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Keka vs Zoho People - The Full Picture

HR isn't a side project.
Your people deserve better.

Zoho People is one of 40+ Zoho apps built for generic business ops, not people-first culture. See why 10,000+ businesses across the Middle East and beyond chose Keka instead.

10,000+ Companies on Keka
4.5 G2 rating
50% Faster payroll processing
40% Reduction in manual HR work
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A day on Zoho People.
A day on Keka.
The difference defines your culture.
Zoho People A typical day for your HR team
9:00 AM - Payroll can't begin. Separate product, separate login, last month still unreconciled.
Two systems, two logins, one bottleneck
10:30 AM - Performance cycle starts with a basic form. No cascading goals, no OKRs, no tracking.Performance cycle starts with a basic form.
Reviews become paperwork, not progress
12:00 PM - Leadership wants pulse data after the reorg. Zoho People has none.
Culture runs on guesswork
2:30 PM - Onboarding is behind. HR is chasing IT, Finance, and the hiring manager manually.
45 manual follow-up messages sent
5:30 PM - CHRO report needs three sources: Zoho People, Zoho Payroll, and a spreadsheet.
Another evening lost to data assembly
Keka What your HR team truly deserves
9:00 AM - Payroll runs natively. Attendance, leave, and arrears reconciled. One click, done.
Payroll closed before the first cup of coffee
10:30 AM - Performance cycle live with OKRs, cascading goals, and AI-assisted reviews. Delays flagged automatically.
Reviews that actually drive growth
12:00 PM - Pulse survey sent in two minutes. Mood score live on the dashboard within the hour.
Culture decisions backed by real data
2:30 PM - Onboarding tasks auto-assigned to IT, Finance, and manager. HR tracks completion in real time.
Zero manual follow-ups. 60% faster onboarding.
5:30 PMOne-click CHRO report. Headcount, payroll, attrition, performance, and engagement — one dashboard.
Every insight, zero assembly required
The real picture
Zoho’s true total cost isn’t always visible at first glance.
Low base pricing looks attractive , until you add the payroll module, premium tiers, and the manual workarounds your team absorbs every month.

Payroll Is Not Included

  • Zoho Payroll is a separate product, separate login
  • No maker-checker approval workflow
  • No automated salary disbursal or scheduling
  • WPS compliance needs extra configuration
  • Gratuity calculations are manual

Performance Is Just a Form

  • No OKR management or cascading goals
  • No AI-assisted goal setting or review writing
  • No in-flight tracking — cycles stall silently
  • No PIP workflows with task validation
  • No 1:1 meeting management

Engagement Doesn't Exist

  • No pulse surveys or mood tracking
  • No Social Wall & milestone celebrations
  • No anonymous feedback via mobile or Slack
  • No rewards and recognition module
  • Culture building happens in spreadsheets

Features Locked Behind Tiers

  • Critical HR features gated behind Enterprise
  • Low base price, high add-on cost
  • No transparent all-inclusive licensing
  • Multi-entity management requires separate setups
  • Advanced analytics and custom reports cost extra

Sound familiar? You are not alone.

Hundreds of Middle East HR leaders have made the move from Zoho to a platform built exclusively for people-first teams.

What HR teams measure after they stop settling
Numbers that Zoho
won't show you side-by-side.

Businesses that switched to Keka report measurable improvements across every HR function within the first quarter of going live.

40%
Reduction in manual HR work
Reported by growing Keka customers
50%
Faster payroll processing end-to-end
From attendance lock to salary disbursal
60%
Improvement in onboarding efficiency
Automated workflows, zero manual chasing
10K+
Companies that chose HR-first over a side project
And growing every single quarter
The head-to-head comparison
Zoho won't walk you through.
A transparent, feature-by-feature look at what your team is actually getting , and what they're missing.
Feature
Keka
Zoho People
 DIFFERENCE?
Payroll & Compliance
Complete in-house payroll module (no add-on) ✓ ✗ Keka wins
Maker-checker payroll approval workflow ✓ ✗ Keka wins
Salary disbursal automation (schedule + direct deposit) ✓ ✗ Keka wins
Audit logs for all payroll changes ✓ ✗ Keka wins
Multiple pay groups & payroll policies ✓ Add-on Keka wins
Multi-entity payroll processing ✓ ✗ Keka wins
Statutory bonus & fringe benefit tax automation ✓ ✗ Keka wins
Performance & Talent Management
OKR management with cascading goal alignment ✓ ✗ Keka wins
AI-assisted goal setting & review writing ✓ ✗ Keka wins
Goal progress integration (auto-updates from work data) ✓ ✗ Keka wins
In-flight review management & automated nudges ✓ ✗ Keka wins
Performance Improvement Plan (PIP) workflows ✓ ✗ Keka wins
Scheduled 1:1 meetings with calendar sync ✓ ✗ Keka wins
360° feedback & performance appraisals ✓ ✓ Both
Private internal notes on reviews ✓ ✗ Keka wins
Employee Engagement & Experience
Pulse surveys (continuous mood tracking) ✓ ✗ Keka wins
Anonymous feedback collection (web & mobile) ✓ ✗ Keka wins
Social Wall & milestone celebrations ✓ ✗ Keka wins
Rewards & recognition module ✓ ✗ Keka wins
Downloadable survey result dashboards ✓ ✗ Keka wins
Core HR & Onboarding
Automated onboarding workflows with task assignment ✓ Basic Keka wins
New hire offer letters & integrated documents ✓ Limited Keka wins
Bulk employee data import & updates ✓ Basic Keka wins
Employee exit settlements in bulk ✓ ✗ Keka wins
Employee database & org chart ✓ ✓ Both
Time & Attendance
Flexible attendance cycle management ✓ ✗ Keka wins
Automatic overtime calculation & comp-off ✓ ✗ Keka wins
Offline attendance capture ✓ ✗ Keka wins
Shift scheduling with rotational shifts ✓ Basic Keka wins
Advanced leave accrual rules & carryover ✓ Basic Keka wins
Attendance tracking & geofencing ✓ ✓ Both

Let Keka show you what HR-first looks like.

No generic walkthrough. A demo tailored to your team size, your industry, and the specific challenges you face today across the Middle East.

The Keka advantage
Where Zoho ends, Keka takes it further.
The gaps you work around every day become capabilities Keka delivers by design , built for HR teams that are serious about people.
Payroll

Payroll That's Part of the Platform

Maker-checker workflows, scheduled disbursal, WPS compliance, multi-entity processing, and full audit trails — built in, not bolted on.

Performance

Performance Built for Growth Goals.

OKRs, cascading goals, AI reviews, PIP workflows, 1:1s, and live tracking — helping managers grow teams fast with less effort..!

Engagement

Culture Metrics That Teams Can Use

Pulse surveys, mood tracking, Social Wall, anonymous feedback, and a rewards platform — all native to Keka.

Onboarding

Onboarding That Runs Itself

Tasks auto-assigned to IT, Finance, and managers. Offers, docs, and preboarding tracked in one dashboard. No follow-ups.

Analytics

One Dashboard for Every HR Metric

Headcount, attrition, payroll, attendance, performance, and engagement — unified. No exports. No spreadsheets. Insights in seconds.

Licensing

No Gimmicks. No Gatekeeping.

Everything upfront. No tier locks. No per-entity surprises. One license that scales with your organisation.

Real customers. Real results.
What HR leaders say after switching to Keka.
Trusted by 10,000+ growing businesses , hear it directly from HR leaders who made the move.
Measured results after going live on Keka
★★★ ★★
"We were managing attendance, payroll, and performance across three different tools , and none of them spoke to each other. With Keka, everything is in one place. The payroll runs in a fraction of the time, the performance cycles actually get completed, and our people feel more engaged because they can see what's happening. The switch was smoother than we expected, and the difference from day one was visible."
F
Fatima Al-Rashidi
Head of People & Culture · Regional Holding Group, UAE
50% faster payroll
The move is simpler than you think
From Zoho to Keka
in 4 structured steps.
The biggest reason teams stay on Zoho is the fear of migration. Our structured process removes every obstacle.
1

Discovery & Scoping

We map your Zoho config — modules, payroll setup, leave policies, and integrations — so the migration fits how your business actually works.

2

Data Migration & Config

Employee records, payroll history, leave balances, & attendance migrated from Zoho with structured templates & full integrity validation before go-live.

3

Parallel Run & Validation

Both systems run through a full payroll cycle while your team verifies every output before final cutover, ensuring zero risk and full visibility always.!

4

Go Live With Full Support

Dedicated success manager for your first 90 days with training, onboarding, adoption, and escalation support included from day one. for all HR teams now.

Our migration guarantee

If your first payroll run on Keka has errors caused by our migration, we fix it at our cost. That is the Keka promise , and we stand behind it.

Why teams never look back
Numbers that speak for themselves.
100%
Data migration accuracy , guaranteed
14
Average days to first payroll run on Keka
90
Days of dedicated CSM support after go-live
Answers you need now
Questions we hear from every
Zoho team considering a switch.
Does Keka include payroll or is it also an add-on? ▼
Keka's payroll is fully built into the platform not a separate product. You get maker-checker workflows, salary disbursal automation, multi-entity processing, and complete audit trails with no extra purchase. Unlike Zoho, your HR and payroll data share the same system.
How long does migration from Zoho to Keka take? ▼
Most organisations go live within 4–6 weeks, depending on headcount and module scope. Keka's implementation team runs a structured migration playbook. Your employee records, payroll history, leave balances, and attendance data arrive clean verified before go-live.
Can Keka manage multiple companies or business units? ▼
Yes. Keka supports multi-entity management under a single unified license , so you view and administer every organisation from one platform without separate logins or duplicate configurations. Ideal for holding groups and conglomerates across the Middle East.
Does Keka support performance management beyond basic appraisals? ▼
Yes , significantly. Keka includes OKRs with cascading goal alignment, AI-assisted goal setting and review writing, in-flight cycle tracking, PIP workflows, 1:1 meeting management with calendar sync, and private internal notes on reviews. It is a complete performance management suite.
Does Keka support WPS and Middle East payroll compliance? ▼
Yes. Keka generates WPS-compliant SIF files for UAE, supports country-specific payroll compliance across the GCC, and automates end of service (gratuity) calculations. Statutory filings are handled natively.
Will we lose our Zoho data during migration? ▼
No. Keka exports all data from Zoho People with full integrity checks before migration. We run a parallel payroll validation cycle to confirm accuracy before cutover.
Is Keka priced transparently , or are there hidden tiers? ▼
Keka's pricing is transparent and available on our website. There are no hidden charges for modules, integrations, or support.
What support does Keka provide after go-live? ▼
Every customer receives a dedicated Customer Success Manager for the first 90 days. After that, you have access to in-app chat support, a help centre, and a community of HR professionals.

Your people deserve an HR platform built for them , not one of 40 apps.

Join 10,000+ businesses that chose to stop settling. One platform. All of HR. Built exclusively for the people who power your organisation.