Compare / bamboohr vs gusto

BambooHR vs Gusto in 2026

BambooHR is the HR-first product with payroll added on; Gusto is the payroll-first product with HR added on. For sub-100 employee companies, the choice hinges on whether the buyer leads with the People function (BambooHR) or with Finance / Operations running payroll (Gusto). 3-year TCO at 50 employees lands within 12% on either side.

Side-by-side ledger (100 employees, default modules)

Line	BambooHR	Gusto
Provenance	quote-only	published
Mid PEPM	$10.00	$12.00
Monthly base fee	$0.00	$49.00
Year 1 effective PEPM	$23.00	$25.00
Year 1 subscription	$27,600	$30,588
Implementation (midpoint)	$2,250	$0.00
Year 1 total	$29,850	$30,588
3-year TCO	$95,383	$102,996
3-year PEPM equivalent	$26.50	$28.61
Source	[1]	[2]

Math: $23.00 x 100 x 12 = $27,600 (BambooHR), $25.00 x 100 x 12 = $30,000 (Gusto).

Decision aid

Pick BambooHR when the People team owns the decision and the employee-experience matters more than per-dollar feature density.

Pick Gusto when Finance owns the decision, list pricing matters, and the buyer is fine brokering benefits separately. Wins on transparent self-serve pricing.

Which is cheaper for 25 employees: BambooHR + payroll or Gusto Plus?

Gusto Plus at $80 + $12 x 25 = $380/mo. BambooHR Pro + Payroll ~$10 + $6 = $16 x 25 = $400/mo. Gusto wins by ~$20/mo at 25 employees; BambooHR ties or wins above 30 employees.

Benefits administration cost?

Gusto Plus includes benefits administration with no broker fee; commission funds it. BambooHR Benefits Admin is a paid module (~$5 PEPM) and the buyer typically brings their own broker.

Which has a stronger native ATS?

BambooHR's ATS is bundled and well-rated by SMB-mid market users. Gusto's hiring tools are lighter and lean on partner integrations (Lever, Greenhouse).

Which can a sub-100 person company outgrow first?

Gusto starts to feel constraining at 100-150 employees when the HR depth matters more than payroll depth. BambooHR scales cleanly to 500 with the Pro tier.

Real migration cost off Gusto onto BambooHR?

$0-$2,500 in BambooHR implementation, plus 4-6 weeks of parallel running and 20-40 hours of internal People-Ops time. Most companies absorb the migration without external services help.