Best Keka Alternative with Project Management for Indian IT Teams in 2026
Last Updated: August 2026
Looking for a Keka alternative in India? TrackPM combines HR (attendance, leave, payroll) with project management and time tracking. Pay in INR. Free trial.
Keka is one of the most respected HR and payroll platforms in India — and rightly so. It handles PF, ESIC, TDS, attendance, and performance management well for Indian companies. But there is one thing Keka cannot do: project management.
If your Indian IT company is paying for Keka for HR and a separate tool (Jira, Trello, Asana) for projects, this page explains why TrackPM is the smarter alternative — combining Keka's HR capabilities with a full project management suite in one pay-per-use platform.
What Keka Does Well — and Where It Falls Short
Keka is a strong HR platform for Indian companies. It is the right choice for Indian businesses in the 25 to 5,000 employee range that want HRMS, payroll compliance, attendance, and performance management in one modern platform. It handles Indian statutory compliance well and has a clean interface.
But Indian IT companies consistently hit three gaps with Keka:
- No project management. Keka manages people — not projects. There is no Kanban board, Scrum board, sprint planning, task assignment, or project delivery tracking in Keka. Indian IT companies still need a separate project management tool.
- No time tracking with screenshots. Keka tracks attendance (when employees are at work) but not what they are working on during those hours. For Indian IT companies billing clients by the hour or managing remote teams, there is no task-level time tracking or screenshot monitoring in Keka.
- No IT asset management. Keka has no feature for tracking laptops, devices, or software licenses assigned to employees. Indian IT companies manage this in a spreadsheet or a separate tool.
The result: Indian IT companies using Keka typically also pay for Jira or Trello (project management), Hubstaff or Toggl (time tracking), and a spreadsheet for assets — three or four separate subscriptions alongside Keka.
TrackPM is the Keka alternative that collapses all of this into one platform — combining payroll, attendance, project management, time tracking, and IT asset management under a single INR bill.
TrackPM vs Keka — Feature Comparison
| Feature | TrackPM | Keka |
|---|---|---|
| Employee attendance | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Leave management (India) | ✓ CL, EL, SL, Maternity, LOP | ✓ Yes — comprehensive |
| Holiday calendar | ✓ India state-wise | ✓ Yes |
| Payroll (PF, ESIC, TDS, PT) | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes — more advanced |
| Salary slips | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Employee self-service | ✓ Basic | ✓ Advanced |
| Performance management | — Not included | ✓ OKRs, reviews |
| Recruitment / ATS | — Not included | ✓ Growth plan |
| Kanban board | ✓ Yes | ✗ Not included |
| Scrum board | ✓ Yes | ✗ Not included |
| Sprint planning | ✓ Yes | ✗ Not included |
| Task management | ✓ Yes | ✗ Not included |
| Time tracking with screenshots | ✓ Yes | ✗ Not included |
| Billable hours tracking | ✓ Yes | ✗ Not included |
| IT asset management | ✓ Yes | ✗ Not included |
| File management | ✓ AWS-backed | ✗ Not included |
| Productivity reports | ✓ Yes | ✓ HR-focused |
| Project progress reports | ✓ Yes | ✗ Not included |
| Pricing model | ✓ Use & Pay — INR | ✗ ₹6,999–₹13,999/month (up to 100 employees) |
| Free trial | ✓ Yes — no card | ✓ Yes |
Keka vs TrackPM — Pricing for Indian IT Startups
Keka's Foundation plan costs ₹6,999 per month for up to 100 employees. The Growth plan — required for OKR-based performance management, built-in ATS, and advanced analytics — costs ₹13,999 per month for up to 100 employees. This is a flat fee regardless of your actual headcount in the range, which means early-stage startups with 10–20 employees pay the same as companies with 100 employees.
Additionally, Indian IT companies using Keka still need to pay separately for:
- Project management tool (Jira: ₹8,000–₹20,000/month for 20 users)
- Time tracking tool (Hubstaff: ₹8,000–₹15,000/month for 20 users in USD)
Total additional cost: ₹16,000–₹35,000/month on top of Keka
TrackPM's Use and Pay model includes HR (attendance, leave, payroll), project management, time tracking, asset management, and file storage — eliminating the need for those additional subscriptions. For Indian IT startups under 100 employees, TrackPM's all-in-one approach is significantly more cost-effective.
Who Should Choose TrackPM Over Keka?
Choose TrackPM if your Indian IT company:
- Is 5–100 employees and needs both HR and project management
- Is paying for Keka + a separate project management tool + a separate time tracker
- Has client-facing projects where billable hour tracking is essential
- Wants time tracking with screenshot monitoring for remote teams
- Needs IT asset tracking alongside HR
- Is cost-conscious and wants one INR bill instead of 3–4 subscriptions
Choose Keka if your company:
- Is 100+ employees with complex HR needs (multi-entity payroll, advanced OKR management)
- Needs Keka's recruitment and ATS features for high-volume hiring
- Has no project management requirement (pure HR-only use case)
- Needs Keka's advanced performance management with structured review cycles
The TrackPM Advantage — HR Plus Project Management in One Tool
The core TrackPM difference for Indian IT companies is integration between HR data and project data — something neither Keka nor any separate project management tool can provide.
When an employee is on leave, TrackPM's project manager view automatically shows their unavailability in the sprint board. When a developer's time log shows they are overloaded (10+ hours on one task), the payroll module flags potential overtime. When a new employee joins, their onboarding covers attendance setup, leave policy, asset assignment, and first project task — all in one workflow.
This integration saves Indian IT managers 4–6 hours per week that are currently spent manually reconciling HR data with project status.
Frequently Asked Questions — Keka Alternative India
Try TrackPM Free — HR and Project Management Together
Stop paying for two separate tools for your Indian IT team.
Full access to HR (attendance, leave, payroll), project management (Kanban, Scrum), time tracking, asset management, and all other TrackPM features during free trial.