Keka alternatives · read 19 Oct 2026
Keka publishes its complete HR stack from ₹6,999 a month, without the headcount that covers. At 10 people, LekhaHR costs ₹990 a month with payroll included; the alternatives below run from ₹0 (Kredily’s free plan) to ₹4,950 (HROne Basic), each with what it leaves out (vendors’ pricing pages, read 19 Oct 2026).
No. 01
The alternatives
Each vendor’s lowest-cost published route to records, attendance, leave and payroll, monthly, before GST. Sorted by the bill at 25 people; LekhaHR is ours and sits where its bill puts it.
₹0
Free Forever plan with payroll, attendance and leave; paid plans add payouts and challans
Kredily pricing page, read 19 Oct 2026
₹1,456
attendance, leave and payslips, per staff a year
PagarBook pricing page, read 19 Oct 2026
₹2,475
records, attendance, leave and payroll with PF, ESI, PT and TDS, onboarding, exits and F&F, approvals
LekhaHR pricing, read 19 Oct 2026
₹4,250
two products: People Professional for attendance, Payroll for salaries
Zoho People and Zoho Payroll (India) pricing pages, read 19 Oct 2026
₹4,495
payroll in every plan; attendance from Growth
greytHR pricing page, read 19 Oct 2026
₹4,950
core HR, attendance, leave and payroll
HROne pricing page, read 19 Oct 2026
₹6,499
payroll with attendance, salary payouts and filings
RazorpayX Payroll pricing page, read 19 Oct 2026
Every vendor’s published plans at 5, 25 and 100 people are on HRMS pricing in India, payroll-only plans such as RazorpayX Payroll included, and Keka’s own starting prices are on Keka pricing.
No. 02
Module by module
| Module | LekhaHR OperationsOurs | Keka | Zoho People + Payroll | greytHR | RazorpayX Payroll | HROne |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| People records | Included | Included | Included | Included | Included | Included |
| Attendance and shifts | Included | Included | Higher plan: People Professional | Higher plan: Growth | Included | Included |
| Geo punch (location at punch, geofence) | Included | Higher plan: Strength | Not listed | Higher plan: Growth | Not listed | Not listed |
| Leave | Included | Included | Included | Included | Included | Included |
| Payroll with PF, ESI, PT and TDS | Included | Included | Included | Included | Included | Included |
| Payslips | Included | Included | Included | Included | Included | Included |
| Onboarding | Included | Included | Included | Included | Included | Higher plan: Professional |
| Exits and F&F | Included | Included | Included | Included | Not listed | Included |
| Approvals | Included | Higher plan: Growth | Included | Higher plan: Growth | Not listed | Not listed |
| Employee self-service | Included | Included | Included | Included | Included | Included |
| Performance reviews | Higher plan: Business plan | Higher plan: Growth | Higher plan: People Premium | Add-on: ₹35–₹45 a user | Not listed | Higher plan: Enterprise |
| Expense claims | Higher plan: Business plan | Included | Separate product: Zoho Expense | Add-on: ₹35 a user | Higher plan: Enterprise | Higher plan: Enterprise |
LekhaHR OperationsOurs
All included except: Performance reviews (Higher plan: Business plan); Expense claims (Higher plan: Business plan)
Keka
All included except: Geo punch (location at punch, geofence) (Higher plan: Strength); Approvals (Higher plan: Growth); Performance reviews (Higher plan: Growth)
Zoho People + Payroll
All included except: Attendance and shifts (Higher plan: People Professional); Geo punch (location at punch, geofence) (Not listed); Performance reviews (Higher plan: People Premium); Expense claims (Separate product: Zoho Expense)
greytHR
All included except: Attendance and shifts (Higher plan: Growth); Geo punch (location at punch, geofence) (Higher plan: Growth); Approvals (Higher plan: Growth); Performance reviews (Add-on: ₹35–₹45 a user); Expense claims (Add-on: ₹35 a user)
RazorpayX Payroll
All included except: Geo punch (location at punch, geofence) (Not listed); Exits and F&F (Not listed); Approvals (Not listed); Performance reviews (Not listed); Expense claims (Higher plan: Enterprise)
HROne
All included except: Geo punch (location at punch, geofence) (Not listed); Onboarding (Higher plan: Professional); Approvals (Not listed); Performance reviews (Higher plan: Enterprise); Expense claims (Higher plan: Enterprise)
Each vendor’s own pricing or product page, read 19 Oct 2026 · “Not listed” means the vendor’s page does not say.
No. 03
When to stay
No. 04–07 · Switching
What moves across, how the switch runs, the parallel month and the cut-over.
No. 04
What moves
Six of Keka's own reports, each a plain Excel download: people and their jobs, contact details, bank and statutory IDs, salaries, pay so far this tax year and leave balances. Each piece keeps a pointer to the file it came from, and importing a report again replaces the last import instead of adding to it.
because the Keka preset knows its column names and date format. Managers come across by name, as Keka writes them; two people with the same name go to a picker.
because personal email, phone numbers and addresses fill each person's profile in the same pass.
because a wrong account sends a salary to someone else: the import only fills empty fields, a second person checks the rows before anything is saved, and error files never show the values.
because Keka's components are matched once to LekhaHR's, and where LekhaHR's formula gives a different amount you see both and keep Keka's figure or adopt the formula.
because TDS for the rest of the year must count what Keka already deducted. The report carries pay by component, PF and income tax; you confirm each person's tax regime and taxable salary before the first run.
because each closing balance on the last day of the last month paid in Keka becomes the first line of that person's leave ledger, with the file and row it came from.
Keka's reports don't carry its settings: leave plans, shifts and weekly offs, holiday lists, late-mark rules and approval routes have to be set once in LekhaHR. Each one your Job Details file names is listed with how many people it covers, starting from a template close to what you had, and people come across only after every value is matched. See how each payslip line is then worked out, with PF, ESI, PT and TDS, on payroll software for small teams. Before importing employee records, review who can access salary, bank details and payroll in LekhaHR.
No. 05
How it works
In four steps. Download six reports from Keka. Tell LekhaHR they come from Keka and check the columns it matches. Decide only the rows that need a decision. Then run one month side by side against Keka's pay register: nothing is paid from LekhaHR until every difference has a cause you accept.
Each is a plain Excel download in Keka, run for all business units and up to the last day of the last month paid in Keka. A spreadsheet you keep yourself works too.
Say the file is from Keka and its columns are matched for you, so you only check them. A column LekhaHR doesn't know stays "Not imported", never guessed.
Rows that pass every check go straight in. A row with a problem, such as a negative balance or a missing PAN, waits for a decision and says why.
LekhaHR calculates a month from the same inputs as Keka. Nothing is paid or sent from LekhaHR until every difference has a cause you accept.
because it came from Keka's leave balances report of 30 Sep 2026, row 4
because their columns and values passed every check
because a casual leave balance below zero needs a decision, not a guess
Design preview · sample data · Paiteq Technologies
No. 06
The parallel month
LekhaHR runs the last month paid in Keka from the same salary data, after you import that month's attendance or LOP days. Take-home is compared person by person. Every difference is grouped by cause and settled once, and nothing is paid or sent from LekhaHR during the run.
because 1 day without pay on Tue 22 Sep is in the attendance you imported; the old run had not applied it. Settled: LekhaHR's days are right.
Causes you will usually see
because a difference with a cause is information. A difference without one is a reason to wait.
Design preview · sample data · Paiteq Technologies
No. 07
What you keep
Going live is a date you pick after the parallel month. Until then your team sees nothing new, and after it each imported figure still names the Keka file it came from.
because a second person checked them before they were saved
because the opening line names the file, date and row it came from
because TDS for the rest of the year counts what Keka already deducted
because the originals stay with you, and each import can be run again
Past payslips and pay registers don't move: download them from Keka, and keep access until this year's Form 130 (earlier Form 16) certificates are issued, or keep the files. Returns and challans for months run in Keka stay with Keka's records; keep them for corrections. People serving notice and open loans or advances aren't in the six reports, so enter notice dates and loan balances in LekhaHR before go-live.
No. 08
Questions
It depends on headcount and modules, not on one name. At 25 people: Kredily’s free plan costs ₹0 with one rule and one structure; PagarBook ₹1,456 a month, paid a year ahead; LekhaHR ₹2,475 with payroll, attendance, leave, onboarding and exits; Zoho People plus Zoho Payroll ₹4,250 (vendors’ pricing pages, read 19 Oct 2026).
Kredily’s Free Forever plan lists payroll, attendance and leave, under an active usage policy with one leave and attendance rule and one salary structure. Zoho People is free for 5 users without attendance, and Zoho Payroll free for 10. LekhaHR has a 30-day free trial, no card needed.
Keka publishes only starting prices: from ₹90 per employee a month, or ₹6,999 a month for its complete HR stack, and does not say how many people that covers. Ask for a written quote with the headcount, plan and setup fee.
No. Payroll sits in Keka’s HRMS and Payroll plans from Foundation, its entry plan, per its pricing page (read 19 Oct 2026). Performance starts at Growth.
It depends on how clean Keka's reports are and when your month closes, so we don't quote a fixed time. The one step we ask you not to skip is the parallel month: go live after a full month matches, or every difference has a cause you accept.
For employers
LekhaHR runs attendance, leave and payroll for small Indian teams from ₹59 per employee a month (₹99 for the first 25), payroll included, no minimum.
from ₹59 per employee a month
₹99 for the first 25 · ₹79 for 26–50 · ₹65 for 51–100 · ₹59 from 101 · billed monthly · GST extra · no minimum
Everything included
No add-ons · no setup fee · no minimum
30-day free trial, no card needed
Compare before you choose