Quick answer: Timelabs is an Indian HRMS aimed at SMBs that want attendance, leave and payroll live quickly, with published plans: Pulse at ₹3,250 per month, Rhythm at ₹4,500 and Momentum at ₹7,250, each for 50 employees (per its pricing page, checked October 2026). It also sells biometric hardware bundles. If attendance is your only problem, compare Truein and ubiAttendance, which focus on punching alone.
Attendance is where Indian HR projects start
Ask ten Indian owners what their HR pain is and most will say "attendance and salary". Late punches, buddy punching, a supervisor's paper register, and a payroll team that rebuilds the month from scratch on the 27th. Timelabs speaks to that directly: its homepage says it goes live in "45 days, not 3-6 months", and it describes 72% of Indian SMBs as processing payroll manually and 14 hours lost weekly to manual HR work. Those are Timelabs's own statements and the source behind them is not published.
The product list is broad (17+ modules, per the site) but the practical story is the attendance-to-payroll chain, plus extras such as LiveTRAC for workforce location tracking, Facekiosk for face recognition and ViziTRAC for visitors.
The plans, side by side
| Plan | Price per month (50 employees) | Per employee | What you get |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pulse (core HR) | ₹3,250 | ₹65 | Attendance, payroll, compliance, leave, self-service, mobile app, digital onboarding |
| Rhythm (full HRMS) | ₹4,500 | ₹90 | Pulse plus recruitment, performance, task management, learning, expense and asset management |
| Momentum | ₹7,250 | ₹145 | Rhythm plus 360-degree reviews, HR analytics, AI chatbot, travel desk, helpdesk, dedicated support |
Further details from the pricing page: quarterly and annual billing exist, with annual discounts that the page puts at ₹7,800 to ₹17,400 a year depending on the plan; extra employees beyond the base cost ₹50 to ₹120 depending on tier; a hardware bundle pairs Rhythm with biometric devices from ₹8,000 per unit including installation and AMC, with lease or EMI options; and a perpetual licence is available as a one-time payment for 500+ employee organisations on quote.
A worked example from those figures: a 50-person factory wanting biometric punching and payroll would pay ₹4,500 a month for Rhythm, plus devices from ₹8,000 each. Two gates would be about ₹16,000 at the starting rate. These sums are our arithmetic; confirm the device price for your model.
What it changes day to day
Shift and biometric attendance. The site lists biometric integration, facial recognition and shift management. For a plant running three shifts, the supervisor's register disappears.
Mobile for people who are never at a desk. A mobile-first approach and real-time location tracking suit field teams. Talk to your staff first; tracking location raises privacy questions that need a clear policy.
Leave without WhatsApp. The TiVA chatbot is described as handling leave approvals, policy questions and document requests around the clock, within the AI layer Timelabs calls SETU AI.
Hiring. Recruitment AI is described as resume screening, candidate ranking and interview question generation. It sits in Rhythm and above. See our guide to applicant tracking and recruitment software.
Payroll. Automated payroll with compliance sits in the cheapest plan, which matters for budget.
Customer claims
Timelabs says "1000+ companies" trust it, that it processes "1.2 million+ employee records monthly", has "16 years of HR Tech experience" and "98% customer satisfaction". They are vendor-stated. The 98% figure has no named survey on the vendor's website.
Timelabs against Truein and ubiAttendance
These two are attendance specialists, so the comparison is useful if you are deciding between a suite and a specialist.
| Timelabs | Truein | ubiAttendance | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scope | Full HRMS with attendance | Time tracking and attendance | Attendance and visit tracking |
| Published pricing | ₹3,250 to ₹7,250 per month per 50 employees | India: ₹250 per user per year (Time Capture) or ₹350 (Advanced), plus ₹69,000 base annual fee | Not published |
| Vendor-stated scale | 1000+ companies | 500+ customers, 25 countries, 500,000+ users | 5000+ companies, 101+ countries |
| Methods | Biometric, face, mobile, location | Face recognition, GPS, offline | Biometric, face, geo-fence, QR, kiosk |
Truein's ₹69,000 annual base fee changes the maths for small teams: at 50 users, ₹250 per user is ₹12,500 a year on top of ₹69,000, so it is built for large workforces rather than 50-person firms. That is our reading of its published pricing (checked October 2026). Truein also lists Darwinbox, SAP and ADP among its integrations. For other options, see attendance software, time tracking and leave management.
Who should skip Timelabs
- A business that only needs a face-punch app. A specialist may be cheaper.
- Enterprises above a few thousand employees. Look at PeopleStrong or Darwinbox.
- Teams uncomfortable with location tracking. Decide policy first.
- Companies that want a free plan. Timelabs does not list one; Kredily does.
A 30-day plan for a 60-person firm
Week 1. Choose Pulse or Rhythm. List attendance rules: grace minutes, half-days, overtime, week-offs.
Week 2. Install devices if needed and load employees with correct IDs.
Week 3. Run attendance in parallel with the old register. Fix mismatches in rules, not by editing punches.
Week 4. Run payroll in parallel, match, and go live. Timelabs claims a 45-day go-live; for a small firm, four to six weeks is a sensible target to ask for in writing.
What to ask before buying
- Is the hardware price per unit including installation and AMC?
- What are the quarterly versus annual totals, in rupees, for my headcount?
- How does the system behave when internet drops at a site?
- What is the exit process for my data?
For more options, read the list of HRMS software in India.
A plant-floor scenario
Consider a 60-person fabrication unit with two shifts and a small office. Today a supervisor keeps a paper muster; the accountant converts it to a sheet for payroll, and workers dispute deductions every month.
With biometric or face devices at the gate, punches are captured at the source. Shift rules assign each punch to the right shift, overtime is calculated by rule, and the monthly sheet is produced by the system instead of by hand. The dispute rate falls not because workers become happier but because everyone can see the same record.
The practical questions are physical. Where are devices mounted? Does the gate have power and network? What happens if the device is offline? Who handles a worker whose fingerprint will not read, which is common with manual labour? Agree these answers before installation.
Tracking people responsibly
Features such as real-time location tracking can help field teams and also create friction. If you switch them on, do it well. Tell employees in writing what is tracked, when and why. Limit tracking to working hours. Restrict who can see location data. Review whether you really need continuous tracking or only punch-in location. Ask your legal adviser about data protection obligations that apply to your company. Treat location data as sensitive, and delete what you no longer need.
Choosing between a suite and a specialist
If attendance is the only pain, a specialist may be enough. If payroll, leave and onboarding are also painful, a suite avoids the work of keeping two systems in sync. A useful test is to list the three tasks that consume most HR time each month. If all three are attendance-related, buy a specialist. If they are spread across attendance, payroll and documents, a suite such as Timelabs is more likely to pay back. Revisit the choice after a quarter, because needs change as you hire.
FAQs
How much does Timelabs cost?
Per its pricing page (checked October 2026): Pulse ₹3,250 per month, Rhythm ₹4,500 and Momentum ₹7,250, each for 50 employees, with extra employees charged on top.
Does Timelabs sell biometric devices?
Its pricing page lists a hardware bundle: Rhythm with biometric devices from ₹8,000 per unit, including installation and AMC, with lease or EMI options.
How long does Timelabs take to go live?
Its homepage says 45 days. That is a vendor claim, so ask for a plan for your setup.
Is Timelabs good for small businesses?
Its 50-employee base plans suit small and mid-sized firms. Companies under about 20 people may find a free plan elsewhere cheaper.
Timelabs or Truein?
Timelabs is a full HRMS; Truein is an attendance specialist with a high base fee in India. Pick by scope.
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