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.
- Pocket HRMS has no free plan, only a free demo. Its Standard plan is ₹2,995/month (about $31), flat for up to 50 employees, then ₹60 per additional employee, billed annually.
- Pocket HRMS's Professional plan is ₹4,495/month (about $47), flat for up to 50 employees, then ₹90 per additional employee.
- Both products run genuine Indian statutory payroll (PF, ESI, PT, TDS, with AI-assisted anomaly detection on Pocket HRMS).
Why teams compare OfficePortal and Pocket HRMS
Both are Indian-built HR and payroll platforms with genuine statutory compliance, so this comparison usually comes down to headcount and pricing shape rather than whether either one can run payroll correctly. Pocket HRMS is known for AI-assisted payroll anomaly detection and multi-state statutory accuracy, and it markets itself as a lower-cost alternative to platforms like Keka.
The key structural difference is Pocket HRMS's 50-employee flat-fee block on every plan, compared with OfficePortal's straightforward per-user rate from the sixth employee onward, with no block to grow into.
Pricing compared
OfficePortal Standard costs ₹300 a month for a ten-person team, since the first five users are free. Pocket HRMS's Standard plan is a flat ₹2,995 a month covering any headcount up to 50, so a ten-person team and a 49-person team on the same plan pay the same amount — meaning a small team effectively pays ₹299.50 per employee per month at ten people, falling to ₹61 per employee per month once it reaches 49.
Past 50 employees, Pocket HRMS charges ₹60 per additional employee on Standard (₹90 on Professional), which brings its effective cost per head down significantly and starts to compete more directly with per-user pricing models like OfficePortal's.
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.
Pocket HRMS is a genuine strength here too, with statutory payroll included on every plan and AI-assisted automation specifically built to catch payroll anomalies and keep multi-state statutory filings accurate. If multi-state compliance complexity is a real concern for your business, this is a reasonable point in Pocket HRMS's favour.
Where Pocket HRMS may suit you better
- You are at or near 50 employees, where its flat-fee block delivers a low effective cost per head.
- You operate across multiple Indian states and want AI-assisted anomaly detection built into statutory payroll.
- You want 24/7 support included on every plan, which Pocket HRMS highlights as a differentiator against some competitors.
- You are comfortable with annual billing commitments rather than paying monthly.
Where OfficePortal fits better
- You are under 50 employees and don't want to pay a flat fee sized for a team you haven't grown into. This particularly suits startups and IT companies.
- You want a genuinely free start: OfficePortal is free for 5 users; Pocket HRMS offers a demo only, with no free tier at all.
- You want monthly billing rather than an annual commitment.
- You want GPS and biometric attendance built into the base plan, through attendance tracking, feeding directly into payroll.
How to choose
- Work out your effective cost per employee at your actual headcount, not just the headline monthly price, since Pocket HRMS's flat-fee block changes the maths significantly under 50 employees.
- Check whether your business genuinely needs multi-state statutory automation, or whether a simpler platform covers your compliance needs.
- Confirm Pocket HRMS's one-time implementation fee, which is mentioned by third-party sources but not published.
- 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.