# Zoho People vs Peoplo.ai: HRMS and payroll compared (2026) URL: https://peoplo.ai/in/en/compare/peoplo-vs-zoho-people/ > Zoho People vs Peoplo.ai in India: AI, pricing, statutory payroll, operations and countries, from both firms' public pages, checked 23 October 2026. People, companies and figures in product examples on this page are sample data, not customers. [Compare](https://peoplo.ai/in/en/compare/) Comparison # Zoho People vs Peoplo.ai Zoho People is a widely used HR product from Zoho, with payroll and expenses sold as separate Zoho apps. The biggest difference is how the AI works: Peoplo.ai is an agentic HRMS, where AI agents do the groundwork and people decide on pay, records and money. [See the agents in a demo](https://peoplo.ai/contact/) Compare the AI Where Peoplo.ai is different: HR, leave, claims and payroll in one product, not separate apps Our verdict Our pick is Peoplo.ai if you want AI agents that prepare payroll, onboarding and exits while people decide on pay, records and money, with prices published up front. Zoho People may suit you better if you already run your company on Zoho apps and want HR in the same family. Peoplo.ai wrote this page and lists its own product first. Facts about other products come from their public pages, with the date we checked them. AI agents and agentic HR ## The difference is in how the AI works Zia is an assistant that answers and acts when you ask. Peoplo.ai adds agents that start work on their own when something happens, and changes to pay, tax, people records and money always wait for a person. | | Peoplo.ai | Zoho People | | --- | --- | --- | | How the AI works | An agentic system: agents with one job each, set off by events such as month-end payroll, an accepted offer or a resignation. | Zia, described as “the AI layer built into Zoho People that answers questions, executes tasks, and pulls reports”. Its page doesn’t describe agents. | | Who makes the change | Agents prepare the work. A person approves changes to pay, people records and money before they are applied. | Zia performs tasks from conversations in real time, within role-based permissions. Its page doesn’t describe an approval step. | | Assistant | Kili answers questions from company records and proposes changes as cards you confirm or cancel. | Zia, by chat and voice, in several languages. | | Record of what AI did | Important changes are written to an audit log: who did what, and when. | Zia keeps audits of every action it performs. | | Control | Admins switch each agent on or off. Peoplo.ai works as a normal HRMS without them. | Role-based access. Companies can use Zoho’s own hosted model or their own AI provider keys. | | Bring your own AI | Connect Claude Desktop, Claude Code or ChatGPT over MCP with a personal API key and the same permissions. | Your own AI provider keys for Zia. MCP isn’t mentioned on the Zia page. | Zoho People details are from its public website, checked 23 October 2026. “Not described” means we didn’t find it on the pages listed in the sources, not that it doesn’t exist. What agentic means in Peoplo.ai ## From trigger to approval, without anyone starting it ### Trigger October payroll calculated for 48 employees ### Read Read salary revisions from employee records ### Prepare Found 3 approved claims waiting to be paid ### Ask you Review and lock ### Record Your approval is logged Payroll anomaly check Onboarding coordinator Exit coordinator Receipt reader Policy assistant Weekly brief [Meet the agents](https://peoplo.ai/in/en/ai-agents/) Everything else ## Pricing, payroll and the rest Zoho People calls itself “AI-first HR software for every business”, used by 50K+ businesses and 1M+ users in 165+ countries. It has per-user pricing plans and a 30-day free trial. | | Peoplo.ai | Zoho People | | --- | --- | --- | | Pricing | Published: ₹79 per employee a month, for at least 25 employees. Before GST. | Per-user plans, shown on its pricing page. 30-day free trial on all plans. | | Indian statutory payroll | Designed to support PF, ESI, professional tax and LWF for every state, and TDS under both regimes. | Through a separate product, Zoho Payroll, which integrates with Zoho People. | | Beyond HR | Claims and bills, company expenses, IT assets and a shared password vault on the same employee record. Cap table with ESOP and RSU plans, grants and vesting. | Expenses through a separate product, Zoho Expense. HR helpdesk, documents and learning in Zoho People. | | Outside India | UAE entities (mainland, DIFC, ADGM) with WPS files in the same account. HR for Europe (Germany, France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Estonia) is coming soon. Payroll is only for India and the UAE. | Used in 165+ countries. | | Hiring | Hiring, onboarding and exits included in the plan. | Hiring and onboarding, with candidate matching in Zoho Recruit. | | How HR and payroll fit | One product: HR, payroll, performance and operations on one record. | Separate Zoho apps connected together. | Products and prices change, so check Zoho People's site for the latest. If anything here is out of date, write to [team@peoplo.ai](mailto:team@peoplo.ai) and we will fix it. ## Zoho People may suit you better if You already run your company on Zoho apps and want HR in the same family. You want per-user pricing and to add payroll and expenses as separate apps. ## Peoplo.ai may suit you better if You want AI agents that prepare payroll, onboarding and exits on their own, while you decide on pay, records and money. You want HR, payroll and operations in one product rather than several connected apps. You want claims, IT assets and a password vault on the same employee record. [Request a demo](https://peoplo.ai/contact/) [See pricing](https://peoplo.ai/in/en/pricing/) Sources · checked 23 October 2026 - [Zoho People home page](https://zoho.com/people) - [Zoho People: Zia](https://www.zoho.com/people/zia.html) Side by side ## Zoho People and Peoplo.ai at a glance Each product as our India rankings describe it, from its own pages and with the date checked, including the points worth checking for each. ### Peoplo.ai An agentic HRMS. AI agents prepare payroll checks, onboarding plans, exit settlements and claims, and changes to pay, tax, people records and money always wait for a person. Designed to support PF, ESI, professional tax and LWF for every state, and TDS under both regimes. Best for Companies that want AI agents to prepare HR and payroll work, and groups with Indian and UAE companies. **AI** AI agents that prepare the work **Statutory payroll** Designed to support PF, ESI, PT, LWF and TDS **Hiring** Included in the plan **Free trial** Free trial **Price** ₹79 per employee a month before GST, for at least 25 employees What stands out AI agents prepare payroll checks, onboarding plans, exit settlements and claims, and important changes are written to an audit log: who did what, and when. Published prices from ₹1,975 a month for up to 25 employees, with AI agents, hiring, onboarding and exits in the plan. Claims and bills, company expenses, IT assets and a shared password vault on the same employee record, and UAE companies in the same account. Worth checking Published prices go up to 2,000 employees; above that, talk to us. A newer product, so there are fewer published customer stories than for long-established vendors. Built for SOC 2 and GDPR, with no SOC 2 certificate yet. Checked 3 November 2026 · [Peoplo.ai pricing](https://peoplo.ai/in/en/pricing/) · [Peoplo.ai payroll](https://peoplo.ai/in/en/platform/payroll/) ### Zoho People A widely used HR product from Zoho that calls itself "AI-first HR software for every business", used by 50K+ businesses in 165+ countries. Payroll and expenses are separate Zoho apps. Best for You already run your company on Zoho apps and want HR in the same family. **AI** Zia: answers questions, executes tasks, pulls reports **Statutory payroll** Through Zoho Payroll, a separate product **Hiring** Through Zoho Recruit **Free trial** 30 days **Price** Per-user plans, published What stands out Per-user prices on its pricing page and a 30-day free trial on all plans. HR helpdesk, documents and learning in Zoho People. Works with Zoho Payroll, Zoho Expense and the rest of the Zoho family. Worth checking Indian payroll needs a separate product, Zoho Payroll. Agents are not described on its Zia page. Checked 23 October 2026 · [Zoho People home page](https://zoho.com/people) · [Zoho People: Zia](https://www.zoho.com/people/zia.html) Worked example ## One employee, worked through Indian payroll What any HR software in India, Zoho People or Peoplo.ai, should calculate for the same person. Ask both to show these numbers in a demo. ### Provident Fund Basic ₹30,000 a month: PF wages are capped at the ₹25,000 ceiling in force from 17 September 2026, so the employee pays ₹3,000. The employer also pays ₹3,000: ₹2,083 to the pension scheme (EPS) and ₹918 to EPF. ### ESI Gross ₹50,000 is above the ₹21,000 ESI ceiling, so no ESI applies. At a gross of ₹18,000, the employee would pay ₹135 (0.75%) and the employer ₹585 (3.25%). ### Professional tax In Karnataka, ₹200 a month from a gross of ₹25,000, and ₹300 in February, capped at ₹2,500 a year. In Maharashtra the top slab is ₹200, with ₹300 in February. Delhi has none. ### Income tax (TDS) Under the new regime, the standard deduction is ₹75,000 and income up to ₹12 lakh pays no tax after the rebate. TDS each month depends on the regime the employee chose and the year so far. ### Gratuity at exit Last drawn basic ₹40,000 after 6 years: (₹40,000 × 15 ÷ 26) × 6 = ₹1,38,462, within the ₹20 lakh cap. ### In-hand before TDS Gross ₹50,000 less employee PF of ₹3,000 and Karnataka professional tax of ₹200 leaves ₹46,800 a month before income tax. The salary calculator works the same out for any CTC. ### Leave encashment at exit Last drawn basic ₹40,000 and 20 unused days: (₹40,000 ÷ 30) × 20 = ₹26,667, paid with the final settlement. The tax exemption for non-government employees is capped at ₹25 lakh across a working life. ### Full and final settlement Under the Code on Wages, wages due to someone who leaves, including leave encashment, must be paid within two working days of the last day. Gratuity, where it is due, follows the Code on Social Security and must be paid within 30 days of becoming payable. India checklist ## Indian rules to test in Zoho People and Peoplo.ai The rules that catch most payroll teams out. Peoplo.ai is designed to support each one; ask every vendor to show them on your own data. **PF at the new ceiling** 12% from employee and employer on wages up to ₹25,000 a month since 17 September 2026 (₹15,000 before), with 8.33% of the employer share to EPS. **ESI crossings** ESI applies up to gross wages of ₹21,000 a month. Someone who crosses the line mid-period stays covered to the end of that contribution period. **Professional tax by state** Different slabs in every state, February top-ups in some, half-yearly in Tamil Nadu and none in Delhi. Check each state you employ people in. **LWF** Labour welfare fund contributions differ by state in amount and timing. Ask how the software sets them for each work location. **TDS under both regimes** Employees choose the old or new regime; the new regime has a ₹75,000 standard deduction and the rebate up to ₹12 lakh. **Gratuity** 15 days' last drawn basic for each year after five years of service (one year for fixed-term staff), worked out at 15 ÷ 26, up to ₹20 lakh. **Leave encashment at exit** Exempt up to ₹25 lakh across a working life for non-government employees, from 1 April 2023. **Settlement in two working days** The Code on Wages sets two working days from the last day for wages due to someone who leaves. Sources · checked 22 October 2026 - [EPFO wage ceiling FAQs (S.O. 5109(E))](https://www.staffnews.in/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/EPFO_Wage_Ceiling_FAQs.pdf) - [ESIC: coverage and the wage ceiling](https://www.esic.gov.in/coverage) - [ESIC: ESI (Central) Rules, 1950, rule 50 (wages above the ceiling during a contribution period)](https://esic.gov.in/attachments/actfile/35df0691b900c1d011c6ceb7913eb1d6.pdf) - [Income Tax Department: Finance Bill 2026 memorandum (rates unchanged for tax year 2026-27)](https://www.incometaxindia.gov.in/documents/81799/11848482/memo-2026.pdf) - [India Code: Code on Social Security, 2020 (gratuity, section 53)](https://www.indiacode.nic.in/bitstream/123456789/16823/1/aA2020-36.pdf) - [Income Tax Department: Notification 31/2023, ₹25 lakh limit for leave encashment](https://wm.incometaxindia.gov.in/web/guest/w/notification-no.-31/2023-f.-no.-200/3/2023-ita-i-/-so-2276-e-) - [The Code on Wages, 2019, section 17(2): Gazette of India, 8 August 2019](https://egazette.gov.in/WriteReadData/2019/210356.pdf) Agent by agent ## What each Peoplo.ai agent does, start to finish Zia is an assistant that answers and acts when you ask. Peoplo.ai adds agents that start work on their own when something happens, and changes to pay, tax, people records and money always wait for a person. Here are six of Peoplo.ai's agents on Indian sample data: what starts it, what it does, and the step it hands back. ### Payroll anomaly check: October payroll calculated for 48 employees Read salaries, pay components and revisions. Compared every payslip with September. Checked PF, ESI, PT and TDS for each work state. Found 1 person with no salary set. Flagged an overtime amount twice the usual. Then it waits for you: review and lock. What it never does: lock or pay a payroll run. ### Onboarding coordinator: Arjun Mehta accepted the offer Picked the Design onboarding template. Set due dates from the joining date, Mon 2 Nov. Assigned tasks to Arjun, his manager and HR. Drafted the laptop and email request for IT. Chose a buddy from the same team. Then it waits for you: approve and send. What it never does: send anything to a new joiner without approval. ### Exit coordinator: Sara Khan’s last day set to Wed 25 Nov Read monthly gross from payroll. Counted 6 days of encashable leave. Checked IT assets: laptop and ID card still assigned. Worked out the full and final settlement. Drafted the relieving and experience letters. Then it waits for you: approve settlement. What it never does: pay a settlement or revoke access on its own. ### Receipt reader: Neha Iyer attached a receipt to a claim Read the merchant, date and amount. Matched the category to Travel. Checked the amount against the travel policy. Converted at October’s rate. Filled in the claim line. Then it waits for you: approve claim. What it never does: approve or pay a claim. ### Policy assistant: An employee asked about carrying leave forward Found the Leave policy 2026. Read the carry-over section. Looked up the employee’s own balance. Worked out what lapses on 31 Dec. Answered with the source. Then it waits for you: answered. What it never does: change any record. It only answers. ### Weekly brief: Monday morning, week of 26 Oct Counted leave, joiners and leavers. Listed approvals waiting more than 3 days. Checked statutory due dates. Summarised the week for HR and managers. Sent the brief. Then it waits for you: read. What it never does: act on what it finds. It only reports. Day to day ## What changes for each team if you move from Zoho People to Peoplo.ai Peoplo.ai is built so that AI agents do the groundwork and people make the decisions. Here is what that means for each person who uses it. ### HR team Agents prepare onboarding plans when an offer is accepted and settlements when a last day is set. HR reviews and approves; nothing reaches a joiner or a leaver without that approval. ### Payroll team The payroll check compares every payslip with last month and flags PF, ESI, PT and TDS changes, missing attendance and unusual amounts. A person locks the run; the agent never does. ### Finance Claims and bills, company expenses and IT assets sit on the same employee record, so payroll, reimbursements and assets reconcile in one place. ### Managers Leave approvals, onboarding tasks for new joiners and exit handovers arrive as tasks with the context already filled in. ### Employees Payslips, leave and tax declarations in self-service, and the receipt reader fills in claims from a photo. Kili answers policy questions from company records. ### Admins Each agent can be switched on or off, and Peoplo.ai works as a normal HRMS without them. Important changes are written to an audit log: who did what, and when. In the demo ## Eight things to ask Zoho People and Peoplo.ai to show Bring your own data. The same eight requests show the difference faster than any feature list. - 1 Run one month of payroll for our states and show PF, ESI, PT, LWF and TDS for three people we choose. - 2 Show how the PF increase from the ₹25,000 ceiling appears on this month's payslips. - 3 Settle a leaver with 6 years and 2 months of service: final salary, leave encashment and gratuity. - 4 Take a new joiner from accepted offer to day one, with PAN, Aadhaar and UAN. - 5 Show what the AI prepares without being asked, and who has to approve it. - 6 Open the record of who changed a salary, and when. - 7 Give us the price for our headcount for three years, with every add-on. - 8 Export all our employee data to a file, as we would if we left. By team size ## Zoho People or Peoplo.ai at your size What usually decides it at each size. The cards above give each product's own strengths and limits. ### Under 25 employees Price and a quick start matter most. Peoplo.ai is ₹1,975 a month for up to 25, before GST. Zoho People: Per-user plans, published. ### 25 to 100 employees Payroll accuracy, hiring and exits start to take real time. Peoplo.ai is ₹7,900 a month for 100, with AI agents and hiring included. Compare Zoho People's total at the same headcount, with add-ons. ### 100 to 500 employees Several states, entities and approval chains. Peoplo.ai is ₹39,500 a month for 500. Ask both for a migration plan and a parallel month. ### Over 500 employees Peoplo.ai publishes prices up to 2,000 employees; above that, talk to us. Zoho People is described as best for: you already run your company on Zoho apps and want HR in the same family. Switching ## Moving from Zoho People to Peoplo.ai The safest time to switch is at the start of a month, and easiest at the start of a quarter, so TDS and PF returns stay clean. Plan for one payroll run in parallel. - 1 ### Employee records Employee master with joining dates, PAN, UAN, ESI IP numbers, bank details and the state each person works in. - 2 ### Salary structures Pay components, CTC breakdowns, and whether PF is on capped or full wages. - 3 ### This year's payroll Year-to-date earnings, TDS deducted, regime choice and investment declarations, so TDS for the rest of the year is right. - 4 ### Leave and attendance Leave policies and balances on the switch date, holidays by location and shift patterns. - 5 ### Documents and approvals Offer letters, contracts and policies, plus who approves what, so the same rules apply on day one. ## How we compared We read Zoho People's public pages, listed in the sources above, on 23 October 2026, and compared them with what Peoplo.ai does today. We did not test Zoho People's software. Where its pages don't describe something, we say "not described" rather than "missing". Peoplo.ai wrote this page; if anything about Zoho People is out of date, write to team@peoplo.ai and we will fix it. ## More comparisons - [Best HR software in India](https://peoplo.ai/in/en/best-hr-software-india/) - [Keka vs Peoplo.ai](https://peoplo.ai/in/en/compare/peoplo-vs-keka/) - [greytHR vs Peoplo.ai](https://peoplo.ai/in/en/compare/peoplo-vs-greythr/) - [Darwinbox vs Peoplo.ai](https://peoplo.ai/in/en/compare/peoplo-vs-darwinbox/) - [RazorpayX Payroll vs Peoplo.ai](https://peoplo.ai/in/en/compare/peoplo-vs-razorpayx-payroll/) - [HROne vs Peoplo.ai](https://peoplo.ai/in/en/compare/peoplo-vs-hrone/) - [ZingHR vs Peoplo.ai](https://peoplo.ai/in/en/compare/peoplo-vs-zinghr/) - [Odoo vs Peoplo.ai](https://peoplo.ai/in/en/compare/peoplo-vs-odoo/) Questions ## Frequently asked questions Straight answers about Peoplo.ai for Indian companies. ### Is Peoplo.ai or Zoho People better? Our pick is Peoplo.ai if you want AI agents that prepare payroll, onboarding and exits while people decide on pay, records and money, with prices published up front. Zoho People may suit you better if you already run your company on Zoho apps and want HR in the same family. Peoplo.ai wrote this page and lists its own product first. Facts about other products come from their public pages, with the date we checked them. ### How does Zoho People pricing compare with Peoplo.ai? Zoho People: Per-user plans, shown on its pricing page. 30-day free trial on all plans. Peoplo.ai: ₹79 per employee a month, for at least 25 employees. Before GST. Zoho People pricing checked 23 October 2026. ### Does Zoho People have AI agents like Peoplo.ai? Zia, described as “the AI layer built into Zoho People that answers questions, executes tasks, and pulls reports”. Its page doesn’t describe agents. Zia is an assistant that answers and acts when you ask. Peoplo.ai adds agents that start work on their own when something happens, and changes to pay, tax, people records and money always wait for a person. ### Who should choose Peoplo.ai over Zoho People? You want AI agents that prepare payroll, onboarding and exits on their own, while you decide on pay, records and money. You want HR, payroll and operations in one product rather than several connected apps. You want claims, IT assets and a password vault on the same employee record. ### Does Zoho People handle PF, ESI, PT and TDS? Zoho People: Through a separate product, Zoho Payroll, which integrates with Zoho People. Peoplo.ai: Designed to support PF, ESI, professional tax and LWF for every state, and TDS under both regimes. ### Does Zoho People include hiring and onboarding? Zoho People: Hiring and onboarding, with candidate matching in Zoho Recruit. Peoplo.ai: Hiring, onboarding and exits included in the plan. ### What does Zoho People cover beyond HR and payroll? Zoho People: Expenses through a separate product, Zoho Expense. HR helpdesk, documents and learning in Zoho People. Peoplo.ai: Claims and bills, company expenses, IT assets and a shared password vault on the same employee record. Cap table with ESOP and RSU plans, grants and vesting. ### Can Zoho People run HR and payroll outside India? Zoho People: Used in 165+ countries. Peoplo.ai: UAE entities (mainland, DIFC, ADGM) with WPS files in the same account. HR for Europe (Germany, France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Estonia) is coming soon. Payroll is only for India and the UAE. ### How do I switch from Zoho People to Peoplo.ai? Export your employee records, salary structures, leave balances and this tax year's payroll and TDS from Zoho People, set up Peoplo.ai with the same pay components, and run one payroll in parallel before you switch. The switching checklist on this page lists what to move. ### What is Zoho People best for? From Zoho People's own pages, checked 23 October 2026: You already run your company on Zoho apps and want HR in the same family. A widely used HR product from Zoho that calls itself "AI-first HR software for every business", used by 50K+ businesses in 165+ countries. Payroll and expenses are separate Zoho apps. ### What should I check before choosing Zoho People? Indian payroll needs a separate product, Zoho Payroll. Agents are not described on its Zia page. These come from Zoho People's own pages, checked 23 October 2026. ### Does Zoho People have a free trial? Zoho People: 30 days. Peoplo.ai: Free trial, with published prices (₹79 per employee a month before GST, for at least 25 employees). ### How does Zoho People handle Indian statutory payroll? Zoho People: Through Zoho Payroll, a separate product. Peoplo.ai is designed to support PF, ESI, professional tax and LWF for every state, and TDS under both regimes. ### Do Zoho People and Peoplo.ai handle the new PF wage ceiling? The PF wage ceiling rose to ₹25,000 a month from 17 September 2026. Peoplo.ai's payroll check flags every payslip where PF changed. Ask Zoho People to show the same on your data. ### Can Zoho People or Peoplo.ai settle a leaver within two working days? Peoplo.ai's exit coordinator prepares the settlement and leave encashment when a last day is set, for a person to approve, so final wages can be paid within the two working days the Code on Wages sets. It works out gratuity too, which is due within 30 days under the Code on Social Security. Ask Zoho People for the same in a demo. ### Which is better for a growing team, Zoho People or Peoplo.ai? It depends on what grows fastest. If hiring, exits and payroll checks take the most time, Peoplo.ai's agents and included hiring help most. If you need you already run your company on Zoho apps and want HR in the same family, Zoho People may fit better. ### Can we run a pilot before switching from Zoho People? Yes. Run one month of payroll in Peoplo.ai alongside your current system, compare every payslip, then switch at the start of the next month. ### Does Peoplo.ai include claims and expenses like Zoho People? Peoplo.ai includes claims and bills, company expenses, IT assets and a shared password vault on the same employee record, in the plan. Zoho People's own pages describe what it covers beyond HR in the table above. ### Can employees use Peoplo.ai on their phones? Yes, as an app installed from the browser on phones and computers. There is no app-store app; payslips, leave, claims and Kili work the same way on every device. ### Is there a limit to how much the AI can do in Peoplo.ai? AI is included with fair use shared across the company: about 5 AI runs per employee a month in India and about 10 in the UAE. Agents prepare work and stop; changes to pay, tax, people records and money always wait for a person. ### Does Peoplo.ai handle staff in several Indian states? Yes. Peoplo.ai is designed to support professional tax and LWF for every state, using each employee's work state, alongside PF, ESI and TDS under both regimes. ### Can Peoplo.ai run payroll for India and the UAE together? Yes. Indian and UAE companies sit in one account, each with its own payroll under its country's rules: PF, ESI, PT and TDS in India, and WPS salary files and end-of-service in the UAE. ### What happens to our data if we leave Peoplo.ai? HR can export all employee records at any time, and everything held about one person on request. Ask the same of every vendor you compare, including how the data is deleted afterwards. ### How long does it take to move from Zoho People to Peoplo.ai? Most of the work is exporting and importing data: employees, salary structures, this year's payroll and TDS, and leave balances. Plan one parallel payroll month, then switch at the start of the next month, ideally the start of a quarter.