Best attendance apps in India (2026): an honest buyer's guide
9 November 2026
There is no single best attendance app in India. The right one depends on how your staff punch in and what else you need. For phone-based attendance with fraud checks plus Indian payroll in one product, look at PunchMe, SalaryBox (Business plan) and factoHR. For a full HR suite with attendance as one module, greytHR, Keka and Zoho People are the established choices. If you only need free time tracking and will run payroll somewhere else, Jibble's free plan is hard to argue with.
Disclosure: this guide is published by PunchMe. Every product, including ours, is described only from what its vendor publishes.
Quick comparison
| App | Best for | Attendance methods | Payroll included | Starting price (as published) | Free plan / trial |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PunchMe | Small and mid teams on the floor, at the gate or in the field | Phone app with face match, GPS geofence and device binding; shared tablet kiosk; field tracking | Yes (PF, ESI, PT, TDS) | ₹29 per active employee/month + GST | 30-day free trial, no card |
| greytHR | Companies wanting a mature, full HRMS with payroll | Mobile app, geo-fencing, selfie, Visage face kiosk, biometric device integration | Yes | ₹2,495/month for up to 50 employees (Essential, no attendance); attendance from Growth at ₹4,495/month | 7-day free trial |
| Keka | Growing companies wanting HR, payroll and performance in one place | Selfie clock-in, GPS geofencing, sync with 120+ biometric devices | Yes | From ₹90 per employee/month, or from ₹6,999/month for the full HR stack | Free trial (length not stated) |
| Zoho People | Businesses already on Zoho apps | Web and mobile, facial recognition, geo-restrictions, biometric integration, kiosk (by plan) | No, separate Zoho Payroll | Price shown by region on Zoho's site; Zoho Payroll from ₹1,000/month (annual) for 25 employees | Free edition for a few users; 30-day trial |
| Jibble | Teams that want free time tracking and run payroll elsewhere | Face recognition, GPS and geofence, shared kiosk, offline clock-in | No, exports to payroll tools | Free for unlimited users; paid plan prices not shown publicly | Free plan |
| SalaryBox | Small Indian businesses wanting a simple staff app | Selfie, GPS, QR, geofencing; face recognition and kiosk on Business plan | Yes, on Business plan | Starter ₹1,500/month + ₹30/user; Business ₹3,000/month + ₹75/user | 7-day free trial |
| factoHR | Mid-size companies wanting a configurable HRMS | GPS punch, AI face recognition, biometric machine integration; geofencing on Premium and up | Yes, on paid plans | Core ₹4,999/month for up to 50 employees | Free plan up to 20 employees; trial via demo |
Prices and features as published on official websites in November 2026; check the vendor for current details. Prices are shown as each vendor lists them; most exclude GST.
The seven apps in detail
PunchMe
Who it's for: Factories, retail chains, security agencies, field sales and service teams, and offices with 5 to a few hundred staff who punch from a phone or a shared tablet.
Attendance method: Every phone punch checks three things: a face match with liveness, the employee's GPS position against your office geofence, and that it comes from the employee's own registered phone. Punches that fail a check can be blocked or flagged for HR review. Staff without smartphones punch on a shared tablet kiosk with face recognition and an employee-code backup. Offline punches sync within 72 hours. Field tracking records routes for staff on the move.
Payroll: Yes. Payroll covers PF, ESI, professional tax, TDS, arrears, loans and full and final settlement, with payslips in the employee app.
Price: ₹29 per active employee per month plus 18% GST, paid monthly from a prepaid wallet. All features on one plan. See pricing.
Free trial: 30 days, no card needed.
Honest limitation: It focuses on attendance, leave and payroll. There is no public API, no recruitment or ATS, no timesheets or project tracking, no SSO, and the interface is English only. The Android app is live; the iPhone app is coming soon, and iPhone users can punch on a kiosk meanwhile.
greytHR
Who it's for: Companies that want a mature, full-suite HRMS. greytHR says 34,000+ companies use it.
Attendance method: Mobile app with GPS geo-fencing, geo-tracking and selfie attendance; Visage, a face-recognition kiosk app; and integration with third-party biometric hardware. GPS live tracking is an add-on at ₹140 per user per month.
Payroll: Yes, on all listed plans.
Price: Essential is ₹2,495/month for up to 50 employees (₹45 per extra employee) and includes payroll but does not list attendance. Growth, ₹4,495/month for up to 50 employees (₹85 per extra), adds attendance, geo-fencing and shifts. Premium is priced on request.
Free trial: 7 days.
Honest limitation: Attendance needs the Growth plan or higher, and GeoMark+ and Visage are listed as add-ons. The 50-employee base fee means a 10-person team pays the same as a 50-person one.
Keka
Who it's for: Growing companies that want HR, payroll, performance and, optionally, hiring on one platform.
Attendance method: Selfie clock-in for field staff, GPS geofencing, remote clock-in, and sync with 120+ biometric devices.
Payroll: Yes, with statutory compliance and payslips.
Price: Keka's small-business page says it starts at ₹90 per employee per month, or from ₹6,999 per month for the complete HR stack. Plan-by-plan prices differ across Keka's pages, so confirm with Keka.
Free trial: Available; length not stated.
Honest limitation: Pricing is built around a monthly base, so very small teams pay for capacity they may not use. A kiosk mode is not mentioned on its pricing page.
Zoho People
Who it's for: Businesses already on Zoho Books, CRM or Zoho One.
Attendance method: Zoho lists web and mobile check-in, facial recognition, geo-restrictions, IP restrictions, biometric integration and a People Kiosk. Attendance starts at the Professional plan.
Payroll: Not in Zoho People. Zoho Payroll is a separate product: free for up to 10 employees, then Standard at ₹1,000/month (billed annually) for 25 employees plus ₹40 per extra employee.
Price: Shown by region on Zoho's pricing page; paid plans have a 5-user minimum.
Free trial: 30 days on paid plans; a free edition for a few users.
Honest limitation: Attendance and payroll are two subscriptions, so you set up and pay for both.
Jibble
Who it's for: Teams that mainly want time and attendance tracking at low or no cost, and will run payroll in another tool.
Attendance method: Face recognition with liveness detection, GPS and geofencing, a shared kiosk, and offline clock-in that syncs later.
Payroll: No Indian payroll processing. Jibble calculates hours and overtime and exports timesheets to tools like Xero and QuickBooks.
Price: Free forever for unlimited users. Paid plans exist; their prices aren't shown on a public page.
Free plan: Yes.
Honest limitation: You still need separate software, or a CA, for PF, ESI, PT, TDS and payslips.
SalaryBox
Who it's for: Small Indian businesses wanting a simple staff attendance and salary app.
Attendance method: Selfie, GPS and QR attendance with geofencing on all plans. AI face recognition and an attendance kiosk are on the Business plan. Live location tracking is a ₹100 per user per month add-on.
Payroll: On Business and Enterprise: payroll calculation, payslips, ESI, EPF, PT and LWF. Starter has no payroll.
Price: Starter is listed at ₹1,500/month plus ₹30 per user; Business at ₹3,000/month plus ₹75 per user, billed quarterly, taxes extra. Enterprise is priced on request.
Free trial: 7 days, with a ₹1 refundable verification charge.
Honest limitation: Face recognition, kiosk and payroll all need the Business plan, so compare that price, not Starter's.
factoHR
Who it's for: Mid-size companies that want a configurable HRMS with payroll and biometric integration.
Attendance method: GPS punch with location, AI face recognition and biometric machine integration from the Core plan; geofencing from Premium.
Payroll: Included on paid plans.
Price: Core is ₹4,999/month for up to 50 employees (₹99 per extra), Premium ₹5,999, Ultimate ₹6,999.
Free plan / trial: Free plan for up to 20 employees without payroll or face recognition; trials of paid plans through a demo.
Honest limitation: Geofencing needs Premium, and the 50-employee base fee makes it costly for small teams.
How to choose
1. Start with how your staff punch in
- Everyone has a smartphone and works at a site: you want face match plus geofence on the phone. PunchMe, Jibble, SalaryBox Business and greytHR Growth all do this.
- Shared entry point, mixed phones: a tablet kiosk avoids buying a biometric machine. PunchMe, greytHR (Visage), Jibble, SalaryBox Business and Zoho People offer one.
- You already own biometric machines: Keka, greytHR, factoHR and Zoho People list biometric device integration. PunchMe does not integrate with biometric hardware.
2. Decide how much you care about proxy punching
Ask each vendor what stops someone punching for a colleague, from home, or from a second phone. PunchMe combines face, geofence and device binding on every punch and sends anything suspicious to a flagged punches queue.
3. Payroll in the same tool, or separate?
PunchMe, greytHR, Keka, SalaryBox Business and factoHR include Indian payroll. Zoho needs Zoho Payroll alongside; Jibble needs a separate payroll tool. Use our PF calculator, ESI calculator and salary calculator to sanity-check any tool's numbers.
4. Work out the real monthly cost for your headcount
Base-fee plans (greytHR, Keka, SalaryBox, factoHR) can be good value near their included headcount and expensive below it. Per-employee pricing tracks your actual team. For 20 employees, PunchMe is ₹580/month plus GST; greytHR Growth is ₹4,495/month; factoHR Core is ₹4,999/month.
5. Check what you would miss
If you need recruitment, performance reviews with goals, SSO or an API today, a full HRMS like greytHR, Keka or Zoho People will fit better than PunchMe.
Where PunchMe fits
PunchMe suits factories, security agencies, retail and field teams that want fraud-resistant phone and kiosk attendance plus Indian payroll at one per-employee price. See features or pricing.
FAQ
Which attendance app is free in India?
Jibble is free for unlimited users but does not run Indian payroll. factoHR has a free plan for up to 20 employees, Zoho People has a free edition for a few users, and Zoho Payroll is free for up to 10 employees. PunchMe has a 30-day free trial.
Do I need a biometric machine for attendance?
No. A phone app with face match and geofencing, or a shared tablet kiosk, works for most SMBs. If you already own machines, pick a tool that integrates with them.
Which apps calculate PF and ESI automatically?
PunchMe, greytHR, Keka, SalaryBox (Business plan) and factoHR (paid plans) include Indian payroll. Zoho does it through Zoho Payroll. Try our PF calculator and gratuity calculator to check the maths.
How do attendance apps stop proxy punching?
Face recognition with liveness, GPS geofencing, and binding each employee to one phone. Ask which of these run on every punch.
Sources
- https://punchme.online/pricing
- https://www.greythr.com/pricing/
- https://www.greythr.com/
- https://www.greythr.com/attendance-management-software/
- https://www.greythr.com/help-admin/attendance-settings/configure-greythr-visage-kiosk/
- https://www.keka.com/small-companies
- https://www.keka.com/pricing
- https://www.zoho.com/people/zohopeople-pricing.html
- https://www.zoho.com/in/payroll/pricing/
- https://www.jibble.io/best-attendance-management-systems-india
- https://help.jibble.io/en/articles/2269023-what-are-the-different-subscription-plans
- https://www.salarybox.in/pricing
- https://factohr.com/pricing/