BambooHR vs Gusto
These days, employers are getting used to having teams located all over the place. Instead of having all employees in a central office and a handful of branches, it’s now common to have mobile employees, employees working from home, and even contractors in different states or countries worldwide.
This presents a big challenge, but fortunately, plenty of software solutions are out there to help. These solutions include global employment platforms (GEPs) for international hiring and human resources information systems (HRISs) for managing large groups of employees anywhere.
What You’ll Discover:
- In-Depth Feature Analysis: A thorough breakdown of the features and usability of both platforms.
- Pricing Comparison: A detailed look at the costs associated with each service to assist with effective budgeting.
- Pros and Cons: Unbiased assessments of the strengths and limitations of Gusto and BambooHR.
This review of BambooHR vs. Gusto will examine the similarities and differences between these two service providers. We’ll first examine them independently to determine their specific strengths and weaknesses. Then, we’ll compare them head-to-head to help you decide which platform is right for your organization’s needs. So, let’s get started!
Bamboo HR vs Gusto Overview
Feature | BambooHR | Gusto | Explanation |
User Reviews | G2: 4.4/5 Trustpilot: 4.3/5 | G2: 4.5/5 Trustpilot: 2.4/5 | BambooHR has received very good customer reviews, while Gusto’s reviews are quite mixed. |
Pricing | $108/month for 20 employees + $5.40 per month per additional employee for HR management; $150/month for 20 employees + $7.25 per month per additional employee | $40/month + $6/employee for HR management; $399 or $599/international employee per month; $35 + $6 / contractor per month | BambooHR doesn’t post its prices online, so we’ve only uncovered some of them. Gusto does, and its contractor price is very affordable. It also charges $399/month for employees in India and the Philippines and $599 elsewhere. |
User-friendliness | Very Good | Excellent | Both platforms have great reviews for ease of use, but BambooHR is more difficult to set up. |
Customer Support | Live chat and phone support during office hours | 24/5 live chat (and phone support in the US) | Gusto offers 24/5 support, while BambooHR only has support during weekday office hours. |
Integrations | Excellent | Excellent | Bamboo HR can integrate with 125+ third-party apps. Gusto has integrations with nearly 200 apps. |
Data security | Excellent | Excellent | BambooHR is compliant with SOC2 and GDPR as well as PCI DSS payment standards. Gusto is HIPAA and SOC2-compliant. |
International hiring (EOR) | Not Offered | Good | Gusto lets you hire employees in nine countries and contractors in 120+. BambooHR doesn’t help with international employee or contractor hiring. |
Recruitment | Not Offered | Good | BambooHR doesn’t offer recruitment services. Gusto doesn’t recruit itself but integrates with its Gusto Recruiting job board. |
Benefits administration | Excellent | Excellent | Both platforms help clients give their workers add-on benefits like health insurance and pensions. |
Payroll | Very Good | Very Good | Gusto’s facilitates employee and contractor payments in multiple currencies. BambooHR businesses everywhere manage payroll. |
Main Differences: BambooHR vs Gusto
BambooHR and Gusto are two similar platforms that provide many overlapping services. In this case, they can both be described as human resources information systems (HRISs) or human resources management systems (HRMSs). BambooHR was started as a general HR solution, while Gusto began life as a contractor management system that later developed into a full HRMS. At present, both of these online platforms are big names in HR management.
Both allow HR departments to manage all of their employees in one central software location. They also help organizations streamline hiring, payroll, benefits administration, onboarding, and off-boarding.
Gusto has recently begun offering employer of record (EOR) services through a partnership with EOR service provider Remote. Gusto can now provide EOR services in just nine countries, but this number is set to increase soon. Through this service, clients can hire employees in countries around the world where they don’t own entities. Instead, the provider’s entities act as the legal employers but the employees work directly for the clients. BambooHR doesn’t yet offer this service.
Gusto also helps businesses hire contractors in the US and over 120 countries worldwide. It tests contractors for misclassification, maintains compliance with local laws, and manages payroll and benefits for contractors. Again, BambooHR doesn’t have this service yet.
Neither platform offers recruitment services directly, although both provide applicant tracking systems (ATS). Gusto integrates with Gusto Recruiting, a separate provider that helps with international recruitment. BambooHR offers integrations with partners that perform recruitment services.
A final big difference between these platforms is their pricing. Gusto posts a lot of its prices, while BambooHR chooses to only offer quotes. However, we’ve been able to identify some prices for BambooHR. It charges $108/month for 20 employees and $5.40 per month for each additional employee. This is the starting price for its basic plan that doesn’t include payroll. Gusto starts at a $40 flat rate plus $6/month per employee for its basic tier, which includes a one-state payroll. Both have higher prices for higher tiers of service and extra add-ons.
BambooHR Pros and Cons
As an HRIS service provider, BambooHR has its own unique strengths and weaknesses. These include:
- Pros
Extensive administration tools
BambooHR is a full and comprehensive HRIS That has all the features you need to manage all of your employees with one piece of software. It includes payroll, tax calculations, paid time off (PTO), time tracking, applicant management, and a host of other crucial HR functions.
Scalability
The BambooHR platform can easily handle 10,000 employees as easily as 100. This software is completely scalable, and it will suit both large enterprises and smaller ones that want to scale up.
Mobile app
This provider includes a BambooHR Mobile app for iOS and Android devices. Employees can use the app to clock in and out, view their payslips, and access many other services.
Extensive benefits packages
BambooHR helps organizations administer extensive benefits that include pensions, paid time off (PTO), and life, disability, health, vision, and dental insurance, as well as flexible spending accounts (FSAs) and health savings accounts (HSAs). However, it doesn’t broker these packages directly.
Useful integrations
This platform has an API for custom integrations but already integrates with an impressive 125+ apps out of the box.
- Cons
No international hiring services
BambooHR is designed as an HR platform that can be used by companies around the world. However, it doesn’t provide EOR services to help hire employees internationally. It also doesn’t do anything to help organizations hire international contractors.
Difficult implementation
According to BambooHR, it takes between four and six weeks on average to set up and implement its system across a whole organization. This implementation is slow and, according to user reviews, should come with more support from dedicated account managers.
No pricing online
While we’ve unearthed some of BambooHR’s prices, they’re not posted publicly online. This can make it challenging to compare them with other providers or calculate the total costs of using their system with different features and add-ons.
Gusto Pros and Cons
Gusto has a strong focus on contractor management but also works as a standalone HRIS. Its pros and cons include:
- Pros
Extensive administration tools
Like BambooHR, Gusto is a fully-fledged HRIS/HRMS tool for managing all of an organization’s employees. Its HR management tools include payroll entry, PTO management, pre-tax deductions, tax calculation and filing, check and W-2 printing and delivery, and direct deposit management. It’s important to check the three service tiers it offers and choose the one with all the functions you need.
User-friendly interface
Gusto’s user interface (UI) is highly intuitive and easy to use, even for first-time users or those coming from very different HRISs.
Scalability
Like BambooHR, Gusto is fully scalable and can handle hundreds or thousands of employees. This makes it a good choice for businesses that want to scale.
Benefits packages
Gusto offers benefits packages for international employees, including pensions and health, dental, vision, disability, and life insurance. These packages can be administered easily on its platform and are also available for international employees.
Mobile app
Gusto offers a mobile app for iOS and Android users called Gusto Wallet. This app helps employees manage their profiles, edit tax elections, view their payslips, and conveniently manage their spending.
- Cons
Limited support for international hiring
While Gusto supports contractor hiring in 120+ countries around the world, it’s new to the EOR services game. It offers EOR services through a partner and only in nine countries thus far, much less than most competitors.
Limited support
Gusto has 24/5 live support through chat and phone, but many competitors offer 24/7 support. This means that things can slow down on weekends.
Head-to-Head Comparison: Bamboo HR vs Gusto Features
As we’ve seen by examining their distinct strengths and weaknesses, BambooHR and Gusto are similar platforms with some very different services. We’re now going to look at them head-to-head across several different criteria to see which comes out on top for each function. We’re aiming here to point out the areas in which each platform outperforms the other.
User-friendly platform: Gusto Wins
Both platforms have clear and intuitive UIs that help new users quickly get used to them. However, user reviews suggest that Gusto is easier to use in almost every regard. It’s easier to administer and to set up. Its implementation normally takes two weeks versus four to six weeks for BambooHR.
Resources: It’s a tie
Gusto’s has lots of tools for tax calculation, business planning, and payroll calculation in different states. It also includes webinars, a useful blog, and research and data publications. BambooHR has a blog, podcast, webinars, and extensive articles on HR to help users learn. We see these resources as quite equal.
Integration with other software: BambooHR Wins
Both of these platforms integrate with an impressive number of other software solutions that include finance, accounting, recruitment, communications, and HR tools. BambooHR offers 128 integrations out of the box with programs like Bonusly, Checkr, Clicktime, Slack, and Zevo. Gusto can integrate with more. It handles 200 software solutions such as Google Workspace, Hubspot, Zendesk, Cloudflare, and Dropbox and crucially integrates with accounting software like Xero and Quickbooks while BambooHR doesn’t.
International hiring (EOR): Gusto Wins
Since BambooHR doesn’t support international employee hiring, Gusto wins automatically. It offers EOR services in just nine countries, charging a highly competitive $399/employee per month in India and the Philippines and $599 in other countries. Through its Remote as a partner, it manages hiring, onboarding, payroll, and benefits compliantly in all of these countries.
Contractor Solution: Gusto Wins
Since Gusto started out as a contractor management platform, it should be no surprise that it wins in this category. It helps organizations hire independent contractors in 120 countries and makes it easy to manage invoices and pay contractors in lots of global currencies.
On the other hand, BambooHR does not have special services to help you hire and pay contractors in other countries.
Employee Benefits: Gusto Wins
Both service providers administer extensive benefits, including pensions and health insurance. Gusto provides its own packages and lets employers tailor them for compliance in different countries. However, BambooHR only provides space on its platform for benefits administration, so you need to work with brokers to find the right benefits for your employees.
Payroll Management: Gusto Wins
These two platforms both do payroll and do it well. However, Gusto was originally built as a payroll platform, which gives it the upper hand. Users rate it as easier for payroll entry, tax and benefits calculations, tax filing, and integrations with accounting tools. It also handles payroll as part of its EOR and contractor services. It looks like Gusto wins again.
Our Verdict: BambooHR vs Gusto
While it may seem clear-cut, our goal in this review was never to indicate an overall winner but instead to point out the strengths and weaknesses of each platform. We also want to show the use cases that each one might be better equipped to handle so you can choose the right provider for your business.
When to choose BambooHR
BambooHR is a solid and reliable HRIS that can help you manage all of your employees in one location. It’s a good choice for large enterprises that already have benefits providers and need a good system to administer them effectively for large numbers of employees.
When to choose Gusto
Gusto is a great choice for businesses that want to implement a new HR management system that can help them scale. It’s well-designed to help with international hiring of employees globally in a limited number of countries and contractors. This platform is quick to implement and easy to learn yet powerful enough to support large businesses.
Our Solutions
- EOR from $199
- Employee Benefits
- Global Payroll
- International Recruitment
- Contractor Management
- Company Incorporation