BambooHR vs Gusto
Gusto is payroll-first HR for small US businesses; BambooHR is an HR system that adds payroll and benefits around the employee record. Gusto Simple costs $49 a month plus $6 per person and covers a single state. BambooHR Core is $10 per employee a month, or a flat rate from $250 for 25 or fewer. Pick Gusto when running pay is the first job; pick BambooHR when the HR record comes first.
What each one costs
| Product | Price | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Gusto Simple | $49 + $6 | base per month, plus per person / month; single state |
| Gusto Plus | $80 + $12 | base per month, plus per person / month |
| Gusto Premium | $180 + $22 | base per month, plus per person / month |
| BambooHR Core | $10 | per employee / month |
| BambooHR Pro | $17 | per employee / month |
| BambooHR Elite | $25 | per employee / month |
| BambooHR, 25 employees or fewer | from $250 | flat per month, not per seat |
| PeopleMuster | $3 | per person / month, every module included, no base fee |
Gusto figures read in a browser on gusto.com on 22 September 2026; BambooHR figures from bamboohr.com/pricing in September 2026. BambooHR also lists volume discounts, a nonprofit rate and 15% off its Payroll and Benefits bundle in the US.
Why teams choose PeopleMuster
- No base fee on top of the seat price. You pay $3 per person a month, and that's the whole bill.
- Attendance comes from a fingerprint terminal or a browser check-in card, with on-time rate and late minutes on each person's record.
- Leave runs on quotas per leave type, with approvals and year-on-year usage, beside a company holiday calendar that attendance respects.
- Hours are logged per project each day, approved by a manager and rolled into utilisation for the whole team.
- Setup is done with you and carries no fee: we load your people, leave types and projects before your first week.
Questions people ask
What do ten people cost on Gusto versus BambooHR?
Gusto Simple is $49 a month plus $6 for each person, so ten people add sixty dollars to the base. BambooHR bills a team of ten at its flat small-team rate, from $250 a month. Past 25 people, BambooHR switches to its per-employee plans.
What are Gusto's plan tiers?
Gusto lists three. Simple is $49 a month plus $6 per person, Plus is $80 plus $12, and Premium is $180 plus $22. Each tier pairs a monthly base fee with a per-person rate, and Simple covers a single state.
Which one is built around payroll?
Gusto. It positions itself as payroll-first HR for small US businesses. BambooHR positions around the HR record, with payroll and benefits among its products, and in the US it takes 15% off when you bundle Payroll and Benefits.