Free HR Software in India That Actually Works (2026 Guide)

Most HR software that advertises a free tier is operating a freemium model designed to convert you to a paid plan. The free tier is deliberately limited — either by number of employees, by features, or by time. Understanding which limitations apply to each tool is critical before you build your HR processes on top of it.

The three common free-tier traps in HR software:

Feature-gated free tiers: The core HR features you need (payroll, leave approval, payslips) are locked behind the paid plan. The free tier covers only employee profiles and basic clock-in.

User-capped free tiers: Free for 5 employees, after which you must upgrade. For any real business, this means you're on the paid plan within months.

Time-limited trials: Not a free plan at all — a 14 or 30-day trial. After that, full price. This is the most deceptive framing in the category.

This guide only covers tools with genuinely usable free tiers — not trials.

DeskPanda's free plan gives Indian businesses attendance tracking, leave management, basic HR workflows, task management, and encrypted team chat — for up to 8 users with no time limit and no credit card required.

What is genuinely free: clock in/out attendance, leave request and approval, employee profiles, task management, Kanban boards, team chat.

What requires upgrading: payroll processing, payslip generation, unlimited invoicing, advanced reports, HR (leave+holiday+docs+templates). These are on the Growth plan at ₹199/user/month (minimum 10 users = ₹1,990/month floor). Business at ₹379/user/month adds shift scheduling, advanced payroll, and Excel reports.

Best for: Startups and small businesses under 8 people that want to get formal task management and team chat in place without any upfront cost. Also the only free tool that includes task management and team chat in the same platform alongside an upgrade path to full HR and payroll.

Keka is the leading paid HR platform for Indian businesses. It handles payroll, attendance, leave management, and employee records well. Indian compliance features (PF, ESI, TDS) are built in.

There is no free plan. Keka starts at ₹6,999/month for up to 100 employees. It's one of the more affordable paid options in the Indian market but has no free tier — and covers only HR, not task management or invoicing.

Best for: Companies with 50+ employees that need robust Indian payroll compliance and can afford the monthly subscription.

greytHR offers a free plan for up to 25 employees that covers basic payroll, leave, and attendance. The free plan has significant restrictions on reporting and compliance features, and the UI is designed for HR professionals rather than founders or operations managers.

What is genuinely free: basic payroll for up to 25 employees, basic leave management, attendance logs.

What is restricted: detailed statutory compliance reports, ESI and PF filing support, advanced payroll features. These require the paid plan starting at ₹3,495/month.

Best for: Very small businesses that specifically need payroll processing and are comfortable with an HR-professional-focused interface.

Zoho People has a free tier but it's capped at 5 employees — which is more a proof-of-concept than a usable business tool. The full platform covers attendance, leave, payroll (via Zoho Payroll, a separate product), and employee management.

Zoho People paid starts at $1/employee/month. At 30 employees that's $360/year for HR alone — plus Zoho Payroll and Zoho Projects if you need project management. The costs add up across the Zoho ecosystem.

Best for: Teams already invested in the Zoho ecosystem. Not worth buying into Zoho specifically for HR.

The features that matter most for an Indian SMB HR system:

• Attendance with payroll integration — tracking attendance in one place and running payroll from that data, without exporting files.

• Leave types that match Indian policy — casual leave, sick leave, earned leave, maternity/paternity leave. Not a generic Western leave structure.

• Payslip generation in the correct format — earnings breakdown, deductions, net pay in a format employees and accountants recognise.

• Simple enough for non-HR users — most Indian companies under 100 people don't have a dedicated HR manager. The operations lead or founder is running HR. The tool must be usable without HR training.

• Task management alongside HR — separating "HR software" from "work management software" creates friction. Ideally, the same system that tracks tasks also tracks who is in the office and runs payroll.

If you're under 8 people: DeskPanda Free-Starter is the best option — it's the only truly free tool that covers task management, team communication, and basic operations.

If you're 10+ people and need payroll: DeskPanda Growth at ₹199/user/month (minimum 10 users) covers attendance, payroll, leave, CRM, invoicing, and task management in one unified per-user bill. Business at ₹379/user/month adds advanced payroll (auto deductions, OT, bonuses) and shift scheduling.

If you're 50+ people with complex Indian payroll requirements: Keka HR is worth the investment for the compliance depth it provides — but you'll need a separate tool for project management.