BambooHR vs Gusto

TL;DR

Gusto is a payroll-first platform with HR features built around it. BambooHR is an HR-first platform with payroll as a separate add-on. For solo BCBAs and small clinics under 15 employees, Gusto is almost always the right pick. For mid-size agencies investing in performance reviews and structured HR processes, BambooHR is meaningfully better — and many agencies eventually run BambooHR alongside Gusto's payroll module.

When to pick Gusto

Pick Gusto when payroll is the primary need and HR is secondary. Gusto's payroll runs are friction-free, the new-hire onboarding is the best in the small-business category, and pricing is transparent on the website. For a 1–15 person ABA clinic, Gusto handles every HR-adjacent task an owner is likely to encounter — payroll, benefits, basic time tracking, employee onboarding.

The transparent pricing alone is a real advantage. Most HR competitors at the small-business tier require sales calls; Gusto's prices are public.

When to pick BambooHR

Pick BambooHR when employee record depth, performance reviews, and structured HR workflows matter more than payroll consolidation. The custom-field employee profiles, document signing, audit trails, and performance-review templates are noticeably more developed than Gusto's. For agencies investing in BCBA and RBT development with formal review cycles, BambooHR provides real scaffolding.

BambooHR is also a more credible source-of-truth as agencies grow past 15 employees. Reporting, analytics, and structured data become more important at that scale, and BambooHR's HRIS orientation handles them better.

Where they overlap

Both are popular small-to-mid HR platforms with new-hire onboarding workflows, time-off tracking, and benefits administration. Both target the same general size range. Neither models healthcare-specific HR — BCBA supervision tracking and RBT credential renewals need to live somewhere else regardless of which tool you pick.

Pricing

Gusto Simple starts at $49/month base + $6/employee/month, with transparent pricing on the website. BambooHR uses quote-only per-employee pricing with payroll as a separate add-on. Total cost of running BambooHR + Gusto for payroll is meaningfully higher than running Gusto alone, which is the trade-off for HR depth.

How GoodABA fits alongside either

Whether you pick Gusto, BambooHR, or both, neither tool models BCBA and RBT clinical credentialing — supervision hours, certification renewals, fieldwork-hour documentation. GoodABA's credential tracking handles that ABA-specific layer alongside whichever HR tool the agency runs.