The honest comparison. Where Darwinbox wins, where HelloTime wins, and how to decide.
Time tracking built for Indian teams & global SMBs
₹99 / $3.99 per user / month
Enterprise India HRMS for large-org rollouts
Sales-gated (no public pricing)
Quote on request (approximate) · Free tier: No (sales-led trial / demo)
Hyderabad-based enterprise HRMS ($140M+ raised) targeting large Indian and APAC enterprises — deep HR depth, compliance and rollout playbooks, 100% sales-gated with no self-serve path.
Strengths
Gaps
Zero implementation: sign up, install desktop + mobile, tracking live in 10 minutes vs months of Darwinbox rollout
7-day free trial of every paid feature, no credit card — Darwinbox is demo-and-quote with no try-before-buy
Transparent from ₹99 / user pricing — no procurement cycle, no sales-led bundle quote
Attendance + productivity + payroll + GST books on day zero — Darwinbox covers HR depth but not desktop productivity or accounting
Native HelloBooks Payroll loop with TDS auto-file (private beta; Form 24Q, Form 16) — same India compliance without enterprise sales motion
| Capability | HelloTime | Darwinbox |
|---|---|---|
| Desktop, web, mobile apps | Yes | Yes |
| Automatic time tracking | Yes | Yes |
| Offline mode | Yes | Varies |
| Idle detection | Yes | Varies |
| Activity levels | Yes (privacy-first) | Yes |
| App & URL tracking | Yes (opt-in) | Yes |
| Optional screenshots | Yes (opt-in) | Yes |
| Project budgets & alerts | Yes | Partial |
| Online timesheets & approvals | Yes | Yes |
| Payroll | Yes | Varies |
| GST-compliant invoicing (India) | Yes (via HelloBooks) | No |
| Native accounting integration | HelloBooks (built-in) | Via QuickBooks / Xero |
| INR pricing | Yes (from ₹99 / user) | No |
| Free trial | 7-day, no card | No (sales-led trial / demo) |
| Starting price | ₹99 / $3.99 | Sales-gated (no public pricing) |
Large Indian enterprises (1,000+ headcount) that need full HRMS depth and have procurement bandwidth for a months-long sales + rollout cycle.
Free forever for 1 user. No credit card. Paid from $3.99/seat, billed monthly.