Keka Review: HR, Payroll and Timesheets for Indian and UAE Employers
Keka is an HR, payroll, hiring and professional services automation (PSA) platform from Keka Technologies, an Indian company that lists regional contact lines in Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai, Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Kolkata and Pune. It says it is used by 12,500+ companies.
Its Indian payroll computes PF, ESI, PT, LWF and TDS with ECR-ready reports and can disburse salaries from Keka Wallet. Unlike most Indian HRMS vendors, it also runs UAE payroll with WPS SIF files and has regional sites for Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman and the US.
The verdict
Keka is the Indian HRMS I would pick for a tech or services company of 100 to 2,000 people that wants payroll, performance reviews, hiring and project timesheets from one vendor. The product goes further than greytHR on performance and engagement, and the separate PSA product means billable-hours businesses do not need a second tool.
The trade-off is cost and scope creep. Keka's HRMS tiers are priced per additional employee at ₹90, ₹120 and ₹150, and the base fee for the included headcount is not shown on the static pricing page. Hiring, PSA, Keka Learn and Rewards and Recognition are sold separately.
If you run a payroll-only operation for a factory workforce, greytHR is cheaper. If you are over 5,000 employees across several Asian countries, Darwinbox is the more natural shortlist.
Where Keka HR fits
Who it suits
Keka suits Indian IT services, SaaS, consulting and agency companies from roughly 100 employees upward, especially those that bill clients by the hour and want timesheets tied to HR data. It also fits Indian groups that have opened a UAE entity and want one HR system for both.
What it does differently
Two things separate Keka from the rest of this group. First, it combines Indian statutory payroll, a real performance module and a PSA product for project billing and resource planning. Second, it supports UAE payroll: it generates WPS SIF files, calculates gratuity and end-of-service to UAE Labour Law, tracks visa and Emirates ID expiries and reports Emiratization ratios to MOHRE.
How it gets bought
Keka is mid-priced for India. It costs more per head than greytHR and less than a Darwinbox enterprise contract, and it sells through a free trial on every HRMS tier followed by an inside-sales conversation. Budget for add-ons if you want API access or Slack and Teams integration.
Keka pricing: Foundation, Strength and Growth tiers
Keka publishes three HRMS and payroll tiers for India, priced per additional employee per month: Foundation at ₹90, Strength at ₹120 and Growth at ₹150. Each tier offers a free trial. The pricing page has separate tabs for India, USA and EU, and Asia Pacific and GCC, so prices outside India differ.
Keka Hire (Pro and Advanced) is priced separately with its own free trial, and the Projects and Timesheets (PSA) product starts with a Basic tier that is quote-only. Direct salary payout through Keka Wallet carries additional charges.
| Plan | Published price | Annual |
|---|---|---|
| Foundation | ₹90 per additional employee per month | Not stated |
| Strength | ₹120 per additional employee per month | Not stated |
| Growth | ₹150 per additional employee per month | Not stated |
Pricing last checked September 25, 2026. View source
Foundation, Strength or Growth
Foundation covers org structure, documents, basic onboarding, leave, gamified attendance, overtime, basic shifts, payroll with statutory reports, loans and salary advances, expenses and accounting integration. Strength adds Keka Sign e-signatures, travel desk, asset tracking, people analytics, selfie clock-in, continuous location punching, geo-fencing, SSO and pulse surveys.
Growth adds workflow automation, a custom report builder, headcount planning, goals and OKR alignment, performance reviews with calibration, performance improvement plans, promotions, basic compensation plans and skills analytics.
Extras that are priced on their own
Advanced shift management, API and webhooks, helpdesk, Azure AD SSO, background-verification integration, digital signature and Slack and MS Teams integrations are listed as add-ons. Keka Learn and Rewards and Recognition are separate sign-ups, so the per-employee tier price is the floor, not the total.
Keka features: payroll, attendance, hiring and timesheets
Indian payroll and Keka Wallet
Payroll pulls attendance, leave and salary inputs, then applies PF, ESI, TDS, PT and LWF rules. Loans, salary advances, perks and expense claims flow into the same run.
Statutory reports. PF ECR-ready reports, ESI eligibility and contribution checks, TDS quarterly reports and state-wise LWF.
Keka Wallet. Salaries can be paid out directly from Keka Wallet in one step, for an additional charge.
UAE and GCC payroll
Keka runs a separate payroll for each mainland and free-zone trade licence on one platform and produces bank-ready WPS SIF files.
Gratuity. Gratuity and end-of-service are calculated to UAE Labour Law.
Emiratization. Keka tracks Emirates ID, visa, work permit and labour card expiries and reports Emiratization ratios to MOHRE.
Attendance and field staff
Attendance is captured through biometric devices, GPS and the mobile app across offices, shifts and field teams.
Strength tier. Selfie clock-in, continuous location punching and geo-fencing arrive on Strength.
Shifts. Basic shift boards are on Foundation; advanced shift management is an add-on.
Keka Hire and PSA
Keka Hire covers requisitions, custom hiring stages, AI job descriptions, offer letters with approval and a candidate portal. Advanced adds career-page customization and CV-to-JD match scoring.
Timesheets. Project time tracking with policies per resource, daily submission and approval chains, including on mobile.
Project finance. Rate cards, billing on actual hours and revenue forecasting based on existing contracts.
Keka pros and cons
Strengths
Performance management goes deep on Growth
Goals and OKR alignment, continuous feedback, one-on-ones, performance calibration, promotions and improvement plans are all part of the Growth tier rather than a separate product.
Indian and UAE payroll on one platform
The Indian engine covers PF with ECR reports, ESI, TDS with quarterly reports, PT and LWF. The UAE side generates WPS SIF files and handles mainland and free-zone entities in one cycle.
PSA for billable teams
Keka's Projects and Timesheets product tracks billable and non-billable hours, rate cards, project health and resource allocation, which suits services firms that would otherwise buy a separate PSA tool.
100+ integrations
Keka lists integrations with tools such as Salesforce, Jira, Xero and Stripe, along with accounting integration on its entry tier.
Limitations
Base fee is hard to see
The pricing page lists the per-additional-employee rate for each tier but not the base fee for the included headcount, so you will need a quote to compare it with greytHR's published ₹2,495 base.
Many useful pieces are add-ons
API and webhooks, advanced shifts, helpdesk, Azure AD SSO and Slack and Teams integration are add-ons even on Growth. Hiring, PSA, Keka Learn and Rewards and Recognition are separate products.
Southeast Asian payroll is not listed
Keka publishes payroll pages for India and the Gulf. I found no native payroll for Malaysia, the Philippines or Indonesia, where BrioHR, Sprout Solutions or GreatDay HR are local specialists.
Keka is an Indian HR and payroll platform with pre-built PF, ESI, LWF and TDS statutory reports and salary payouts through its Keka Wallet. Pricing is tiered in rupees, listed at ₹90 per additional employee on Foundation and ₹120 on Strength, rising to ₹150 on the top tier, and each tier offers a free trial.
Keka buying motion: trial, quote and add-ons
Keka offers a free trial on each HRMS tier and on Keka Hire, and routes PSA buyers to sales. A little preparation shortens the evaluation.
- Ask for the base fee and included headcount for your tier in writing, because the public page only shows the ₹90, ₹120 or ₹150 rate for additional employees.
- List the add-ons you need (API, Slack or Teams, Azure AD SSO, helpdesk) before the quote, since they are priced outside the tiers and change the total.
- Test a UAE payroll run in the trial if you have a Gulf entity, because WPS SIF output and gratuity are the parts local auditors will check.
- Decide whether PSA belongs in scope now, because moving timesheets into Keka later means a second implementation.
Frequently asked questions about Keka
How much does Keka cost?
For India, Keka lists Foundation at ₹90, Strength at ₹120 and Growth at ₹150 per additional employee per month. The base fee is quoted, and Hire, PSA and several integrations are extra.
Does Keka offer a free trial?
Yes. Each HRMS tier and the Keka Hire plans have a free trial.
Is Keka's website keka.in or keka.com?
The live site is keka.com. When I checked, keka.in did not load, and all pricing and product pages are on keka.com with regional sections for India, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the US.
Does Keka support UAE payroll?
Yes. Keka generates WPS SIF files, calculates gratuity and end-of-service to UAE Labour Law and reports Emiratization ratios to MOHRE.
What statutory reports does Keka produce for India?
PF ECR-ready reports, ESI calculations, TDS quarterly reports, PT and LWF deductions based on state rules.
What is Keka PSA?
It is Keka's Projects and Timesheets product for tracking billable hours, rate cards, resource allocation and project revenue.
Alternatives worth comparing
Keka covers a lot of ground for Indian and Gulf employers. These peers win in narrower cases.
| Product | Pricing model | Free trial | Why buyers shortlist it |
|---|---|---|---|
| greytHR | Tiered pricing | Yes | greytHR publishes a lower rupee price with 50 employees in the base fee and focuses on Indian statutory payroll rather than performance or PSA. |
| Rippling | Modular pricing | Not stated | Rippling is the HR platform that refused to stay in its lane. |
| Workday HCM | Custom quote | Not stated | [Workday](/software/workday) HCM is the enterprise human capital management platform that competes head-to-head with SAP SuccessFactors and Oracle HCM Cloud for the largest organizations in the world. |
| Kakitangan | Tiered pricing | Yes | Kakitangan.com is a Malaysian HR and payroll system operated by Coastal Hectare Sdn Bhd. |
| Sprout Solutions | Custom quote | Not stated | Sprout Solutions is a Philippine HR and payroll vendor with 2,000+ clients and 350,000+ users. |
Free templates for this
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Shift Swap Request Form (Schedule Change Request)
Shift swap and schedule change request form with covering-employee sign-off, manager approval rules, an overtime check, fair workweek notes and a swap log.