Comparison
Looking for a Keka alternative for a small business? An honest comparison
Keka is a genuinely good product that has grown up and moved upmarket: its own site now says "growing enterprises", pricing left the website, and evaluation starts with a demo call. None of that is a criticism — it is a strategy — but it leaves 10-to-50-person companies paying enterprise-shaped prices for SMB-shaped needs. We make HR-VEND, so weigh our words accordingly; the facts below carry their dates and sources.
The short version
- Keka does not publish prices; 2026 third-party reports put the entry plan around ₹9,999/month for up to 100 employees, plus a setup fee (the setup fee is confirmed in Keka's own FAQ).
- A 12-person company on HR-VEND Starter pays ₹588 a month, no setup fee, hiring included, self-serve the same evening.
- Pick Keka at 100+ staff for deep performance management, certifications, enterprise workflows and an implementation team.
- Pick HR-VEND at 10–50 staff for per-employee monthly billing, hiring in every plan, and a separate database per company — no demo call required.
- Hiring is also structural: Keka sells Hiring as a separate product; HR-VEND includes the pipeline and careers page everywhere.
What each product is
Keka is a modern people platform aimed, in its own words, at growing enterprises: HR core, payroll, deep performance management (continuous feedback, 360s), project and timesheet tools, with Keka Hiring as a separate recruitment product. It carries SOC 2 and ISO badges, a named-logo customer wall, city phone lines and a sales process built around demos. It is a strong product that increasingly expects an HR department on the other side.
HR-VEND is a single workspace for Indian companies of 10–200 people: hiring pipeline and careers page in every plan, employee records, leave, attendance, payroll and KPI basics, at your own address (yourcompany.hrvend.com) with a separate database per company, self-serve from signup to payslip.
The prices, as best they can be known
Keka's website did not publish prices when we checked on 5 October 2026; figures below marked "reported" come from third-party 2026 sources and should be treated as indicative. The setup fee is confirmed in Keka's own public FAQ. HR-VEND prices are from our own pricing page, same date. All amounts exclude 18% GST. Get a written quote from Keka before deciding anything.
| Keka | HR-VEND | |
|---|---|---|
| Entry price | Reported: Foundation ~₹9,999/month covering up to 100 employees, plus per-employee charges and a 25-employee billing floor; setup fee applies (per Keka's FAQ) | Starter ₹49/employee/month, minimum 10 employees (₹490), up to 25; no setup fee |
| Recruitment | Keka Hiring, a separate product, priced separately | Included in every plan: careers page, pipeline, offers, close-outs, cost per hire |
| How you buy | Demo call, quote, implementation | Self-serve signup; workspace live in about a minute |
| Trial | Demo-led; trial on request | 7 days, no card, every module on |
| Billing | Quoted; annual commitments common at this tier | Monthly, cancel anytime |
What that means at small sizes
| Monthly cost (ex-GST) | Keka (reported entry block) | HR-VEND |
|---|---|---|
| 12 staff | ~₹9,999 + setup fee, hiring separate | Starter: ₹588, hiring included |
| 25 staff | ~₹9,999 + setup fee, hiring separate | Starter: ₹1,225, hiring included |
| 50 staff with payroll | ~₹9,999 + setup fee, hiring separate | Growth: ₹4,950, hiring included |
The block price is the story. A flat ~₹10,000 month is fine arithmetic at 90 employees and hard arithmetic at 15, before the setup fee and a separate hiring product. Per-employee billing exists precisely for the sizes where headcount is small and changes month to month. (If you are comparing several vendors at once, our pricing guide lays out the whole market's models side by side.)
Where Keka is the better choice
- You are 100+ people, or will be soon. At that size the block price is competitive, and Keka's depth — configurable workflows, analytics, project timesheets — starts paying for itself.
- Performance management is the purchase. Continuous feedback, 360 reviews and goal cascades are a Keka strength. HR-VEND offers KPI tracking and approvals, which is basics, not that suite.
- You want certifications and named logos. Keka carries SOC 2 and ISO badges and enterprise references. HR-VEND holds neither certification and shows no logo wall — our trust argument is architectural (your own database, your own address), which you can verify but which is not a certificate.
- You want someone to run the rollout. Keka's implementation team onboards you; the setup fee buys that. HR-VEND is self-serve by design, which cuts both ways.
- You need iOS. Keka's mobile apps cover both platforms; HR-VEND's employee app is Android-only today.
Where HR-VEND is the better choice
- You are 10–50 people. ₹588 versus a reported ~₹9,999-plus-setup is not a nuance. Per-employee monthly billing tracks your actual size.
- Hiring is constant. The pipeline, careers page, offers and close-outs are in every HR-VEND plan; Keka sells hiring as a separate product. For companies whose daily HR pain is CVs on WhatsApp, that is the deciding line.
- You want to evaluate today, not book a demo. Self-serve trial, no card, every module on. You will know more about fit in one afternoon of real use than in three vendor demos.
- No setup fee, no annual lock-in. Start monthly, leave monthly.
- A separate database per company. Keka, like most SaaS, describes multi-tenant architecture; HR-VEND provisions each company its own database at its own address. For clinics, finance and anyone whose clients ask where staff data lives, that is an answer with a short sentence.
What we won't claim
HR-VEND does not match Keka's performance-management depth, holds no SOC 2 or ISO certification yet, has no enterprise logo wall, and does not advertise guaranteed statutory compliance — the India payroll pack is under professional review. If any of those is your deciding criterion, Keka (or greytHR, compared here) is the better pick today, and we would rather you discover that on this page than in week two of a migration.
Evaluating sensibly
- Get Keka's written quote for your headcount — reported prices are not quotes — including the setup fee, the billing floor and the hiring product.
- Run the HR-VEND trial the same week with your real roles and a parallel payroll preview.
- Score both against your actual next quarter: hires planned, payroll complexity, reviews due. Buy for the quarter you are in, not the company you might be at 300 staff.
- Check exit terms on both sides: data export format, deletion on request. Our buyer's checklist has the full question list.
Frequently asked questions
How much does Keka cost for a small company?
When is Keka the better choice?
What does HR-VEND cost compared to Keka's reported entry price?
Can I try HR-VEND without talking to sales?
Does HR-VEND do performance management like Keka?
Keka is a trademark of Keka Technologies; HR-VEND is not affiliated with Keka. Keka does not publish pricing; reported figures are from third-party 2026 sources, were not confirmed on Keka's site, and may be wrong or outdated — get a written quote. HR-VEND prices are from hrvend.com on 5 October 2026. All amounts exclude GST. This comparison was written by the HR-VEND team.