Gusto’s Guideline Buyout Signals Push Toward Unified Payroll, Benefits, and Retirement

Gusto, a US-based provider of payroll and HR solutions for small businesses, has reached an agreement to acquire Guideline, a retirement plan provider known for making 401(k) and IRA plans more affordable and accessible. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed to the public.

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According to CNBC, the deal strengthens a long-standing partnership between the two companies and positions Gusto to deliver a more complete suite of employee benefits.  Before the transaction, the two companies had a longstanding partner relationship dating back to 2016.

Founded in 2011 as ZenPayroll in San Francisco, Gusto has grown into a platform serving more than 400,000 businesses nationwide and handling tens of billions in payroll annually. With a $9.3 billion valuation, Gusto stands as one of the world’s leading venture-backed companies. Gusto emphasizes user-friendly automation—handling payroll, HR, health benefits, compliance, time tracking, tax filings, benefits management, and more, all through a single, intuitive interface.

Guideline, launched by Kevin Busque in 2015, shares a similar mission of simplicity and transparency. In under a decade, the company has helped about 65,000 businesses and more than one million savers build retirement security, managing over $20 billion in assets. Guideline is currently based in Burlingame, CA.

Both companies emphasized that customers will not see immediate changes to pricing or account setup. Instead, the focus will be on deepening product integration, ensuring continuity of service, and investing in new ways to support small businesses and their employees’ long-term financial health. 

Finally, this latest deal transitions Guideline from being just Gusto’s most-used retirement partner to being fully integrated into Gusto’s ecosystem—further enabling Gusto’s vision to deliver one unified product for payroll, HR, benefits, and now retirement.