The best HR software for a small Indian business is the one that marks attendance reliably, turns attendance and leave into salary without spreadsheets, handles PF, ESI and professional tax when you need them, and has a price you can predict per employee. Shortlist two or three tools, run the trial with your real staff for one salary cycle, and compare the payslips. FundRaksha HR is a strong choice for Indian SMEs: phone-based GPS attendance, leave, payroll and statutory files from ₹49 per employee per month, with a 30-day free trial.
What a small business actually needs
Most owners of a 10 to 100 person business want to stop three recurring problems:
- Attendance disputes. Registers can be filled in later, and a friend can punch for a friend. You want proof of who came, when, and from where.
- Leave confusion. Requests on WhatsApp, balances in someone's head, and arguments at month end about what was approved.
- Salary errors. An Excel sheet that converts attendance into paid days, deducts advances and calculates PF and ESI, rebuilt by hand every month.
Software that fixes these three is enough for most small firms. Anything else is a bonus, and often a cost.
Selection checklist
| Check | Why it matters | Question to ask |
|---|---|---|
| Attendance method | Staff without fixed desks, several sites, or no biometric machine | Can staff check in from their own phone, and only at the workplace? |
| Buddy punching | A common attendance fraud in small teams | Is each login tied to one phone? |
| Attendance to salary | Removes the monthly Excel work | Do late marks, half days and unpaid leave flow into salary automatically? |
| Statutory payroll | PF, ESI and PT errors cost interest and damages | Does it produce PF ECR and ESI files, and PT by state? |
| Price model | Base fees can be expensive for small teams | What is the bill for my exact headcount, including GST? |
| Trial | Only a real salary cycle shows the gaps | Can I run one full month with my real staff? |
A short shortlist and who each fits
These are not rankings. Each tool below is a sensible option for a different kind of small business. Prices are from each company's own website on 21 October 2026.
- FundRaksha HR. Phone GPS attendance inside an office radius, one phone per employee, leave with approvals, salary and payslips, and on Pro, PF, ESI, PT, TDS with ECR, bank and Tally files. ₹49 to ₹99 per employee per month + GST, 30-day trial. Fits shops, offices, field teams and factories that want attendance and payroll in one app.
- Zoho Payroll. Free for up to 10 employees; paid plans start at ₹1,250 per organisation a month (monthly billing, 25 employees included). Leave and attendance management is listed only in its Premium plan. Fits very small teams that need payroll first.
- greytHR. Essential at ₹2,495 a month including 50 employees; attendance and geo-fencing are in Growth (₹4,495 a month including 50). Its payroll page lists PF with ECR, ESI, state PT, LWF, eTDS returns and Form 16. Fits firms near or above 50 staff that want a broad payroll suite.
- Keka. Publishes plan names (Foundation, Strength, Growth) but not prices on its pricing page; geo-fencing and selfie attendance are listed in Strength. Fits companies that also want hiring and broader HRMS features.
Read our comparison pages for detail: Keka alternative, greytHR alternative, Zoho Payroll alternative.
Worked example: what 25 staff costs
A distributor in Pune has 25 employees: 18 in the warehouse and office, 7 salesmen in the field. All 25 are on PF and ESI.
- FundRaksha HR Pro: 25 × ₹79 = ₹1,975 a month + GST, with field attendance, statutory payroll and the PF ECR file included.
- A base-fee product that includes 50 employees charges its full base fee even though you have only 25.
Cost is only part of it. Run the trial for a full month and compare the result with your current Excel sheet line by line.
How FundRaksha HR works for a small team
- Import employees from Excel, or invite them with a company code.
- Set each office with its own radius, plus shift timings, grace period, week-offs and holidays.
- Staff check in from their own phone; forgotten check-outs close at night and are flagged.
- Leave requests go to the admin or manager; extra days become unpaid automatically.
- At month end, review salary, lock it and release payslip PDFs. On Pro, download PF ECR, ESI, PT, TDS, bank and Tally files.
| Plan | Price (per employee per month, + GST) | Main additions |
|---|---|---|
| Standard | ₹49 | GPS check-in (one phone per employee), attendance rules, holidays and week-offs, corrections, leave, salary calculation, payslip PDFs, mobile admin app and web console |
| Pro | ₹79 | Everything in Standard, plus PF, ESI, professional tax and TDS; PF ECR, ESI, PT, TDS, bank and Tally files; advances, reimbursements, incentives, shift roster, Excel import, manager approvals |
| Enterprise | ₹99 | Everything in Pro, plus biometric devices (ZKTeco / eSSL), API for other attendance systems, admin roles, priority support and guided onboarding |
Every plan has a 30-day free trial with your real team, and there is no bill for the trial period. After that, you pay only for active employees in the month. See pricing.
Before you start, check your numbers with the free salary calculator, PF calculator and ESI calculator, and keep a salary slip format for reference.
Sources
- hr.fundraksha.com (features, checked 21 October 2026)
- hr.fundraksha.com/pricing (plans, trial and billing, checked 21 October 2026)
- www.esic.gov.in/coverage (wage limit Rs 21,000 a month; 10 or more persons)
- www.zoho.com/in/payroll/pricing/ (checked 21 October 2026)
- www.greythr.com/pricing/ (checked 21 October 2026)
- www.greythr.com/payroll-software/ (checked 21 October 2026)
- www.keka.com/pricing (checked 21 October 2026)
Last reviewed: 2026-10-21. Information for Indian businesses; not legal advice.