- Employee management : Centralized system that organizes and protects employee records, while also allowing self-service access for staff information.
- Attendance and time tracking : Track work hours through web, mobile, facial recognition, or geo-based restrictions, and also support shifts and overtime rules.
- Leave management : Provide flexible leave policies, enable easy request and approval processes, and keep balances and holidays updated in one place.
- Performance and compensation management : Support clear goal setting, appraisals, and feedback, and also manage salary and benefits in a transparent way.
- Learning management system (LMS) : Deliver structured training, monitors progress, and create personalized learning paths based on roles or career needs.
- HR help desk (case management) : Central space where employees can raise HR queries, with tracking and resolution tools to improve response times.
- Document management : Securely store important personal and organizational documents, with options for e-signatures and easy file sharing.
- Reports and analytics : Generate detailed reports and insights that help leaders make data-driven HR decisions.
Zoho People
Help businesses manage HR tasks, employee data, and workflows efficiently.
Updated July 27, 2026
Zoho People Overview
Zoho People is a comprehensive HR management platform designed to streamline workforce operations. It provides tools for employee data management, attendance tracking, leave applications, performance reviews, and workflow automation. The system helps organizations improve efficiency by reducing manual tasks and ensuring accurate recordkeeping.
With its user-friendly interface and customizable features, Zoho People supports businesses of all sizes in managing their HR processes more effectively and enhancing employee experience.
Key Features
Pricing
| Plan Name | Price (per user/month, billed annually) | Key Inclusions |
|---|---|---|
| Free | Free for up to 5 users | Employee database, onboarding, document management, time-off (leave) management, HR reports, Zia AI bot |
| Essential HR | US$1.25 | Includes Free + attendance management, timesheets, roster management |
| Professional | US$2.00 | Includes Essential HR + performance management, compensation management, employee engagement, advanced HR analytics |
| Premium | US$3.00 | Includes Professional + HR help desk, learning management system, sandbox |
| Enterprise | US$4.50 | Includes Premium + extended HR help desk, LMS, sandbox |
Pricing source: https://www.zoho.com/people/zohopeople-pricing.html
Pros
| Competitor | Pros of Zoho People |
|---|---|
| Rippling | Rippling quotes every deal individually and does not publish prices. Zoho People posts its full price list, $1.25 to $4.50 per user/month billed annually, plus a free plan for up to 5 users and a 30 day trial, so a small team can start without ever talking to sales. |
| BambooHR | BambooHR starts at $10 per employee/month for its Core plan and bills companies of 25 or fewer employees at a flat rate from $250 per month. Zoho People’s most expensive tier still costs less than half BambooHR’s entry price. |
| Workday HCM | Workday HCM targets global enterprises and is sold only by custom quote. Zoho People self serves from sign up onward, and the features most teams need arrive early: performance management and advanced HR analytics at the $2 Professional tier, an LMS and HR help desk at the $3 Premium tier. |
| Keka | Keka’s pricing page shows plan names, Foundation, Strength, and Growth, but no US dollar figures. Zoho People publishes exact prices for every tier, and it connects with the wider Zoho suite, so teams already running Zoho CRM or Zoho Desk stay with one vendor. |
| Gusto | Gusto is payroll first, starting at $49 per month plus $6 per person. Zoho People delivers the HR side, attendance, performance reviews, engagement surveys, and training tools, at a far lower per seat cost for teams that already have payroll covered elsewhere. |
Cons
| Competitor | Cons of Zoho People |
|---|---|
| Rippling | Rippling combines HR with payroll, IT device management, and global employment infrastructure, including reimbursements in more than 100 countries and hiring abroad without local entities. Zoho People stops at HR management, with nothing comparable on device administration or global employment. |
| BambooHR | BambooHR bundles an applicant tracking system into every plan, 5 open jobs on Core and 50 on Elite, and sells payroll and benefits administration as first party add-ons. Zoho People sells neither, and recruiting sits in the separate Zoho Recruit product. |
| Workday HCM | Workday provides enterprise scale, with global compliance tooling, workforce planning, and the analytics that large multinationals run their HR operations on. Zoho People’s tiers are built for cost conscious small and midsized teams, not thousand seat global rollouts. |
| Keka | Keka bundles payroll and HR together across its plans, along with engagement features like a social wall and an employee helpdesk. Zoho People leaves payroll to a separate product, which means two systems where Keka buyers get one. |
| Gusto | Gusto runs full service payroll on every plan, with tax filings and payments included and next day pay from the Plus tier. Zoho People handles none of that, so US teams still need a payroll provider alongside it. |
Reviews
- Gartner Review (Rating: 4.4/5): Zoho People delivers reliable day-to-day HR support, with one Talent Acquisition & Retention Manager noting it keeps employee data accurate and organized while improving coordination across teams. A Senior Solutions Engineer appreciated the user-friendly handling of leave tracking, timesheets, and attendance, plus integration with Zoho CRM and Zoho Desk, though KPI and goals tracking felt less intuitive and some advanced features sit behind higher-tier plans.
- Capterra Review (Rating: 4.4/5): Zoho People earns praise for consolidating complete HR processes in one place and reducing manual effort, with one reviewer calling it a “fairly complete program” that centralizes time management, attendance tracking, vacation management, and performance evaluation. The UI/UX and value for money receive high marks, yet several comments mention a steep learning curve, limited customer support, and difficulty getting a live demo instead of prerecorded links.
- Reddit r/Connecteam: Zoho People scored 8.2/10 in a hands-on test and impressed with performance management tools that handle appraisals, goal creation, and employee feedback. The reviewer also highlighted in-app messaging, announcements, file-sharing for 1:1 and company-wide communication, a user-friendly attendance tracker, and strong security controls such as advanced encryption, multi-factor authentication, access controls, and activity logs.
- G2 Review (Rating: 4.4/5): The user-friendly interface simplifies HR work, especially attendance and leave management, which many users highlight as easy to handle inside Zoho People.
- TechRadar Review (Rating: 4/5): Affordable and transparent tiered pricing appeals to organizations that want flexible cloud-based HR plans without hidden costs.
- Software Advice Review (Rating: 4.4/5): Teams report that bringing attendance, leave, employee records, approvals, and reports into one system makes HR work much easier, and the self-service portal lets employees apply for leave, check attendance, and view payslips on their own. Some note that the photo check-in feels clunky without clear feedback on connectivity or lighting issues, and the mobile app can lag during complex workflows.
