If you are budgeting HRMS software in India, the confusing part is rarely the vendor shortlist. It is the real year-one cost.
Most pricing pages show a clean monthly number. The actual bill often includes payroll setup, leave policy mapping, biometric attendance, employee data migration, manager training and support after go-live. That is why one product can look cheap and still become an expensive mistake.
This is the practical budgeting version for Indian businesses.
The short answer
| Route | Typical fit | One-time implementation | Ongoing software cost | Realistic go-live |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| greytHR-class payroll-first HRMS | 25-300 employees, standard Indian payroll and attendance | ₹25,000 - ₹1,50,000 | ₹3,495 - ₹9,000/month for smaller teams, then headcount-linked | 1-3 weeks |
| Keka-class all-in-one HRMS | 50-1,000 employees, wants payroll, attendance and employee self-service in one product | ₹60,000 - ₹3,00,000 | ₹6,999 - ₹25,000+/month depending on plan and headcount | 2-6 weeks |
| Zoho People + Zoho Payroll | 10-200 employees, already uses Zoho, prefers modular pricing | ₹25,000 - ₹2,00,000 | HRMS from roughly ₹48 - ₹192 per user/month plus payroll from about ₹1,000/month organisation pricing | 1-4 weeks |
| Custom HRMS | Unusual workflows, multi-entity rules or deep internal integrations | ₹8,00,000 - ₹35,00,000 | ₹30,000 - ₹1,50,000/month support, hosting and changes | 10-24 weeks |
|---|
For most Indian companies under roughly 300 employees, packaged SaaS is the right first answer. Custom only makes sense when the workflow is genuinely exceptional.
What businesses usually spend in year one
| Business profile | Most sensible route | Typical year-one budget |
|---|---|---|
| 20-50 employees, one entity, standard payroll and leave | greytHR or Zoho stack | ₹1,00,000 - ₹3,00,000 |
| 50-150 employees, payroll plus attendance plus manager approvals | Keka or stronger greytHR tier | ₹2,50,000 - ₹7,00,000 |
| 150-500 employees, multiple departments and more reporting | Keka, Zoho stack or enterprise HRMS | ₹6,00,000 - ₹18,00,000 |
| Multi-entity or heavily customised operations | Enterprise HRMS or custom | ₹15,00,000 - ₹50,00,000 |
|---|
That spread is wide because software fee is only one part of the project. Payroll rules, attendance logic and data quality move the number more than the seat price.
greytHR vs Keka vs Zoho People vs custom
| Option | Public pricing signal in 2026 | Best when | Watch-outs |
|---|---|---|---|
| greytHR | Paid plans commonly surface around ₹3,495/month for 50 employees | You want a payroll-first Indian HRMS with predictable cost | Feature depth and add-ons vary by plan |
| Keka | Public plan references commonly start around ₹6,999/month for up to 100 employees | You want HR, payroll and attendance in one cleaner package | Setup fee applies and higher tiers matter |
| Zoho People + Payroll | Zoho People signals commonly sit around ₹48 - ₹192 per user/month annually, with Payroll from about ₹1,000/month for 25 employees | You already use Zoho and prefer modular tools | People alone is not a full Indian payroll stack |
| Custom HRMS | Usually ₹8 lakh+ before serious integration work | Your process is unusual enough to justify ownership | Long rollout and ongoing product burden |
|---|
The important comparison point is simple: Zoho People by itself is not the same thing as greytHR or Keka, because Indian statutory payroll sits separately. A lot of buyers underestimate that and compare only the lowest visible number.
Three realistic budget examples
| Scenario | Software | Implementation and setup | Year-one total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 40-employee company on greytHR paid plan | ₹41,940/year | ₹45,000 | ₹86,940 |
| 100-employee company on Keka Foundation-class pricing | ₹83,988/year | ₹1,20,000 | ₹2,03,988 |
| 75-employee company on Zoho People Professional plus Zoho Payroll | ₹1,31,400/year | ₹90,000 | ₹2,21,400 |
|---|
These are planning figures, not fixed quotes. They assume a normal rollout, not a cleanup project with broken attendance or unreliable old payroll data.
What changes the bill the most
1. Payroll complexity
Payroll in India is not just payslip generation. The real work is PF, ESI, professional tax, TDS, reimbursements, arrears, full-and-final settlement and state-level variations.
| Payroll complexity | Typical added budget |
|---|---|
| Standard monthly payroll and leave setup | ₹15,000 - ₹40,000 |
| Payroll with shifts, overtime and multiple salary templates | ₹40,000 - ₹1,00,000 |
| Multi-state compliance, reimbursements and custom policies | ₹1,00,000 - ₹3,00,000 |
|---|
2. Attendance and biometric setup
If your workforce is office-based and happy with app or web check-ins, setup is easy. If you run shifts, plants, branches or field teams, attendance becomes its own mini-project.
Budget extra when you need:
- biometric device integration
- geo-attendance or mobile punch-in rules
- multiple shifts and weekly-off patterns
- overtime and comp-off logic
- branch-wise holiday calendars
3. Data migration
Importing employee master data is cheap. Importing years of leave balances, attendance history and salary components is not. Most vendors will move basic records quickly. Fewer will clean duplicate employee IDs or inconsistent payroll heads without charging for the effort.
4. Training and adoption
A system is not successful because HR can log in. It is successful when managers approve in it, employees use self-service and payroll stops depending on backup spreadsheets.
Budget ₹15,000 to ₹75,000 for structured training and first-month support. It looks optional on proposals. It usually is not.
Where each route fits best
greytHR
greytHR is usually the sensible answer when the business wants payroll discipline first and has a fairly standard Indian setup. It works well for cost-conscious SMEs that want to go live quickly without turning HR software into a three-month project.
Keka
Keka usually suits companies that want a broader, cleaner employee experience across payroll, attendance and HR workflows. For many Indian SMEs, it feels more complete from day one. The trade-off is that setup fee and plan selection matter more than the headline number suggests.
Zoho People plus Zoho Payroll
This route makes sense when you already use Zoho for CRM, Books or related tools and want a modular stack. It can be very cost-effective for smaller teams, but only if you budget both products together instead of comparing Zoho People alone with full HRMS platforms.
Custom HRMS
Custom is right much less often than agencies claim. It becomes sensible when you have multi-entity approvals, plant-specific attendance rules, internal system dependencies or other workflows that packaged tools handle badly. If you are still defining your HR policies, do not build custom HRMS yet.
Where HRMS projects fail
The most common failure is not technical. It is organisational. Businesses buy software before settling policy decisions.
Typical failure modes are:
- Nobody owns payroll and policy decisions during rollout.
- Branches follow different attendance rules that were never documented.
- The chosen plan does not cover expected reports or approvals.
- Employees keep using WhatsApp and Excel after go-live.
If you are leaning towards custom implementation, vendor selection matters more than the demo. Our post on choosing a software development company in Bhopal is a useful filter for that stage.
When SaaS is the better choice
SaaS is usually better when:
- your payroll and attendance rules are broadly standard
- you want to go live in weeks, not months
- headcount is below a few hundred users
- HR software is support infrastructure, not a competitive edge
Custom or deeper implementation work is more defensible when workarounds are already expensive and your approval or attendance logic is central to operations. If that is your situation, start with a grounded scope discussion rather than the most polished sales demo. The cleanest next step is the inquiry page.
FAQ
What does HRMS software cost in India for a 50-employee company?
For a 50-employee Indian company, a realistic year-one HRMS budget is usually ₹1 lakh to ₹3 lakh if payroll, leave, attendance and basic implementation are included. The annual subscription alone may look lower, but setup, migration and training usually add a meaningful extra layer to the bill.
Is Zoho People cheaper than Keka in India?
On seat price alone, Zoho People is often cheaper. In practice, the comparison is only fair when you include Zoho Payroll as well, because Zoho People by itself is not a full Indian statutory payroll product. For companies already inside the Zoho ecosystem, it can still be the more economical route.
When should a company build custom HRMS software?
A company should consider custom HRMS only when its workflow is genuinely unusual and packaged tools are already causing costly workarounds. Good reasons include multi-entity approvals, plant-specific attendance logic and mandatory internal integrations. Wanting a unique dashboard or slightly different forms is not enough reason to build.
How long does HRMS implementation usually take in India?
A standard HRMS rollout in India usually takes 1 to 6 weeks for small and mid-sized businesses. Payroll-only setups are faster. Multi-branch attendance, biometric integration, poor historical data and custom approval chains push timelines out. Custom HRMS projects usually take 10 to 24 weeks because workflow definition becomes part of the build.
What hidden costs should I check before signing an HRMS contract?
Check setup fees, payroll module charges, biometric integration, per-employee overage pricing, GST, migration, training, support SLAs and any extra fee for branches or legal entities. Also ask whether full-and-final settlement, Form 16, professional tax handling and statutory filings are included or sold separately.