Pocket HRMS Review 2024: Does it Beat Other HR and Payroll Software?
October 4, 2024
If you are here, you already know that PocketHRMS is an HRMS solution offering payroll, core HR, and leave & attendance management solutions. You want a more in-depth review of the tool and how it stands up to startups and small businesses.
In this article, we will explore PocketHRMS’ core features and analyse existing user reviews to help you answer the question, ‘Is PocketHRMS suitable for my company?’
Let’s get started.
What is Pocket HRMS?
Pocket HRMS is an AI-powered HRM system that automates repetitive HR operations, including recruitment, attendance, and payroll processing.
The following are the Pocket HRMS features we’ll consider for the review:
Core HR: Optimise HR processes with secure database and leave management, HR analytics, and ESS portal
Payroll: Leverage smHRt Payroll for automated calculation and on-time payouts
Attendance and leave management: Simplify clock-in/outs and leave approval with automated attendance process
Comprehensive Overview of Pocket HRMS Features
Let’s dive deeper into each of Pocket HRMS's features in this section:
Pocket HRMS core HR software
Pocket HRMS core HR offers the following features to its users:
Use ESS portals to manage employees efficiently
Create job descriptions and automate candidate shortlisting
Automate compliance handling for recruitment and payroll
Access MIS reporting to gather employee performance insights
Generate and download real-time HR reports with advanced Data Wizard
Pocket HRMS payroll software
Pocket HRMS payroll offers the following features to HR professionals and employees:
Get better payroll flexibility with single-employee and multi-category payroll processing
Auto-generate regulatory forms, including ECR, Form 16, etc.
Use conditional formula builder to change salary heads with custom formulas
Automate calculations, including TDS, PT, ESI, leave encashment, gratuity, etc.
Use a custom payslip designer to generate payslips with the company logo
Pocket HRMS leave and attendance management software
Here are the Pocket HRMS leave and attendance management features for SMEs:
Automate attendance with geo-tracking and geo-fencing
Integrate biometric features for employees to mark their attendance anytime
Use facial recognition-based attendance to mark attendance from mobile devices
Automate overtime calculation based on company rules
Create multi-level leave approvals and custom leave components like CL, PL, etc.
Configure leave rules based on company location, region, etc.
Our Take on Pocket HRM’s Pricing: Does it Fit a Startup’s Budget?
Let’s review Pocket HRMS’s pricing to see if the software is suitable for SMEs and startups.
Standard: ₹2495/month for up to 50 employees and an additional ₹40/employee/month from the 51st employee onwards.
This plan includes basic self-service with roster and shift management, document management, and payroll and tax management features.
However, it doesn’t include payroll integrations and advanced features like visual analytics, interactive dashboards, reporting, and policy management. The plan also doesn’t support AI attendance features, facial recognition, biometrics, and overtime calculation.
Professional: ₹3995/month for up to 50 employees and an additional ₹80/employee/month from the 51st employee onwards.
This plan has biometric and facial recognition, advanced leave workflows, custom report and payslip designs, visual analytics, and more.
However, you won’t get access to time tracking and exit management features. The plan does not support advanced attendance features such as real-time geo-tracking, geo-tagging, fencing, etc. Additionally, it doesn’t cover performance management, recruitment, or asset management features.
Premium: Request pricing
This plan has recruitment, performance 360, exit management, training, and benefit features. It also supports survey management, travel desk, and time tracking.
Is Pocket HRMS pricing apt for startups and growing businesses?
Here’s why Pocket HRMS’s pricing plans aren’t the best for SMEs and startups. Here’s why:
The standard plan for small teams doesn’t support basic features like payroll integration. The customisation options are limited, and users can only download payslips and Form 16 using the mobile app. Hence, the standard plan is not flexible for businesses
Startups and SMEs are scaling businesses. Since Pocket HRMS has an additional per-employee charge from the 51st employee, it will shoot up the overall business cost
Growing startups are always hiring. However, Pocket HRMS’s professional plan does not support recruitment features. So, even if startups are ready to spend around ₹4000 per month, they won’t get access to all HR features
Startups and SMEs mostly have tight budgets and prefer pricing transparency for faster decision-making. They opt for tools that are affordable and include the features they need. The lack of visibility makes it difficult for SMEs to choose a plan
Startups and scaling SMEs prefer clear pricing plans like Craze’s. If you check Craze’s pricing plans, you’ll see that the website mentions the charges for different software.
Craze has a mandatory core plan that costs ₹40/employee/ month. In addition, you can choose the software you need ₹60/employee/ month for payroll and ₹40/employee/ month for leave, time, and attendance management.
User Feedback: Are Pocket HRMS Users Happy with this Software?
Pocket HRMS positive reviews
Question: What do you like about Pocket HRMS?
Gaurav S. - “I appreciate the Punch-in and punch-out functionality in the software, enabling me to register my attendance within a specified geographical area, such as the office premises or my home location for remote work” Source
Rajnish K. - “Faster Processing of the payroll and the data access at convenience. Best feature provided right from onboarding to exit of an employee.” Source
Pocket HRMS negative reviews
Question: What do you dislike about Pocket HRMS?
Gopal Y. - “HR-Finance and IT are finding issues. Wrong employee attendance, location, expense, and all other reports. Support quality is also poor.” - Source
Reena - “Most of the time certain options or menus are greyed out due to which unable for smooth functioning.” - Source
Santosh - “I disliked the mobile application's outdated user interface, and occasionally, it struggles to accurately identify my home location when I attempt to log in for remote work.” - Source
Overall verdict of Pocket HRMS
Core HR software
Pros:
Easy to use and maintain employee data
Cons:
Outdated and inaccurate mobile app
Payroll software
Pros:
Fast payroll processing
Cons:
Inaccurate reports
Leave and attendance management software
Pros:
Clock-in/out functionality
Cons:
Inaccurate location identification
Related Articles
Final Verdict based on Pocket HRMS Reviews
Our assessment of Pocket HRMS based on its features, pricing, and user reviews suggests it is an excellent HR platform. However, a few downsides make the software unsuitable for Indian startups, scale-ups, and SMEs.
The first is the expensive pricing with a limited feature set. While the pricing plans are pretty high, they lack essential features. Additionally, Pocket HRMS has no pricing transparency. This is a severe concern for startups looking for quick, actionable plans.
User reviews also suggest inaccuracies in attendance, leaves, and reporting. The customer support is slow and unresponsive. Moreover, you only get access to the helpdesk with the Enterprise plan.
If you agree with the issues we pointed out in Pocket HRMS, it’s time to explore Pocket HRMS alternatives. Here are the top five.
5 Pocket HRMS Alternatives for Startups in India
Craze
Craze is an all-in-one HRMS platform that offers advanced payroll, leave and attendance management, and core HR features. Craze is the ideal tool for startups as it offers affordable per-user-per-month pricing with no feature lock-ins. Moreover, the platform ensures 100% compliance and 24/7 super-fast customer support.
Check out what users say about Craze👇
Keka
Keka is an ideal HR and payroll software for large Indian enterprises looking for HR, payroll, and onboarding features in one platform.
HRMantra
HRMantra is an AI-powered HR system that offers core HR, payroll processing, and leave/attendance management.
Kredily
Kredily streamlines HR and payroll operations. It is best suited for medium to large enterprises seeking payroll automation.
GreytHR
GreytHR is an HRMS with payroll features that streamline payroll processing, tax management, and ensure timely salary disbursements.
Conclusion
While all the PocketHRMS alternatives mentioned here are good PocketHRMS alternatives, our vote goes to Craze. This might sound biased, but we have our reasons. You are a perfect fit for Craze if:
You are developing people operations from scratch and looking for an all-in-one solution that helps with HR, finance, and IT
You are frustrated with HRMS platforms that restrict feature access and include even basic features under premium plans
You value a genuine, empathetic customer support team that’s always ready to help
Sounds interesting?
Explore Craze.
FAQs
What types & sizes of business benefit most from using PocketHRMS ?
PocketHRMS seems better suited for larger businesses than startups or small businesses. Its pricing structure and feature availability align more with the needs of medium—to large enterprises with 50+ employees.
Is immediate support available with PocketHRMS?
As per our analysis, customer support is slow and unresponsive at PocketHRMS. The helpdesk access is only available with the Enterprise plan.
Is there a mobile app available for PocketHRMS?
Yes, PocketHRMS does have a mobile app. However, user reviews indicate that the application has an outdated user interface and sometimes struggles to identify locations for remote work check-ins accurately.
