Quick summary
- OfficePortal Standard is free for the first 5 users, then ₹60 per user per month (about $0.62), with Indian statutory payroll included.
- factoHR's free plan covers up to 20 employees but only basic HRIS features, not full payroll.
- factoHR's paid plans start at ₹4,999 a month (about $52) for up to 50 employees, billed quarterly, then ₹69 per additional employee.
- Both products run genuine Indian statutory payroll (PF, ESI, PT, TDS); this is a real factoHR strength, not just a marketing claim.
Why teams compare OfficePortal and factoHR
Both are Indian-built HR and payroll platforms, so this comparison usually comes down to headcount and budget rather than whether either one can run Indian compliance. factoHR is generally positioned for mid-market and larger companies, often 750 employees and above, with a broader module set covering retirement benefit trust administration and deeper workforce analytics.
OfficePortal is built around a simpler, published-price structure that stays affordable as a small team grows, without needing a 50-seat block just to get started.
Pricing compared
OfficePortal Standard costs ₹300 a month for a ten-person team, since the first five users are free. factoHR's free tier covers up to 20 employees, but only employee data, letter generation and payslip generation, not full payroll processing, so a ten-person team wanting real payroll has to move to a paid plan.
factoHR's Core plan is ₹4,999 a month (about $52) for up to 50 employees, billed quarterly, then ₹69 per additional employee. Its Prime and Elite plans run to ₹6,499 and ₹8,499 a month respectively, at ₹89 and ₹119 per additional employee. A US-dollar pricing track is also published, at $2, $3 and $4 per additional employee per month, billed annually, for international customers.
Payroll and statutory compliance
OfficePortal's payroll software calculates PF, ESI, Professional Tax, Labour Welfare Fund and TDS, generates Form 16, and reads directly from attendance and leave.
factoHR is a genuine strength here too, with statutory compliance built into every paid plan and support for retirement benefit trust administration on its higher tiers, which suits larger, more complex organisations. If you're below 50 employees and don't need trust administration, this extra depth may be more than you need.
Where factoHR may suit you better
- You are a mid-market or larger company, particularly in the 750 to 2,000 employee range.
- You need to administer your own retirement benefit trusts, a feature not all Indian HR platforms offer.
- You are comfortable with quarterly billing and a 50-seat block as your starting point.
- You want a deeper workforce analytics and compliance module set than a smaller HR platform typically offers.
Where OfficePortal fits better
- You are under 50 employees and don't want to pay for a 50-seat block you haven't grown into yet.
- You want a genuinely free start: OfficePortal is free for 5 users with full attendance and leave, not just basic employee data. This suits startups and IT companies.
- You want monthly billing rather than a quarterly commitment.
- You want GPS and biometric attendance built into the base plan, through attendance tracking, feeding straight into payroll.
How to choose
- Confirm your current and next-12-months headcount, since factoHR's pricing is built around 50-seat blocks.
- Check whether you need retirement benefit trust administration, since this is one of factoHR's clearer strengths.
- Add GST to both vendors' published prices before comparing totals.
- Ask both vendors to demonstrate PF, ESI, PT and TDS output live, using your own data.
- Run one month of payroll in parallel before you switch providers.
- Confirm current prices with both vendors, as published rates change.