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Zoho is a provider of all sorts of business solutions that are affordable yet on par with the market’s most popular offerings. Zoho People is a great example of this, being a 360° HR solution that’s robust, user-friendly, and affordable.
Ratings
Ease of Use
Best For
Key Differentiator
Price
Free Trial
PROS
- All core HR features in a single dashboard
- Wide array of integrations
- User-friendly UI, constantly updated
- Available in multiple languages
CONS
- Since they offer so many modules, some may be not as robust as other products that have been more specific about covering certain needs. For instance, some teams have found their payroll offering to be quite basic.
- Not all that’s available in the web platform is available in the app
- Some users reported that the platform can be slow to load every now and then.
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Zoho People

Zoho People

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Zoho is an Indian software company that makes all kinds of business software, from IT management to bookkeeping tools. Naturally, they also offer a cloud-based Human Resources Management System that we’ve found checks most boxes in most HR manager’s list of requirements.
This entails features like employee onboarding, performance management, time and attendance tracking, employee self service, database management, and much more. Their list of features is quite lengthy, and although it gets longer and longer with every plan, the essentials one is already quite complete. For example, wider plans like Premium ($3/user/month if billed annually) include OKR and goal tracking, a skill set matrix and advanced HR analytics.
Now, if some plans seem a bit basic, one cool thing about Zoho People is that certain modules are available as add-ons. For instance, this is the case of their learning management system, which features targeted learning, feedback, course customization, and a forum-like system for discussions.

From an HR perspective, Zoho People functions similarly to other HRIS platforms. It allows you to add new employees and input their personal information, compensation, documents, PTO, training, and performance tracking.
From the user side, the interface wasn’t the most intuitive when we used it last in 2024, which was a common piece of feedback. I still have access to Zoho People now, and it has changed drastically in terms of design since then.

Our use of Zoho People was part of a larger bundle that included multiple Zoho systems like CRM, Sign, and Learn. We paid just over $2K monthly for access to these tools, with CRM being heavily utilized by the team.
The main advantage was the cost-effectiveness of the bundled package. If not for that, Zoho People wouldn’t have been our first choice. A user-friendly interface is important to us since our demographic is predominantly millennials, followed by Gen Z.
Ease of use and modern design were key factors in our selection process, which ultimately led us to transition away from Zoho People.
The company I worked for used Zoho People for three years since it aligned with Zoho CRM, a tool the sales team already used. It was the logical choice to stay within the same ecosystem. It also offered many free features that met our initial needs as a startup. As the company grew, we required more advanced functionalities, which eventually led us to transition to a different HRIS system.
The user interface was not as intuitive as other systems I've used as an HR leader. Navigation often felt outdated and clunky. Customization options were limited compared to competitors.
It’s not on my list of preferred HRIS platforms. It does the job and works well for companies just starting out that need a basic system for storing personnel files, providing easy employee access, and offering competitive pricing. From both a backend and user perspective, it’s not ideal. I would still choose other HRIS options like BambooHR or HiBob.
Usability should be the top priority. I’ve launched several HRIS platforms, and at the end of the day, employees need to actually use the system. No matter how great the backend is for HR or how competitive the pricing may be, if the user interface is too complicated, adoption will be a challenge. The system’s overall aesthetic should align with the company’s demographic to support engagement and success.
It improved over the time we used it, but the challenge was that competitors remained ahead of the curve. This made it a tough business decision to stick with Zoho People while waiting for it to catch up. Since we migrated out in December, I’ve noticed significant interface changes, but not enough to make me regret leaving the platform.
Zoho People is a good fit for teams already using Zoho CRM, as it makes sense to keep everything within the same ecosystem. It’s a practical choice for companies looking for a cost-effective, all-in-one solution. I personally think the interface seems to cater more to older generations. It sometimes feels like an elevated version of what AOL Instant Messenger would look like.
Anyone in the creative industry or millennial users and younger.
Mostly for the HR operations (HRMS). You can get in touch with HR easily, even from the HR's end things will be pretty organised. From hiring to retaining it has most of the features and capabilities seeded into it. Pick the ones you require and drop things which you don't need.

- Easily application process for leaves: You can apply for leaves according to the leaves calendar, and things are easily trackable.
- Events can be created and notifications are broadcasted through open channels.
- Salary slips and payroll information: Getting payslips and salary information is easy. It also provides a dashboard and shows downloadable payslips, which are easily accessible.
Not Zoho People exactly, but we purchased the full ecosystem of Zoho, called Zoho One, which consists of several tools that we wanted. From their (Zoho) demo, we liked the interface and capabilities of most of the tools. We were looking for a platform through which people can get most things under a single umbrella, so we had the demo, used it for a month, customized it to our liking, and they delivered. That’s when we decided to subscribe for a whole year.
Zoho People is full of features. The only con is the UI. Besides that, the software is really future proof. I’d suggest for the dev team to build in smarter UI features.
I have used Darwinbox and SugarCRM, but this software has way more added features to make things easy for the employees and the HR management.
The tool is expensive, if you have a large pool of employees then it would be great if you could talk with their representatives and ask for a discount. But it's well worth it. My only suggestion is get the demo, use it, if you think it's worth the price, go for it.
Yes, I have used it before, but back then there were a lot of bugs. But now the software has become smoother and easier to use.
If you are managing a big pool of employees.
Small startups, it would be too expensive.
It offers several key workflows that we can leverage to enhance our HR operations.
- Employee On-boarding: Zoho People simplifies the onboarding process by automating tasks such as creating employee profiles, collecting necessary documents, and assigning onboarding tasks to relevant stakeholders.
- Time and Attendance Management: It enables accurate tracking of employee attendance, including clock-in/clock-out times, breaks, and leave requests.
- Leave Management: It ensures transparency in leave policies, simplifies the approval process, and maintains accurate leave records.
- Performance Management: It facilitates goal setting, performance evaluations, and feedback mechanisms. Managers can define objectives, track progress, conduct appraisals, etc.
- HR Analytics and Reporting: It allows us to generate reports on various HR metrics, such as employee attendance, leave utilization, performance ratings, and turnover rates. These insights enable data-driven decision-making and help identify areas for improvement.

Pros -
- Comprehensive HR Management: It provides a centralized platform for managing all HR-related tasks, simplifying processes, and increasing efficiency.
- Mobile Accessibility: It offers a mobile app that enables employees and managers to access HR-related information and perform essential tasks on the go.
- Scalable and Customizable: It offers scalability, allowing us to accommodate our growing needs. It's highly customizable, and allows us to tailor the software to our specific HR workflows and requirements.
We majorly use it for attendance & leave management. Zoho People helps in keeping a track record of each & every employee. Other than that it provides Efficient HR Management, Employee Self-Service, seamless collaboration between HR teams and employees, Comprehensive Analysis of key HR metrics, etc. I personally have been using it for the past 1.6yr
- Customer Support Response Time: The support response time is slower. This affects the resolution of critical issues.
- Pricing Structure: The pricing structure is relatively higher compared to other HR management software options in the market.
- Learning Curve: It has certain features, which may require a learning curve for new users. Getting familiar with the platform and understanding its functionalities might take some time, particularly for users who are not familiar with HR management software tools.
I have used Workday HCM in the past and I feel ZOHO People is better as it provides better UI at a very cheaper price. It is not possible for small or mid-size organizations to afford workday
Following things should be kept in mind while deciding on such tools-
- Size of the organization
- Goals of the organization regarding growth & increase in team size in future
- Price of the product
- Number of users it allows to access
Zoho People has evolved in the following ways -
- Continuous Feature Enhancements: Zoho People has consistently improved its feature set based on user feedback and market trends. It has undergone regular updates and enhancements to offer new functionalities and improve the overall user experience.
- Mobile Accessibility: Recognizing the growing importance of mobile devices, Zoho People has expanded its mobile capabilities.
- Integration Capabilities: It has focused on integration with other Zoho applications, such as Zoho CRM, Zoho Recruit, and Zoho Analytics, to provide a comprehensive suite of tools for businesses.
- Automation and Workflow Customization: It has placed an emphasis on automation and workflow customization features. Users can define their own workflows, set up approval processes, and automate routine HR tasks.
- Self-Service Portals: It has expanded its self-service capabilities. The software offers self-service portals where employees can access their personal information, submit leave requests, manage time and attendance, view payslips, and collaborate with their teams.
IT companies
Academic Organizations like schools & colleges
We use it for leaves requests and approvals, document sharing with the whole organisation, time and attendance tracking, as well as location tracking to know which employees are working on site and which are working remotely.
Generally, we use it as a centralised source to manage all data related to employees.

- It's centralised and easy to use, a new user can navigate it easily.
- Leave balance and leave approvals, pending etc makes it very easy and seamless.
- We get the exact working hours of each employee, work anniversary and birthdays too to send our best wishes.
We have been using Zoho People for the past couple of years. We needed a software tool for managing attendance, leaves, announcements, sharing docs etc, and Zoho People was the best option out there. We are happy so far. Recently we started using the check-in and check-out reminder options too.
- Sometimes employees face the issue of not being able to log in and out due to the website being down.
- It's a bit expensive.
- We can not have calls through it.
- They should check out all the services provided if it covers all of their needs.
- The budget should also be considered as the platform can be a bit expensive but it is worth it.
- I would suggest having a go at the free trial to be sure.
Yes it keeps adding new features and the user interface has become seamless over the years. Great work.
Companies with a hybrid work mode; you can track the log-in and log-out locations if needed.
I think it is a good product and will work with most organisations.
All of my team members are on Zoho. It starts with onboarding a candidate to our organization with the help of Zoho People, keeping the important documents, daily attendance, leave trackers, etc.

- I like the integration among the Zoho applications which makes life way easier.
- It also provides me with a wide range of features apart from attendance, leave, etc. so I keep trying new things.
- It was easy to set up; I didn't need to wait for an expert to set it up.
I just started my organization and wanted to keep records of their attendance, leaves, employee records, etc. I was using Zoho Books and was happy with that so I thought of trying Zoho People for HRMS. It has been nearly 3 years since I'm using Zoho People.
- There should be a few more integration options with other external software.
- The UI can be improved so interaction over the platform becomes easier.
- Sometimes changing the policies is difficult as quite a lot of things are interconnected.
I have used GreytHR and I found Zoho is quite advanced with a lot more features.
I think it all depends on someone's requirement but I think for startups and small-medium companies, keeping operations simple is key, we should not be wasting our time in dealing with bulky software. In this regard, Zoho People comes handy with the level of integration available within Zoho applications that can fulfill most of your organization's needs.
I have not seen Zoho People change a lot in the last 3 years since I started. There were some minor changes to the UI and some of the features which I found useful.
I think it is good for startups and organizations with remote teams etc. Also, if someone is using some of the other Zoho applications then I think it completely makes sense to use Zoho People.
I can’t think of an organization it wouldn’t be suitable for, but for a large organization, it might be difficult to align with Zoho People's predefined policies/structure.
I use Zoho People for tracking time and leaves. Besides, it is great to chat with other team members. The platform includes an organizational chart, compensation, and training modules. It has great reporting features as well. I can easily check all my records, such as my pay stub for every month of the year, company employee list, and vacation schedule. etc.

It is affordable and user-friendly. The customer support that is available in the software is good and always active in responding to customers. The application is easy to use for most users. Zoho People is a great option for storing employee information and tracking time.
5 years ago our company started to use Zoho People to deliver exceptional digital HR experiences to our employees while managing the entire employee life cycle on a single platform. I like its simplicity and integration with other Zoho tools like Zoho Payroll, Zoho Books, Zoho Expenses, etc. I love that the request permission, approval, and tracking features are so helpful. I like that the interactive form builder allows us to create different forms that meet our needs and help our HR team.
Sometimes I run into difficulties in terms of data integration between other integrated programs. Zoho People software does not integrate with other similar applications. They only provide a limited number of administrators for Standard and Premium pricing plans. The system is cloud-based only and not flexible to use.
Zoho People comes with an employee portal, organization chart, self-service, performance appraisal, employee leaves management, and salary tool features. All the HR processes can be managed from a central location which can help users to save time and reduce costs. The software offers a fully-mobile self-service that can help employees to get easy access to their HR data from anywhere, anytime. It can help employees have better control over their work.
The price of the solution is low and most people can afford it. Customer support includes online and email user support. Easy to learn and use.
They offer cloud-based hosting, which means IT resources are retrieved through web-based tools and applications and you don't need to buy servers and additional hardware equipment.
It is very good for small and medium size companies.
It would be a bit challenging for big corporations as Zoho People doesn’t offer unlimited employee profile support.
I initially signed up for a free trial of the plan that I thought suited our organization’s needs best. After checking its suitability, I created my account as an HR partner and uploaded all employees’ data into the system. The platform has helped us automate a lot of our daily HR processes. I used Zoho People to manage employee records, track their attendance, monitor their performance as per KRA, and generate various reports. It streamlines the recruitment cycle starting from job posting to onboarding new talents. The tool has great features in terms of processing employees’ payroll. It has also helped us follow compliance, labor laws, and regulations by providing tools to manage legal documents, track compliance, and generate compliance reports.

- Zoho People helped us manage all employee data in a single location and made it easier to track employee records.
- Zoho People has features for employee self-service, performance tracking, and goal setting, which have helped our employees stay engaged and motivated in their work.
- Zoho People automates a lot of HR processes we used to do manually including attendance tracking, leave management, and payroll processing.
There are many reasons why my organization chose Zoho People: it has customizable features, it’s easy to use, and also cost-effective. It helped us to improve our HR operations and create a more engaged and efficient workforce. I must say Zoho People is worth buying as it streamlines all HR processes. I have been using the tool for 8 months.
- Zoho People could benefit from a more intuitive interface to make it easier to use.
- While Zoho People does have a strong mobile app, there’s room for improvement in functionality and speed.
- Zoho People does offer online documentation and support but it doesn’t cover everything so we do end up reaching out to the support team now and then.
While there are several competitors in the HR software space, Zoho People has several advantages that set it apart from the competition in my opinion.
- Zoho People integrates seamlessly with other Zoho apps, such as Zoho CRM, Zoho Projects, and Zoho Books, which is great if you happen to use their other products too, and can keep virtually all of your employees on a single platform.
- It is competitively priced and quite affordable for businesses of all sizes.
If anyone wants to buy a subscription to Zoho People, here are a few points to take into consideration:
- Determine business requirements and the features you need from the HR management software to choose the appropriate subscription plan.
- Check the pricing plans and select the one that fits the budget.
- Before subscribing to Zoho People, take advantage of the free trial to test the software and its features to evaluate whether it meets your requirements or not.
When Zoho people was first released, it was only used by small-size organizations as this software was limited to employee database, leave, and time tracking. Zoho People has evolved over time to become a comprehensive HR management software that offers a wide range of features to businesses of all sizes. The software's integration with other Zoho applications and its focus on mobile accessibility and analytics have helped it stand out in the crowded HR management software market. It also added a few features recently like an onboarding management system and integration with Zoho Analytics.
Zoho People is a cost-effective HR management software that is ideal for small and medium-sized businesses that may not have fully staffed HR departments. Zoho People is also a great choice for remote-working employees to collaborate, track time, handle scheduling, and more.
Large organizations: While Zoho People is suitable for small and medium-sized businesses, it may not be robust enough to meet the needs of large organizations with complex HR requirements. Zoho People's reporting capabilities may not be as advanced as other HR management software so it is not suitable for those organizations or businesses looking for advanced reporting capabilities.
Some of the companies that use Zoho people are ZPE Systems, Cloudfronts Technologies, Zomato, SpiceJet, and Foresight CFO.
- Time Off Management: This is where the one HR admin can set up time off policies, manage requests, offer compensatory time off, keep track of each employee’s holidays, and automate certain tasks.
- Employee Files: Coupled with the Employee Database, this basic document management tool allows the HR admin to store and organize all the relevant files for each employee.
- HR Process Automation: You can intuitively set up workflows for tasks like sending out paperwork, creating reports, and updating data fields.
- Employee Database Management: Tracking employee data and records is all made easier with a centralized HRIS. Zoho People syncs employee information across multiple systems.
Also included in most plans are:
- Employee onboarding
- Performance management
- Biometric integrations
- Time and attendance tracking
- Shift scheduling
- Billing and invoicing integration
- E-signature app integrations
- Reports
- Webhooks
- Mobile Apps for iOS & Android
Zoho's integrations vary according to the pricing plan. Their free plan, for instance, allows only for a Zapier connection so you may integrate with the rest of your tech stack. Their API functionality is available from the HR Essentials plan forward. This includes 250 calls per user license with a max of 5000 calls each day.
As we mentioned before, we find Zoho to be very straightforward and flexible about their pricing. You can upgrade at any time if your team size grows, or even downgrade to the free version if you’ve got the user count and find that you prefer it.
Zoho People is free for up to 5 users. After that, it has 4 plans that are priced as follows:
- Essential HR: $1.25/user/month billed annually
- Professional: $2/user/month billed annually
- Premium: $3/user/month billed annually
- Enterprise: $4.5/user/month billed annually
Zoho People has plans for many sorts of organizations, even offering custom pricing for those with more than 500 employees. The product is affordable enough to be used by small businesses and robust enough to handle the complex and scalable needs of large companies. Even the more expensive Zoho People plans can check all the HRMS boxes without breaking the bank.
Zoho People is cloud-based which makes it fairly easy to implement. To get started, head to Zoho People’s page and click the GET STARTED button at the top right-hand corner. This will take you to a page where you can create a trial account to test the platform’s features and offerings.
Whether it’s to ensure proper adoption, handle requests, or provide customer support, the team at Zoho has created many resources for customer success. These include a setup guide, welcome guide, blogs, webinars, a help center with articles and tutorials, and partner training. While this is all on the self-service side, customers can also submit a support request if further help is needed.
The Zoho story goes back to 1996, with the founding of AdventNet Inc. Back then, the company made a network management tool that was popular internationally, but mainly in the Japanese market. Then, in 2001, they launched Zoho CRM, which quickly became one of their best-selling apps.
Then, in 2005, the company caught up with the times and started offering cloud-based applications. They began with the Writer app, then Show (a presentation tool), creator (custom application builder), and Zoho Sheets. It wasn’t long until they realized that there could be a Zoho tool for just about every kind of business app. If you’re curious, the Zoho ‘about page’ actually has an interactive timeline where you can see the evolution of the company year to year. Nowadays, Zoho has over 75 million users worldwide, several offices across the globe, and more than 50 products for marketing, finance, customer and tech support, team collaboration, and of course, HR and recruitment.
Company HQ
Austin, Texas and Chennai, Tamil Nadu
Number of Employees
13,000+
Year Founded
1996