Zoho People review

Zoho People is a mature HR product with a free edition that is small but clean. Up to 5 users get employee database management, time off management with vacation planning, and document management, which is enough for a micro business to stop tracking leave in email. Every paid plan starts with a 30-day trial, and when it ends the account moves to the free plan rather than locking you out. Onboarding and offboarding, HR reports and the Zia assistant start on Essential HR, attendance, timesheets and rosters on Professional, and compensation and engagement tools on Premium. That makes Zoho People a sensible choice if you expect to pay for HR later and want to stay in one product, especially if you already use other Zoho apps. For a free-only team the 5 user cap and the missing onboarding are real limits. Zoho's pricing page showed euros from our location, so the USD price check is pending.

Who it is for

Very small teams already on Zoho apps that may later move to paid HR plans.

Price

See vendor pricing (USD check pending).

US price check pending. See the vendor pricing page.

Key features

• Free edition with employee database management
• Time off management and vacation planning
• Document management on the free edition
• Onboarding and offboarding on Essential HR
• Attendance, timesheets and rosters on Professional

Strengths and weaknesses

• Strength: Clear path from the free edition to fuller paid plans
• Strength: 24/5 email support on all plans at no extra cost
• Strength: Trial accounts move to the free plan when the trial ends
• Weakness: Free edition is limited to 5 users
• Weakness: Onboarding is not part of the free edition
• Weakness: Paid plans have a 5 user minimum

Key facts

• Free edition: Up to 5 users
• Free features: Employee database, time off, document management
• Paid plan minimum: 5 users
• Free trial: 30 days on all plans

Where it ranks

Zoho People is No. 3 in our Best Free HR Software verdict.