Keka
Keka is an HR, payroll, hiring and professional services automation (PSA) platform from Keka Technologies, an Indian company that lists regional contact lines in Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai, Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Kolkata and Pune. It says it is used by 12,500+ companies.
Pricing model
Per additional employee per month over a quoted base; separate products and add-ons
Deployment
Cloud
Platforms
Web, iOS, Android
Free trial
Free trial on each HRMS tier and Keka Hire
Legal name
Keka
Keka publishes three HRMS and payroll tiers for India, priced per additional employee per month: Foundation at ₹90, Strength at ₹120 and Growth at ₹150. Each tier offers a free trial. The pricing page has separate tabs for India, USA and EU, and Asia Pacific and GCC, so prices outside India differ.
Keka Hire (Pro and Advanced) is priced separately with its own free trial, and the Projects and Timesheets (PSA) product starts with a Basic tier that is quote-only. Direct salary payout through Keka Wallet carries additional charges.
Pricing last checked on September 25, 2026. View source
Editorial verdict
Keka is the Indian HRMS I would pick for a tech or services company of 100 to 2,000 people that wants payroll, performance reviews, hiring and project timesheets from one vendor. The product goes further than greytHR on performance and engagement, and the separate PSA product means billable-hours businesses do not need a second tool.
The trade-off is cost and scope creep. Keka's HRMS tiers are priced per additional employee at ₹90, ₹120 and ₹150, and the base fee for the included headcount is not shown on the static pricing page. Hiring, PSA, Keka Learn and Rewards and Recognition are sold separately.
If you run a payroll-only operation for a factory workforce, greytHR is cheaper. If you are over 5,000 employees across several Asian countries, Darwinbox is the more natural shortlist.
Keka suits Indian IT services, SaaS, consulting and agency companies from roughly 100 employees upward, especially those that bill clients by the hour and want timesheets tied to HR data. It also fits Indian groups that have opened a UAE entity and want one HR system for both.
Two things separate Keka from the rest of this group. First, it combines Indian statutory payroll, a real performance module and a PSA product for project billing and resource planning. Second, it supports UAE payroll: it generates WPS SIF files, calculates gratuity and end-of-service to UAE Labour Law, tracks visa and Emirates ID expiries and reports Emiratization ratios to MOHRE.
Keka is mid-priced for India. It costs more per head than greytHR and less than a Darwinbox enterprise contract, and it sells through a free trial on every HRMS tier followed by an inside-sales conversation. Budget for add-ons if you want API access or Slack and Teams integration.
Keka is an Indian HR and payroll platform with pre-built PF, ESI, LWF and TDS statutory reports and salary payouts through its Keka Wallet. Pricing is tiered in rupees, listed at ₹90 per additional employee on Foundation and ₹120 on Strength, rising to ₹150 on the top tier, and each tier offers a free trial.
Still comparing? Dig deeper
Payroll pulls attendance, leave and salary inputs, then applies PF, ESI, TDS, PT and LWF rules. Loans, salary advances, perks and expense claims flow into the same run.
PF ECR-ready reports, ESI eligibility and contribution checks, TDS quarterly reports and state-wise LWF.
Salaries can be paid out directly from Keka Wallet in one step, for an additional charge.
Keka runs a separate payroll for each mainland and free-zone trade licence on one platform and produces bank-ready WPS SIF files.
Gratuity and end-of-service are calculated to UAE Labour Law.
Keka tracks Emirates ID, visa, work permit and labour card expiries and reports Emiratization ratios to MOHRE.
Attendance is captured through biometric devices, GPS and the mobile app across offices, shifts and field teams.
Selfie clock-in, continuous location punching and geo-fencing arrive on Strength.
Basic shift boards are on Foundation; advanced shift management is an add-on.
Keka Hire covers requisitions, custom hiring stages, AI job descriptions, offer letters with approval and a candidate portal. Advanced adds career-page customization and CV-to-JD match scoring.
Project time tracking with policies per resource, daily submission and approval chains, including on mobile.
Rate cards, billing on actual hours and revenue forecasting based on existing contracts.
Evaluating Keka HR means separating what sounds strong in the demo from what holds up after implementation for HR software teams.
Where Keka HR earns its place for smb teams
Goals and OKR alignment, continuous feedback, one-on-ones, performance calibration, promotions and improvement plans are all part of the Growth tier rather than a separate product.
The Indian engine covers PF with ECR reports, ESI, TDS with quarterly reports, PT and LWF. The UAE side generates WPS SIF files and handles mainland and free-zone entities in one cycle.
Keka's Projects and Timesheets product tracks billable and non-billable hours, rate cards, project health and resource allocation, which suits services firms that would otherwise buy a separate PSA tool.
Keka lists integrations with tools such as Salesforce, Jira, Xero and Stripe, along with accounting integration on its entry tier.
What to press on in Keka HR pricing calls before signing
The pricing page lists the per-additional-employee rate for each tier but not the base fee for the included headcount, so you will need a quote to compare it with greytHR's published ₹2,495 base.
API and webhooks, advanced shifts, helpdesk, Azure AD SSO and Slack and Teams integration are add-ons even on Growth. Hiring, PSA, Keka Learn and Rewards and Recognition are separate products.
Keka publishes payroll pages for India and the Gulf. I found no native payroll for Malaysia, the Philippines or Indonesia, where BrioHR, Sprout Solutions or GreatDay HR are local specialists.
Leave your details and we'll connect you with Keka HR so they can share current pricing, packaging, and what the buying process looks like.
Foundation covers org structure, documents, basic onboarding, leave, gamified attendance, overtime, basic shifts, payroll with statutory reports, loans and salary advances, expenses and accounting integration. Strength adds Keka Sign e-signatures, travel desk, asset tracking, people analytics, selfie clock-in, continuous location punching, geo-fencing, SSO and pulse surveys.
Growth adds workflow automation, a custom report builder, headcount planning, goals and OKR alignment, performance reviews with calibration, performance improvement plans, promotions, basic compensation plans and skills analytics.
Advanced shift management, API and webhooks, helpdesk, Azure AD SSO, background-verification integration, digital signature and Slack and MS Teams integrations are listed as add-ons. Keka Learn and Rewards and Recognition are separate sign-ups, so the per-employee tier price is the floor, not the total.
Before you sign
Keka offers a free trial on each HRMS tier and on Keka Hire, and routes PSA buyers to sales. A little preparation shortens the evaluation.
Ask for the base fee and included headcount for your tier in writing, because the public page only shows the ₹90, ₹120 or ₹150 rate for additional employees.
List the add-ons you need (API, Slack or Teams, Azure AD SSO, helpdesk) before the quote, since they are priced outside the tiers and change the total.
Test a UAE payroll run in the trial if you have a Gulf entity, because WPS SIF output and gratuity are the parts local auditors will check.
Decide whether PSA belongs in scope now, because moving timesheets into Keka later means a second implementation.
Moonlighting policy: disclosure and approval, prohibited outside work, DOT hours-of-service limits, overtime rules, California carve-outs, request form.
A per-employee telecommuting agreement: schedule, work address, equipment, expense reimbursement, timekeeping, data security, trial period, exit terms.
Nepotism and workplace dating policy: who counts as a relative, disclosure duty, no direct reporting lines, power-differential rules and a consent form.
For India, Keka lists Foundation at ₹90, Strength at ₹120 and Growth at ₹150 per additional employee per month. The base fee is quoted, and Hire, PSA and several integrations are extra.
Yes. Each HRMS tier and the Keka Hire plans have a free trial.
The live site is keka.com. When I checked, keka.in did not load, and all pricing and product pages are on keka.com with regional sections for India, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the US.
Yes. Keka generates WPS SIF files, calculates gratuity and end-of-service to UAE Labour Law and reports Emiratization ratios to MOHRE.
PF ECR-ready reports, ESI calculations, TDS quarterly reports, PT and LWF deductions based on state rules.
It is Keka's Projects and Timesheets product for tracking billable hours, rate cards, resource allocation and project revenue.
Keka covers a lot of ground for Indian and Gulf employers. These peers win in narrower cases.
| Product | Pricing | Free trial |
|---|---|---|
| Keka HRThis tool | Per additional employee per month over a quoted base; separate products and add-ons | Yes |
| BambooHR | Per-employee pricing | Yes |
| HiBob | Custom quote | No |
| Rippling | Modular pricing | No |
| greytHR | Tiered pricing | Yes |
| Darwinbox | Custom quote | No |
BambooHR is the HR platform that most small and mid-sized teams encounter first when they outgrow spreadsheets.
HiBob, marketed as 'Bob', is the HR platform that mid-market companies choose when they want something more modern than BambooHR but less enterprise than Workday.
Rippling is the HR platform that refused to stay in its lane.
greytHR publishes a lower rupee price with 50 employees in the base fee and focuses on Indian statutory payroll rather than performance or PSA.
Darwinbox targets larger enterprises with native payroll in India, Southeast Asia and the GCC, and it sells only through custom quotes.
Before you decide
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