The factoHR alternative without a 50-employee bundle
A 50-employee base fee is the wrong shape for a small team.
factoHR is a capable Indian HRMS with a real forever-free tier up to 20 employees. Above that, its paid plans bundle 50 employees into a base fee billed quarterly — which is excellent value at 50 people and poor value at 15.
Workclave is a factoHR alternative for teams under about 40 people that are paying for a 50-employee bundle they do not fill.
Who should not switch: Do not switch if you need Indian payroll processing in the same tool, or if you are already at 50+ employees where the bundle is good value.
| Feature | Workclave | factoHR |
|---|---|---|
Session-based tracking Links time to projects, not just presence | Sessions carry project and client | Attendance as a payroll input |
Approval workflows Manager reviews before sessions close | Included on every plan | Leave and attendance approvals, not session-linked |
Pricing & minimums What you pay before adding your first user | ₹0 to start. ₹199/user. No floor. | ₹4,999/mo base covering 50 |
Free tier What you get without paying | Free up to 3 users, full features | Free up to 20 users (no attendance or leave) |
What a team actually pays: Workclave vs factoHR
factoHR's free plan covers up to 20 employees but excludes attendance entirely. Its paid plans start at ₹4,999 per month covering 50 employees, billed quarterly.
| Team size | Workclave | factoHRCore plan, billed quarterly |
|---|---|---|
| 10-person team | ₹1,990/mo10 × ₹199 | ₹4,999/moCore plan, 50 included |
| 20-person team | ₹3,980/mo20 × ₹199 | ₹4,999/moCore plan, 50 included |
| 50-person team | ₹9,950/mo50 × ₹199 | ₹4,999/moCore plan, 50 included |
| Free tier | Free up to 3 users | Free up to 20 users (no attendance or leave) |
Where factoHR wins on price: factoHR has a free tier up to 20 users (no attendance or leave). At 50 people, factoHR can cost less than Workclave on the figures above. If price is the deciding factor at your size, that is the honest answer. Workclave is not the cheapest tool in this category and does not claim to be. What you pay for is a session that arrives project-linked and manager-approved, so the hours on the invoice are the hours somebody signed off.
Prices checked against factohr.com/pricing in August 2026. Vendors change pricing without notice, some quote annual-prepay rates rather than monthly, and several apply seat minimums that raise the real entry cost — always confirm on the vendor's own page.
- — Paid plans are billed quarterly rather than monthly or annually.
Run it for your own headcount: Friday spreadsheet cost calculator. No logos to show you yet, so try the interactive demo instead — no signup.
An honest read on factoHR
- Genuine forever-free plan up to 20 employees, rare among Indian HRMS vendors
- Full Indian payroll and statutory processing
- Good value per employee once you are at or above 50 people
- Geo-fencing and mobile attendance on higher tiers
- Attendance is excluded from the free plan entirely
- The 50-employee bundle means a 15-person team pays the same as a 50-person one
- Quarterly billing is less flexible than monthly and easy to misread as a monthly commitment
- No project or client attribution in the attendance record
Migrating from factoHR to Workclave
factoHR can keep running payroll while Workclave takes over attendance and project time. The approved-session export feeds the payroll input.
- 1Export your people list
A CSV of names and emails is all Workclave needs. Departments map to teams on import.
- 2Create the projects you bill
Every check-in is linked to one from then on, so this is the step that changes what your data means.
- 3Run both for one cycle
Compare the two registers at month end, then point payroll and invoicing at Workclave's approved-session export.
Workclave vs factoHR: common questions
Is Workclave a good factoHR alternative?
For teams under about 40 people who mainly need attendance and project time, yes — the base-fee model works against you at that size. factoHR remains stronger if you need full Indian payroll processing in the same tool.
Is factoHR really free?
Up to 20 employees, yes, and that is a real forever-free plan rather than a trial. But the free tier covers employee data, letter generation and payslips — attendance and leave management start at the paid Core plan.
How does factoHR's price compare for a 15-person team?
Checked August 2026: factoHR's Core plan is ₹4,999 per month covering up to 50 employees, so a 15-person team pays ₹4,999. Workclave is ₹2,985 per month for 15 users. Above roughly 25 people the comparison reverses and factoHR becomes the cheaper option.
Compared with the other tools on your shortlist
Most teams evaluate three or four at once. Every page carries the same feature matrix, cost table and honest read on where the other tool is genuinely stronger.
Not on this list? See every comparison.
Still weighing Workclave against factoHR?
We have no customer logos to show you — the product is new and we would rather say so than invent them. What we can do is let you see it working before you give us anything.