Pagarbook vs Staff Hisab – Which Payroll App is Better for Small Business? (2026)

Pagarbook vs Staff Hisab – At a Glance

If you run a shop, factory or service business in India, you have probably been shown two popular staff management apps: Pagarbook and Staff Hisab. Both handle attendance and salary, both are aimed at Indian small businesses, and both are much cheaper than enterprise HR software.

But they are not the same product. Below is a side-by-side comparison based on what each app actually does in 2026, so you can pick the right one for your team.

Feature	Pagarbook	Staff Hisab
Starting price	Paid plans ~₹10+/employee	₹3.5/employee/month
Free trial	Limited free tier	14-day full-feature trial
Daily attendance / hajri	Yes	Yes (Present / Half-day / OT)
Overtime tracking	Basic	Per-hour OT with auto 2× rate
Advance payment tracking	Yes	Yes, with running ledger
Multi-branch / multi-unit	Limited	Unlimited departments & units
Bulk Excel employee import	Partial	Full CSV / XLSX import
Salary slip PDF	Yes	Yes, WhatsApp-ready
Payroll summary & ledger reports	Basic	Salary, Payroll, Employee & Company ledger
Aadhaar & bank details storage	Partial	Yes, with photo upload
UPI payment record	Limited	Cash / UPI / Cheque / Bank
Web app	Yes	Yes
Windows desktop app	No	Yes, free Windows installer
Hindi + English UI	Yes	Yes
Role-based access	Limited	Yes (admin / manager / staff)

Pricing: Where the Gap is Biggest

Pagarbook's paid plans typically start higher per employee than Staff Hisab. For a business with 50 staff, that's ₹175/month on Staff Hisab vs ~₹500+/month on comparable Pagarbook tiers — a ₹3,000+ annual difference on a feature set that is essentially equivalent for most Indian SMBs.

When Pagarbook is a Good Choice

• You are already inside the Pagarbook ecosystem and want to stay for continuity.
• You only need basic attendance marking for a small handful of employees.
• You rely heavily on their marketplace features (like credit or specific third-party integrations).

When Staff Hisab is the Better Fit

• Cost matters. ₹3.5/employee is roughly one-third the price of comparable paid tiers.
• You want reports, not just attendance. The full report suite (Salary, Payroll Summary, Employee Ledger, Company Ledger) in PDF and Excel is broader than Pagarbook's default reports.
• You need multi-branch / multi-unit. Factories with 2–3 units and shops with multiple counters can filter attendance, salary and payroll branch-wise.
• You want a Windows desktop app. Staff Hisab offers a free Windows installer that keeps data synced — Pagarbook is mobile/web only.
• You want rich employee records. Staff Hisab stores Aadhaar, photo, bank IFSC and emergency contact — handy for payroll audits and payouts.
• You want a real 14-day free trial with access to every feature before paying.

What About SalaryBook, Khatabook and Greytip?

These are sometimes mentioned alongside Pagarbook. Short summary:

• SalaryBook is similar to Pagarbook — strong attendance, weaker reports. Staff Hisab is generally cheaper and gives more reports.
• Khatabook is a cash-book app, not a payroll app. Great for receivables/payables, not for managing staff attendance and salary.
• Greytip / Keka / Zoho People are enterprise HR platforms. Powerful, but overkill and 5–10× more expensive for a 20-person team.

How to Switch from Pagarbook to Staff Hisab

1. Export your employee list from Pagarbook to Excel.
2. Create a Staff Hisab account (free trial, no card).
3. Use the Bulk Employee Import feature — upload the Excel file, map columns, and all employees get added in one click.
4. Start marking daily hajri in Staff Hisab from the 1st of the next month.
5. Keep Pagarbook open in read-only mode for 30 days as a safety net, then cancel.

Final Verdict

For 80% of Indian shops, factories, restaurants and schools with 5–200 staff, Staff Hisab wins on price, reports suite, multi-branch support and the free Windows desktop app. Pagarbook is still a reasonable choice if you are locked into its ecosystem, but most users save money and get better reports by switching.