Via Checkr(run background checks directly from its platform)	✓(via third-party partners)
Performance Reviews	✓	✓
Built-in Training Tracking	✕	✓
Employee Surveys	✓	✓
Self-service Portal for Managers & Employees	✓	✓
Business Software & Email Account Management	Includes provisioning and deprovisioning tools	✕

Gusto and BambooHR may have similar functionalities, but there are instances when either BambooHR or Gusto is better for managing HR processes. Here are recommendations:

When to Consider BambooHR

Compared to Gusto, BambooHR has a slightly wider suite of HR solutions. While you have to pay extra for time tracking and benefit administration, the HR functionalities included in its Core and Pro plans are sufficient for hiring, onboarding, and managing employees. You can even use its platform to monitor your workers’ training progress—a feature that Gusto offers through its third-party software integrations.

BambooHR also has a more advanced candidate management solution than Gusto, allowing you to filter keywords from candidate resumes and set up automatic email sends if applicants are moved to specific hiring stages—which saves you time from manually doing it yourself. You can even maintain talent pools of previous applicants for future searches.

I appreciate its online application questions that remove candidates who don’t meet hiring requirements, such as having a specific degree or certification. BambooHR automatically disqualifies them based on their responses and the parameters you set. Gusto may have a similar feature that allows you to add application questions, but it doesn’t disqualify candidates.

Best of all, it offers a hiring mobile app, which enables you to manage recruiting processes while on the go. Gusto doesn’t have a mobile app—what it offers is a Gusto Wallet app for managing, saving, and accessing your funds (including payroll).

The BambooHR hiring app allows you to post jobs, review candidate profiles, provide feedback, and more. (Source: BambooHR)

When to Consider Gusto

Gusto is a great option if you want access to a wide variety of employee benefits, such as health, retirement, dental, vision, health savings account (HSA), flexible savings account (FSA), workers’ compensation, and commuter benefits. It even provides financial management tools via its Gusto Wallet app. However, its health insurance is unavailable in Alabama, Alaska, Hawaii, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Dakota, West Virginia, and Wyoming (as of this writing).

While it only offers the essential tools to help you track applicants and post jobs, Gusto’s onboarding and offboarding solutions include software provisioning and deprovisioning capabilities. This allows you to set up, manage, and remove your employees’ business software and email account access.

Connecting Gusto with its partner apps allows you to create software accounts directly through its platform. (Source: Gusto)

Best for Reporting: Tie

Score	5 out of 5	5 out of 5
Basic Reports Available	✓	✓
Report Customizations	✓	✓

Both software provide basic reports, such as payroll registers, tax documents, and employee data summaries. Customization options are available, enabling you to filter and select data fields. BambooHR and Gusto also let you download reports into CSV file formats.

However, BambooHR will require you to purchase its time tracking, payroll, and benefits administration modules if you want to access employee attendance, payroll and tax reports, and benefits-related documents. With Gusto, you can generate payroll and benefits reports even if you only sign up for its starter tier.

Best for Ease of Use & Customer Support: Gusto

Score	4.5 out of 5	3.88 out of 5
Learning Curve	Relatively easy	Relatively easy
Ease of Use	Good	Good
Setup Help	✓	✓
Dedicated Customer Success Manager	Included in the Premium plan	✕
Customer Support	Via chat, email, and phone; priority support with direct line to phone/email assistance included in Premium plan (costs extra for other tiers)	Via email, chat, and phone
Access to HR Advisers	Included in Premium plan (costs extra for Simple and Plus tiers)	✕
Third-party Software Integrations	Over 180 apps, such as:  Accounting Hiring Background checks Learning solutions Expense management Point of sale (POS) tools via API	Over 130 apps, such as:  Applicant tracking Background checks Global payroll Travel and expense management Scheduling and time tracking via API
Online Guides & Tools	How-to guides Online FAQs Payroll and business planning calculators	Library of help articles and video tutorials Online FAQs Self-paced learning courses on BambooHR features

In the battle between Gusto vs BambooHR for overall ease of use and customer support, Gusto wins in this category. While both have online platforms that are relatively easy to learn and use, Gusto’s HR advisory services and access to a dedicated customer success manager make it a better partner for business owners—they can rely on Gusto to provide them with the HR and software support they need.

While Gusto and BambooHR both offer chat, email, and phone support in all plans, Gusto provides a priority support service for its Premium plan holders. It also allows those on the Simple and Plus tiers to get the expedited support option as a paid add-on if they want to. This is unlike BambooHR, which offers the same level of support across its two plans.

However, if you prefer to learn how to navigate through a software’s features on your own, consider BambooHR. It has a robust selection of online guides, such as FAQs and help articles, video tutorials, and self-paced guided courses about HR topics and its platform’s different functionalities.

Best for Popularity Among Users: BambooHR

Score	4.13 out of 5	5 out of 5
User Feedback	Mostly positive	Mostly positive
Average User Ratings*	4.55 out of 5	4.5 out of 5
Average Number of Reviews*	Nearly 3,000	More than 2,500
Customer Service Quality Trend	Fair to good	Great overall
*Data from third-party review sites (such as G2 and Capterra) as of this writing

To assess BambooHR vs Gusto for user popularity, we looked at each provider’s average number of user reviews and average overall ratings on popular third-party review sites. While both have nearly the same average rating, many reviewers reported having experienced a more consistent quality of service with BambooHR’s support team.

User Reviews

Bottom Line

Gusto and BambooHR may have similar features but the core capabilities of their platforms differ from each other. Gusto is great for full-service payroll while BambooHR is optimal for managing employee data and basic HR processes.

To identify whether Gusto vs BambooHR is best for your organization, take a look at your budget and the HR functionalities that your business needs. Don’t forget to factor in your workforce expansion plans, especially if you think you’ll need more advanced HR features (like performance reviews) to manage employees. Your selected HR software should have the specific tools to help you handle those processes with ease.