Top Picks 2026
Picking payroll software in India is non-negotiable above 10 employees — Excel cannot keep up with PF, ESI, TDS, PT, and gratuity calculations. We have ranked seven payroll tools based on real Indian deployments, focusing on compliance depth, cost at scale, and onboarding effort. The best choice depends on your employee count and whether HRMS is bundled or separate.
Free up to 25 employees — full Indian compliance
GreytHR is the most mature Indian payroll product (15+ years), genuinely free up to 25 employees with complete PF, ESI, TDS, PT, gratuity automation. Above 25 employees, ~₹100/employee/month. Used by 20,000+ Indian businesses including many CA-recommended deployments. Strong on Indian-specific edge cases like multi-state PT, F&F settlements, and leave encashment.
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Cons
Best for: Indian startups and SMBs under 100 employees who want lowest-friction Indian payroll
Cheapest paid plan — ₹33/employee/month
Zoho Payroll is the cheapest paid Indian payroll, at ₹33/employee/month with a ₹50/month minimum. Tight integration with Zoho People HRMS (₹50/employee/month) and Zoho Books accounting. Indian company (Chennai). Best fit for businesses already on Zoho or planning to consolidate to Zoho One.
Pros
Cons
Best for: Indian businesses on Zoho ecosystem or wanting cheapest paid payroll
No platform fee — only ₹100/employee when you run payroll
RazorpayX Payroll has no monthly platform fee; you pay ₹100/employee only when you actually run payroll. Tightly integrated with Razorpay business account for same-day salary credit. Full compliance: PF, ESI, TDS, PT. Best for tech-first Indian startups already using Razorpay payments.
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Best for: Tech startups using Razorpay for payments
₹6,999/month flat for 100 employees — full HRMS + payroll
Keka bundles payroll with full HRMS (attendance, leave, performance) at a flat ₹6,999/month up to 100 employees. Above 100, per-employee charges apply. Modern UX preferred by millennial Indian workforce. Strong compliance handling for Indian statutory requirements.
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Best for: Mid-size Indian SMBs 30-150 employees wanting modern UX
Managed payroll — outsource for ~₹150/employee
Quikchex is a managed payroll service — they run your payroll for you. Different model from DIY software: pay ~₹150-300/employee/month and Quikchex handles all calculations, statutory filings, and queries. Good for businesses that don't want internal payroll resource.
Pros
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Best for: Indian SMBs without dedicated payroll headcount
₹45/employee/month — value play
Pocket HRMS Basic is one of the cheapest paid HRMS+payroll at ₹45/employee/month. Full Indian statutory compliance. UI is functional but dated. Solid for cost-sensitive Indian businesses prioritising price over UX.
Pros
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Best for: Cost-sensitive Indian SMBs above 25 employees
Enterprise HRMS+payroll — for 500+ employees
Darwinbox is the leading Indian enterprise HRMS with full payroll. Multi-country support, modern UX, used by large enterprises like Adani and Vedanta. Quote-based pricing (typically ₹250-500/employee/month + ₹5-15 lakh implementation). Overkill for SMBs.
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Best for: Indian enterprises with 500+ employees and multi-country operations
GreytHR is the cheapest credible payroll for businesses under 25 employees — genuinely free with full compliance. Above 25 employees, Zoho Payroll at ₹33/employee/month is the cheapest paid option. RazorpayX (₹100/employee on payroll runs only) is competitive if you do not run payroll monthly.
All top options (GreytHR, Zoho Payroll, RazorpayX, Keka, Pocket HRMS, Quikchex) generate the required upload files: PF ECR for EPFO, ESI challan for ESIC, Form 24Q quarterly TDS, Form 16 annual, Professional Tax for each state. Most filings are one-click uploads to government portals.
In-house via software (GreytHR, Zoho Payroll) is cost-effective for under 100 employees (₹0-₹10,000/month + 4-8 hours/month HR time). Outsourced (Quikchex, ADP) makes sense above 100 employees, multi-state complexity, or no dedicated payroll resource. Total cost outsourced: ₹150-300/employee/month all-in.
Yes — GreytHR, Zoho Payroll/People, Keka, RazorpayX all integrate with Indian biometric brands (eSSL, Mantra, Realtime, Anviz, BioMax). Attendance logs feed into payroll for overtime, late mark, and leave-without-pay calculations.
GreytHR Starter: 1-2 weeks. Zoho Payroll: 2-4 weeks. Keka: 4-8 weeks (more complex). Quikchex managed: 2-3 weeks. Implementation involves: employee master import, salary structure config, statutory setup (PF/ESI numbers), biometric integration, and first-month parallel run.
Pick the right payroll software in 15 minutes — free India consultation with setup support.