- TankhaPay claim CLRA register generation, out of 10 platforms compared.
- TankhaPay is the only platform claiming native, shift-aware 2x overtime for the Factories Act.
- greytHR has the most transparent published pricing; PeopleStrong and Darwinbox publish none.
- factoHR and TankhaPay both document biometric-free attendance capture.
- No CLRA or overtime claim here is independently verified; confirm with a live demo before relying on any of it.
Most “best payroll software” lists are written for office-based buyers, and it shows the moment a manufacturing HR team tries to use one.
A generic ranking will tell you a platform has “attendance tracking” or “statutory compliance” without ever testing whether it handles a three-shift rotation, a CLRA contractor register, or Factories Act overtime at 2x rather than the 1.5x most office tools default to. Those three gaps are exactly where manufacturing payroll actually breaks.
This comparison tests 10 platforms specifically against those gaps, not against a generic HR feature checklist. For the fuller picture of why manufacturing payroll is structurally different from office payroll, shift differentials, CLRA liability, multi-state minimum wage, see our companion deep dive: Manufacturing Payroll in India: Why It’s Harder.
How We Evaluated These Platforms
Every platform here was scored on three manufacturing-specific capabilities, not general HR feature breadth.
- CLRA register generation, specifically, not just “contract worker tracking”
- Factories Act overtime at 2x, calculated natively rather than manually recalculated every cycle
- Statutory automation depth across PF, ESI, and multi-state Professional Tax
Evidence came from each vendor’s own published product pages and pricing, cross-checked against independent review platforms where available. Where a vendor makes a claim with no independent corroboration, that’s stated directly in its “Limitations to consider” entry, not smoothed over.
Transparency note: TankhaPay is on this list. The same three criteria were applied to our own platform, including where our own claims lack independent corroboration.
What to Look for in Payroll Software for Manufacturing
The three capabilities above are not equally important for every plant, and knowing which one matters most to you narrows the list fast.
Plants with significant contract labour exposure should place greater weight on CLRA register generation, as only 2 of the 10 platforms make a specific claim in this area. For plants running three shifts, Factories Act overtime handling should be a key consideration because only one platform makes a native, shift-aware claim. Published pricing also matters for budget-conscious plants, especially since 3 of the 10 platforms do not disclose pricing. The top payroll software for manufacturing vendors on any list, this one included, is the one that scores well on the specific capability your plant actually needs, not the one with the longest generic feature list.
The 10 Best Payroll Platforms for Manufacturing in India
Which platform fits depends on three payroll-specific capabilities most comparisons never separate out: statutory automation depth, CLRA register generation specifically, and whether Factories Act overtime at 2x is handled natively or manually recalculated every cycle.
The comparison below evaluates the same platform set shortlisted for manufacturing HRMS, scored specifically on payroll capability rather than full HR feature breadth, with two swaps: Truein is excluded here since it explicitly has no payroll capability, and RazorpayX Payroll is included as a genuine payroll platform, flagged honestly where its manufacturing fit is unconfirmed. Where a vendor does not publish a capability, that’s stated directly rather than assumed.
Transparency note: TankhaPay is on this list. The same three criteria were applied to our own platform, including where our own claims lack independent corroboration.
Quick-Scan Payroll Platforms Comparison for Manufacturing
| Platform | Best For | PF/ESI/PT Automation | CLRA Registers | 2× OT (Factories Act) | Pricing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TankhaPay | Contract-heavy plants needing separate compliance tracks | Claimed, native, state-wise auto-update | Forms A, B, XII claimed; half-yearly returns | Claimed, shift-aware | INR 150 – 2500 PEPM |
| greytHR | Multi-state compliance depth at published price | Documented, branch-level filing PF/PT/ESI/LWF | Reference content only, no product feature | Not documented | INR 2,495-4,495/mo (50 staff) |
| factoHR | Plants without wired biometric infrastructure | PF ECR, ESI, multi-state PT documented | None published | Not documented | INR 4,999-6,999/mo (50 staff) |
| HROne | Mid-size plants wanting published pricing | EPF, ESI, PT, LWF, state min wage claimed | Contract headcount and pay tracking only | Not documented | INR 4,950-6,500/mo (50 users) |
| PeopleStrong | Large manufacturers with contractor-heavy sites | Multi-entity, multi-state PF/ESI/PT | CLRA named; Forms 13-23 auto-generated claimed | Not documented | Not published |
| Keka | Mid-market with existing device estates | PF, ESI, PT, LWF at pay-group level | Contract worker lifecycle only, no registers | Not documented | INR 9,999/mo (up to 100 staff) |
| ZingHR | Multi-plant groups needing per-plant registers | PF, ESIC, Bonus Act registers claimed | Contractor lifecycle named; CLRA never named | Not documented | INR 190.28/user/mo |
| Zimyo | Plants needing preconfigured factory pay components | PF, ESI, minimum wages, state labour laws claimed | Attendance role type only, no CLRA claim | Not documented | INR 80-240/user/mo |
| Darwinbox | Large enterprises with global footprints | TDS, ESIC, PF ECR documented | “Contractual workforce management” only, no detail | Factories Act returns via managed service only | INR 180-450 PEPM |
| RazorpayX Payroll | Companies already on Razorpay’s payment rails | TDS, PF, ESI, PT with one-click disbursal claimed | Not documented; no manufacturing-specific claim found | Not documented | From INR 2,499/mo + GST |
TankhaPay
Runs permanent and contract workforces on separate statutory tracks inside one payroll cycle, with CLRA register maintenance (Forms A, B, XII) claimed as a native capability rather than a managed-service add-on. See TankhaPay’s manufacturing payroll page for the full feature list, or the general payroll platform if you need payroll across multiple industries, not manufacturing alone.
Limitations to consider: The CLRA register capability is TankhaPay’s own published claim with no independent review corroboration found. No public case study confirms a manufacturing client using this specific feature at scale. Ask for a live demonstration of the actual register output before relying on it.
greytHR
The most detailed published pricing on this list, with branch-level statutory filing for PF, PT, ESI, and LWF documented directly on its own site.
Limitations to consider: CLRA appears only as reference/blog content, not a documented product feature. No Factories-Act-specific 2x overtime handling is documented; this likely requires manual configuration.
factoHR
Strong statutory documentation for PF ECR, ESI, and multi-state PT, with published pricing that scales predictably per additional employee.
Limitations to consider: No CLRA capability published at all. A manufacturing plant with significant contract labour would need a separate solution for contractor register generation specifically.
PeopleStrong
The most specific CLRA claim on this list: Forms 13 to 23 auto-generated, per the vendor, which directly addresses contractor register obligations.
Limitations to consider: Pricing is not published anywhere, making budget comparison against the other platforms here impossible without a direct sales conversation. No Factories-Act-specific overtime documentation found.
HROne, Keka, ZingHR, Zimyo
All four document standard PF/ESI/PT/LWF handling at varying depth, but none publish a CLRA-specific register or return capability. Contract labour support across all four is limited to attendance role types or basic lifecycle tracking, not the compliance documentation a manufacturing principal employer actually needs to file.
Limitations to consider: For a manufacturing operation with meaningful contract labour exposure, all four would likely need a separate CLRA compliance process alongside the payroll platform itself.
Darwinbox
HCM suite founded in Hyderabad, backed by Partners Group and KKR in 2025, with a manufacturing page naming clients including L&T Metro, Duroflex, and Gokongwei Group.
Limitations to consider: Factories Act return handling sits under the managed payroll service, not the self-serve product, which changes the pricing model. Contract labour support covers only “contractual workforce management,” with no register or return details. The platform documents shift rostering for remote work, not specifically for three-shift manufacturing. The vendor does not publish self-serve pricing.
RazorpayX Payroll
A payments-native payroll platform built on Razorpay’s banking rails, widely cited as a default choice for funded Indian startups needing one-click salary disbursement.
Limitations to consider: No manufacturing-specific capability, CLRA handling, or Factories Act overtime documentation was found anywhere in its published materials. Its positioning and customer base skew toward office-based startups, not shift-based factory operations. Included here for completeness given its general prominence in Indian payroll rankings, not because it has demonstrated manufacturing fit.
Which Payroll Software Should You Actually Choose for Manufacturing?
There is no single best payroll software for every manufacturing company in India, and any list claiming otherwise has not looked at the evidence.
- If contractor compliance and CLRA audits are your main problem: PeopleStrong has the most specific register claim, and TankhaPay differentiates permanent and contract workers on separate statutory tracks.
- If you need multi-state statutory accuracy with guaranteed, published pricing: greytHR is the most transparent on cost.
- If your factory has no wired biometric infrastructure: factoHR has the most detailed documentation for device-free attendance capture.
- If you already run on Razorpay’s payment rails and have a simple, largely office-based payroll: RazorpayX Payroll is worth a look, though its manufacturing fit is unconfirmed.
- If your main exposure is Factories Act overtime calculation specifically: only TankhaPay makes a direct, shift-aware 2x claim among the 10 compared, and it should still be verified in a live demo.
One finding applies to everyone: verify contract labour capability in a live demo with your own data, register by register. Eight of these 10 platforms publish no CLRA claim at all, and the two that do, TankhaPay included, are vendor claims with no third-party review corroborating them.
FAQs
What is the best payroll software for manufacturing companies in India?
There is no single best answer; it depends on whether your priority is CLRA compliance, published pricing, or biometric-free attendance. Among the 10 platforms compared here, TankhaPay and PeopleStrong are the only two with a specific CLRA register claim, greytHR has the most transparent published pricing, and factoHR has the most detailed device-free attendance documentation.
Which is the best payroll software for the manufacturing industry if I need CLRA compliance specifically?
Only TankhaPay and PeopleStrong are the only two platforms in this comparison that make a specific claim about CLRA register generation. TankhaPay claims Forms A, B, and XII with half-yearly returns; PeopleStrong claims Forms 13 to 23 auto-generated. Both are vendor claims without independent third-party corroboration, so verify the actual register output in a live demo before relying on either.
Which payroll software actually generates CLRA registers, not just tracks contract workers?
Only two platforms make a specific claim: TankhaPay and PeopleStrong. TankhaPay claims Forms A, B, and XII with half-yearly returns; PeopleStrong claims Forms 13 to 23 auto-generated. Both are vendor claims, and we found no independent third-party corroboration. Ask for a live demonstration of the actual register output, form by form, before relying on either.
Does payroll software calculate Factories Act overtime at 2x automatically?
Only TankhaPay clearly documents native shift-aware handling among the major vendors evaluated here. Most platforms handle configurable overtime multipliers generically, but none publish specific Factories Act 2x handling as a named feature. Confirm this specifically in a demo using your actual shift and overtime data, because errors here can directly affect the exposure described earlier in this guide.
What does manufacturing payroll software cost for a 300-worker plant?
Published rates vary widely by vendor and structure. On greytHR’s pricing, a 300-worker plant works out to roughly INR 25,000-30,000 per month including per-employee charges above the base tier. factoHR and HROne land in a similar range. TankhaPay, PeopleStrong, and Darwinbox do not publish pricing, so budget comparison requires a direct quote.
Can one platform handle both permanent employees and CLRA contract labour in the same payroll run?
Most platforms track contract workers, but few document running them on truly separate statutory tracks in one cycle. TankhaPay specifically claims this separation; most others handle contract labour as a headcount or attendance category within the same general payroll structure, which is a materially different capability from true dual-track statutory processing.
Final Thought
The platform that wins a generic “best payroll software” ranking is not necessarily the one that will survive your first CLRA audit.
Eight of the 10 platforms compared here publish no CLRA capability at all. The two that do, TankhaPay and PeopleStrong, are both vendor claims without independent review corroboration.
Verify the specific capability you need most, register generation, shift-aware overtime, or published pricing, with your own data in a live demo, not from a comparison table alone, this one included.
TankhaPay’s manufacturing payroll service covers biometric attendance integration from day one, CLRA contractor register management, shift-aware gross pay calculation, and multi-state PT across all 28 states, with the option to hand the entire compliance execution to TankhaPay’s team rather than running it in-house.
