Gusto
Hire, pay, and grow like a pro.

Executive Summary
Gusto is an online platform for small businesses that combines payroll, HR, benefits, time tracking and compliance tools. It pays employees and contractors, files payroll taxes, helps businesses offer health and retirement benefits with automatic payroll deductions, and includes hiring, onboarding and performance tools. Gusto states that more than 500,000 businesses run on it.
Use Cases
- Running payroll for employees and contractors, with payroll taxes filed automatically
- Offering health insurance and 401(k) benefits with automatic payroll deductions
- Tracking time and approving time off, with hours synced to payroll
- Posting jobs, tracking applicants and onboarding new hires
- Running performance reviews and goal tracking
- Staying on top of payroll, labor-law and benefits compliance
Features
Visibility
- Pay Insights: Insights and reporting
Intelligence
- Automated Payroll Processing: Automated payroll, taxes, and filings
Support
- R&D Tax Credit Service: Through Gusto’s R&D tax credit service , we help you claim federal and some state R&D tax credits.
- Compliance Alerts & Guidance: The most important part of HR for small business is making sure you are compliant. Employment laws vary depending on your location and the location of your employees. Gusto’s compliance alerts can help you get ahead of compliance needs and
- APIs and Pre-Built UIs: Use embedded payroll APIs in your front-end UI to avoid building the entire payroll stack from scratch, and use pre-built Flows for faster development.
Technical Specifications
- Architecture
- Cloud-native SaaS
- Deployment
- Cloud/SaaS
- API Available
- Yes
Infrastructure
- AWS
Integrations
- QuickBooks Online
- Xero
- FreshBooks
- TSheets/QuickBooks Time (time tracking connectors where available)
- Business banking partners and 401(k)/benefits providers (availability varies)
Security & Compliance
Certifications: SOC 2 Type II
Encryption: Encrypted in transit and at rest
Data Residency:
Pricing
- Model
- Per user/month, Tiered subscription
- Target Customer
- SMB, Micro-businesses, Growing Small Businesses
About Gusto, Inc.
Gusto provides cloud-based payroll, benefits, and HR software for small and mid-sized businesses. The platform helps employers run payroll, manage tax filings, offer employee benefits, handle time tracking, and support onboarding and HR workflows in one system.
Verified sources
Each of these facts was checked against the vendor page linked (2026-10-15).
- API · Available: docs.gusto.com
- API · API docs: docs.gusto.com
- API · Public Docs: docs.gusto.com
- Customers: dev.gusto.com
- Executive Summary: gusto.com
- Features · Intelligence: gusto.com
- Features · Support: gusto.com
- Features · Visibility: gusto.com
- Input · Highlight: gusto.com
- Input · Primary: gusto.com
- Input · Secondary: gusto.com
- Metrics · Results: embedded.gusto.com
- Output · Recommendations: gusto.com
- Output · Reports: support.gusto.com
- Process · Ai Engine: support.gusto.com
- Process · Analysis: gusto.com
- Process · Compliance: gusto.com
- Security · Certifications: embedded.gusto.com
- Security · Encryption: embedded.gusto.com
- Tagline: gusto.com
- Technical · API available: docs.gusto.com
- Links · API docs: docs.gusto.com
- Use Cases: gusto.com
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