HRMS Pricing India 2026: What Does HR Software Actually Cost?

HRMS Pricing in India 2026: What Does HR Software Actually Cost?

The most frustrating part of evaluating HRMS in India is that almost no vendor publishes their real pricing. Every website says "contact us for pricing" or shows a starting price that excludes implementation, migration, and half the features you actually need. The result is that companies spend three weeks in demos before discovering the software they want costs three times their budget.

This guide breaks down what HRMS software actually costs in India in 2026 — subscription fees, implementation costs, hidden charges, and what you should expect to pay at different employee counts. The numbers come from publicly available pricing where it exists and from quotes collected across multiple vendor conversations.

The Real Cost Structure of Indian HRMS

Before comparing vendors, understand that HRMS pricing in India has four components, and vendors typically lead with only the first one.

1. Monthly Subscription Fee (What Vendors Advertise)

This is the per-employee-per-month (PEPM) fee, often with a minimum employee count. For example, "₹150 per employee per month, minimum 25 employees" means the minimum monthly bill is ₹3,750 regardless of whether you have 10 or 25 employees.

2. One-Time Implementation Fee

Most HRMS vendors charge a one-time fee to set up the system — configuring salary structures, leave policies, approval workflows, and importing your employee data. This fee ranges from ₹0 (some newer products waive it) to ₹75,000+ for complex multi-location setups. It is negotiable but rarely waived without asking.

3. Data Migration Fee

If you are moving from another HRMS, there is often a separate fee to migrate historical payroll data, employee records, and leave balances. This ranges from ₹10,000 to ₹50,000 depending on the volume of data and the source system.

4. Annual Price Escalation

Most HRMS contracts include an annual price increase clause — typically 10–20% per year. A product that costs ₹6,000/month in Year 1 may cost ₹7,200/month in Year 2 and ₹8,640/month in Year 3 if the escalation is 20%. Ask for the exact escalation cap before signing.

HRMS Pricing by Vendor — India 2026

PeopleVio

Subscription: ₹150–₹200 per employee per month, no minimum employee count. Implementation: Included in subscription (no separate implementation fee). Migration: Included for standard migrations (Excel, Greythr, Keka exports). Annual escalation: Capped at 10% per year.

Employee Count	Monthly Cost (approx.)
25 employees	₹3,750–₹5,000
50 employees	₹7,500–₹10,000
100 employees	₹15,000–₹20,000
200 employees	₹30,000–₹40,000

What is included: Payroll (PF, ESIC, PT, TDS), attendance, leave, employee self-service, biometric integration, mobile access, customer support with dedicated onboarding manager for 90 days.

What is not included: Additional modules like advanced performance management or recruitment pipeline (these are available as add-ons if needed).

Keka

Subscription: ₹250–₹350 per employee per month, minimum 20 employees. Implementation: ₹25,000–₹75,000 depending on complexity. Migration: ₹15,000–₹40,000. Annual escalation: 15–20% typical.

Employee Count	Monthly Cost (approx., excl. implementation)
25 employees	₹8,750–₹12,000 (minimum applies)
50 employees	₹15,000–₹20,000
100 employees	₹30,000–₹40,000
200 employees	₹55,000–₹75,000

What is included: Full HRMS suite — payroll, attendance, performance management, OKRs, recruitment, learning, expense management.

What is not included: Implementation (billed separately), dedicated onboarding support for basic plans.

Greythr

Subscription: ₹150–₹250 per employee per month, minimum 10 employees. Implementation: ₹15,000–₹40,000. Migration: ₹10,000–₹25,000. Annual escalation: 10–15% typical.

Employee Count	Monthly Cost (approx., excl. implementation)
25 employees	₹4,500–₹7,000
50 employees	₹9,000–₹13,000
100 employees	₹18,000–₹25,000
200 employees	₹35,000–₹50,000

What is included: Payroll, attendance, leave, basic performance management, self-service.

What is not included: Geofencing (add-on), advanced biometric integration (sometimes add-on), dedicated support for basic plans.

Zoho People + Zoho Payroll

Subscription: ₹100–₹200 per employee per month for the combined People + Payroll stack, minimum varies. Implementation: Generally lower than dedicated HR vendors — Zoho's setup is often self-serve for standard setups. Migration: Limited migration support included; complex migrations billed separately.

Employee Count	Monthly Cost (approx., combined People + Payroll)
25 employees	₹3,500–₹6,000
50 employees	₹7,000–₹12,000
100 employees	₹14,000–₹22,000

What is included: HR, payroll, leave, attendance, self-service, Zoho ecosystem integration.

What is not included: Biometric integration (third-party required), multi-state PT (manual configuration), dedicated payroll support.

HROne

Subscription: ₹200–₹300 per employee per month, minimum 25 employees. Implementation: ₹30,000–₹60,000. Migration: ₹20,000–₹40,000.

Employee Count	Monthly Cost (approx., excl. implementation)
50 employees	₹12,000–₹18,000
100 employees	₹22,000–₹32,000
200 employees	₹42,000–₹62,000

What is included: Full HRMS suite — payroll, attendance, performance, recruitment, analytics.

Darwinbox

Subscription: ₹300–₹500 per employee per month, minimum 100–200 employees depending on plan. Implementation: ₹1,00,000–₹5,00,000 (enterprise implementations, often via partner). Migration: Included in implementation scope, or billed separately.

Employee Count	Monthly Cost (approx., excl. implementation)
200 employees	₹70,000–₹1,20,000
500 employees	₹1,75,000–₹3,00,000

What is included: Enterprise HRMS — full suite including advanced workflow automation, succession planning, multi-entity payroll.

Total First-Year Cost Comparison

For a 50-employee company, the first-year total cost (subscription + implementation + migration) looks like this:

Vendor	Annual Subscription	Implementation	Migration	Year 1 Total
PeopleVio	₹90,000–₹1,20,000	₹0	₹0	₹90,000–₹1,20,000
Greythr	₹1,08,000–₹1,56,000	₹15,000–₹40,000	₹10,000–₹25,000	₹1,33,000–₹2,21,000
Zoho People+Payroll	₹84,000–₹1,44,000	₹0–₹20,000	₹0–₹15,000	₹84,000–₹1,79,000
Keka	₹1,80,000–₹2,40,000	₹25,000–₹75,000	₹15,000–₹40,000	₹2,20,000–₹3,55,000
HROne	₹1,44,000–₹2,16,000	₹30,000–₹60,000	₹20,000–₹40,000	₹1,94,000–₹3,16,000

Questions to Ask Before Signing Any HRMS Contract

1. What is the annual price escalation cap? Get this in writing. A 20% annual escalation means costs double in under four years.

2. Is implementation included or billed separately? The subscription price means nothing without the total first-year cost.

3. What modules are included in the base plan? "Payroll and attendance" as a base plan may exclude geofencing, performance management, recruitment, or advanced reporting.

4. What is the support SLA on payroll close dates? A four-hour response SLA for payroll failures during month end is a minimum standard.

5. What are the exit terms? Can you export all data at any time without a fee? What is the notice period? Is there an early termination fee?

6. What happens to pricing if we add employees? Some vendors have pricing tiers that jump significantly at certain employee counts — know where the steps are.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a reasonable HRMS budget for a 50-employee Indian company?

A reasonable budget for a 50-employee company is ₹6,000–₹12,000 per month in subscription fees for a full-compliance HRMS with payroll, attendance, leave, and employee self-service. Implementation should ideally be included or capped at ₹25,000 one-time. Anything significantly above ₹12,000/month for 50 employees is enterprise pricing that you are unlikely to get full value from at that company size.

Can HRMS pricing be negotiated?

Yes. Most vendors have more pricing flexibility than their initial quote suggests. Effective negotiation points: committing to annual payment upfront (typically 10–15% discount), agreeing to provide a case study or testimonial, requesting a free quarter if implementation exceeds the promised timeline, and using competing quotes to create pricing pressure. Always negotiate before signing — leverage disappears after the contract is executed.

Why do some HRMS vendors not publish pricing?

Two reasons: first, enterprise HRMS pricing is genuinely variable based on employee count, modules, implementation complexity, and contract length — a published price would be misleading. Second, many vendors prefer to collect your contact details before revealing pricing so their sales team can qualify you and apply pressure before you have comparison information. If a vendor refuses to give you a ballpark price estimate before a demo call, it is a sign that their pricing is not competitive for your size.

---

Want a written cost breakdown before a demo? PeopleVio publishes its pricing and will give you a fully-loaded cost estimate — subscription, implementation, migration — in writing before the first call. Book a demo or ask for the pricing sheet directly.