Best Zoho People Alternatives in India (2026): HR and Payroll in One

Zoho People is a capable, affordable HR product, and if your company already runs on Zoho CRM or Zoho Books, it's often the natural choice. But many companies that pick Zoho People for HR later discover something important: payroll is a separate product. Attendance and leave live in Zoho People. Salary, PF, ESI and TDS live in Zoho Payroll. That means two products, two bills, and data that has to stay in sync every month.

This guide explains why companies look for a Zoho People alternative, how to compare the real total cost, the main alternatives and who each suits, and how to move without disrupting a payroll month.

Updated 30 September 2026. Vendor features and prices change often — confirm the current details on each vendor's own website before you decide.

The short answer

• Zoho People covers core HR, attendance and leave. Payroll is sold separately as Zoho Payroll.
• Stay with Zoho if you use other Zoho apps heavily, value their integrations, or need deep customisation.
• Look for an alternative if you mainly want HR and payroll in one system with one bill, and don't depend on the Zoho ecosystem.
• Compare fairly: add up Zoho People + Zoho Payroll at your headcount, then compare that total with each alternative's single price.
• Test with real data: run one full payroll month on your own employees before you decide.

Why companies look for a Zoho People alternative

1. Two products for one job

In most Indian companies, attendance and leave decide salary. Loss of pay, half days, mid-month joiners, leavers and comp offs all change what an employee is paid. When HR and payroll are separate products, those numbers have to move from one to the other correctly every month. Integrations help, but every handover is a place where things can go wrong — and payroll errors are the ones employees notice first.

2. The price you see isn't the full price

Zoho People's pricing page shows the cost of HR. If you need payroll — and almost every company with employees in India does — Zoho Payroll is an additional cost. Companies that budget on the HR price alone are sometimes surprised by the total.

3. The ecosystem advantage doesn't apply to them

Zoho's biggest strength is how well its apps work together. If you don't use Zoho CRM, Books or other Zoho products, you're not getting that benefit, and a standalone HR and payroll product may be simpler.

4. Configuration takes time

Zoho People is highly customisable: custom forms, fields, workflows and reports. That flexibility is great for companies with an HR team that wants to design processes. Small teams often prefer something opinionated that works out of the box.

5. Indian statutory compliance is the main job

For many SMEs, the monthly work is attendance → payroll → PF → ESI → TDS. They want a tool built around that flow, rather than a general HR platform with payroll attached.

How to compare the real cost

The most common mistake in this comparison is comparing Zoho People's price with another vendor's price that already includes payroll. That understates Zoho's total cost.

Work it out like this:

1. Zoho People at your headcount, on the plan that has the features you need (attendance, leave, shifts, and so on).
2. Plus Zoho Payroll at your headcount, on the plan with the statutory features you need.
3. Plus any add-ons — biometric integration, additional modules, implementation help.
4. Compare the total with each alternative's all-in price at the same headcount.

Do the same calculation at 1.5× your current headcount. If you're growing, that's the bill you'll be paying in a year or two.

Sometimes Zoho still comes out ahead — particularly for very small teams, or companies that get extra value from the ecosystem. The point is to compare like with like.

The main Zoho People alternatives

Alternative	Type	Payroll included?	Strengths	Consider if…
greytHR	Compliance-focused HR and payroll	Yes	Deep Indian statutory coverage, including PT and state rules	Compliance depth is your top priority
factoHR	Compliance-focused HR and payroll	Yes	Statutory coverage, attendance and shift features	You run shifts and want compliance handled
Keka	Broad HR suite	Yes	Payroll plus performance, OKRs and hiring	You'll use talent-management features too
PeopleVio	Simple all-in-one HR + payroll	Yes	One per-employee price; payroll driven by attendance; PF/ESI modules	You want HR and payroll in one system with little setup
Zoho People + Zoho Payroll	Ecosystem	Separate product	Integration with Zoho apps, customisation	You already run on Zoho

Always check the current plans on each vendor's site; what's included at each tier changes.

What to test when you compare

Whatever you shortlist, test the same scenarios in each product:

1. One real month. Import ten of your employees with their salaries, a month of attendance and leave, and run payroll. Compare the payslips with the ones you issue today.
2. A joiner and a leaver mid-month. Does salary prorate correctly? Do PF and ESI follow?
3. Loss of pay. Mark two unpaid days and check that salary, PF and ESI all change as expected.
4. PF ECR and ESIC return. Generate both and compare them with the files you currently upload.
5. TDS. Change a salary mid-year and see how the monthly TDS adjusts.
6. Manager approvals on a phone. Apply for leave as an employee; approve it as a manager on mobile.
7. Export. Can you get all your data out as CSV or Excel?

A tool that passes these seven tests will handle your real month. A tool that doesn't will cost you more in corrections than you save on the subscription.

PeopleVio as a Zoho People alternative

PeopleVio puts HR, attendance, leave and payroll in one system, at one published price per active employee. There's no separate payroll product and no export between HR and payroll: check-ins, leave and regularisations flow directly into salary.

What's included in the one price:

• Payroll with loss of pay, mid-month joining and exit proration, custom earnings and deductions, and PDF payslips emailed to employees.
• PF through the EPFO module — EPF, EPS, EDLI and VPF, the wage ceiling applied by date (₹25,000 from 17 September 2026), ECR and arrear ECR files, UAN validation and challan tracking.
• ESI through the ESIC module — contribution periods, the ₹176 daily-wage exemption, the monthly return as the portal's .xls, and challan tracking.
• TDS — old and new regime, employee declarations with admin approval, and Form 16.
• Attendance — geofenced GPS check-in, biometric machines (ZKTeco, eSSL and similar) pushing punches directly, regularisation requests and an hours report.
• Leave, comp off, holidays, expenses paid through payroll, assets and offer letters.

What it doesn't do:

• No Professional Tax or Labour Welfare Fund calculation. If you have staff in PT states, you'll handle PT outside PeopleVio or add it as a deduction yourself.
• No performance reviews, OKRs or recruitment.
• No overtime pay rules or shift rostering.
• No installable mobile app — it's a responsive web app that works on phones.
• No integrations with the Zoho ecosystem.
• You still upload the ECR and ESIC files and pay challans on the government portals.

If PT calculation or Zoho integration are must-haves, PeopleVio isn't the right fit, and we'd rather you know that now.

What PeopleVio costs

Active employees	Rate (monthly billing)	Monthly cost	Rate (yearly billing)	Monthly cost, billed yearly
10	₹59	₹590	₹49	₹490
25	₹59	₹1,475	₹49	₹1,225
50	₹49	₹2,450	₹41	₹2,050
100	₹49	₹4,900	₹41	₹4,100
300	₹39	₹11,700	₹33	₹9,900

Prices exclude GST. Payroll, PF, ESI and TDS are included — compare this with Zoho People plus Zoho Payroll at the same headcount. See the pricing page for current rates.

A worked example: a 35-person agency

A 35-person digital agency uses Zoho People for leave and attendance. It doesn't use any other Zoho apps. Payroll is done in a spreadsheet by an external accountant, who asks for an attendance export every month.

The monthly routine today:

1. HR exports attendance and leave from Zoho People on the 1st.
2. The accountant rebuilds the payroll sheet, calculates PF, ESI and TDS, and sends back payslips a few days later.
3. Corrections for late regularisations go into next month.
4. PF and ESI returns are prepared from the same spreadsheet.

The two options:

• Add Zoho Payroll. Keeps them in Zoho, removes the spreadsheet, adds a second subscription.
• Move to an all-in-one tool. One system for attendance, leave, payroll, PF, ESI and TDS. The accountant reviews rather than rebuilds.

Because they don't use other Zoho apps, the ecosystem benefit is small. The decision comes down to total price at 35 employees, and which product's payroll they trust after a parallel month.

How to move from Zoho People

1. Pick the month. April is cleanest for TDS; otherwise choose a quiet payroll month.
2. Export employees from Zoho People (codes, departments, managers, joining dates) and salary details from Zoho Payroll or your spreadsheet.
3. Import employees in bulk, then UANs, PF member IDs and ESIC IP numbers.
4. Recreate leave policies, holidays, office timings and office locations for geofencing.
5. Carry forward year-to-date salary and TDS if you switch mid-year.
6. Run one month in parallel and compare every payslip and the PF and ESI files.
7. Go live, and keep your Zoho exports for records.

Frequently asked questions

Does Zoho People include payroll? No. Payroll is a separate product, Zoho Payroll, with its own pricing. Check Zoho's website for current packaging.

What is the best Zoho People alternative in India? For compliance depth, look at greytHR or factoHR. For HR plus performance and hiring, Keka. For HR and payroll in one simple price, PeopleVio. The best choice depends on whether you need Professional Tax, talent management or Zoho integrations.

Is Zoho People cheaper than the alternatives? Zoho People on its own can be cheaper, but it doesn't include payroll. Compare Zoho People plus Zoho Payroll with each alternative's total price at your headcount.

Does PeopleVio calculate PF, ESI and TDS? Yes. PF and ESI are calculated through the EPFO and ESIC modules, which also generate the ECR and ESIC return files. TDS is built into payroll, with Form 16. Professional Tax isn't calculated.

When should I stay with Zoho? When your company already runs on Zoho CRM, Books or other Zoho apps and uses those integrations, or when you need heavy customisation of HR forms and workflows.

How long does a migration take? Two to four weeks for most small and mid-size companies, including one parallel payroll month.

The bottom line

Zoho People is a good HR product, and inside the Zoho ecosystem it's hard to beat. Outside it, the separate payroll product is the main reason companies look elsewhere. Add up the real total — HR plus payroll — and compare it with tools that include both, then test the finalists on a real payroll month.

If you want HR and payroll in one system, see PeopleVio's pricing or book a demo and we'll set up a workspace for your company, usually the same day.

Related reading: PeopleVio vs Zoho People · Keka vs Zoho People · greytHR vs Zoho People · Best Keka alternatives in India