Keka Pricing in India 2026: Full Cost Breakdown (Plans, Hidden Fees, Real Quotes)

Quick Answer: What Does Keka Cost in India (2026)?

Keka's published pricing starts around ₹6,999/month for its Foundation plan (up to 100 employees), but most companies end up paying ₹9,000–₹25,000/month once they add the modules they actually need — performance management, advanced ATS, or expense tracking are priced separately.

Plan	Starting Price	Employees Covered	What's Included
Foundation	₹6,999/mo	Up to 100	Core HR, attendance, payroll
Strong	₹10,999/mo	Up to 100	+ Performance management
Enterprise	Custom quote	100+	+ ATS, advanced analytics, SSO

The catch: Keka prices per plan tier, not strictly per employee, so a 101st employee can force you into the next tier or a custom enterprise quote — a jump that can double your bill overnight.

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Keka's Official Plans Explained

Keka sells three tiers, and the names change often enough that quotes from six months ago may not match what you're shown today. As of this writing:

Foundation

Core payroll, attendance, and leave management. No performance reviews, no applicant tracking. Fine for a company that just needs clean payroll and compliance.

Strong

Everything in Foundation, plus performance management (goals, reviews, 360° feedback). This is the tier most growing companies actually need, and it's priced meaningfully above Foundation.

Enterprise

Custom pricing, negotiated per company. Includes applicant tracking, advanced workflow automation, and dedicated support. Sales will not publish a number for this tier — you have to go through a demo call, and the quote varies based on how much leverage you show.

What this means for you: if you're above 100 employees, you're not getting a self-serve price. Budget time for a sales negotiation, not a checkout page.

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What Keka Actually Costs at Different Team Sizes

These are street prices reported by companies that have actually signed contracts, not the number on Keka's pricing page.

Company Size	Typical Monthly Cost	Annual Cost	Effective Per Employee
20 employees	₹6,999 – ₹8,500	₹84K – ₹1.02L	₹350 – ₹425/mo
50 employees	₹7,500 – ₹11,000	₹90K – ₹1.32L	₹150 – ₹220/mo
100 employees	₹10,999 – ₹16,000	₹1.32L – ₹1.92L	₹110 – ₹160/mo
250 employees	Custom, typically ₹28,000 – ₹45,000/mo	₹3.36L – ₹5.4L	₹112 – ₹180/mo

Small teams pay the steepest per-employee rate because Keka's floor price doesn't scale down — a 20-person company is often paying close to what a 90-person company pays on the same tier.

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Hidden Costs Keka Doesn't Advertise

1. Performance management is a paywall, not a feature. Goal-setting, reviews, and 360° feedback sit behind the Strong tier. If you signed up for Foundation thinking you'd "turn it on later," you're looking at a forced upgrade, not a toggle.

2. Implementation and onboarding support can be billed separately for larger accounts — ask explicitly whether data migration from Excel or your previous HRMS is included or quoted extra.

3. Annual vs monthly pricing gap. Keka's monthly rate is noticeably higher than the annual rate (commonly 15–20% more). Sales will quote you the annual number by default unless you ask for monthly — know which one you're comparing before you sign.

4. WhatsApp/SMS notifications and biometric device integrations are sometimes metered add-ons rather than bundled, depending on the device vendor you're connecting.

5. Support tier matters. Standard support response times on lower tiers can run 24–48 hours for non-critical tickets — if you need same-day support, confirm it's included rather than assuming it.

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Keka vs GreytHR vs Zoho People: Pricing Side-by-Side

Keka rarely gets evaluated in isolation — most buyers are comparing it against GreytHR and Zoho People at the same time. Here's how the three stack up at a 50-employee company, using street prices rather than the lowest advertised number:

	Keka	GreytHR	Zoho People
Starting price (50 employees)	₹7,500 – ₹11,000/mo	₹5,500 – ₹8,000/mo	₹4,500 – ₹7,000/mo
Performance management	Paywalled (Strong tier+)	Included on mid-tier	Separate add-on module
Payroll compliance (PF/ESI/PT)	Included	Included	Included
Mobile app	Included	Included	Included
Biometric integration	Supported, some devices metered	Supported	Supported
Implementation support	Standard, paid for complex migrations	Generally included	Self-serve on lower tiers
Best fit	Mid-size companies needing workflow depth	Price-sensitive SMEs wanting compliance-first	Teams already on other Zoho products

The pattern: Keka is consistently the most expensive of the three once you need performance management, because GreytHR and Zoho People bundle a usable version of it earlier in their tier structure. You're paying a premium for Keka's UI polish and workflow automation — not for features the other two lack entirely.

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Full Feature-to-Price Matrix

Before you compare a single number, confirm which features actually sit behind which price. This is the matrix sales reps don't hand you upfront:

Feature	Foundation	Strong	Enterprise
Core payroll & compliance	✅	✅	✅
Attendance & leave	✅	✅	✅
Employee self-service app	✅	✅	✅
Performance management (goals, reviews)	❌	✅	✅
360° feedback	❌	✅	✅
Applicant tracking (ATS)	❌	❌	✅
Advanced workflow automation	❌	Limited	✅
SSO / advanced security controls	❌	❌	✅
Dedicated account manager	❌	❌	✅

If your checklist includes even one Enterprise-tier item, don't negotiate on the Foundation or Strong number — you're pricing the wrong tier entirely, and the real conversation needs to start with the enterprise sales team.

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Keka vs PeopleVio: Price-for-Price

	Keka (Foundation/Strong)	PeopleVio
Starting price	₹6,999/mo (Foundation, no performance mgmt)	Lower flat per-employee rate, performance management included from day one
Pricing model	Tiered bands — jumping bands can double your bill	Per-employee, scales linearly — no tier-jump surprise
Performance management	Paywalled behind Strong tier	Included
PF/ESI/ECR compliance	Included	Included
Minimum team size for best rate	Priced for 50–100+ to be efficient	Efficient from 1–25 employees too
Contract flexibility	Annual preferred, monthly costs more	Monthly and annual both reasonable

If your team is under 50 people and you don't need enterprise-scale workflow automation, Keka's tier structure works against you — you're paying close to the same price as a 90-person company for a fraction of the headcount. That's the exact gap PeopleVio's per-employee pricing is built to close.

Compare your exact headcount → or book a 20-minute demo and we'll show you a side-by-side quote against your current Keka bill.

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Contract Terms, Payment Methods & Cancellation

Billing cycle: Annual contracts are Keka's default pitch, paid upfront or in installments depending on deal size. Monthly billing exists but typically costs 15–20% more per employee.

Payment methods: Bank transfer and card payments are standard; larger enterprise deals are often invoiced with net-30 terms.

Cancellation: Mid-contract cancellation on an annual plan is generally not refundable — read the termination clause before signing, specifically around what happens if you cancel in month 4 of a 12-month term.

Auto-renewal: Annual contracts commonly auto-renew unless you cancel within a notice window (often 30–60 days before renewal). Put a calendar reminder for this date the day you sign — it's the single most common way companies end up paying for a year they didn't mean to commit to.

Data export on exit: Ask explicitly how payroll history and employee records are exported if you leave. This should be in writing, not a verbal assurance from your sales contact.

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When Keka Is Worth the Price

To be fair to Keka: if you're a 150+ employee company that genuinely needs deep applicant tracking, complex approval workflows, and you have the budget for a negotiated enterprise plan, Keka's Enterprise tier is a mature, well-supported product. The pricing makes sense once you're large enough that the per-employee rate flattens out.

The pricing stops making sense when you're under 100 employees and getting charged tier-based rates designed for larger accounts.

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How to Negotiate Keka's Quote

1. Always ask for the annual price first, then ask what the monthly equivalent would look like — don't let monthly be the anchor.
2. Ask exactly what headcount triggers the next tier, and whether you can lock your current tier's rate for 12–24 months as you grow past it.
3. Get the performance management module quoted separately even if you're on Strong — confirm it's not a future upsell.
4. Ask for a competitor-match discount if you have a quote from another vendor (including PeopleVio) — most HRMS vendors, Keka included, will match or beat a documented competing quote rather than lose the deal.
5. Push for a free trial period on your actual data, not a sandbox demo — pricing conversations go very differently once you've seen your real payroll run inside the product.

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A Realistic Example: 85-Employee Company

To make this concrete, here's what an 85-employee services company (needing performance reviews, not applicant tracking) could realistically expect:

• Tier needed: Strong (Foundation doesn't include performance management)
• Quoted monthly: ₹13,500 – ₹15,500/month
• Annual, paid upfront: ₹1.5L – ₹1.75L (roughly 15% cheaper than monthly × 12)
• Add-ons to ask about: biometric device integration (confirm which devices are free vs metered), WhatsApp notifications, data migration from their previous Excel-based system
• Realistic all-in annual cost including setup: ₹1.7L – ₹2.1L

That works out to roughly ₹165–₹205 per employee per month once hidden costs are factored in — well above the ₹110–₹160 range Keka's own pricing page implies for a 100-employee band, because this company sits just under that threshold and still needs Strong-tier features.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Is Keka free to try? Keka offers a demo and in some cases a limited trial period, but it is not a free-forever plan — expect to need a paid plan to use it beyond the trial window.

Does Keka charge per employee or per plan? Both, in effect. Plans are tiered by employee bands, so you're paying for a band (e.g., "up to 100 employees") rather than a strict per-head rate — meaning a company with 60 employees and one with 95 can pay the same price.

Is Keka cheaper than Zoho People or GreytHR? It varies by headcount and modules. Keka tends to be priced higher once you need performance management, since that's bundled into GreytHR and Zoho People at lower tiers in some plans. Always compare quotes at your specific headcount rather than published starting prices.

Can I downgrade my Keka plan later? Downgrades are possible but typically take effect at renewal, not immediately — confirm the downgrade policy in writing before signing an annual contract.

What's a realistic Keka budget for a 50-employee company in India? Budget ₹7,500–₹11,000/month depending on whether you need performance management, which is roughly ₹90,000–₹1,32,000 annually.

Does Keka charge a setup or implementation fee? For standard onboarding, usually not. For complex data migration from legacy systems or multiple payroll entities, implementation support is sometimes quoted separately — ask for this in writing before signing.

Is there a penalty for cancelling a Keka annual contract early? Typically yes — annual plans are generally non-refundable mid-term. Confirm the exact termination clause in your contract rather than relying on a verbal answer from sales.

Does Keka's price include GST? Published prices are usually quoted before GST (18%), so your actual invoice will run higher than the sticker number. Always ask for a GST-inclusive final figure when comparing quotes.

How does Keka pricing compare for a multi-location company? Multi-location companies with separate payroll entities (different PF/ESI registrations per location) often get quoted at the Enterprise tier regardless of total headcount, since Keka treats multi-entity payroll as an advanced workflow feature.

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Comparing HRMS pricing before you switch? See PeopleVio's transparent per-employee pricing or talk to our team for a direct cost comparison against your current Keka quote.