Comparison · checked 8 November 2026
Field staff tracking apps in India: what tracking really costs
Most attendance apps sell live location as an add-on: SalaryBox charges ₹100 per user per month, greytHR ₹140 and Kredily ₹50 (Android only), on top of the base plan. Staff Khata includes field tracking in its Pro HRMS plan at ₹1 per employee per day (about ₹30 a month): a live map, customer stops with notes and bills, trip replay and fake-GPS detection on top of attendance and payroll. PagarBook Geo also offers live location, routes and tasks.
| Feature | Staff Khata | PagarBook | SalaryBox | Kredily | greytHR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Free forever up to 50 staff: attendance from 1 Realtime biometric machine and daily reports (no payroll or mobile app) | Free to start | No free plan (7-day trial) | Free forever, unlimited employees (web clock-in only) | No free plan (7-day trial) |
| Paid pricing | Growth ₹0.50 per employee per day (about ₹15/month): payroll, mobile app, selfie + GPS, leave, shifts. Pro HRMS ₹1/day adds live field tracking | [3P] ₹499/staff/year (app) or ₹699 (app + web); own iD device ₹18,000 + GST | Starter ₹1,500/month + ₹30/user (no payroll); Business ₹3,000/month + ₹75/user | Payroll OS ₹1,249/month for 25 staff; Professional ₹1,749/month for 25 | Growth ₹4,495/month for 50 staff, then ₹85 each; GPS tracking add-on ₹140/user/month |
| Attendance methods | Selfie + GPS radius punch, QR code that rotates every 40 seconds, Realtime biometric machines | Face recognition (Lens), selfie + GPS, geofence, own face + fingerprint device | Selfie, GPS, QR, geofence; face recognition and kiosk on Business plan | Web clock-in on free plan; selfie + GPS on Professional; face recognition add-on | Biometric devices, web, geofence, selfie, face recognition on mobile or kiosk |
| Biometric hardware | Works with Realtime biometric machines you buy from any Realtime dealer | Own PagarBook iD device | Own biometric device add-on | Biometric integration mentioned, brands not named | Third-party devices |
| Payroll and compliance | Growth plan and above: monthly and weekly payroll, PF, ESI, professional tax, advances, payslip PDFs | PF, ESI, PT, LWF, TDS / Form 16, gratuity, statutory registers, payslips | Business plan and above: EPF, ESI, PT, LWF, challans, payslips | PF, ESI, PT, TDS and payslips on the free plan; challans and Form 16 on paid plans | Full payroll processing |
| Field staff tracking | Pro HRMS plan (₹1 per employee per day): live map, customer stops with notes and bills, trip replay, fake-GPS detection | PagarBook Geo: live location, routes, tasks | Paid add-on: live location ₹100/user/month | Paid add-on (Android only) | Paid add-on |
| Owner alerts | Punch alerts and daily summaries on WhatsApp or SMS | Not listed | Not listed | Not listed | Not listed |
| Languages | 55 languages, including Hindi, Marathi, Tamil, Bengali | 10+ languages | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified |
| Platforms | Web, Android, iOS | Android, iOS, web, desktop | Android, iOS, web | Android, iOS, web | Web, Android, iOS |
| Best for | Shops, factories and field teams of 10–500 staff who want attendance and payroll in their own language at a low per-employee price | Very small teams that want face recognition on a phone and are happy with PagarBook hardware | Teams of 20–200 that want face recognition and kiosk attendance and will pay for payroll | Office teams that clock in from a computer and want free payroll | Mid-size companies with an HR team that need a full HRMS |
Prices exclude GST and come from each vendor's pricing page on 8 November 2026; [3P] marks figures from a third-party listing. "Not listed" or "Not verified" means we could not find it on the vendor's site, not that the feature is missing. Spotted something out of date? Tell us and we will fix it.
Frequently asked questions
How do I track field staff attendance fairly?
Use a geofenced selfie punch at the first client or site, then review the day's route and stops rather than watching every GPS dot. Tell staff what is tracked and only track during working hours.
Can field staff fake their GPS location?
Yes, with mock-location apps. Choose an app that detects fake GPS. Staff Khata flags fake-GPS use and queues location offline until the phone reconnects.
What does tracking 20 field staff cost per month?
Staff Khata Pro HRMS: about ₹600 in total (20 × ₹1 × 30 days), with attendance and payroll included. SalaryBox: ₹2,000 for the live-location add-on plus the base plan. greytHR: ₹2,800 for the GPS add-on plus the base plan. Prices from vendor pricing pages, checked 8 November 2026.