Use biometric attendance when workers come through one gate, may not have smartphones, or cannot carry phones on the floor. Use mobile GPS attendance when staff work across several sites, in the field or from home, or when you want to avoid buying machines. Many factories and hospitals use both. FundRaksha HR offers phone GPS check-in on every plan and connects ZKTeco and eSSL biometric devices on Enterprise, with both feeding the same attendance and payroll.
Comparison
| Factor | Biometric device | Mobile GPS attendance |
|---|---|---|
| Where it works | At the device | Inside any office radius, or anywhere in field mode |
| Hardware | A device per entrance or site | Staff's own phones |
| Proxy prevention | Fingerprint or face at the device | Location check plus account locked to one phone |
| Workers without smartphones | Works | Does not work |
| Several sites or branches | A device at each | A radius per site |
| Field and remote staff | Does not work | Works with field or work-from-home mode |
| Failure points | Device faults, power, worn fingerprints | Weak GPS indoors, phone off |
A simple rule for choosing
- If more than a few of your staff do not have smartphones, you need biometric for them.
- If any staff work away from the main site, you need mobile for them.
- If you have more than two or three sites, mobile is usually cheaper than a device at each.
- If phones are banned on the shop floor, use biometric at the gate.
- If both 1 and 2 apply, use both, feeding one attendance system.
Worked example: one company, both methods
A garment exporter in Tiruppur has a factory with 200 tailors and helpers, a head office with 20 staff, and 8 merchandisers who visit buyers and job workers. Phones are not allowed on the production floor.
- Tailors and helpers punch on eSSL devices at the factory gate.
- Head office staff check in on their phones inside the office radius.
- Merchandisers use field mode.
All three groups land in one attendance calendar, with the same late-mark and half-day rules, and flow into one payroll with PF and ESI. On FundRaksha HR Enterprise, 228 × ₹99 = ₹22,572 a month + GST; for large groups, the pricing page invites you to contact FundRaksha.
Cost comparison
A biometric machine is a one-time purchase per entrance or site, plus installation, maintenance and replacement. Mobile attendance uses phones staff already carry, so the cost is the software alone. With one site and a factory gate, the device cost is spread over many workers and is modest. With many small sites, such as shops, client sites or construction sites, buying a device for each quickly costs more than phone attendance, and some sites will not have power or space for one.
Whichever you choose, the larger saving is usually in the payroll that follows: attendance that flows into salary without being retyped.
Making either method reliable
- Biometric: place devices where queues will not form at shift change; keep power backup; have a manual correction process for failed reads.
- Mobile: set a realistic radius; test on day one; use device lock so each account works only on one phone; review flagged forgotten check-outs.
- Both: publish your rules (grace, late marks, half days) so staff know how attendance becomes pay.
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.
Once attendance is settled, see how to calculate salary from attendance.
Sources
Last reviewed: 2026-10-21. Information for Indian businesses; not legal advice.