Toku HR vs Gusto: HR on its own or HR inside payroll (2026)

The core difference

Gusto and Toku HR start from opposite ends. Gusto is a US payroll, benefits and HR platform for small businesses, and payroll is its core product. Its pricing page lists US payroll plans, and the HR tools come with them. Gusto also pays international contractors in more than 120 countries, and it offers employer of record through Remote.

Toku HR is only the HR layer. It is software for the people your company employs and pays itself, and it runs no payroll, so you keep the payroll provider you have. Toku does not employ your people under it. That is why this page sets Toku HR plus your payroll provider against Gusto as a whole, rather than one HR product against another.

Price: HR on its own against HR inside payroll

Gusto's pricing page has no HR-only plan, because HR comes with payroll. It lists US payroll from $49 a month plus $6 per person on Simple, $80 plus $12 on Plus and $180 plus $22 on Premium. These are published starting prices, and a quote can differ. Which plans include its performance reviews, goals, surveys and learning courses is set out on the pricing page, so check the plan before you count on them.

Toku HR is priced as HR alone: Starter, Growth and Scale cost $125, $225 and $325 a month for up to 25 employees, then $5, $9 and $13 per employee per month. Yearly billing costs ten months' price, and contractors are free. Payroll is not in that price, so you keep paying your payroll provider.

The two numbers measure different things, so this page does not work out a saving. A fair comparison adds your current payroll bill to a Toku HR plan, then sets the total against a Gusto quote at your headcount. Gusto's price grows with each person it covers, while Toku HR's is a per-employee price with a 25-employee minimum.

What each one includes

Both cover employee records, documents with e-signature and time off. They differ in what sits around those basics.

• Records and documents. Gusto lists custom onboarding checklists, document storage, e-signatures, background checks through Checkr, an employee handbook builder, and insights and reporting. Toku HR has employee records and a directory, documents with e-signature, expenses, the equipment each person holds, roles and permissions, an audit trail, and GDPR and I-9 controls.
• Time off. Gusto's developer documentation describes time off that accrues by pay period, calendar year or work anniversary. Toku HR has leave types with accruals, requests and approvals, and adds the statutory holidays of each employee's country.
• Time tracking. Employees can track hours in Gusto's mobile app, and its listing groups hour tracking with time off requests. Toku HR includes time tracking and a web clock on Growth and Scale.
• Performance and surveys. Gusto lists performance review templates, goal tracking, anonymous engagement surveys and learning courses. Toku HR's Growth and Scale plans have goals and feedback, and review cycles, 360 reviews and surveys are not included.
• Hiring. Gusto lists an applicant tracking system with job posts sent to LinkedIn and Indeed, and custom offer letter templates. Toku HR does not include applicant tracking.
• Integrations. Gusto lists a marketplace of partner apps across accounting, hiring, performance, time tracking and more. Toku HR has Slack approvals on Growth and Scale, with SSO through Okta and SAML and API access on Scale.

Where Gusto is ahead today

• Payroll. It is Gusto's core product, and Toku HR runs none. If you want one system for payroll and HR, Gusto is that system.
• Hiring and performance. Gusto lists an applicant tracking system, review templates, anonymous engagement surveys and learning courses in the product. Toku HR does not cover applicant tracking, review cycles or surveys.
• Benefits and HR guidance. Gusto offers a 401(k) inside its platform, and its HR Partners service gives eligible customers access to a senior HR leader at Gusto. Toku HR's plans list neither.
• Mobile and AI. Gusto has a mobile app for employers, employees and US contractors, where managers can approve hours, time off and expense reimbursements. It also launched an AI assistant, Cofounder, in an early access program in June 2026. Toku HR does not have a mobile app or an AI assistant.

Where Toku HR is the better fit

• Payroll that stays put. If an accountant, a payroll provider in another country or a system you trust already runs payroll, Toku HR adds HR without asking you to move it.
• HR priced on its own. You pay per employee, with a 25-employee minimum. Contractors are free, yearly billing costs ten months' price, and there is no payroll fee inside the number to unpick.
• A team in several countries. Toku HR adds the statutory holidays of each employee's country, and Toku provides employer of record in 100+ countries when you have no entity there. Gusto's pages describe US payroll, international contractor payments and employer of record through Remote.
• Controls on HR data. Scale lists SSO with Okta and SAML, data scopes and confidential records, API access, free assisted migration and priority support.

How to choose

Start with payroll, because Gusto sells HR only together with it. Then work through these checks.

• If you have no payroll provider you are attached to and your team is in the US, ask Gusto for a quote at your headcount, and ask which plan includes the HR tools you need.
• If Gusto already runs your payroll and you are happy with it, Toku HR would sit beside it rather than replace it, and employee data would live in two places. The integrations listed for Toku HR do not include Gusto, so ask us how the two would stay in step before you commit.
• If you need applicant tracking, review cycles, surveys, a mobile app or benefits in the same product today, Gusto lists more of them than Toku HR does.
• If most of your team is outside the US, check which countries Gusto's payroll covers, since its pricing page lists US payroll plans.
• Add up the whole bill on each side: payroll plus HR for Gusto, and payroll provider plus a Toku HR plan for the other.