Gusto vs Workday: Revenue, Profit and Business Model
Gusto reported $1B of revenue in FY2026 and — of net income. Workday reported $9.6B of revenue in FY2026 and $693M of net income.
Latest financial snapshot
Financial summary
Gusto
Gusto does not publish audited financials, but it has disclosed several milestones. CNBC reported more than $500 million of annualized revenue as of 2023. In May 2026 the company told TechCrunch it had surpassed $1 billion in revenue over the trailing twelve months, a recognized-revenue figure rather than ARR, that growth had accelerated for five consecutive quarters, and that it had been cash-flow positive for several years. Gusto has raised roughly $700 million in primary equity, including a $175 million Series E in 2021 at about $9.5 billion. A $200 million-plus employee tender offer led by Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan in June 2025 valued it at $9.3 billion, close to its early-2022 level. Its largest deal, the 2025 Guideline purchase, cost about $600 million according to TechCrunch sources.
Workday
Workday reported fiscal 2026 revenue of $9.552B, up 13.1%, with subscription revenue of $8.833B, up 14.5%. GAAP operating income was $721M after $303M of restructuring costs, and GAAP net income was $693M, or $2.59 per diluted share. In Q2 fiscal 2027 (quarter ended July 31, 2026), revenue rose 12.8% to $2.649B and subscription revenue rose 13.9% to $2.471B. GAAP operating margin was 11.8% and non-GAAP operating margin was 31.1%. Diluted EPS of $2.57 included a one-time $1.52 per share tax benefit from an internal IP transfer. The company bought back about $1.3B of stock in the quarter and the board added a $4.0B repurchase authorization.
Revenue and profit by year
Gusto
| Year | Revenue | Net income | Margin | Growth | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2026 | $1B | — | 0.0% | — | Source |
| FY2023 | $500M | — | 0.0% | — | Source |
Workday
| Year | Revenue | Net income | Margin | Growth | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2026 | $9.6B | $693M | 7.3% | +13.1% | Source |
| FY2025 | $8.4B | $526M | 6.2% | +16.4% | Source |
| FY2024 | $7.3B | $1.4B | 19.0% | +16.8% | Source |
| FY2023 | $6.2B | -$367M | -5.9% | +21.0% | Source |
| FY2022 | $5.1B | $29M | 0.6% | +19.0% | Source |
| FY2021 | $4.3B | -$282.4M | -6.5% | +19.0% | Source |
| FY2020 | $3.6B | -$480.7M | -13.3% | +28.5% | Source |
| FY2019 | $2.8B | -$418.3M | -14.8% | +31.7% | Source |
| FY2018 | $2.1B | -$321.2M | -15.0% | — | Source |
Where the revenue comes from
Gusto
- SaaS Platform Subscriptions & PEPM Fees
Not disclosed
Monthly base software fees plus per-employee-per-month (PEPM) charges paid by small business employers for automated payroll and HR tools.
- Benefits Brokerage, Workers' Comp & 401(k) Fees
Not disclosed
Recurring commissions and administrative fees earned from health insurance carriers, 401(k) retirement providers, and workers' compensation policies.
- Embedded Payroll API Licensing
Not disclosed
Revenue-sharing agreements and API licensing fees paid by vertical SaaS software providers integrating Gusto's payroll engine.
- Float Interest & Gusto Wallet Interchange
Not disclosed
Interest yield earned on custodial funds held in transit during payroll tax settlement cycles, plus debit card interchange fees.
Workday
- Subscription services
About 92% of fiscal 2026 revenue
Recurring fees for HCM, Financial Management, planning, payroll, learning, and AI products; $8.833B in fiscal 2026.
- Professional services
About 8% of fiscal 2026 revenue
Deployment, training, and advisory services that support customer implementations.
Business model and strategy
Gusto
How it makes money
Gusto earns most of its money from recurring software subscriptions: each customer pays a monthly base fee plus a per-employee fee, with higher tiers (Simple, Plus, Premium) adding HR, time tracking and advisory features.
Growth strategy
Gusto grows by adding small business customers through accountants, partners and self-serve sign-up, then raising revenue per customer with benefits, workers' comp, HR tiers and 401(k) plans. The 2025 Guideline acquisition brought about 65,000 retirement plan customers and roughly $140M in ARR.
Competitive advantage
Gusto's edge is a self-serve product that a non-specialist owner can set up and run without an implementation team, backed by in-house payroll tax technology (it bought tax-engine maker Symmetry in 2021) that files federal, state and local payroll taxes automatically.
Workday
How it makes money
Most of Workday's revenue comes from multi-year cloud subscriptions. In fiscal 2026, subscription revenue was $8.833B of $9.552B total, about 92%. The rest is professional services: deployment, training, and advisory work, much of which is handled alongside implementation partners. Customers usually start with HCM or Financial Management and later add planning, payroll, recruiting, learning, and AI agent products.
Growth strategy
Workday is pushing AI agents built on its HR and finance data, adding integration and learning capabilities through acquisitions (Paradox, Sana, Pipedream), selling Financial Management into its HCM base, and expanding industry-specific offerings. It is pairing that with cost cuts and large share buybacks.
Competitive advantage
Workday's main advantage is a single data model shared across HR, payroll, finance, and planning, which it has run as a multi-tenant cloud service from the start. That gives AI agents clean access to employee and financial records, and Workday argues its agents are safer because they act through the same business-process rules and permissions as human users.
Questions about Gusto vs Workday
Which company has higher revenue — Gusto (ZenPayroll, Inc.) or Workday, Inc.?
Gusto (ZenPayroll, Inc.) reported $1.0B (FY2026), while Workday, Inc. reported $9.6B (FY2026). By last reported revenue, Workday, Inc. is the larger business, with Gusto (ZenPayroll, Inc.) reporting a smaller revenue base.
What is the market cap of Gusto (ZenPayroll, Inc.) vs Workday, Inc.?
Workday, Inc. has a market capitalisation of $51.0B. A public market cap figure for Gusto (ZenPayroll, Inc.) was not available (it may be privately held).
Which is more financially efficient — Gusto (ZenPayroll, Inc.) or Workday, Inc.?
Gusto (ZenPayroll, Inc.) generates $313k / employee in revenue per employee, while Workday, Inc. generates $453k / employee. Workday, Inc. shows higher revenue efficiency per headcount, though this reflects business model differences — capital-light software companies routinely outperform labour-intensive manufacturers on this metric.
How do Gusto (ZenPayroll, Inc.) and Workday, Inc. make money?
Gusto (ZenPayroll, Inc.) and Workday, Inc. generate revenue in fundamentally different ways. Gusto (ZenPayroll, Inc.): Gusto earns most of its money from recurring software subscriptions: each customer pays a monthly base fee plus a per-employee fee, with higher tiers (Simple, Plus, Premium) adding HR, time tracking and advisory features. Workday, Inc.: Most of Workday's revenue comes from multi-year cloud subscriptions.
Is Gusto (ZenPayroll, Inc.) bigger than Workday, Inc.?
By last reported revenue, Workday, Inc. ($9.6B (FY2026)) is the larger company compared to Gusto (ZenPayroll, Inc.) ($1.0B (FY2026)). Revenue scale is one dimension of size — market capitalisation, employee count, and geographic reach are also relevant depending on the context.
Figures come from each company's filings and the sources linked beside them. Amounts reported in another currency are shown in US dollars at an approximate rate and marked with ~. Back to the Gusto vs Workday overview