Keka alternative for Indian startups
Checked on Keka's own website on . Prices exclude 18% GST.
Keka is a full HR and payroll suite for growing companies, used by more than 12,500 organisations. Masthead is hiring, attendance and leave for small teams, with payroll in Margin, in the same app. Here's how they compare.
What Keka does well
- One suite for HR and payroll. Records, onboarding, attendance, leave, payroll, performance and exits in one place.
- Deep Indian payroll compliance. PF and ESI with the ECR, professional tax, TDS with the quarterly returns, Form 16 and gratuity, across all 28 states and 8 union territories.
- Hiring at volume. AI sources, screens and shortlists candidates. Jobs go to LinkedIn, Naukri, Indeed and your careers page, and interviews are scheduled with calendar sync.
- Room to grow. Surveys, learning, project timesheets and billing, and payroll in other countries.
- Widely used. Keka says more than 12,500 organisations use it.
Who Keka suits
- You have an HR team, or are about to hire one.
- You want payroll inside your HR software.
- You have hundreds of people, several offices or states, or a team abroad.
- You want surveys, courses or project billing as part of HR.
Where Masthead is different
- Made for teams under 50. Hiring, attendance and leave, set up in an afternoon from one CSV with everyone on your team.
- The first call, done for you. Aria, Masthead's screener, runs a first voice call with each candidate and scores it out of 100, with reasons. It suggests advance, hold or reject, and a person decides.
- Every CV read. Masthead fills in each candidate's phone, current role, experience, location, LinkedIn and last CTC.
- Prices on the page. Team is ₹40 a person a month (₹999 minimum). Hire is ₹2,499 a month, and Hire + Team ₹3,999 a month for up to 40 people. Start with a 14-day free trial; you don't need a demo.
- Payroll in the same app. With Margin, payroll takes attendance and leave straight from Masthead, so unpaid days are counted for you. It handles PF, ESI, professional tax, TDS, payslips and Form 16, and taking both saves 15% on each.
- On the phone. Your team punches in, asks for leave and approves from a phone.
What Masthead doesn't do yet. It doesn't post jobs to boards such as Naukri or Indeed: it shares roles on LinkedIn and in Google's job search. It doesn't connect to biometric machines or run surveys or courses. Payroll comes from Margin, which is for Indian companies only. And Masthead is much newer than Keka, so weigh that too.
Side by side
| What | Keka | Masthead |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Not shown on Keka's pricing page: Foundation, Strength and Growth plans, a free trial and a number to callKeka pricing | Team: ₹40 a person a month (₹999 minimum). Hire: ₹2,499 a month. Hire + Team: ₹3,999 a month for up to 40 people |
| Payroll | In the same suite: PF, ESI, professional tax, TDS returns, Form 16 and gratuityKeka payroll compliance | With Margin, in the same app: ₹60 a person a month (₹1,999 minimum), with PF, ESI, professional tax, TDS and Form 16 |
| Hiring | AI sourcing and screening; jobs on LinkedIn, Naukri, Indeed and your careers page; interviews with calendar syncKeka for hiring teams | Every CV read; Aria's first screening calls (50 a month on Hire); your own careers page; roles shared on LinkedIn and Google |
| Attendance and leave | Attendance, shifts and leave policies, with approved hours sent to payrollKeka attendance, leave and shifts | Punch in from a phone or computer, shifts and late marks, seven kinds of leave, sent to Margin for payroll |
| Performance | In the Growth planKeka pricing | Perform add-on: ₹50 a person a month (₹999 minimum) |
| Getting started | Free trial; guided onboarding with a dedicated contactKeka pricing · Keka HR software | 14 days free, no card needed; one CSV with everyone on your team |
Keka's facts checked on its own website on 21 October 2026; each links to the page it came from. Masthead's prices are from our price list. Prices exclude 18% GST.
How to switch from Keka
- Pick the date. The start of a month, after a payroll run, so no month is split between two systems.
- Bring in your team. In Directory, choose Bulk upload and fill in Masthead's CSV template, a row per person: identity, bank, PAN and UAN, salary breakup, PT state, and any leave already used this year. Can I add many people at once?
- Set your leave policy. Choose the year and set the days of earned, casual and sick leave, and how many earned leave days carry over. How do I set our leave policy?
- Run payroll with Margin. Attendance and leave flow in from Masthead. Compare the first payslips with Keka's last ones before you pay. How does Masthead work with Margin?
- Move your open roles. Add each role to your careers page; new applicants come to Masthead.
Need a hand? Write to hello@1936ai.com and we'll help.
Questions
Does Masthead do payroll?
Not on its own. In India, payroll lives in Margin Ledger, and Masthead sends attendance and leave to it automatically. Outside India, export attendance to your payroll provider.
Does Masthead reject candidates on its own?
No. It reads every CV and scores the screening calls, then suggests. Every rejection is a person's decision, and candidates can ask for a human review.
How much does Keka cost?
Keka's pricing page didn't show prices on 21 October 2026. It lists Foundation, Strength and Growth plans, with a free trial and a number to call.
