If you run HR or finance for an Indian organisation between 100 and 5,000 employees, your inbox has at some point in the last 24 months had a vendor offering an "all-in-one HRMS" subscription. The pitch is always the same: per-employee per-month pricing, "comprehensive feature set", "implementation in 4 weeks". The reality, two years later, is always different.
This post is the analysis we wish a CFO had handed us when we first considered the question: over a 5-year horizon, with all costs in, when does buying make sense and when does building win?
The five SaaS HRMS options that matter in India (2026)
For Indian mid-market organisations, the realistic shortlist is:
| Vendor | Best at | Approx pricing (per emp/month) |
|---|---|---|
| Zoho People | Smallest orgs (<100), simplest | ₹50–150 |
| GreytHR | Indian payroll compliance | ₹100–250 |
| Keka | Modern UX, fast onboarding | ₹150–350 |
| Darwinbox | Mid-large enterprise | ₹250–500 |
| SAP SuccessFactors | Multi-country, deep customisation | ₹600–1,500+ |
All real prices include base subscription + a few inevitable add-ons (advanced reporting, mobile app, additional modules). Multi-year contracts often shave 10-20% but lock you in.
The 5-year TCO maths
Let's run the numbers at three sizes. We'll use mid-range vendor pricing (so not the cheapest, not the most premium).
Scenario A: 100 employees
| Option | Year 1 | Years 2–5 | 5-yr TCO |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zoho People (₹100/emp/mo) | ₹1,20,000 | ₹1,32,000/yr | ₹6,48,000 |
| GreytHR (₹150/emp/mo) | ₹1,80,000 | ₹1,98,000/yr | ₹9,72,000 |
| Custom build (Big Helpers Essentials) | ₹1,50,000 build + ₹60,000 hosting | ₹60,000/yr maintenance | ₹4,50,000 |
Verdict at 100 employees: Zoho People is competitive on pure cost. Custom wins by ~30%, and you own the IP. For most 100-employee orgs that fit a standard payroll workflow, Zoho is fine. Build only if your workflow is non-standard.
Scenario B: 500 employees
| Option | Year 1 | Years 2–5 | 5-yr TCO |
|---|---|---|---|
| GreytHR (₹150/emp/mo) | ₹9,00,000 | ₹9,90,000/yr | ₹48,60,000 |
| Keka (₹250/emp/mo) | ₹15,00,000 | ₹16,50,000/yr | ₹81,00,000 |
| Darwinbox (₹400/emp/mo) | ₹24,00,000 | ₹26,40,000/yr | ₹1,29,60,000 |
| Custom build (Big Helpers Standard) | ₹6,00,000 build + ₹3,00,000 hosting/maint | ₹3,00,000/yr | ₹21,00,000 |
Verdict at 500 employees: Custom wins by 50% over GreytHR (cheapest SaaS), 75% over Keka, 84% over Darwinbox. The savings are large enough to justify the build effort. Plus you get a system that actually fits your policy.
Scenario C: 2,000 employees
| Option | Year 1 | Years 2–5 | 5-yr TCO |
|---|---|---|---|
| Darwinbox (₹350/emp/mo) | ₹84,00,000 | ₹92,40,000/yr | ₹4,53,60,000 |
| SAP SuccessFactors (₹800/emp/mo) | ₹1,92,00,000 | ₹2,11,20,000/yr | ₹10,36,80,000 |
| Custom build (Big Helpers Enterprise) | ₹15,00,000 build + ₹6,00,000 hosting/maint | ₹6,00,000/yr | ₹39,00,000 |
Verdict at 2,000 employees: Custom wins by an order of magnitude. ₹39 lakh vs ₹4.5 crore (Darwinbox) or ₹10 crore (SAP). Even if our build estimate is 2x off, custom still wins by 10×.
But the maths is only half the story
Cost is the tip of the iceberg. The real reasons mid-large Indian organisations move off SaaS HRMS to custom builds:
1. Workflow that doesn't fit a template
SaaS HRMS optimises for the most common 80% of Indian businesses: 9-to-6 office staff, 30 paid leaves a year, basic CTC structure, monthly payroll. The moment your reality is different — shift workers, piece-rate manufacturing, contract drivers with daily allowance, hospital nurses with on-call duties, NGO staff on project-based contracts, multi-state compliance — the SaaS bends, breaks, or charges you ₹3 lakh per "customisation".
2. Statutory compliance lag
India's HR statutory landscape changes constantly. PF wage ceiling. ESI threshold. State PT slabs. New Maharashtra LWF rates. National Industrial Disputes Act amendments. DPDP Act 2023. The Code on Social Security 2020 rollout. When the gazette notification drops, your CA needs the system updated this week, not "in our Q4 release". SaaS vendors batch updates; custom-built code can be patched in 24 hours.
3. Data residency and DPDP Act
The DPDP Act, 2023 mandates Indian data residency for "sensitive personal data" — which includes employee biometrics, salary, PF/ESI numbers, financial info, health data. Most major SaaS HRMS host primary data in US/EU regions. They're scrambling to add Indian regions but your current vendor may not be compliant. Custom builds default to Indian VPS / AWS Mumbai / on-premise — DPDP-compliant from day one.
4. Vehicle, fuel, expense, employee bills — the modules nobody else builds well
Most Indian organisations of 100+ have a fleet (sales reps, drivers, field service). SaaS HRMS treat vehicle as an afterthought ("upload PDFs of bills"). Custom-built can integrate vehicle log → fuel allowance → driver attendance → payroll → finance → GST input credit in one continuous flow. Same with bill processing: OCR-based expense submission with auto-categorisation and policy-based approval doesn't exist in any major SaaS HRMS at this price point.
5. Integration with your existing systems
If you run Tally, SAP, Oracle, or any other ERP, your HRMS needs to talk to it cleanly. SaaS vendors offer "API integration" but in practice it's via Zapier or a custom-built bridge that costs ₹2-5 lakh and breaks every time the SaaS pushes an update. Custom-built sits on the same infrastructure as your ERP and integrates natively.
When SaaS still wins
To be intellectually honest:
- <100 employees, standard workflow: Zoho People or GreytHR is fine. The cost difference doesn't justify the build effort.
- You need to be live in 4 weeks, no exceptions: SaaS wins on speed. Custom is 8-14 weeks at minimum.
- You don't have any IT resource for ongoing maintenance: SaaS is "vendor problem". Custom needs at least a part-time developer or maintenance contract.
- You may be acquired in next 18 months: Acquirer will likely consolidate to their HRMS anyway.
📐 We do this for you, custom-built
If you're 250+ employees, your workflow doesn't fit Zoho/GreytHR templates, and you want to own the IP — we build the HRMS module-by-module: attendance, leave, vehicle, expense, payroll. Live in 8–14 weeks. Custom-shaped to your policy. PF/ESI/TDS/PT/LWF compliant.
What "custom-built" actually means in 2026
The term "custom HRMS" has historically meant a 2-year SAP implementation costing ₹50 lakh+. That's not the modern reality. With current frameworks (Laravel, Node.js, React, React Native) and battle-tested patterns, a competent Indian dev shop can ship a production HRMS for 500 employees in 12 weeks. The components are well-known:
- Backend: Laravel or Node.js + PostgreSQL/MySQL — 8-12 person-weeks
- Web admin: React or Next.js — 4-6 person-weeks
- Mobile employee app: React Native (iOS + Android single codebase) — 4-6 person-weeks
- Integrations: WhatsApp Business API, biometric devices, Razorpay Payouts, Google SSO — 2-3 person-weeks
- Statutory compliance: PF/ESI/TDS/PT/LWF — 2-3 person-weeks (well-known formulas)
- Testing & UAT: 2-3 person-weeks
Total: ~22-33 person-weeks. At Indian rates, that's a credible build for ₹6-15 lakh.
The deciding question
Forget vendor pitches. Ask yourself one question: "In 5 years, do I want to own this asset, or rent it?"
If you're a 100-person consulting firm with standard 9-to-6 attendance, renting is fine. If you're a 500-person manufacturing operation with shift workers, OT calculations, and a fleet, owning is dramatically cheaper and dramatically more flexible. If you're a 2,000-person organisation, owning is the only sane answer.
Get a 5-year TCO comparison for your org size
30-min discovery call · We map your policy on a whiteboard · Quote within 5 working days
💬 WhatsApp Kashvi See the HRMS service →The Big Helpers HRMS service
We build custom HRMS for Indian organisations from 50 to 5,000+ employees. Three tiers:
- Essentials (₹1.5 lakh): Master + attendance + leave + payroll. 8 weeks.
- Standard (₹6 lakh): + Vehicle + expense + custom reports + SSO + WhatsApp bot. 12 weeks.
- Enterprise (₹15 lakh): + Multi-entity + custom modules + ERP integration + ISO hosting + SLA. 14 weeks.
You own 100% of the source code. Hosting on your infrastructure (or ours, your choice). Statutory updates included in maintenance. Read the full service details →
Final note
HRMS is not a glamorous topic. But for any organisation past 200 employees, getting it right is worth lakhs per year in savings and hours per week in HR sanity. The "buy" path is fine for most; the "build" path is right for the 30% who don't fit the template. The maths above tells you which side you're on.
Got a specific question? WhatsApp me at +91 99939 82666. — Kashvi
Frequently asked questions
When does custom HRMS make financial sense vs Zoho People or Keka?
The break-even is typically 200-300 employees for a 5-year horizon. Below 200 employees with standard policies: SaaS HR (Zoho People at Rs 80-200/employee/month, Keka at Rs 100-250/employee/month) is operationally easier and cheaper. Above 300 employees, especially with non-standard policies (factory shifts, plant-specific OT, sector-specific compliance), custom HRMS pays back in 18-24 months and keeps paying every year after. Above 1000 employees, custom is almost always the right call.
What does Zoho People cost for 500 employees in India?
Zoho People Professional plan at Rs 200/employee/month for 500 employees works out to Rs 12 lakh/year, or Rs 60 lakh over 5 years. Add Zoho Payroll separately at Rs 50-100/employee/month: another Rs 3-6 lakh/year. Total Zoho People + Payroll for 500 employees over 5 years: typically Rs 75 lakh - Rs 1 crore depending on plan tier and add-ons. Custom HRMS for the same scope: Rs 5-10 lakh one-time + Rs 60K-1L/year hosting.
How long does it take to build a custom HRMS in India?
Typical timelines by scope: Starter HRMS (50-250 employees, attendance + leave + payslips + self-service app): 6 weeks. Mid-market HRMS (250-1000 employees, adds full statutory payroll + expense + performance + multi-location): 10 weeks. Enterprise HRMS (1000-5000+ employees, adds shift planner + biometric integration + KRA cascade + audit modules): 14-18 weeks. Faster delivery requires parallel team allocation and adds 30-40% to cost.
Can a custom HRMS handle Indian statutory compliance (PF, ESI, TDS, gratuity)?
Yes - and a well-built custom HRMS handles statutory compliance better than most SaaS for Indian-specific edge cases. Standard modules: PF (12% employer match with current ECR format), ESI (where applicable, current ESIC challan format), Professional Tax (state-wise), TDS (with quarterly Form 24Q + annual Form 16), gratuity (4.81% provision with formula adjustments), bonus, leave encashment, NPS for employees in NPS scheme. Auto-generated returns for EPFO unified portal, ESIC portal, TRACES.
What is the 5-year TCO of Zoho People vs custom HRMS for 500 employees?
Zoho People + Payroll for 500 employees: Rs 75L-1Cr over 5 years (subscription only; doesn't include integration work, customisation, support overheads). Custom HRMS for 500 employees: Rs 5-10L one-time build + Rs 60K-1L/year hosting + Rs 50K-1L/year for one half-time admin = Rs 10-15L over 5 years. Custom wins by 5-10x on TCO, plus the department owns the code and data.
Does a custom HRMS need to be hosted on-premise?
No - custom HRMS can be hosted anywhere. Most Indian SMEs deploy on AWS Mumbai (DPDP-compliant region), DigitalOcean Bangalore, or shared hosting with managed PostgreSQL. PSUs typically prefer NIC MeghRaj cloud or on-premise data centres for sensitive data. The 'custom' refers to the code, not the hosting.
What modules should a custom HRMS include for an Indian SME?
Core (always): employee directory, attendance (RFID/biometric/face/geo-mobile), leave management, statutory payroll, payslip self-service, document vault. Mid (200+ employees): expense management with receipt OCR, performance with KRAs, shift planner, multi-location support. Enterprise (1000+): full compliance audit trail, KRA cascade, automatic statutory return generation, integration with Tally/Zoho Books, biometric SDK integration, custom workflows.
Can Zoho People scale from 50 to 5,000 employees?
Yes technically, but the cost grows linearly. At 50 employees Zoho People is Rs 1-3L/year - perfectly fine. At 5,000 employees same plan tier is Rs 1-3 crore/year - which is where the build-vs-buy break-even hits hard. Most SaaS HR platforms also impose tier upgrades at scale (more advanced workflows, more integrations, dedicated CSM) that push per-employee cost up further.