India’s Fastest Growing HR Software – 7 Tools That Beat Excel & Manual Work

Managing people with spreadsheets and notebooks is cumbersome. As an HR expert in India’s tech industry for over a decade, I’ve seen companies transition from paper stacks to cloud-powered HR platforms. In this article, I dive deep into seven tools transforming HR functions, starting with Craze, the best HR software in India.

Why Indian HR Teams Are Moving Beyond Excel

Excel handles small data, but it breaks down fast with complex use cases. Cloud-based HR tools bring automation and real-time insights. In fact, over 70% of mid‑sized Indian firms now use HR software to streamline operations. Meanwhile, several Indian companies are expected to adopt cloud payroll this year, so as to cut their error rates significantly. These shifts prove that Excel and manual work no longer serve modern HR needs.

7 Tools That Beat Excel & Manual Work

These 7 tools shall make all the difference in boosting productivity and beating manual work:

Craze– A People Operating System for Startups and Beyond

Craze is designed from the ground up for Indian startups scaling rapidly thanks to its powerful yet clean interface. It suits every business, whether it has 20 or 100 or 500 employees. Starting at just ₹60 per user per month for core HR, with no hidden fees, it ranks among the most cost‑effective choices.

Craze brings multiple modules under one roof: payroll, attendance, onboarding, compliance, performance, IT asset tracking, all synced together effortlessly. This reduces manual work and errors from multiple platforms. Indian founders appreciate their fast support, transparent pricing, and deep understanding of local compliance needs.

Imagine onboarding 50 new employees during a hiring spree. Instead of scattered Excel sheets, Craze lets HR teams collect documents digitally, approve workflows with a click, assign devices, and run end‑to‑end payroll—all in one integrated flow. This consistency and control are why many businesses consider it the best HR software in India.

FactoHR

FactoHR has grown from Gujarat to serve companies nationwide. Built for Indian payroll formats and state‑wise labor laws, the tool offers core HR, attendance, performance, and self‑service features. With mobile accessibility and real‑time reporting, HR teams can avoid messy Excel imports and manual reconciliation.

Its integration within Microsoft Azure and SAP marketplaces highlights its enterprise readiness. It can scale from small teams to thousands, without intrusive setup fees. Automated reports help HR make data‑driven decisions.

Leena AI

Leena AI’s HR chatbot has revolutionized how employees interact with HR teams. It can automatically resolve over half of typical queries, such as leave balance, reimbursement status, and payslip details.

It does all this without human intervention, saving significant time and effort. This virtual assistant works across platforms like Slack, MS Teams, WhatsApp, and web, making it extremely accessible and reducing the need for employees to navigate multiple systems or wait for answers.

The platform is also a powerhouse for streamlining processes. Companies report a reduction in HR ticket resolution time and a decrease in overall tickets by integrating Leena’s conversational agent with backend HRMS tools.

Keka HR

Keka HR delivers focused leave management: centralized leave balances, email alerts, encashment/carry‑forward logic, and manager approvals, all in the cloud. Its clean interface and shared team calendar show who’s off and when, reducing clashes at a glance. It integrates seamlessly with HR workflows and payroll modules, avoiding fragmented Excel‑based systems.

Users love how intuitive Keka HR is. Keka HR is great for managing absence and is highly cost‑effective. Thousands of Indian businesses, from startups to enterprises, trust it for simplicity and strong value.

The platform also supports bulk employee imports and guided onboarding from spreadsheets, ideal for small Indian businesses transitioning from manual sheets. With encryption and privacy settings, HR teams can trust that sensitive leave data is managed securely and in compliance with labor norms.

Emgage

Emgage provides a finely tuned, India‑centric platform for attendance and leave tracking, ideal for businesses ready to leave behind Excel sheets and manual errors. Its support for biometric integration and mobile punch‑ins ensures that whether employees are in the office or out in the field, their attendance is captured accurately.

The inclusion of geofencing adds a layer of certainty. Combined with shift scheduling and regularisation workflows, Emgage removes much of the manual burden from HR teams.

The leave management system is equally powerful. You can define multiple leave types, apply encashment and carry‑forward rules, and set up approval chains that align with your company’s structure. Custom holiday calendars for different locations ensure compliance and ease of use, while webhook or API integrations let you plug Emgage into your payroll system for seamless month‑end processing.

RuntimeHRMS

RuntimeHRMS offers a comprehensive attendance and workforce solution that goes far beyond basic check-ins. Employees can mark attendance through multiple channels, all feeding into a unified system.

Admins and HR can manage detailed monthly attendance rules: auto-mark employees present or absent based on time-in thresholds, grant half-days for late arrivals or early sign-outs, and apply sandwich rules for holidays and weekends.

The system intelligently aligns attendance entries with payroll logic. Whether it’s calculating overtime, applying shift differentials, or enforcing leave grant and lapse rules, the data flows seamlessly into pay processing without the need for manual exports. HR teams also benefit from flexible manual override options so occasional human intervention is easy and tracked.

Zimyo

Zimyo brings attendance tracking and payroll processing into one cohesive system, eliminating disjointed spreadsheets or manual data transfers. Employees can log attendance via mobile app, web punch‑in, selfie, or biometric integrations tied to geolocation, ensuring accurate time logs across locations.

Attendance data syncs in real time, with late check‑ins, overtime, shifts, and leave status automatically calculated based on company rules. Missed punches are easily regularized via custom approval workflows with full visibility and audit trails for HR teams.

What distinguishes Zimyo is its seamless payroll integration: hours worked, attendance adjustments, leave balances, and overtime feed directly into payroll calculations, no manual exports or reconciliation needed.

Choosing the Right HR Software for India

Here is how you can choose the right HR software in India:

Start with Your Biggest Pain Points

Is payroll slowing you down? Are spreadsheets costing hours in validation? Choose a platform that resolves your top headache first.

Look for Integration-Ready Tools

Rather than juggling multiple systems, pick tools that offer APIs or native integrations with key systems like payroll, ERP, or email.

Verify Local Legal Compliance

Any HR tool must account for PF, ESI, TDS, LWF, and other regional variations. Ensure updates are automatic.

Prioritize Transparency & Support

Indian businesses thrive when vendors provide upfront pricing and fast support. Craze, for example, starts at ₹60/user/month without surprises.

Scale with Your Growth

Beginners can start with a payroll or attendance-focused platform. As the team grows, adding modules or transitioning to full suites becomes easier.

From Excel to Cloud: What You’ll Gain

Here is what teams can gain from these tools:

● Time Savings: Automated onboarding and leave approval save hours each week.

● Data Accuracy: No more VLOOKUP errors or mismatched timesheets.

● Better Insights: Dashboards show trends in attrition, cost, and engagement, insights that Excel can’t easily offer.

● Compliance Confidence: When the system auto-generates statutory forms, audit anxiety falls dramatically.

Final Thoughts

The transition from Excel to cloud-based HR software in India marks a significant milestone in the evolution of workforce management. Among the available solutions, Craze distinguishes itself as a leading platform under this category in India, owing to its comprehensive suite of features, transparent pricing structure, robust compliance with local regulations, and a founder-centric approach.

If you’re juggling spreadsheets now, pick your biggest friction point—be it payroll errors, manual data entry, attendance chaos, or compliance fear, and choose a tool that solves it. Over time, move toward an integrated HR ecosystem for seamless data flow and deeper insights.