Darwinbox alternatives

Darwinbox publishes no price: you pick modules and request a quote, verified 24 September 2026. Mid-size companies leaving it compare Keka, greytHR (Essential ₹2,495 a month in India), HROne, Personio and BambooHR. For a company whose people run client projects, PeopleMuster is the strongest alternative: $3 per person a month, every module included.

Why people leave

No price page at all. Darwinbox's site has a module picker and a Request a Quote form, and no public pricing page. Budgeting a move means a sales cycle before you've seen a single number.
Enterprise shape, mid-size company. Darwinbox sells to large and upper mid-market employers across Asia. A company of 80 or 150 people often wants a plan it can read, sign up for, and pay by the person.
Delivery work in another system. Darwinbox is an HR platform. Service companies that bill client hours keep projects, timesheets and the capacity plan in a separate tool beside it.

The real options

Six products were compared on 24 September 2026 on what a 100-person company can learn without a sales call: a published price or plan structure, any base fee or headcount floor, the currency, and whether project delivery shares the staff record. Evaluated from Darwinbox's own documentation and pricing, September 2026. Other figures come from each vendor's pricing page, quoted in the currency that vendor prints.

PeopleMuster

$3 per person a month, from the first person. Every module included, no base fee, 14 days free with no card.

Who it suits: Software houses, agencies and consultancies of any size that run people and client projects together.
Where it wins: Attendance by fingerprint terminal or browser check-in, leave quotas with approvals, timesheets by project and a capacity plan, all on one record. Fingerprints stay on the terminal; PeopleMuster receives only who punched and when.

Keka

Foundation, Strength and Growth plans, priced by region (India, USA and EU, APAC and GCC); the base price is not shown in plain figures. Verified September 2026.

Who it suits: Service companies in India and nearby markets that want HR, payroll and project work from one vendor.
Where it wins: HRMS and payroll, hiring, and projects and timesheets sold as tabs of one product.
Where it falls short: A minimum-headcount base and regional pricing mean the real figure comes from a quote.

greytHR

India: Essential ₹2,495 a month including 50 employees, then ₹45 each; Growth ₹4,495 plus ₹85. Middle East: Essential $50 a month including 10, then $2 each; Growth $60 plus $3. 7-day trial. Verified 24 September 2026.

Who it suits: Companies in India and the Middle East that want HR software at a printed price in their own currency.
Where it wins: Both regional price lists are public, with no lock-in stated on the page.
Where it falls short: Every plan starts with a monthly base before the per-employee rate, and Premium is custom.

HROne

Basic ₹4,950 a month for 50 users, then ₹99 each; Professional ₹6,500 for 50, then ₹130; Enterprise custom. Verified 24 September 2026.

Who it suits: Indian companies that want an HR suite priced in rupees.
Where it wins: Two tiers with published base and per-user figures.
Where it falls short: Each plan opens with a 50-user monthly base, and Enterprise is priced on request.

Personio

Core from €7.60 per employee a month; higher tiers on request. Verified September 2026.

Who it suits: European mid-sized companies that want a European HR platform.
Where it wins: A published entry figure, in euros.
Where it falls short: Tiers above Core need a demo. Client project delivery sits outside the product.

BambooHR

Core $10, Pro $17 and Elite $25 per employee a month. Verified September 2026.

Who it suits: US-facing mid-sized companies that want every HR tier priced in public.
Where it wins: Three published tiers in US dollars, with volume discounts.
Where it falls short: Elite is $25 against $10 for Core. Client project delivery sits outside the product.

Questions people ask

How much does Darwinbox cost?

Darwinbox publishes no price. Its site offers a module picker and a Request a Quote form, and darwinbox.com/pricing returned no page when checked on 24 September 2026. PeopleMuster costs $3 per person a month with every module, or $30 per person a year billed annually.

How long does it take to move from Darwinbox to PeopleMuster?

Setup runs inside your 14 days free. We load your people, leave types and projects with you, and set your modules and roles as part of the subscription. The CSV importer takes people, leave balances and projects from a Darwinbox export if you'd rather load them yourself.

Why is Zoho People not on this list?

Zoho People prices by region and injects the figure per visitor, so one number can't stand for every reader. It has its own alternatives page on this site. The six here each print a figure or a plan structure that holds wherever you read it.