Quick answer: Two free plans cover Indian statutory payroll for a 10-person team. Zoho Payroll is free for up to 10 employees and lists EPF, ESI, state-wise Professional Tax, LWF and a TDS worksheet. Kredily offers a Free Forever plan with no employee cap and PF, ESI, PT and TDS calculation. Both hold back year-end tax certificates for paid plans from about ₹1,000 to ₹1,250 a month, and Kredily also holds back bank payouts. Developers can also self-host Frappe HR.
How we researched this: We read the pricing pages of Zoho Payroll, Kredily, factoHR, Pocket HRMS and RazorpayX Payroll, the product pages of Frappe HR, Horilla and IceHrm, the ESIC coverage and contribution pages, Ministry of Labour documents on EPF coverage, and Press Information Bureau releases on the September 2026 EPF wage-ceiling change. All of it was checked in October 2026, and plans can change.
What "free" actually includes on each plan
A free plan is only useful if the statutory work is inside it. This is what each vendor's own page lists.
| Option | Free limit | Statutory calculation | What is held back |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zoho Payroll Free | Up to 10 employees, "free forever" | Income tax, EPF, ESI, state-wise PT, LWF; automatic TDS worksheet | Email support only; Form 130 and Form 138 sit in the paid Standard plan |
| Kredily Free Forever | Unlimited employees, "subject to active usage policy" | PF, ESI, PT and TDS calculation; payslips | No bank payouts; one salary structure; PF/ESI challans, Form 12BB and Form 16 start on Payroll OS |
| factoHR Free | Up to 20 employees | Employee data, letter generation, payslip generation | Payroll itself starts on the ₹4,999 Core plan |
| Frappe HR | Open source (AGPL-3.0), self-host | India payroll: EPF, ESI, PT, tax regimes, LWF | You run the server, or pay for Frappe Cloud |
| Horilla | Open source, self-host free | Payroll module; page does not name PF, ESI or PT | Cloud is listed at $7 per user per month |
| IceHrm | Open source core | Payroll listed; page does not mention Indian statutes | Needs checking with the vendor |
The factoHR row is the trap. "Payslip generation" is not payroll: the free plan produces documents, but the page lists Payroll as part of the Core plan. Zoho Payroll and Kredily both put statutory calculation in the free tier.
Zoho Payroll Free in detail
Per the vendor's pricing page (checked October 2026), the Free plan covers automatic payroll calculation, automatic payslips, salary revision and arrears, LOP and LOP reversal, an employee self-service portal, reimbursement and proof-of-investment approval, "40+ built-in payroll reports", integrations with Zoho Books, Zoho People and Zoho Expense, and online salary payments through HSBC. The jump to the Standard plan adds Form 130 generation with digital signature, Form 138 with TDS challan recording, statutory bonus, ICICI Bank payments, loans and advances, contractor payroll and WhatsApp. Prices are exclusive of GST.
Two rules matter for a growing firm. The free tier ends when you cross 10 employees, and Zoho says separate payroll licences are needed for each legal entity, though several branches of one entity can share a licence.
Kredily Free Forever in detail
Kredily's pricing page says its free plan runs "payroll, HRMS, attendance and leave" for unlimited employees with no credit card. Attendance is web clock-in with one customisable leave and attendance rule. The page lists storage of 250 MB on the free plan. For a company of 10 that is workable; once you want selfie or GPS attendance you move to the Professional plan.
Which statutes actually apply to a 10-person company
Free software can only calculate what the law requires. For ten people, the thresholds decide your obligations more than the software does.
EPF. A Ministry of Labour document says the EPF Act applies to factories and notified classes of establishment employing twenty or more employees, and that under the Code on Social Security it applies to every establishment employing 20 or more employees. A ten-person firm is therefore outside mandatory EPF unless it joins voluntarily. If you do run PF, the rate is 12% each from employee and employer.
The ceiling has just changed. The Ministry of Labour's press release of 16 September 2026 says the wage ceiling for mandatory coverage rises from ₹15,000 to ₹25,000 per month from 17 September 2026. A PIB release from EPFO's Berhampore office cites Gazette Notification S.O. 5109(E) and says the maximum employer pension contribution at 8.33% rises from ₹1,250 to ₹2,083 a month. Another PIB release says EPFO Goa advised establishments to update payroll systems with effect from 17 September 2026. Any free tool you choose must apply the new ceiling, so ask the vendor in writing.
ESI. ESIC's coverage page says the Act applies to non-seasonal factories employing 10 or more persons, and that state governments have extended it to shops, hotels, restaurants, cinemas, road transport undertakings and some other establishments with 10 or more employees. The wage limit is ₹21,000 a month (₹25,000 for persons with disabilities). Per ESIC's contribution page, the employer pays 3.25% and the employee 0.75% of wages. A ten-person shop in a state that has extended the Act may already be covered, so check with your local ESIC office.
TDS on salaries. The Income Tax Department's e-Filing guidance says salary TDS from April 2026 falls under section 392(1) of the Income-tax Act, 2025, and that the quarterly statement is Form 138, earlier Form 24Q. If any employee's salary is taxable, someone has to compute the TDS, deposit it and file the quarterly statement even in a ten-person firm. Zoho's free plan includes a TDS worksheet, but its pricing page puts Form 130 generation and Form 138 recording on Standard.
Professional Tax and Labour Welfare Fund are state laws. Zoho, Kredily and Frappe HR each say they cover state rules; ask to see your own state's slab in a sample run.
For the monthly workflow, see our guides to automating PF, ESI and PT compliance and PF, ESI and PT calculation software.
Where free ends: paid plans under about ₹50 per employee
Most small teams outgrow free plans for one reason: they want salaries paid from the software and Form 16 generated without a chartered accountant retyping figures. These are the published entry prices.
| Plan | Published price | Included employees | Extra employee | Cost per head at 25 employees |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zoho Payroll Standard | ₹1,250 a month; ₹1,000 billed yearly (excl. GST) | 25 | ₹50 monthly; ₹40 yearly | ₹50 monthly; ₹40 yearly |
| Kredily Payroll OS | ₹1,249 a month | 25 | ₹50 | About ₹50 |
| Kredily Professional | ₹1,749 a month | 25 | ₹70 | About ₹70 |
| Pocket HRMS Standard | ₹2,995 a month, billed annually | 50 | ₹60 | Not applicable; page states a 50-employee minimum |
| RazorpayX Payroll Prime | ₹3,499 a month plus 18% GST | Max 20 | ₹150 | Not applicable; maximum is 20 |
| factoHR Core | ₹4,999 a month, billed yearly | 50 | ₹99 | Not applicable |
The cost per head figures are our arithmetic from the vendors' published prices. Among the plans we compared, Zoho Payroll Standard billed yearly (₹40 each for extra staff) and Kredily Payroll OS (about ₹50 at 25 employees) are the only ones that fit an "under ₹50 per user" budget at a 25-person scale. If you bill monthly, Zoho sits at exactly ₹50.
See our comparisons for fuller detail: RazorpayX Payroll vs Zoho Payroll, factoHR, Pocket HRMS and Kredily pricing, and Zoho Payroll pricing and the free plan. Our overview of free and low-cost HRMS for startups under 50 staff adds attendance-led options.
The open-source route: what you take on
Open source suits a team with a developer, a server and a reason to own its data. It does not suit a ten-person shop where the founder runs payroll on the 28th.
Frappe HR calls itself "100% open-source" under AGPL-3.0 and says "You can self-host or opt for a managed cloud." Its India payroll page covers EPF with voluntary top-ups, ESI wage ceilings, Professional Tax slabs for 15 or more states, Labour Welfare Fund for 14 states, and an old-versus-new tax regime comparator for employees. It does not mention gratuity, bonus, Form 16 or challans, so those need checking. Frappe Cloud lists Sites "from ₹410 a month" as a starting price, which is the lowest managed-hosting price listed; the page does not cost a real HR configuration. See also ERPNext if you want accounting in the same system.
Horilla lists nine modules including payroll and attendance, a free self-hosted option with a Docker install, and a cloud plan at $7 per user per month with the first 30 days free. Its page describes configurable statutory deductions but does not name PF, ESI or PT, so an Indian user must configure and verify them.
IceHrm describes itself as fully open source with payroll reports and customisable salary components; India statutory compliance is not mentioned on the page.
With any open-source option, you own statutory updates. When the EPF ceiling moved on 17 September 2026, a SaaS vendor shipped the change; a self-hosted install waits for you or your developer.
A one-evening setup plan for a 10-person firm
This is our suggested sequence, not a vendor procedure.
- Collect the master data. PAN, bank account, joining date, salary breakup, UAN and ESIC number where they exist.
- Decide which statutes apply. Use the thresholds above; ask your accountant about Professional Tax in your state.
- Run last month in parallel. Load last month's attendance and compare each net pay with your spreadsheet before trusting the tool.
- Test the edge cases. One mid-month joiner, one employee on loss of pay, one reimbursement.
- Set a calendar. Payroll close, PF and ESI deposits, TDS deposit and the quarterly statement dates.
Our one-day payroll plan and the guide to automating payroll in a small company go deeper on the monthly cycle. For year-end, read about Form 16 and 24Q payroll software.
Who should not rely on a free plan
- Companies about to cross 10 employees. Zoho's free tier ends at 10; plan for the Standard upgrade.
- ESI-covered businesses with several states. Multi-state rules and challans are where free tiers thin out.
- Anyone who needs the year-end tax certificate from the software. Zoho lists Form 130 generation from its Standard plan, and Kredily lists Form 16 from Payroll OS. Kredily's free plan also excludes bank payouts, while Zoho's free plan lists payments through HSBC.
- Firms without anyone to own the process. Free tools reduce cost, not responsibility.
Compare the wider market on the payroll software category and the HRMS category. For a team that also wants a priced, bigger option, RazorpayX Payroll and Pocket HRMS publish their rates.
FAQs
Is there really free payroll software for 10 employees in India?
Yes. Zoho Payroll's Free plan is "free forever" for up to 10 employees and lists EPF, ESI, state-wise Professional Tax, LWF and a TDS worksheet. Kredily's Free Forever plan has no employee cap. Both keep year-end certificates in paid plans, Zoho's free plan has email support only, and Kredily's free plan excludes bank payouts.
Which free HRMS software is best for a small business in India?
If payroll is the priority, start with Zoho Payroll or Kredily. If you also need attendance, Kredily's free plan includes web clock-in. factoHR's free plan covers employee data and payslips only, so it suits record-keeping rather than full payroll.
Is open source payroll software safe to use in India?
It can be, if you can host and update it. Frappe HR lists India payroll with EPF, ESI, PT and LWF, but you are responsible for backups, security and applying statutory changes yourself. A managed cloud plan reduces that burden.
Do I need PF and ESI for 10 employees?
Per Ministry of Labour documents, EPF applies to establishments with 20 or more employees. ESIC's coverage page says 10 or more employees in covered factories and state-extended establishments, with a ₹21,000 monthly wage limit. Check your establishment type and state.
What is the best startup HR payroll app under ₹50 per user?
On published prices, Kredily Payroll OS charges ₹50 per extra employee beyond 25, and Zoho Payroll Standard charges ₹50 monthly or ₹40 yearly. Zoho's page says its prices exclude GST; Kredily's page does not say either way.
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