Comparison · checked 8 November 2026
HRMS for small business in India: prices and fit
For an owner-run business that mainly needs attendance, shifts, leave and salary, Staff Khata is the lowest-priced option here at about ₹750 a month for 50 staff. If you have an HR team and need deep compliance filing and HR modules, Pocket HRMS (₹2,995 a month for 50), greytHR (₹4,495 for 50 with attendance), factoHR (₹4,999 for 50) and Keka (price on request) go further. Zoho Payroll is the best free payroll for up to 10 employees.
| Feature | Staff Khata | Keka | greytHR | factoHR | Pocket HRMS | Zoho Payroll |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Free forever up to 50 staff: attendance from 1 Realtime biometric machine and daily reports (no payroll or mobile app) | No free plan (free trial) | No free plan (7-day trial) | Free forever up to 20 employees: employee data, letters and payslips (no attendance) | No free plan (free trial) | Free up to 10 employees |
| 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 | Not published on the vendor site (Foundation, Strength, Growth plans; setup fee) | Growth ₹4,495/month for 50 staff, then ₹85 each; GPS tracking add-on ₹140/user/month | Core ₹4,999/month, Premium ₹5,999, Ultimate ₹6,999, each for 50 employees | Standard ₹2,995/month, Professional ₹4,495/month, each for 50 employees (annual); implementation fee | Standard ₹1,000/month for 25 staff (annual); Premium ₹4,000/month for 50 |
| Attendance methods | Selfie + GPS radius punch, QR code that rotates every 40 seconds, Realtime biometric machines | Selfie with face match, geofence, IP restriction, remote clock-in; integrates 1,000+ biometric devices | Biometric devices, web, geofence, selfie, face recognition on mobile or kiosk | Integrates 200+ biometric devices; face recognition, selfie with location, geofence (Premium), kiosk | Biometric devices, face recognition kiosk or phone, geo-tagged selfie, geofence (Professional), QR | Leave and attendance only on Premium; field attendance through Zoho People |
| Biometric hardware | Works with Realtime biometric machines you buy from any Realtime dealer | Third-party devices, brands not named | Third-party devices | Third-party devices, brands not named | Third-party devices, brands not named | Through Zoho People integrations |
| Payroll and compliance | Growth plan and above: monthly and weekly payroll, PF, ESI, professional tax, advances, payslip PDFs | PF, ESI, PT, TDS, LWF, payslips, Form 16 on all plans | Full payroll processing | PF, ESI, PT, TDS / 24Q, LWF, Form 16, payslips on paid plans | PF, ESI, PT, TDS, LWF, Form 16, ECR, payslips from Standard | EPF, ESI, state PT, LWF, TDS worksheet and payslips, even on the free plan |
| Field staff tracking | Pro HRMS plan (₹1 per employee per day): live map, customer stops with notes and bills, trip replay, fake-GPS detection | Continuous location punching from the Strength plan | Paid add-on | Punch with location from Core; live tracking not stated | Geo-tracking paid add-on (price not listed) | Not verified |
| Owner alerts | Punch alerts and daily summaries on WhatsApp or SMS | Not listed | Not listed | Not listed | WhatsApp add-on for approvals and payslips (price not listed) | Not listed |
| Languages | 55 languages, including Hindi, Marathi, Tamil, Bengali | English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada (app listing) | Not verified | Multilingual payslips; app language not verified | Multilingual app; languages not named | Not verified |
| Platforms | Web, Android, iOS | Web, Android, iOS | Web, Android, iOS | Web, Android, iOS | Web, Android, iOS | 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 | Growing companies with an HR team that want a full HRMS from 10 to 10,000 staff | Mid-size companies with an HR team that need a full HRMS | MSMEs and larger companies that want a full HRMS with deep compliance | SMEs with 50+ employees that want full payroll compliance at a published price | Businesses already on Zoho Books that mainly need compliant payroll |
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
What is the cheapest HRMS in India for 50 employees?
Of the products compared here, Staff Khata Growth at about ₹750 a month (₹0.50 per employee per day). Pocket HRMS Standard is ₹2,995, greytHR Growth ₹4,495 and factoHR Core ₹4,999 a month for 50 employees. Prices checked on vendor sites on 8 November 2026, excluding GST.
Do I need a full HRMS or just attendance and payroll?
If you have no HR team and mainly need attendance, overtime, leave and salary with PF and ESI, an attendance and payroll app is enough. Full HRMS suites add performance reviews, hiring, expenses and compliance filing that mainly help companies with dedicated HR staff.
Sources
- Keka: https://www.keka.com/pricing (opens in a new tab)
- greytHR: https://www.greythr.com/pricing/ (opens in a new tab)
- factoHR: https://www.factohr.com/pricing/ (opens in a new tab)
- Pocket HRMS: https://www.pockethrms.com/pricing/ (opens in a new tab)
- Zoho Payroll: https://www.zoho.com/in/payroll/pricing/ (opens in a new tab)
- Staff Khata: staffkhata.com/pricing