Toku HR vs Namely: price, payroll and which fits your company (2026)

The core difference

Namely calls itself an HCM platform for midsized companies, and its HR software page says it is built for companies with 50 to 2,500 employees. Around the employee records, its pages describe modules for payroll, time and attendance, applicant tracking, performance, benefits administration and compliance. Payroll is a core platform module, with tax compliance and filing described in US terms. A managed payroll service is sold separately.

Toku HR is narrower on purpose. It is HR software for the people your company employs and pays itself, and it stops at the HR layer: records, documents, time off, expenses and reports, with time tracking, goals and feedback on the higher plans. Toku is not the employer of anyone on it, and there is no payroll in it. So the question this page answers is whether you need Namely's wider set of modules, or an HR system that sits beside the payroll, hiring and review tools you already run.

Price: a demo request against a published list

Namely publishes no plan prices. Its site offers a demo or a call, and its payroll page says its packages start at $9 per employee without naming a plan or a billing period, so ask Namely what that figure includes. Its own pages also give two size ranges: 50 to 2,500 employees on the HR software page, and from a few employees up to about a thousand on the switch page. Ask which one applies to your headcount.

Toku HR's prices are on the page. Starter is $125 a month for up to 25 employees, Growth is $225 and Scale is $325. Above 25 employees you pay $5, $9 or $13 per employee per month, depending on the plan. Contractors cost nothing, and if you choose yearly billing you pay for ten months instead of twelve.

A quote and a price list measure different things, so no saving is worked out here. Set the Toku HR figures below against a Namely quote for the same headcount, and make sure the quote says what is in it, because Namely's pages describe payroll, time and attendance, hiring and benefits as modules:

• Toku HR at 50 employees: Starter $250, Growth $450, Scale $650 a month.
• Toku HR at 100 employees: Starter $500, Growth $900, Scale $1,300 a month.
• Toku HR at 250 employees: Starter $1,250, Growth $2,250, Scale $3,250 a month.

What each one includes

Both cover the paperwork and leave side of HR. This is how each describes the main areas.

• Records and documents. Namely lists configurable employee records, document storage with e-signatures, custom workflows and approvals, an ad-hoc report builder, and onboarding plans built by role, department or location. Toku HR holds employee records and a directory, and documents you can send for e-signature, under roles and permissions, an audit trail, and GDPR and I-9 controls.
• Time off. Namely has editable PTO accrual rules, as many policies as you need, and company holidays shown beside each balance. Toku HR keeps leave types with accruals, requests and approvals, and adds the statutory holidays of each employee's country.
• Time tracking. Namely supports clock-in by web or mobile with geofencing, plus physical and biometric time clocks. In Toku HR, time tracking and a web clock come with the Growth and Scale plans.
• Integrations and sign-in. Namely's partners page says it has an open API and lists identity management and SSO as a partner category. Toku HR has Slack approvals on Growth and Scale, and Scale adds SSO with Okta and SAML plus API access.

Where Namely is ahead today

• Payroll. It is a core module, with tax compliance and filing, described in US terms, and Namely sells a managed payroll service on top. Toku HR leaves payroll with the provider you use now.
• Hiring. Its applicant tracking has branded career pages, posts jobs to LinkedIn, Indeed and more, and offers AI-generated job descriptions. There is no applicant tracking in Toku HR.
• Performance. Namely lists performance reviews with approvals and goal tracking as an enhanced module, and names 360-degree feedback. In Toku HR, Growth and Scale add goals and feedback, while review cycles, 360 reviews and surveys are not included.
• Benefits and compliance. Benefits administration is an enhanced module with built-in ACA reporting, open enrollment and life-event processing. A compliance module covers OSHA and EEO-1 reporting, and the platform supports I-9 and E-Verify. Toku HR's plans list I-9 and GDPR controls, and no benefits administration.
• Mobile and AI. Namely has an employee mobile app for time, pay and personal information, and names AI-assisted recruitment and AI-generated onboarding content. Toku HR is without a mobile app or an AI assistant today.
• Security statements. Namely says it undergoes annual SOC 1 and SOC 2 audits. Ask Toku for its own security documents before you compare the two.

Where Toku HR is the better fit

• A price on the page. Three plans, a 25-employee minimum and free contractors, and you do not need a demo or a call to see them.
• HR without moving payroll. If your payroll is settled, Toku HR adds records, documents and leave without asking you to change it. Namely lists payroll as a core platform module, so ask Namely what a quote looks like if you keep your own provider.
• Holidays for every country. Statutory holidays for each employee's country are added on every plan. Namely's time off page shows company holidays next to each balance and does not describe holiday calendars by country.
• Hiring abroad. Namely's partners page lists international payroll and employer of record as partner categories. Toku provides employer of record in 100+ countries itself and sells global payroll, both separately from Toku HR.
• Access controls on Scale. SSO with Okta and SAML, data scopes and confidential records, and API access, with free assisted migration and priority support.

How to choose

Go with Namely when the job is wider than HR and you want payroll, hiring, performance and benefits from one midsized-company vendor. Go with Toku HR when the job is employee records, documents and leave, with time tracking on a higher plan, your payroll provider stays and you would like to read the price first.

Before you decide, put these questions to Namely:

• Which modules are in the quote? Its pages call performance and benefits administration enhanced modules and describe payroll as a core module.
• What does the managed payroll service add, since Namely sells it separately?
• Which size range applies to you: 50 to 2,500 employees, or a few employees up to about a thousand?
• How are employees outside the US covered, given that its payroll pages are in US terms and international payroll and employer of record are listed as partner categories?

Switching from Namely

If Namely runs your payroll, settle first where payroll will live, because Toku HR has nothing to take it over. If you use the managed payroll service as well, ask Namely what ending it involves. Then list what must move: employee records, time off balances and policies, and documents. Recruiting in Namely's applicant tracking is a separate step, since hiring tools do not come with Toku HR.

Run the two systems side by side for one pay period and compare balances before you close the old one. Free assisted migration and priority support come with the Scale plan. On Starter and Growth, talk to Toku about what the move involves. If you are weighing another midsized platform, see Toku HR vs Paylocity.