A Keka alternative for small teams
Upload the file you already have, match its columns to LekhaHR once, and decide only the rows that need a decision. Balances arrive as ledger lines that say where they came from. Then one month runs side by side before anyone is paid.
employee_master.xlsx · 42 rows
LekhaHR fields
because it came from the Keka export of 30 Sep 2026, row 4.
No. 01
What moves
because a switch that loses last year's history is a switch you pay for again at year end.
Everything a month-end needs moves across, and each piece keeps a pointer to the file it came from. Import a set again and it replaces the last import, never adds to it.
because joining dates, managers, departments and documents come across with each person.
because each component is matched once to a LekhaHR component, with its PF and ESI treatment checked.
because each balance becomes the first line of that person's leave ledger, with the file and row it came from.
because loss of pay and regularisations from before the switch stay readable, and the parallel month uses the same days.
because the year's tax projection and the Q4 Form 138 (earlier Form 24Q) salary details need every month, including those paid in the old tool.
because the regime each person chose, and their Form 124 (earlier Form 12BB) claims and proofs, carry on, and nobody is asked twice.
because files named by employee code are matched to each person, so their history stays with them.
No. 02
How it works
because an import you can't check is a guess with your team's balances in it.
Four steps, in this order. The mapping is done once; the review is only for rows that need a person to decide.
Download the employee master, salary structures, leave balances and the pay register from Keka or greytHR. A spreadsheet you keep yourself works the same way.
Match each column to a LekhaHR field. Names don't have to agree: Emp Code, Employee ID or Staff No. all map to the same field, and the mapping is saved for the next file.
Rows that import cleanly 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 your old tool. Nothing is paid or sent from LekhaHR until every difference has a cause you accept.
because it came from the Keka export 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. 03
The parallel month
because the safest payroll switch is one where the first month has already been checked.
LekhaHR runs a month from the same attendance and salary data as your old tool. 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. 04
What you keep
because the day you go live should be the least eventful day of the month.
Going live is a date you pick after the parallel month. Until then your team sees nothing new, and after it the old records stay attached to the people they belong to.
because they are matched to people by employee code at import
because the opening line names the file, date and row it came from
because the year's tax working needs every month, not only the new ones
because the originals stay with you, and each import can be run again
No. 05
What you pay instead
because a small team shouldn't pay for seats it hasn't filled.
LekhaHR costs ₹79 per employee a month for the first 25 on Operations, billed annually, with no minimum and no base fee, so a five-person team pays ₹395 a month before GST. We don't show a Keka price because we haven't verified a current published figure. Compare against your own invoice, divided by your active employees.
because the bill grows only when you hire, and never charges for empty seats.
because it is a flat plan that covers up to 50 employees, then ₹45 for each one after.
LekhaHR Operations: ₹79 per employee per month on annual billing for the first 25 employees, then ₹69, ₹59 and ₹49 a person in the higher bands, with no minimum and no base fee; GST extra. Business is ₹119 per employee for the first 25 on the same terms, and monthly billing adds ₹20 per employee in every band.
Competitor figures: each vendor's published price for the named plan, excluding GST, as reviewed on 29 Sep 2026. Prices change.
Put your headcount into the calculator and see the monthly bill for either plan, with GST shown on its own line.
No. 06 · Written for you if
No. 07 · When to stay with Keka
No. 08
Questions
because most switching questions are really about what happens to last year.
Yes, for teams from 2 people upward. LekhaHR covers attendance, leave, payroll, employee records and the rest of the HR suite, priced per employee each month with no fixed monthly minimum. Switching starts from your Keka export, and one month runs side by side before anyone is paid from LekhaHR.
Other Indian HRMS products with payroll include greytHR, Zoho People with Zoho Payroll, Kredily and Zimyo, as well as LekhaHR. Judge them on three tests: the monthly bill at your headcount, whether PF, ESI, PT and TDS follow the current rules, and how cleanly your Keka export comes across. LekhaHR suits teams from two people.
We don't publish a Keka figure, because we haven't verified a current published Keka price. The fair comparison is your own invoice: divide the monthly total by your active employees. LekhaHR's Operations plan is ₹79 per employee for the first 25 on annual billing, with no minimum, so you can compare per head directly.
Both are established Indian HRMS products with payroll, attendance and leave. greytHR publishes flat monthly plans that cover up to 50 employees (reviewed 29 Sep 2026), and we haven't verified a current Keka price. For a team under 25, compare the effective cost per employee, not the plan price, and check how each explains its payroll figures.
The employee master, salary structures, leave balances, attendance for past months, the pay register for this tax year (April to date) and tax declarations. Old payslips help too. The columns don't need to match LekhaHR's names; you map them once.
Each balance becomes the opening line of that person's leave ledger, marked with the export file, its date and the row it came from. A balance that looks wrong, such as one below zero, waits for your decision instead of importing silently.
Yes. Pay so far this tax year (April to date) is imported by component, because the year's tax projection and the Q4 Form 138 (earlier Form 24Q) salary details need every month, including those paid in the old tool. Where tax was deducted, Form 130 (earlier Form 16) then covers the whole year.
It depends on how clean your export is 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.
No. Invitations stay held until you go live, so your team keeps using the old tool until the parallel month is settled.
No. 09 · Invitation
LekhaHR is available by invitation, from teams of two. Tell us which tool you use today and when your month closes, and we'll reply by email.