If you're the founder, CFO, or operations lead at a 50–400 person Indian company, your HR software decision is probably overdue. You've likely been managing attendance on spreadsheets, running payroll through a CA's email thread, and watching a Keka or Zoho People trial expire without anyone pulling the trigger on a purchase.
The problem isn't shortage of options. It's that Indian HR SaaS vendors make pricing comparisons deliberately hard: per-employee fees exclude GST, payroll is a separate module, and onboarding charges appear only after you've signed the NDA. A tool that looks like ₹60/employee/month lands at ₹120 by the time you've added compliance modules and 18% GST.
This guide cuts through that. We compared 7 HR tools against a single benchmark, ₹300/employee/month (all-in, GST considered), and ranked them by company size and use case. By the end, you'll know exactly which tool fits your headcount, what you'll actually pay, and which features are worth paying more for.
Why ₹300/Employee Is the Right Benchmark for Indian SMBs
The ₹300 number isn't arbitrary. Across Indian mid-market companies between 50 and 500 employees, HR software budgets typically fall in the ₹150 to ₹500 per employee per month range. ₹300 sits at a practical midpoint: generous enough to cover core modules, tight enough to filter out enterprise platforms priced for Nifty 500 companies.
What should ₹300 buy you? At a minimum: attendance tracking, leave management, payroll processing, basic performance reviews, and an employee self-service portal. If a vendor can't deliver all five within that ceiling, it's either too expensive for your stage or cutting corners on compliance.
SaaS finance integrations Indiaine number. First, onboarding and implementation fees, which can run ₹20,000 to ₹1,00,000 for mid-market deployments. Second, add-on modules for payroll or performance that aren't included in the base plan. Third, and most commonly missed: GST at 18%, which almost no vendor lists on their pricing page. A tool advertised at ₹250/employee actually costs ₹295 after tax. That matters when you're benchmarking across six vendors.
Watch out: Before comparing any two HR tools, add 18% GST to every quoted price and check whether payroll is bundled or billed separately. Those two adjustments alone can flip which vendor is cheaper.
How We Evaluated These HR Tools
Zoho One vs Microsoft 365roll compliance (PF, ESI, professional tax, TDS), mobile app quality, GST-compliant invoicing, integration depth, and support responsiveness during Indian business hours.Microsoft 365 vs Google Workspace India-person mid-market team, and a 400-person enterprise-lite organisation. Pricing data was pulled directly from vendor sites and the Easexpense marketplace in April 2025. All INR figures in this article are inclusive of 18% GST unless explicitly noted otherwise.
We deliberately excluded niche features most SMBs never touch: succession planning, 360-degree feedback at base tiers, and advanced workforce analytics. Those features are real, but they don't belong in a ₹300/head buying decision.
See your live SaaS spend in Easexpense — connect Google or Microsoft
Zoho People: Best All-Rounder for Growing Startups
Zoho People's Essential plan starts at roughly ₹57/employee/month GST-inclusive (approximately ₹48 ex-GST). The Professional plan, which adds payroll integration and performance modules, lands closer to ₹142/head inclusive. Both sit comfortably within the ₹300 ceiling, which makes Zoho People the easiest yes for companies already inside the Zoho ecosystem.
The ecosystem argument is real. If you're already on Zoho CRM, Zoho Books, or Zoho Desk, the People integration is tight: employee data syncs across modules, expense claims flow into Books automatically, and you receive a single consolidated GST invoice for your entire Zoho stack. That last point matters more than it sounds. Reconciling separate invoices from 6 vendors every month is a legitimate time drain for finance teams.
Where Zoho People struggles: the admin interface carries significant configuration depth, which is great for HR managers who want control but genuinely overwhelming for a 40-person startup where the founder's EA doubles as HR. And payroll through Zoho Payroll is a separate SKU, so factor that add-on into your all-in price before comparing.
Best fit: 30 to 200 employee companies already using any other Zoho product. If you're net new to Zoho, the onboarding investment is still worth it, but give yourself 4 to 6 weeks to configure it properly.
Key takeaway: Zoho People's per-seat pricing is among the lowest in the Indian market, but the real value is the single invoice and ecosystem lock-in across the Zoho suite — worthwhile if you're already there.
Keka HR: Best for Companies That Take Performance Seriously
Keka prices differently from most competitors. Instead of per-seat billing, the Foundation plan is ₹6,999/month for up to 100 employees (roughly ₹82/head inclusive of GST after adding 18%). Beyond 100 employees, pricing scales predictably, and larger accounts are routinely negotiated down.
The standout feature is what Keka includes at the base tier. Performance management and OKR tracking are not paywalled. Most HR platforms treat those as premium modules. Keka bakes them into Foundation, which means a 90-person company pays roughly the same per employee as a 250-person company, and both get appraisal cycles, goal tracking, and engagement surveys without an upsell conversation.
India payroll compliance is solid. Keka generates PF challans, Form 16s, and professional tax filings across most states natively. A few union territories require manual configuration, but for the majority of Indian businesses, the compliance engine runs without intervention.
Two real weaknesses. First, Keka's minimum contract is pitched at companies with at least 50 employees, making it an awkward fit for early-stage startups. Second, third-party integrations outside the Keka ecosystem are thinner than Zoho, particularly for CRM and finance tools.
Best fit: 80 to 300 employee companies where retention, appraisal cycles, and performance visibility matter more than deep integrations.
GreytHR: Best for Payroll-First Teams With Compliance Pressure
GreytHR is the oldest platform on this list, and its age shows in exactly the right place: compliance breadth. The database covers all 28 states' professional tax slabs, Labour Welfare Fund rates, and Factories Act leave rules. No other vendor on this list comes close on statutory depth.
Pricing starts generous. The Starter plan is free for up to 25 employees. Paid tiers begin around ₹4,124/month (inclusive of GST) for 50 employees, which works out to roughly ₹82/head. That's competitive, especially for businesses in manufacturing, logistics, or contract staffing where multi-state statutory compliance is non-negotiable.
If your company operates across 5 or more Indian states, GreytHR's compliance database will save your payroll team more time than any other feature on this list.
The honest weaknesses: the self-service portal and mobile app are functional but visually dated. If your employees are used to Keka or Darwinbox's interfaces, GreytHR will feel like a step back. Performance and engagement modules exist but feel bolted on, not native.
Best fit: Manufacturing, logistics, retail, or any business with multi-state operations where getting PT and LWF right is more important than beautiful dashboards.
Action: If your business operates in more than 3 states, ask any HR vendor you're evaluating for a specific list of professional tax slabs they cover. Gaps in PT compliance create filing errors that surface months later during audits.
Three More Tools Worth Considering Under ₹300
HROne is the least discussed of the credible options but worth a serious look for operations-heavy mid-market companies. Pricing runs around ₹100/employee/month inclusive of GST, and its workflow automation engine is genuinely ahead of Zoho People and GreytHR at equivalent tiers. If your HR team spends more time chasing approvals than doing people work, HROne's rule-based workflows address that directly.
Darwinbox starts higher on list price but regularly gets negotiated down for companies above 200 headcount. The UX is among the best in the Indian market — genuinely enterprise-grade at mid-market price points when you go through a partner. It's worth a conversation if you're at 200+ employees and find Keka's integration depth limiting. Check our marketplace for current partner pricing.
sumHR is the opposite end of the spectrum: clean, lightweight, and priced at ₹59 to ₹94/employee/month inclusive of GST. It's not trying to be Keka. It does leave management, attendance, and basic payroll cleanly, and it's the right call for a 20 to 50 person startup that just needs the basics to work without an IT implementation project.
Here's how those three compare against the main picks:
| Tool | Price (incl. GST) | Compliance Depth | Performance Module | Min. Seats | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| sumHR | ₹59–94/head/mo | Basic | No | 1 | Early startups |
| HROne | ~₹100/head/mo | Good | Yes (add-on) | 25 | Ops-heavy mid-market |
| Darwinbox | Negotiated | Excellent | Yes (native) | 100+ | 200+ headcount |
Side-by-Side Pricing Comparison (INR, GST-Inclusive)
The table below uses April 2025 data. All prices include 18% GST. Entry price assumes the smallest paid plan; actual per-employee cost drops with annual prepay at most vendors.
| Vendor | Entry Price (ex-GST) | With 18% GST | Payroll Included? | Free Trial | Min. Seats |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zoho People Essential | ₹48/head/mo | ₹57/head/mo | No (separate SKU) | 15 days | 1 |
| Zoho People Professional | ₹120/head/mo | ₹142/head/mo | Via Zoho Payroll add-on | 15 days | 1 |
| Keka Foundation | ₹6,999/mo (100 users) | ₹8,259/mo | Yes | 7 days | ~50 |
| GreytHR Starter | Free (up to 25) | Free | Yes | Freemium | 1 |
| GreytHR Paid (50 users) | ₹3,495/mo | ₹4,124/mo | Yes | 7 days | 1 |
| sumHR | ₹50–80/head/mo | ₹59–94/head/mo | Basic | 14 days | 1 |
| HROne | ~₹85/head/mo | ~₹100/head/mo | Yes | 14 days | 25 |
Annual prepay discounts run 15 to 20% at most of these vendors, bringing effective monthly costs down materially. Zoho People Professional at ₹142/head drops to roughly ₹117 on annual billing. Keka's ₹8,259/month drops toward ₹6,800 with a 12-month commitment. These are worth asking about upfront, not as an afterthought during renewal.
Action: After purchasing, connect your HR SaaS to Easexpense's Spend Analytics dashboard to track what you actually paid versus list price, and to get renewal alerts before your annual contract auto-renews.
Key takeaway: Sticker prices look manageable until you add GST, separate payroll modules, and annual minimums — always model the all-in annual cost before committing.
How to Pick the Right HR Tool for Your Headcount and Stage
Keep the decision simple with this framework:
- Under 50 employees: Start with GreytHR's free tier or sumHR. Don't over-invest in HR tooling at this stage; your needs will change significantly at 75 people.
- 50 to 150 employees: Zoho People Professional (if you're in the Zoho ecosystem) or Keka Foundation (if performance management and payroll under one roof matter). Both land well within ₹300/head all-in.
- 150 to 400 employees: Keka or Darwinbox. At this size, integration depth, mobile adoption, and appraisal cycle tooling start to separate the good from the adequate.
Three questions to ask any vendor before signing the contract. First: is payroll included in the quoted price, or is it a separate module with separate billing? Second: which states does your professional tax compliance cover, and can you show me the PT slab update cadence? Third: can I export my complete employee and payroll history as CSV if I decide to switch in year two?
That last question matters more than most buyers realise. Mid-year switches are operationally painful, particularly around TDS filings that have already been submitted for part of the year. Plan any migration for April, the start of the Indian financial year, to avoid compliance gaps.
Auto-renewal clauses deserve special attention. Most Indian HR SaaS contracts bill annually, and the renewal date is buried in the original order form. Missing a renewal means payroll disruption — not a minor inconvenience, an actual operational emergency. Easexpense's renewal tracking surfaces these dates 60 and 30 days in advance across your entire SaaS stack, including HR tools, so you're never caught off guard. See how that works at AI CIO.
Key takeaway: The right HR tool depends on 3 things: your headcount, whether you need payroll bundled, and how many Indian states your compliance covers — get those 3 answers before you start a trial.
Buying HR Software Through the Easexpense Marketplace
Easexpense currently carries Zoho People and the broader Zoho suite in the marketplace, with Keka and GreytHR in active onboarding discussions for H2 2025. If you're buying Zoho today, the marketplace route gives you vendor-negotiated pricing, typically 10 to 35% off list, without requiring you to negotiate directly with a vendor account manager who has a quota to hit.
The invoicing benefit is worth calling out separately. When you buy through Easexpense, you receive one consolidated GST-compliant invoice for every SaaS tool in your stack, including HR, productivity, and cloud. Your CA gets one line item per month instead of six separate vendor invoices in different formats. That alone saves a meaningful amount of reconciliation time at month-end close.
Beyond purchase, the Spend Analytics dashboard shows you HR tool license utilisation in real time: how many seats are active, how many haven't logged in the past 30 days, and what you're paying per active user versus per purchased seat. Unused HR licenses are common — particularly after headcount reductions or role changes where offboarded employees weren't deprovisioned promptly. Reclaiming those seats before the next annual renewal is straightforward once you can see the utilisation data.
Discounts on this platform aren't coupon codes or promotional stacking. They're negotiated at the vendor level, which means the pricing holds at renewal, not just for the first year. That's a structural difference from most "deals" you'd find through a search.
Frequently asked questions
Which is the best HR software for small businesses in India under ₹5,000/month?
GreytHR's free tier covers up to 25 employees at no cost, making it the obvious starting point for small teams. Beyond that headcount, Zoho People Essential or sumHR both come in under ₹5,000/month for teams of 50, inclusive of GST. The right pick depends on whether you need statutory payroll built-in or are handling payroll through a CA separately. GreytHR's paid tier at ₹4,124/month (GST-inclusive) for 50 employees is the most affordable full-payroll option in this bracket. If payroll is managed externally, sumHR's lower price point makes more sense.
Does Keka HR handle PF, ESI, and professional tax compliance automatically?
Yes. Keka generates PF challans, ESI contribution reports, and Form 16s natively within the Foundation plan. Professional tax is covered for most Indian states, though a few union territories require manual configuration at initial setup. The compliance engine updates PT slabs when state governments revise them, which reduces the manual overhead on your payroll team. Importantly, all of this is included in the base plan, not packaged as an add-on module that requires a separate purchase.
Is Zoho People better than GreytHR for Indian companies?
It depends on what you're optimising for. Zoho People wins on integrations, UI polish, and ecosystem breadth — it's the better choice if you're already using Zoho CRM, Books, or Desk, because the data flow across modules is tight and you get a single consolidated invoice. GreytHR wins on payroll compliance depth and multi-state statutory support, particularly for professional tax, Labour Welfare Fund, and Factories Act leave rules. Companies with complex statutory obligations across multiple states tend to prefer GreytHR; those scaling fast in a single metro often find Zoho People more comfortable to work with day-to-day.
How do I get a GST invoice from my HR SaaS vendor?
Most vendors issue GST invoices if you register your GSTIN at the time of purchase — it's not always prompted during checkout, so ask explicitly. The practical complication is that each vendor sends a separate invoice in a different format, which makes monthly reconciliation tedious when you're managing 5 or more SaaS tools. Buying through a platform like Easexpense consolidates all your SaaS bills into one GST-compliant invoice per month, with your GSTIN applied correctly across all vendors. That single-invoice model simplifies your CA's reconciliation significantly and reduces the risk of missing input tax credits.
What HR software works best for a 100-person startup in India?
At 100 employees, Keka HR and Zoho People Professional are the two most common choices among Indian startups, and both are defensible decisions. Keka's flat monthly pricing of roughly ₹8,259 (GST-inclusive) for up to 100 employees is predictable and includes performance management natively. Zoho People scales per seat and connects cleanly to your broader Zoho stack if you're already there. If you need performance management and payroll under one contract without add-ons, Keka has a slight edge at this headcount. If integrations with finance and CRM tools matter more, Zoho People is the stronger platform.
Can I switch HR software without losing historical payroll data?
Most Indian HRMS platforms support CSV or Excel export of payroll history, Form 16 archives, and employee records — ask for a data export demo before you sign any contract. The more serious concern is statutory, not technical: mid-year switches create complications around TDS deductions already filed with TRACES, and professional tax filings submitted for part of the year need to reconcile correctly. Plan any migration for April, the start of the Indian financial year, to keep compliance clean. Give yourself at least 6 weeks of parallel running before cutting over fully to the new system.
Are there discounts available on Zoho People or Keka for Indian companies?
Zoho People offers annual prepay discounts in the 15 to 20% range, and authorised resellers can sometimes add a further 10 to 20% off, depending on headcount and contract length. Keka is less aggressive on publicly listed discounts but negotiates meaningfully for larger seat counts and multi-year commitments. Buying through Easexpense gives access to vendor-negotiated rates that are typically better than what an SMB would achieve going direct — particularly for Zoho, where the marketplace partnership is already live. These aren't first-year promotional prices; the negotiated rates hold at renewal.