Choosing between greytHR and Keka? Both are popular HR and payroll software platforms for Indian businesses, but they cater to different operational priorities. This comparison evaluates pricing, payroll, compliance, customer support, integrations, scalability, and user experience to help SMBs choose the right HRMS solution.

Quick Comparison: greytHR vs Keka

Quick Verdict

greytHR performs better in pricing transparency, payroll compliance, customer support, ecosystem depth, and SMB readiness, while Keka stands out for its modern UX and project-oriented workflows.

greytHR vs Keka Scorecard

Pricing Comparison: greytHR vs Keka

greytHR Pricing

greytHR follows a transparent pricing model designed for Indian SMBs.

Key Highlights

• Unconditional Free Trial for 7 days
• Monthly, quarterly, and annual billing options
• Payroll included in all paid plans
• No mandatory setup fees
• Transparent PEPM pricing

Paid Plans

• Essential: ₹2,495/month for 50 employees
• Growth: ₹4,495/month for 50 employees
• Premium: Enterprise grade, all-in-one plan, upon request

Best For

Businesses looking for predictable HRMS pricing with payroll and compliance included.

Keka Pricing

Keka follows a custom pricing approach.

Key Highlights

• Prefers demo (no auto-provisioning of trial)
• Pricing details require sales engagement
• Setup and migration fees may apply
• Quarterly or annual billing structures

Best For

Mid-sized companies evaluating configurable HR workflows and performance management.

Pricing Verdict

greytHR is generally more affordable and transparent for Indian SMBs, especially for businesses looking for a free trial, lower onboarding costs, and flexible billing. Keka is more suited for businesses comfortable with custom enterprise-style pricing discussions.

Payroll & Compliance Comparison

greytHR Payroll & Compliance

Payroll compliance is one of greytHR's strongest differentiators.

Compliance Coverage

• PF, ESI, PT, TDS, LWF, gratuity automation
• State-wise Shops & Establishment compliance
• Factory Act compliance support
• Auto-generated Form 16, Form 24Q, ECR files
• EPFO and ESIC filing-ready reports
• Compliance coverage across 100+ Acts and 500+ compliances

Additional Compliance Strengths

• Publicly accessible Compliance Wiki
• Dedicated in-house compliance experts
• New Labour Code readiness
• Payroll processed at large scale across Indian SMBs

Why It Matters

Businesses handling multi-state payroll operations benefit from greytHR's deep India-specific statutory compliance infrastructure.

Keka Payroll & Compliance

Keka offers strong payroll automation and statutory compliance support.

Compliance Coverage

• PF, ESI, PT, TDS, and LWF automation
• Form 16 and statutory report generation
• Payroll automation integrated with attendance and leave
• State-wise compliance support

Key Strengths

• Modern payroll workflows
• Integrated payroll and attendance
• Good automation for mid-sized businesses

Limitations Compared to greytHR

• No public compliance wiki ecosystem
• Factory compliance depth is less prominently positioned
• Specialist statutory coverage is comparatively narrower

Payroll & Compliance Verdict

greytHR is better suited for businesses prioritising deep India payroll compliance, labour law coverage, and statutory automation. Keka remains a capable payroll platform but is stronger from an employee experience perspective than a compliance-first positioning.

Features Comparison: greytHR vs Keka

Core HR & Employee Lifecycle

greytHR

• Employee database management
• Digital onboarding and offboarding
• HR helpdesk
• Employee document management
• Asset tracking
• Lifecycle workflows for transfers, promotions, and confirmations
• Built-in surveys and engagement features

Keka

• Employee records and lifecycle management
• Configurable workflows
• Digital onboarding and offboarding
• Employee engagement features
• Social wall and recognition features
• Project and timesheet management

Verdict

Keka offers strong UX and configurability, while greytHR delivers broader HR operations depth with compliance-oriented workflows.

Payroll & Attendance

greytHR

• Fully integrated payroll and attendance
• GPS attendance with GeoMark+ and Live tracking
• Face recognition attendance
• Split shifts and advanced shift management
• Broad biometric device integrations
• Native arrears, loans, increments, and payroll processing

Keka

• Payroll automation
• GPS and geo-fencing attendance
• Face ID attendance
• Timesheet tracking
• Project-hour tracking for services firms

Verdict

Both platforms provide modern attendance capabilities, but greytHR has a broader workforce management stack and stronger biometric integration ecosystem.

Talent Management

greytHR

• Recruitment module
• Goal setting and appraisals
• 360-degree feedback
• HR analytics and custom reports
• LMS integrations via marketplace

Keka

• ATS and recruitment workflows
• Continuous feedback and OKRs
• PIP workflows and competencies
• Built-in LMS
• Structured performance management

Verdict

Keka is slightly stronger for continuous feedback and performance workflows, while greytHR provides a balanced HR and payroll ecosystem with strong reporting.

Mobile Experience

greytHR

• Android and iOS apps
• Payslips, attendance, leave, expenses, approvals
• 1 lakh+ user reviews
• 4.5+ ratings

Keka

• Android and iOS apps
• Attendance and approvals
• 38,000+ reviews
• 4.5+ ratings

Verdict

Both apps are highly rated, but greytHR demonstrates stronger scale and adoption.

Support & Implementation Comparison

greytHR Support & Onboarding

Implementation

• In-house onboarding teams
• Guided implementation
• Payroll migration support
• Regional support availability
• Average go-live in 2-3 weeks

Support Channels

• Phone support
• Email support
• Ticketing support
• AI-powered HR assistant
• Extensive documentation and video help library

Additional Ecosystem Support

• greytribe HR community
• greytHR Academy certifications
• Webinars and expert sessions

Keka Support & Onboarding

Implementation

• Dedicated onboarding managers
• Guided onboarding workflows
• Training materials and onboarding resources
• Faster setup for some use cases

Support Experience

• Premium support model
• Ticket-based support
• Support quality rated positively by many users
• Some reviews mention inconsistent support experiences

Support Verdict

greytHR offers a broader support ecosystem with unmetered free support, compliance learning resources, HR community access, and structured onboarding. Keka delivers strong onboarding experiences but follows a more premium support structure.

Reviews & Ratings Comparison

greytHR Review Themes

Common Positives

• Strong support ecosystem
• Easy payroll processing
• Strong compliance support
• Reliable attendance tracking
• Helpful knowledge base

Common Concerns

• Limited deep customisation
• Some advanced features require learning

Keka Review Themes

Common Positives

• Modern user interface
• Employee-friendly experience
• Smooth attendance workflows
• Good performance management features

Common Concerns

• Support inconsistency in some cases
• Mobile app lag concerns
• Pricing transparency concerns

Reviews Verdict

Both platforms maintain strong customer ratings, but greytHR has significantly larger review volume and long-standing market trust among Indian SMBs.

greytHR vs Keka: Which Software Should You Choose?

Choose greytHR if you need:

• HRMS for businesses with 10-750 employees
• Deep India payroll compliance
• Transparent SMB-friendly pricing
• Strong payroll and attendance integration
• Unlimited customer support
• Large-scale payroll reliability
• HR learning ecosystem and compliance resources

Choose Keka if you need:

• Modern employee experience workflows
• Project billing and timesheet management
• Advanced performance management
• HRMS for services or IT-oriented teams
• Strong employee engagement features

Pros and Cons

greytHR Pros

• Transparent pricing and free trial
• Strong India payroll compliance depth
• 30+ years of HR and payroll expertise
• Unlimited free support
• Strong HR ecosystem and compliance education
• Broad biometric and attendance integrations
• Large SMB customer base

greytHR Cons

• Advanced customisation may be limited for some enterprises
• UI is more operations-focused than design-focused

Keka Pros

• Modern and intuitive user experience
• Strong performance management capabilities
• Built-in LMS and engagement features
• Project and timesheet management capabilities
• Strong workflow configurability

Keka Cons

• No free trial
• Pricing transparency is limited
• Premium support structure
• Setup and migration fees may apply
• Compliance ecosystem depth is comparatively narrower

Frequently Asked Questions

Is greytHR better than Keka?

For organisations prioritising payroll accuracy, adherence to Indian compliance standards, strong customer support, operational reliability, and competitive, transparent pricing, greytHR may be the stronger fit. Businesses focused on user experience and performance management workflows may find Keka more aligned with their requirements.

Which is more affordable: greytHR or Keka?

greytHR is typically more affordable for SMBs because it offers transparent pricing and lower onboarding barriers.

Does greytHR offer a free trial?

Yes. greytHR offers a free trial for 7 days, unconditionally. Fill the trial request and a free trial account will be auto-provisioned.

Which platform is better for payroll compliance in India?

greytHR offers deeper India-specific payroll compliance coverage, including statutory automation across multiple Acts and compliance categories.

Which software is better for talent management?

Keka has hiring, performance management and continuous feedback workflows, with a built-in LMS and helps especially mid-sized services businesses.

Does greytHR support biometric attendance?

Yes. greytHR supports broad biometric integrations along with GPS and face recognition attendance.

Is Keka suitable for small businesses?

Keka is suitable for growing businesses, especially those prioritising employee experience and workflow configurability, though pricing may be higher for smaller companies. greytHR is suitable and is used by businesses of all sizes, from startups to enterprises.

Which HRMS is better for Indian SMBs?

For most Indian SMBs looking for payroll, compliance, support, and operational scalability - all within a full-suite HRMS, greytHR is generally the better fit.

What are some greytHR features to watch out for?

greytHR's mobile app is incredibly useful and popular among organizations using greytHR - rated 4.5 stars on Google Play & App Store, with 3M+ downloads. When on a greytHR demo, inquire about greytHR Unite Marketplace and NAVOS, built-in AI assistant.

Final Verdict: greytHR vs Keka

Both greytHR and Keka are strong HRMS platforms for Indian businesses, but they approach the market differently.

greytHR is better suited for organizations prioritising payroll compliance, operational reliability, strong customer support, and pricing transparency within a full-suite HRMS. Its deep India HR expertise, compliance infrastructure, and support ecosystem make it particularly attractive for businesses scaling payroll and HR operations.

Keka is stronger for organisations prioritising modern UX, employee engagement, configurable workflows, and performance management. It is especially appealing to fast-growing services and technology companies.

For businesses evaluating long-term payroll stability, compliance confidence, and SMB-friendly pricing, greytHR emerges as the stronger overall choice.

Explore greytHR for your Organization

• Start with a free plan for up to 25 employees
• Explore payroll, attendance, and HR automation
• Schedule a product demo
• Compare plans and pricing transparently
• Evaluate India-first payroll compliance capabilities

Discover how greytHR helps Indian SMBs simplify HR, payroll, attendance, and compliance on a single platform.

Legal Disclaimer

• All trademarks belong to their respective owners.
• For informational use only; not legal or financial advice.
• Features and prices are subject to change; verify on vendor sites.
• No endorsement or partnership is implied.