Best HRIS for small business: how seven options compare on price, payroll and fit (2026)

Short answer: For HR software without payroll, Toku HR and Deel HR Core are the lowest published prices, both from $5 per employee per month, and BambooHR charges $250 a month flat for 25 employees or fewer. Gusto fits a US business that wants payroll first, with HR included. Factorial's US page begins at $8 per user, and HiBob and Rippling work from quotes. Toku HR is Toku's own product and has no payroll or applicant tracking.

Talk to us about Toku HRUsing BambooHR? See the Toku integration

Toku HR is included at no charge for companies that use Employer of Record (EOR), PEO or Agent of Record (AOR), and costs $49 a month flat, however many people you have, for companies that use contractor management or stablecoin payroll.

Toku HR is launching: talk to us to get started. Updated . Other providers’ prices and features were checked on that date on each provider’s own public pages and are shown as of November 2026.

The options at a glance

Published prices are starting prices before discounts and taxes. “Quote-only” means the provider does not publish a price. Each competitor cell links to the page it comes from. A feature this table does not mention is not a claim that a provider lacks it.

Best HRIS for small business: published prices and payroll, as of November 2026
ProviderPublished pricePayrollBest for
Toku HRToku HR is included at no charge for companies that use Employer of Record (EOR), PEO or Agent of Record (AOR), and costs $49 a month flat, however many people you have, for companies that use contractor management or stablecoin payroll. On its own: Starter $125 a month for up to 25 employees, then $5 per employee a month; Growth $225 a month for up to 25 employees, then $9 per employee a month; Scale $325 a month for up to 25 employees, then $13 per employee a month. Yearly billing costs ten months' price, and contractors are free.Not included. You keep your own payroll provider. Toku sells global payroll and employer of record as separate services when you need them.a small team that wants HR only at a low price per person and keeps its own payroll
BambooHRCore $10.25, Pro $17.50 and Elite $25 per employee per month above 25 employees, or $250, $425 and $650 a month flat for 25 or fewer. Volume discounts apply automatically. Payroll, benefits administration, time and attendance and global employment are add-ons with no published price.Source: BambooHR pricingPayroll is an add-on for US employees only. Global payroll is managed through integrated, localized payroll partners.Source: BambooHR pricing · BambooHR global employmenta team of 25 or fewer that wants a broad HR product with prices published up front
GustoNo HR-only plan: HR comes with payroll. US payroll from $49 a month plus $6 per person (Simple), $80 plus $12 (Plus) and $180 plus $22 (Premium).Source: Gusto pricing pagePayroll is the core product, and its pricing page lists US payroll plans. International contractors can be paid in more than 120 countries.Source: Gusto pricing page · Gusto HR and talenta US business that wants payroll first, with HR tools included
Deel HRCore $5, Advanced $19 and Elite $29 per employee per month, published. No free HR plan or self-serve trial: plans start from a demo.Source: Deel pricingPayroll is a separate paid product: US payroll is $29 per employee per month (self-service) and global payroll is $29 per employee per month, managed by Deel's experts. HR plus US payroll is also sold as a bundle.Source: Deel pricinga lean team that pays per employee and may hire abroad later
FactorialFrom $8 per user per month on its US page, by quote: you choose modules and get a tailored plan. Plan prices are not listed, and the pricing page offers a free demo.Source: Factorial pricingDoes not calculate payroll itself by default: it prepares payslip data, connects to local payroll software and offers calculation by a partner.Source: Factorial payrolla team that wants to pick HR modules one at a time and will work from a quote
HiBobQuote-only: the pricing page is a form that ends in a custom proposal. Core is the base, and Talent, Payroll, HR Planning and Finance are added on top. The only free offer is a demo.Source: HiBob pricing · HiBob CoreBuilt-in payroll for the US and the UK. Other countries connect through Payroll Hub to providers such as ADP WFN, Paylocity, TriNet and Xero.Source: HiBob payroll · HiBob Payroll Huba team that expects to grow into a fuller platform and is ready for a sales process
Rippling HRPlans start at $8 per employee per month plus a monthly base fee it does not publish, and the rest is by quote. Pricing is modular: HR, payroll, time, performance and other products are priced separately.Source: Rippling pricingPayroll is a separate product. US payroll files federal, state and local taxes. Global payroll covers localized tax calculation in supported countries, with filing only in specific markets.Source: Rippling payroll · Rippling global payrolla team that wants HR, payroll and IT on one system and accepts product-by-product quotes

Each option, and who it fits

  1. Toku HR

    Best for a small team that wants HR only at a low price per person and keeps its own payroll

    Toku HR is Toku's own product. It charges per employee, $5 on Starter, $9 on Growth and $13 on Scale, with a 25-employee minimum, so $125, $225 and $325 a month for 25 employees or fewer. Each plan costs about half of the BambooHR plan of the same tier at BambooHR's starting prices, contractors are free, and yearly billing costs ten months' price. Toku HR is included at no charge for companies that use Employer of Record (EOR), PEO or Agent of Record (AOR), and costs $49 a month flat, however many people you have, for companies that use contractor management or stablecoin payroll.

    Starter covers employee records and a directory, documents with e-signature, time off with each employee's national holidays added for you, expenses, equipment and reports. Growth adds time tracking with a web clock, goals and feedback, and Slack approvals. Toku HR does not run payroll, so you keep the provider you have.

    Every other option on this page has applicant tracking in some form, as a built-in feature, a module or an add-on. Toku HR does not include applicant tracking, review cycles, surveys or a mobile app.

    Look elsewhere if: you need payroll, applicant tracking, review cycles or a mobile app in the same product. Toku HR has none of them.

  2. BambooHR

    Best for a team of 25 or fewer that wants a broad HR product with prices published up front

    BambooHR publishes flat monthly prices for companies of 25 employees or fewer: $250 for Core, $425 for Pro and $650 for Elite. Above 25 employees it charges $10.25, $17.50 and $25 per employee per month. Its pricing page says volume discounts are applied automatically and lets you choose month-to-month terms or a longer one.

    Core already comes with applicant tracking for 5 open jobs, time off with unlimited custom policies, a custom report builder and an employee satisfaction survey. Review cycles, 360 feedback, 1:1s and goal tracking arrive with Pro. BambooHR's platform page names generally 50 to 500 employees as its range, yet its pricing page still sets a flat plan for a team of 25 or fewer.

    Look elsewhere if: you want time tracking or payroll priced up front. Both are paid add-ons with no published price, and its payroll covers US employees only.

  3. Gusto

    Best for a US business that wants payroll first, with HR tools included

    Gusto does not sell HR on its own: its HR tools come with payroll. The pricing page lists US payroll at $49 a month plus $6 per person on Simple, $80 plus $12 on Plus and $180 plus $22 on Premium. A team that wants to keep its current payroll provider has no Gusto plan to move to.

    Alongside payroll it lists onboarding checklists, document storage, e-signatures, background checks through Checkr, an employee handbook builder, an applicant tracking system that posts jobs to LinkedIn and Indeed, and review templates with goal tracking. Its pricing page shows which plans include which of these. Contractors abroad can be paid in more than 120 countries.

    Look elsewhere if: you want HR without payroll, or your employees work outside the US. Its pricing page lists US payroll plans.

  4. Deel HR

    Best for a lean team that pays per employee and may hire abroad later

    Deel HR publishes three plans: Core at $5, Advanced at $19 and Elite at $29 per employee per month. Its HR page says a lean team can begin on Core and move up later. Performance reviews, goals and engagement surveys start on Advanced, and hiring is an add-on priced from $10 per employee per month.

    Deel keeps employees, contractors and employer-of-record workers in one system, which pays off only if you hire in other countries. Its payroll is a separate product at $29 per employee per month. There is neither a free HR plan nor a self-serve trial, so you begin with a demo.

    Look elsewhere if: you want one flat monthly price, or you work in a single country and will not use the global tools.

  5. Factorial

    Best for a team that wants to pick HR modules one at a time and will work from a quote

    Factorial's US pricing page begins at $8 per user per month, then asks you to choose modules and receive a tailored plan by quote. The page offers a free demo in place of a trial. Its UK page starts at 5.40 GBP and its German page at 8 EUR per user per month, so read the page for your country.

    Each plan carries a core toolkit: an employee directory, onboarding and offboarding, and e-signature. Modules for time off, time tracking, performance, recruitment and engagement are chosen separately. Its HR software page says it started for small and medium companies. Monthly plans are charged for the employees counted at the start of each month, and its FAQ says you can cancel whenever you want.

    Look elsewhere if: you want plan prices you can read before a call, or payroll calculated in the same product, since Factorial does not calculate payroll itself by default.

  6. HiBob

    Best for a team that expects to grow into a fuller platform and is ready for a sales process

    HiBob does not publish prices. Its pricing page is a three-step form that sorts a company into a headcount band (1 to 49, 50 to 199, 200 to 999 or 1,000 or more) and ends in a custom proposal. A demo is the only free offer. Core is the base, with Talent, Payroll, HR Planning and Finance sold on top.

    HiBob also publishes a page for small businesses, headlined "Small business HR software that helps you scale with confidence". It runs payroll natively in the US and the UK, and its applicant tracking belongs to the Talent suite, not to Core.

    Look elsewhere if: you need to see a price before speaking to sales, or you need only records and time off for now.

  7. Rippling HR

    Best for a team that wants HR, payroll and IT on one system and accepts product-by-product quotes

    Rippling works from a quote. Its pricing page says plans start at $8 per employee per month with a monthly base fee that it does not state, and that HR, payroll, time, performance and other products are priced separately. The quote form's headcount bands run from 1-10 to 1001+, counting employees and contractors.

    Rippling describes itself as one system for global HR, payroll, IT and finance for businesses of any size. Because each product is separate, a small team pays only for the ones it picks, and the quote grows as it adds more.

    Look elsewhere if: you need a price before a sales call. The page gives a starting figure and does not state the base fee.

How we chose and ordered these seven

These are the seven HR platforms Toku is most often compared with. Every statement about another provider comes from that provider's own public pages, read on 12 November 2026 (Gusto's prices on 10 November, from a browser read), and is linked under Sources. We use no outside rankings or review scores.

Toku HR is Toku's own product. The entries are grouped by the situation they suit, not scored. Toku HR is listed first because this is Toku's page: it is built for a team of 25 or fewer that wants HR only and keeps its own payroll. A US business with no payroll provider should read the Gusto entry first.

Small business here means about 25 employees or fewer, because BambooHR's flat prices end after the 25th employee and Toku HR bills at least 25 employees.

How the price behaves at 10, 25 and 26 employees

The shape of a price matters more than the headline number for a small team. BambooHR charges the same flat amount for any headcount up to 25, and Toku HR bills at least 25 employees, so both stay put until the 25th hire. Deel HR, Factorial and Gusto charge per employee or per person, so the total moves with every hire.

At 25 employees, BambooHR Core is $250 a month and Toku HR Starter is $125. At 26 employees BambooHR switches to per-employee pricing, which comes to $266.50, and Toku HR comes to $130. BambooHR says volume discounts apply automatically, so a quote can come in below its starting price.

Deel HR's Core plan is $5 per employee per month with no stated minimum, so 10 employees come to $50 a month and 25 employees to $125 before add-ons, while Toku HR Starter is $125 at 10 employees because of its minimum. Core has fewer features than Advanced, so compare what each plan includes before you compare totals.

What to check before you buy

  • Payroll. Decide first whether payroll belongs in the same product. Gusto bundles it with HR. BambooHR offers it as an add-on limited to US employees, and HiBob runs its own in the US and the UK. Deel HR and Rippling treat payroll as a separate product. Toku HR runs no payroll.
  • Headcount. Count your employees against 25. Past it, BambooHR's flat prices become per-employee prices, and below it Toku HR still bills for 25.
  • Modules. List what you would use in the first year: time tracking, applicant tracking, review cycles and surveys. Depending on the provider, each is in the plan, an add-on or a separate product.
  • Hiring. BambooHR builds applicant tracking into every plan, with 5 open jobs on Core. Gusto lists its own applicant tracking system. Factorial sells recruitment as a module, and Deel HR sells it as an add-on from $10 per employee per month. Toku HR has no applicant tracking.
  • Terms. BambooHR offers month-to-month terms, and Factorial's pricing FAQ says you can cancel whenever you want. Ask every provider for its contract term and notice period in writing.
  • Countries. If any employee works abroad, check whether holidays, leave rules and employer of record are included or sold separately. Toku HR adds each employee's statutory holidays, and Toku provides employer of record in 100+ countries as a separate service.

What to ask on a quote

  • The monthly total at your headcount today and at double that headcount.
  • What the price covers. HiBob begins with Core, and its other suites are added to it. Rippling prices each product on its own.
  • Base and minimum fees. Rippling's pricing page mentions a monthly base fee without stating it. Ask for the amount.
  • Add-ons. BambooHR shows no price for its add-ons: global employment, time and attendance, benefits administration and payroll.
  • Discounts. BambooHR applies volume discounts automatically, gives registered nonprofits an additional 15% off, and takes 15% off a bundle of payroll and benefits administration for US employees.
  • Tax and country. Factorial's FAQ says tax is added under local law, and its starting price differs by country site: $8 on its US page, 5.40 GBP on its UK page and 8 EUR on its German page.
  • Exit. The notice period, and how you get your data out when you leave.

If you are comparing two of these directly

Toku HR against BambooHR has its own page, Toku HR vs BambooHR, and BambooHR pricing shows what BambooHR publishes and what it leaves to a quote. For a payroll-first team, read Toku HR vs Gusto. A company that is still raising money or hiring fast may prefer best HRIS for startups.

Work out your own numbers

  • The HR cost calculator sets BambooHR’s starting prices next to Toku HR’s for your headcount.
  • The PTO accrual calculator shows how much time off an employee has accrued on a given date, whichever HR software you use.

Best HRIS for small business: frequently asked questions

It depends on whether you need payroll. For HR only, Toku HR and Deel HR Core start at $5 per employee per month, and BambooHR charges $250 a month flat for 25 employees or fewer. For US payroll with HR tools included, Gusto starts at $49 a month plus $6 per person. HiBob and Rippling work from a quote, and Toku HR does not include payroll or applicant tracking.
Published prices are built differently, so totals are not like for like. Deel HR Core is $5 per employee per month, Factorial's US page says from $8 per user, and BambooHR Core is $250 a month flat for 25 employees or fewer. Toku HR Starter is $5 per employee per month with a $125 minimum. Gusto adds payroll, HiBob publishes no price, and Rippling only a starting price.
No. Gusto bundles payroll with HR. BambooHR offers payroll as an add-on for US employees, HiBob runs its own in the US and the UK, and Deel HR and Rippling sell payroll as a separate product. Factorial prepares payslip data and connects to payroll software. Toku HR runs no payroll, so it works next to the provider you already use.
On published prices, Deel HR Core and Toku HR Starter at $5 per employee per month. Deel states no minimum, so 10 employees cost $50 there, while Toku HR charges at least $125, which is also its price for 25. BambooHR Core is $250 a month flat for 25 or fewer. Gusto adds payroll, and HiBob and Rippling work from quotes.
Gusto is payroll first, with HR tools included. It sells no HR-only plan, and its pricing page lists US payroll plans. The HR tools include onboarding checklists, e-signatures, an applicant tracking system and review templates, so it suits a US business that wants one product for both.
Ask for the monthly total at your headcount and at double it, what the price includes, any base or minimum fee, the contract term and the discount you can expect. HiBob is quote-only, and Rippling and Factorial list only a starting price. Get the answers in writing and compare them against the published prices on this page.
Toku HR is included at no charge for companies that use Employer of Record (EOR), PEO or Agent of Record (AOR), and costs $49 a month flat, however many people you have, for companies that use contractor management or stablecoin payroll. Without another Toku product, Starter $125 a month for up to 25 employees, then $5 per employee a month; Growth $225 a month for up to 25 employees, then $9 per employee a month; Scale $325 a month for up to 25 employees, then $13 per employee a month. Yearly billing costs ten months' price, and contractors are free.

Sources and review date

Checked . Providers change prices and plans, so confirm current terms and an itemized quote before you choose. Toku HR statements describe the plans and features Toku HR offers today. Gusto's pricing page blocks scripted reads, so its prices are the ones read in a browser on November 10, 2026.

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