Best HRMS Software in India (2027): Features, Pricing and How to Choose for Your Company Size

Choose the wrong HRMS and realize it about month three. Attendance is not linked to payroll, recruitment happens in another system, and that seemingly affordable Rs 80 a head goes up to Rs 80 plus extras plus GST.

This guide compares eight systems on their features, pricing, attendance and suitability to the organization.

What an HRMS should include in 2027

The HRMS in 2027 must include employees' information, attendance and leaves, payroll processing with Indian statutory compliance, recruitment, performance, mobile self-service, and audit ready reporting. Not all solutions offer all the modules and sometimes additional cost is incurred for recruitment and learning module. Identify what modules are currently required and what modules can be added in the future.

A practical baseline:

• Core HR. Records, documents, letters and exit.
• Attendance and leave. Shifts, biometric or mobile capture, state holiday calendars.
• Payroll and compliance. PF, ESI, professional tax, TDS and payslips.
• Hiring and performance. Requisitions, onboarding, goals and reviews.
• Self-service and reports. A mobile app, approvals and exports.

One industry blog, citing Nasscom, says cloud HRMS accounts for more than 60% of new deployments in India (The People’s Board, 30 March 2026). That’s second-hand, so treat it as direction, not a fact to quote. For the difference between an HRMS, an HRIS and an HCM, see our HRIS vs HRMS vs HCM guide.

Comparison table: attendance, payroll, ATS, performance

The table compares eight tools on attendance depth, payroll, hiring, performance, pricing and support. Prices come from public pages and third-party listings, dated below, so confirm them before you buy. The order isn’t a ranking. attendance.ai, the publisher, is labelled and is attendance-first, not a full HRMS.

Best for startups and small teams

For startups and small teams, greytHR, Zimyo and Zoho People offer published or low entry prices with attendance and payroll together. RazorpayX Payroll suits payroll-only needs, and attendance.ai suits teams that need attendance first. Pick the smallest tool that covers payroll and compliance, then grow into more.

• greytHR. Publishes India prices, with Essential from Rs 3,495 a month for 50 employees.
• Zimyo. Basic starts at Rs 80 per employee a month with payroll and attendance, but hiring costs extra.
• Zoho People. Its free plan covers 5 users, but only the employee database and time off, not attendance.
• RazorpayX Payroll. Handles payroll and statutory filings. Hiring, performance and attendance need other tools.
• attendance.ai. Premium is Rs 25,000 for the first year for 50 employees, and covers attendance only.

Best for mid-size manufacturing and multi-site companies

For manufacturing and multi-site companies, shift rules, biometric punch sync and multi-entity payroll matter most. HROne, Zimyo, greytHR and Zoho People all list biometric or shift features on public pages. Test your own devices and shift patterns in a pilot, because depth differs between plans.

• HROne. Positions itself for 100 to 5,000 employees, with biometric punch sync, offline mobile attendance and multi-entity support. These are the vendor’s own claims, so verify them at a demo.
• Zimyo. Lists biometric integration, with rosters and overtime rules on Standard and Enterprise. It doesn’t supply hardware.
• greytHR. Biometric integrations sit on Growth and above. One competitor’s guide calls device connectivity a configuration job, not plug and play.
• Zoho People. Lists biometric integration, a face kiosk and shift scheduling on Essential HR+.
• Keka. Has a manufacturing page and selfie and geofence attendance from Strength, but no device list on its pricing page.

Factories also need contract-labour records. See our guides on the muster roll format and overtime rules in India.

Best for enterprises

For enterprises with thousands of employees, Darwinbox is the best-known India-built option, with Keka, Zoho People and greytHR also offering enterprise plans. Expect quote-based pricing, multi-month rollouts and per-module fees. attendance.ai isn’t built for this segment, since its public pages list attendance, requests, rosters and reports.

• Darwinbox. A listing describes it as an enterprise HRMS for 1,000 to 50,000+ employees across many countries. Pricing is quote-based, and implementations are reported at 4 to 9 months.
• Keka. Lists an enterprise page and versions for India, the US and the Gulf.
• Zoho People. Its Enterprise plan bundles Zoho Recruit and Zoho Payroll, and buyers with more than 500 users request a quote.
• greytHR. Enterprise is Rs 7,495 a month for 50 employees, plus Rs 105 per extra employee.

At this scale, ask about ERP integration, data residency, audit trails and the implementation team. Get references from companies your size.

Attendance depth: the feature most buyers underrate

Attendance depth is the feature buyers underrate, because every payroll error starts as an attendance error. Shift rules, biometric or face capture, offline sync, exceptions and leave links decide whether payroll runs cleanly. Many HRMS plans keep advanced attendance in a higher tier, so check it before you sign.

Here’s where it shows. greytHR lists biometric integrations and shifts on Growth, not Essential. Keka lists selfie clock-in and geofencing from Strength, not Foundation. Zimyo lists rosters and overtime rules from Standard. The headline price covers the basic plan, and the depth you need may sit a tier up.

Test these on your own data:

• Shifts. Rotating shifts, night shifts and grace periods.
• Capture. Which of biometric, face, selfie, GPS and geofence are included?
• Offline. What happens at a site with poor connectivity?
• Exceptions. Missed punches and regularisation.
• Payroll flow. Do leave and overtime reach payroll without rework?

Attendance is where attendance-first tools like attendance.ai aim. If your HRMS’s attendance module is thin, a dedicated layer can sit beside it, but confirm how the data reaches payroll. Our features page lists what attendance.ai covers.

Pricing models in India

Indian HRMS tools price per employee per month, as a base fee plus per-employee charges, as a flat annual fee, or by quote. Each hides different costs, like add-on modules, setup fees, GST and minimum users. Compare the three-year cost for the modules you need, then add GST.

• Per employee per month: Zimyo and attendance.ai Enterprise.
• Base plus per employee: greytHR and RazorpayX Payroll.
• Flat annual: attendance.ai Premium.
• Quote-based: Darwinbox and Keka’s public page.

Costs to watch for: Keka’s setup fee, greytHR’s Recruit at Rs 2,500 per recruiter, Zimyo’s recruitment at Rs 4,000 per recruiter a month, 18% GST on top at RazorpayX, Zoho’s 5-user minimum, and one to three-year terms on enterprise tools.

Worked example: 100 employees, three years, excluding GST, base plan only. Not like for like.

• greytHR Essential: Rs 3,495 for the first 50, plus 50 x Rs 35 = Rs 1,750, so Rs 5,245 a month. Over 36 months, Rs 1,88,820.
• Zimyo Basic: 100 x Rs 80 = Rs 8,000 a month. Over 36 months, Rs 2,88,000.
• attendance.ai Enterprise (attendance only): 100 x Rs 50 = Rs 5,000 a month. Over 36 months, Rs 1,80,000. Payroll and hiring would need other tools.

Our pricing page shows attendance.ai’s current plans.

Selection checklist and RFP questions

Use the checklist and RFP questions below to compare vendors on the same terms. Ask for written answers, test with your own data and score each vendor. A vendor that can’t answer clearly on payroll compliance, attendance depth and exit terms is telling you something.

Selection checklist

• List your must-have modules, then shortlist three vendors and ask for trials.
• Load 20 real employees, including a shift worker and a contract worker.
• Run one payroll month in parallel with your current method.
• Check statutory outputs: PF, ESI, professional tax, TDS and payslips.
• Test missed punches, night shifts, leave and overtime.
• Get the three-year cost, including GST, add-ons and renewal terms.
• Ask for two references from companies of your size, and check how you can export your data.

RFP questions 

1. Which modules are in the quoted plan, and which cost extra?
2. Which attendance features are included (biometric, face, selfie, GPS,

   geofence, offline, shifts, overtime)?

3. Which biometric devices do you support, and who configures them?
4. How do attendance, leave and overtime flow into payroll?
5. How do you handle PF, ESI, professional tax and TDS by state?
6. What are the setup, implementation and training fees?
7. What are the minimum users and the minimum contract term?
8. What is the price per employee at 100, 250 and 500 employees, excluding GST?
9. Where is our data hosted, and how do we export it if we leave?
10. What are your support hours and response times?

Conclusion

The best HRMS depends on which modules you need and how big you are. Small teams can start with greytHR, Zimyo or Zoho People, payroll-only teams with RazorpayX Payroll, factories with a tool that has real shift and biometric depth, and large enterprises with Darwinbox. Check where advanced attendance sits in each plan, since it’s often a tier above the headline price.

Shortlist three, test them with 20 real employees, run one payroll month in parallel, and send the RFP questions above. attendance.ai, the publisher of this guide, is an attendance-first option, not a full HRMS yet, so it fits best if attendance is your first problem.

Frequently asked questions

1. Explain what HRMS software is.

HRMS is a software used to manage all the functions of HR including records, attendance, leave, payroll, recruitment, and performance of employees in one solution. Some HRMS applications provide everything listed above while others do not.

2. Which HRMS software in India is the best for small organizations?

There is no one best tool. greytHR, Zimyo, and Zoho People can be chosen if attendance and payroll management are required in small teams while RazorpayX Payroll is suitable for payroll management only. 

3. What is the cost of HRMS software in India?

The published pricing starts from around Rs 50 per employee per month for basic plans, including GST, and goes up to Rs 160. greytHR, for example, offers a price of Rs 3,495 per month for 50 employees, whereas Zimyo offers Rs 80 per employee. Enterprise products like Darwinbox are quoted.

4. Is attendance by biometrics supported by HRMS software?

Yes, many do. Zoho People, greytHR and Zimyo mention biometric support on their websites; however, this feature can be on higher-tier plans. Contact each provider regarding supported biometric devices and their setup.

5. What is the difference between HRMS and payroll software?

Payroll software computes the salary and tax calculations. HRMS includes payroll calculation along with other features such as record keeping, attendance tracking, leave management, recruitment and performance management. RazorpayX Payroll is payroll software whereas Keka, greytHR and Zoho People are comprehensive solutions.