Gusto has $1 billion in revenue, a number that puts it closer to the public markets

While AI disruption looms over many legacy SaaS companies, many HR technology startups appear to be thriving.

One such company is Gusto, which provides payroll for small businesses. The 14-year-old company, last valued at more than $9 billion, announced it surpassed $1 billion in revenue earlier this year. Unlike many startups that advertise annual recurring revenue (ARR) — an estimate of the value of their contracts over the next 12 months — Gusto’s number represents actual revenue earned over the previous 12 months.

Gusto was last valued at $9.3 billion, when it launched a $200 million offering to its employees in June 2025, Fortune reported. The deal valued the company at roughly what it was valued at in early 2022.

That’s a bargain for Gusto investors compared to its deca competitors. For example, Deel, which serves large international companies, surpassed $1 billion in annual rate of revenue last year. The company was last valued at $17.3 billion when it raised a $300 million round co-led by Ribbit Capital and Andreessen Horowitz in October.

Meanwhile, Deel’s main rival, Rippling, which announced last month that it had also hit $1 billion in ARR, was last valued at $16.8 billion after raising $450 million in May 2025.

By crossing the $1 billion revenue threshold, Gusto clearly demonstrates its financial strength against its peers.

The company has made other big moves, too. Last year, it completed the acquisition of Guideline, a startup that provides retirement plans to small and medium-sized businesses, for about $600 million, as we reported.

Following the board’s appointment in December of Anthropic CTO Rahul Patil, Gusto has already reported huge efficiency gains. According to the company, AI now accounts for 50% of all new code generation and handles an equal share of customer support cases.

Given its relatively modest valuation compared to its revenues, Gusto is well-positioned to raise other funds, or even an IPO, at a higher valuation. The company has another major factor in its favor. While rivals Deel and Rippling remain embroiled in a high-profile lawsuit over corporate espionage, Gusto has stayed away from that kind of headlines and focused on its business.

Gusto has long been considered an IPO candidate. However, a public debut looks uncertain in 2026, while the IPO market is still very tepid.

When TechCrunch interviewed Gusto CEO and co-founder Josh Reeves in December, he insisted that he doesn’t spend a lot of time thinking about an IPO, preferring instead to focus on customer service and scaling the business.

As for whether this has changed given the level of revenue, the company won’t say so. “There’s nothing to share on the IPO timeline front,” a Gusto spokesperson tells us.