Top 10 Payroll Software In India (2026)

There is no single best payroll software in India for every Indian business, as the right solution depends on each company’s unique needs and requirements. What works perfectly for a 20-person tech startup looks completely different from what a 150-person manufacturing unit or a retail chain with five locations actually needs. Most articles skip this and hand you a ranked list as if headcount and complexity don’t matter.

We’ve tried to do something more useful here. Each software gets a short breakdown when it was founded, what it genuinely does well, who it’s really for, what it costs, and importantly when you should probably look at something else instead. No product is perfect, and knowing the gaps matters as much as knowing the strengths.

The ‘Which Payroll Software Is Right for Which Business?‘ The section below gives a quick match by team size and situation if you’d prefer to start there.

Quick Reference: All 10 Tools at a Glance

Here’s the full comparison before we go into detail on each one.

Pricing from official sources and third-party reviewers as of July 2026. Verify current plans before purchasing.

1. Waggex

Waggex was built specifically for Indian businesses where office attendance tracking isn’t enough for businesses with delivery teams, field sales reps, or employees working from multiple sites. The core idea is simple: GPS attendance and FaceLens face verification both verify on the server not just trusted from the phone and feed directly into payroll with PF, ESI, TDS, and Professional Tax calculated automatically. No attendance export, no manual reconciliation before salary day.

Every plan includes every feature GPS, face recognition, live location tracking, leave management, payroll, and compliance. You’re not paying per module.

2. greytHR

greytHR has been processing Indian payroll since 2009. It handles over 30,000 companies and processes payroll for 2 million+ employees across India. That track record on compliance is real PF ECR files, ESI challans, Form 16, TDS 24Q, multi-state Professional Tax all generated automatically and updated when rules change. For a business where getting this right is non-negotiable, greytHR’s history makes it the most trusted option in this list.

The free Starter plan for up to 25 employees covers real payroll not just attendance tracking which makes it genuinely useful for small teams.

3. Keka HR

Keka is the go-to choice for Indian tech companies that have outgrown a simple payroll tool and need full HR performance cycles, ATS for hiring, flexi-benefits, and attendance that flows automatically into payroll. The interface is the most polished in this list, and the mobile app works well for employees. Indian statutory compliance is solid.

The payroll engine is one-click once set up correctly, and the UX makes that a reality rather than a promise. For a 75-person product company running quarterly OKRs and active hiring, Keka earns its price. We’ve compared it more closely in our piece on Best HRMS Software for Startups.

4. Zoho Payroll

Zoho Payroll is a payroll-first product inside India’s largest SaaS ecosystem. If your business already runs Zoho Books for accounting, Zoho Expense for reimbursements, or Zoho People for HR records, the integration is native employee data, salary information, and tax data all talk to each other without custom work. PF, ESI, TDS, and multi-state PT are all handled.

Attendance isn’t part of Zoho Payroll itself it comes via Zoho People, which is a separate product. If you want the full HR stack, budget for both.

5. RazorpayX Payroll

RazorpayX Payroll starts from the payments end rather than the HR end. Salary disbursement happens directly through RazorpayX business banking, no separate bank file, no transfer step. TDS filings, PF payments, ESI challans, and contractor TDS are all automated from the same dashboard. At ₹30/emp/mo, it’s one of the most affordable paid payroll options available.

For businesses managing a mix of employees and contractors, freelancers, consultants, vendors the contractor module handles TDS deduction and payment automatically, which standalone payroll tools typically don’t cover well. We covered this more in How to Choose the Best Payroll Software in India.

6. HROne

HROne has one feature that no other tool in this list offers: attendance via WhatsApp. Employees send a message through WhatsApp Business and their attendance is marked with a live photo captured for verification. For businesses with blue-collar or field staff who are more comfortable with WhatsApp than a dedicated app, this removes a real adoption barrier. GPS geo-fencing, full Indian compliance, and AI-assisted query handling are all included.

HROne also offers managed payroll services HROne’s own team runs payroll on your behalf within the platform. For companies without dedicated payroll expertise, that option is genuinely useful.

7. SalaryBox

SalaryBox stands out for one specific capability: it offers both a mobile selfie/GPS attendance app and its own hardware face recognition device, both connecting to the same cloud payroll system. If your warehouse needs a gate device but your delivery executives need mobile check-in, SalaryBox can handle both in one system.

The mobile app handles offline GPS syncing in areas with weak connectivity, a real requirement for manufacturing and logistics businesses. Full PF, ESI, TDS compliance is included. We compared this against other tools in Best Staff Attendance Apps for Remote & Field Teams.

8. factoHR

factoHR has been building HR and payroll software since 2005, and it shows in one specific area: complex workforce management. If you have multiple shift patterns rotating shifts, night shifts, compensatory offs if you mix contract labour with regular employees on the same payroll run, or if your factory has strict statutory compliance requirements, factoHR handles this more naturally than newer, simpler tools.

Customer support is consistently rated among the best in the Indian HRMS market across G2 and Capterra reviews. For a manufacturing business where a payroll error affects hundreds of workers, that support quality matters.

9. Pocket HRMS

Pocket HRMS has been in the Indian market for over 20 years and has positioned itself well in the mid-market. The smHRty AI chatbot is the genuinely differentiating feature employees ask about their leave balance, payslip, or HR policy through the chatbot and get instant answers without contacting HR. For an HR team managing 80+ employees, removing 20–30 daily inbox queries saves real time.

Full Indian compliance, geo-tagged attendance, recruitment, and performance management are all included. The Standard plan at ₹2,995/month covers up to 50 employees at reasonable pricing at that scale.

10. Kredily

Kredily‘s free plan is the most genuinely useful free tier in this list: unlimited employees, no time limit, covers payroll calculations, PF, ESI, attendance, and leave management. For a bootstrapped team of 10 people where any software spend is a stretch, this is a legitimate option, not just a marketing trick.

We covered this in more detail in our guide to Free HRMS Software in India but the short version is: Kredily is the honest answer for businesses that genuinely cannot spend on payroll software yet.

Which Payroll Software Is Right for Which Business?

Here’s the honest match by situation:

• Under 25 employees, tight budget: greytHR free plan (best compliance quality) or Kredily free plan (unlimited employees). Both cover payroll basics at no cost.
• Field staff, delivery, or remote teams: Waggex. GPS + FaceLens + payroll in one system. Free plan up to 10, paid from ₹699/month.
• Startups already banking with Razorpay: RazorpayX Payroll. Salary disbursement built into your existing banking flow, free up to 20 employees.
• Already using Zoho products: Zoho Payroll. Native integration with Zoho Books and Zoho People.
• 50–500 employees, tech company, want full HR: Keka. Best UI and performance management in the market.
• WhatsApp-based check-in for blue-collar staff: HROne. The only platform to offer this natively.
• Manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, complex shifts: factoHR. Contract labour handling and shift management depth others don’t match.
• Field-heavy with option for hardware device: SalaryBox. Hardware + mobile app connecting to the same payroll system.
• Mid-market with AI chatbot for HR queries: Pocket HRMS. Reduces daily HR inbox load meaningfully at 80+ employees.
• Enterprise, multi-entity, 500+ employees: Look at PeopleStrong, Darwinbox, or ADP India beyond the scope of this list but relevant at that scale.