Where Zoho People is strong
To be fair: Zoho People is a serious, capable platform. It is trusted by more than 50,000 businesses across 165+ countries, backed by Zoho Corporation, and it offers a broad feature set: core HR, attendance and shift management, leave, timesheets, performance management with OKRs, a learning module, employee self-service, a good mobile app, deep workflow customization and an AI-first design. Users on G2 and Capterra praise its ease of use, its leave and attendance automation and its value for money. If you want a broad global HR suite, or you already run other Zoho products, it is a strong choice.
Some reviewers on those sites also note that initial setup can be complex, a few modules feel dated, and support on tricky tickets can be slow. Those are user opinions, not our claims, so weigh them against your own trial.
The payroll difference that matters most
For an Indian manpower business, the biggest structural difference is payroll. Zoho People does not run Indian statutory payroll itself. PF, ESI, Professional Tax, LWF and TDS are handled by Zoho Payroll, a separate product with its own subscription. So to match what ZeniaHR does out of the box, a Zoho buyer typically runs Zoho People plus Zoho Payroll, two products to license, configure and keep in sync, and for temporary or contingent staffing, Zoho points buyers to yet another product (Zoho Workerly).
ZeniaHR keeps all of it on one worker record: attendance captured at the client site flows into payroll and PF/ESI in the same product, with no hand-off between subscriptions. For a contractor running thousands of workers across sites, that is fewer moving parts.
Where ZeniaHR is different
- Payroll and statutory compliance are built in, not a separate subscription.
- Attendance is captured at the post, biometric and geo-tagged, and flows straight into pay.
- Per-client invoicing is built in: the same deployment data that drives pay produces a separate invoice for each client.
- Free for your first 100 workers, not 5, with payroll and compliance included in the free plan.
See how it works for security agencies and facility management, or read the contract labour compliance guide.
Which should you pick?
Pick Zoho People if you want a broad, global HR suite with performance management, OKRs and learning, deep customization, and you are comfortable adding Zoho Payroll for Indian compliance, especially if you already use Zoho.
Pick ZeniaHR if you deploy workers across client sites and want payroll, PF/ESI compliance, multi-site attendance and per-client invoicing in one product, starting free at real scale. See ZeniaHR pricing or book a demo.
Payroll, attendance and compliance in one product
No separate payroll subscription. Run multi-site attendance, PF/ESI payroll and per-client invoicing on one worker record. Free for your first 100 workers.
Frequently asked questions
Is ZeniaHR a good Zoho People alternative?
For manpower and staffing firms, yes. Zoho People is a broad global HRMS; ZeniaHR is built for deploying workers across client sites and includes Indian payroll, multi-site attendance and per-client invoicing in one product.
Does Zoho People include Indian payroll (PF, ESI, PT)?
Not by itself. PF, ESI, Professional Tax, LWF and TDS are handled by Zoho Payroll, a separate Zoho product with its own subscription. ZeniaHR includes payroll and statutory compliance in the same product.
Does Zoho People have a free plan?
Yes, a free edition for up to 5 users covering the employee database, leave and documents. ZeniaHR's free plan covers up to 100 workers, with payroll and compliance included.
Can I move my data from Zoho to ZeniaHR?
Yes. Worker master data, salary structures and attendance can be imported from spreadsheets during onboarding. Book a demo and the team will map it to your setup.