One focused tool beats an ecosystem of compromises.
Zoho People can do timesheets. It can also do 44 other things. When attendance is a feature inside a suite, it gets treated like one. Workclave is built around sessions - it's the only thing we do.
| Feature | Workclave | Zoho People |
|---|---|---|
Session-based tracking Links time to projects, not just presence | Full session intelligence | Basic timesheets, no project link |
Approval workflows Manager reviews before sessions close | Built-in, one-click approval | Available but complex setup |
AI session analytics Automated insights on utilisation and billing | Powered by LLM, auto-generated | No session intelligence |
Pricing & minimums What you pay before adding your first user | ₹0 to start. ₹199/user. No floor. | ₹50–375/user, no minimum but complex |
What a team actually pays: Workclave vs Zoho People
Zoho People is priced per user per tier — but attendance, timesheets, and shift features are spread across tiers, so most teams that want time tracking end up on Premium or above. The tier maths below uses the Premium tier, where timesheet features live.
| Team size | Workclave | Zoho People |
|---|---|---|
| 10-person team | ₹1,990/mo (₹199 × 10) | ≈ ₹2,000/mo (₹200 × 10, Premium) |
| 20-person team | ₹3,980/mo (₹199 × 20) | ≈ ₹4,000/mo (₹200 × 20, Premium) |
| 50-person team | ₹9,950/mo (₹199 × 50) | ≈ ₹10,000/mo (₹200 × 50, Premium) |
Workclave: free up to 5 users, then ₹199/user/month with no base fee. Competitor pricing is approximate, as of July 2026 — always confirm current pricing on the vendor's own page. Zoho People tiers run roughly ₹50–375/user/month billed annually; lower tiers exclude timesheets and advanced attendance. The price is similar — the difference is what the attendance data contains. Source: zoho.com/people/pricing · Full breakdown: Zoho People pricing explained
An honest read on Zoho People
- Enormous feature surface: leave, shifts, performance, LMS, cases — all in one subscription
- Deep integration with the wider Zoho ecosystem (Books, CRM, Payroll)
- Genuinely low entry price for basic HR at ₹50/user tiers
- Highly configurable forms and workflows for HR processes
- Timesheets and attendance are separate modules that need configuration to talk to each other
- No session concept: attendance says present, timesheets say claimed — nothing says approved-for-billing
- Setup and administration overhead is significant for a small team without an HR admin
- Support routes through the broader Zoho organisation and partner layers
Migrating from Zoho People to Workclave
Most teams complete the switch inside one billing cycle. No hardware, no implementation project.
- 1Export employees from Zoho People
CSV export of the employee master is enough. You do not need to migrate historical timesheets to start.
- 2Invite the team and set up projects
Workclave setup is projects and people — there are no modules, forms, or workflow builders to configure first.
- 3Recreate your approval chain
Assign managers to teams. Approvals are built in — no workflow configuration required.
- 4Run in parallel for two weeks
Let sessions accumulate, then compare Workclave's approved-session report against your Zoho timesheets.
- 5Cancel or downgrade Zoho People
Teams keeping Zoho for leave/HR can downgrade to a lower tier and use Workclave for attendance and billing.
What teams say when they switch from Zoho People
They were deep in the Zoho ecosystem and support requests were routed through multiple partner layers. Attendance fixes took weeks.
Switching to Workclave gave them a focused workflow and faster implementation support for the one process they cared about most: billable sessions.
Timesheets existed, but project linkage was weak. Client billing still happened in Excel because team logs were not attribution-ready.
Workclave made every check-in project-first. Invoicing moved out of spreadsheets and into an auditable session trail.
Workclave vs Zoho People: common questions
Is Workclave a good Zoho People alternative?
If what you actually use Zoho People for is attendance and timesheets, yes — Workclave replaces both with a single session-based flow, at a similar or lower price (₹199/user/month, free up to 5 users). If you rely on Zoho People's leave, performance, or LMS modules, you can keep a lower Zoho tier for those and use Workclave for attendance and billing.
How much does Zoho People cost compared to Workclave?
As of July 2026, Zoho People tiers run roughly ₹50–375/user/month billed annually, with timesheet features concentrated in higher tiers. Workclave is a flat ₹199/user/month with everything included and free for up to 5 users.
Does Zoho People have session-based attendance?
No. Zoho People records attendance (presence) and timesheets (claimed hours) as separate modules. There is no single record that says this person worked these hours on this project, approved by this manager — which is exactly what a Workclave session is.
Can Workclave replace Zoho People entirely?
For attendance, time tracking, and billing records — yes. Workclave does not aim to replace Zoho People's broader HR modules like performance reviews or LMS. Most switching teams either did not use those modules or keep a minimal Zoho tier for them.
How long does migration from Zoho People take?
Typically a day to set up (employee CSV import, projects, managers) and two parallel-run weeks before switching the source of truth. There is no workflow configuration step because approvals are built into Workclave.