Gusto is hitting $1B in revenue, a number that brings it closer to the public markets

While AI disruption is looming over many SaaS companies, several HR technology startups seem to be thriving.

One such company is Gusto which offers micro payments. The 14-year-old company, which was valued at more than $9 billion, just announced that it surpassed $1 billion in revenue earlier this year. Unlike most startups that show annual recurring revenue (ARR) – an estimate of the value of their contracts over the next 12 months – Gusto’s figure represents the revenue they’ve earned over the past 12 months.

Gusto was praised last at $9.3 billionFortune said, when he launched a $200 million bonus for his employees in June, 2025. early 2022.

That’s a profit for Gusto investors compared to its decacorn competitors. For example, Deel, which serves large international businesses, crossed over $1 billion in ARR last year. The company was valued at $17.3 billion when it raised a $300 million round led by Ribbit Capital and Andreessen Horowitz in October.

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

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

The company has also been making other great products. Last year, it finished get a Guidelinea startup offering retirement plans for small and medium businesses, approx $600 million, as we said.

Following the December board appointment of Anthropic CTO Rahul PatilGusto is already showing significant benefits. 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 low valuation relative to its earnings, Gusto has the potential for an additional financing, or IPO, at a higher price. The company also has another important feature in place. While rivals Deel and Rippling remain independent corporate espionage caseGusto didn’t shy away from these kinds of topics and focused on his business.

Gusto has always been considered a human being IPO candidate. Even so, public exposure looks iffy in 2026 when the IPO market is still in its infancy.

When TechCrunch interviewed Gusto CEO and co-founder Josh Reeves in December, he insisted that he wasn’t spending too much time thinking about an IPO, instead focusing on serving customers and growing the business.

If this has changed due to the increase in revenue, the company will not say. A Gusto spokesperson tells us: “There will be no shares at the time of the IPO.”