Sunday People vs Darwinbox: startup HR or an enterprise platform

An enterprise HR platform built for large companies, sold through custom quotes with separate implementation fees.

Prices and features last checked 23 October 2026

Choose Sunday People if

You want leave, attendance and payroll running this week
You want one plain price per person, payroll included
You don't want a setup fee, a minimum or tiers

Choose Darwinbox if

Large enterprises (often several hundred to thousands of employees) that need deep configurability and many modules.

Pricing at a glance

Before GST.

Sunday People

Price per employee: ₹79 a month, billed annually (₹89 monthly)
Free plan: Up to 10 employees, every feature
Payroll: Included in the one plan
25 employees: ₹1,975 a month
Setup fee: None
Minimum: None
Plans: One plan with every feature

Darwinbox

Price per employee: Custom quote
Free plan: No
Payroll: Module in the quote
25 employees: Custom quote
Setup fee: Implementation quoted separately
Minimum: None published
Plans: Custom quote

Monthly price at 10, 25, 50 and 100 employees

Monthly price for each team size, before GST
Team size	Sunday People	Darwinbox
10 employees	Free	Custom quote
25 employees	₹1,975₹2,225 if billed monthly	Custom quote
50 employees	₹3,950₹4,450 if billed monthly	Custom quote
100 employees	₹7,900₹8,900 if billed monthly	Custom quote

Per month, before GST. Sunday billed annually. Not published. Do not show a number; say 'custom quote'.

Feature by feature

Sunday's column describes the product as it is today. Darwinbox's column is from public sources.

Core HR: Sunday People and Darwinbox
Feature	Sunday People	Darwinbox
One inbox for every approval	YesOne Approvals page for leave, attendance corrections, documents, resignations, probation and more, with links from emails straight to the request.	Not confirmed
Roles and permissions	PartlyOwner, admin, HR manager, viewer and employee roles. HR managers and viewers can be limited to departments or clients, and sensitive data needs its own grant, as do performance improvement plans and the 9-box. You can't create new roles.How we protect your data	Not confirmed
Single sign-on (Google, Microsoft, SAML)	Google and Microsoft, no SAMLSign in with a Google or Microsoft work account, or a one-time code sent to your email. Admins can limit Google and Microsoft sign-in to your email domains, turn email codes off, and require two-step verification for admins or everyone. SAML isn't supported.How we protect your data	Yes
Audit log of approvals	YesEvery approval, rejection and cancellation, who did it and when, for admins and owners. Downloadable.How we protect your data	Not confirmed
Employee documents	YesUploads with HR review, plus letters and policies in one place. HR can ask for a new copy of an approved document.	Yes
Letters from templates	YesRelieving, experience, appraisal and other letters as PDFs on your letterhead, in your own wording with placeholders.	Not confirmed
E-signature or QR-verified letters	PartlyEvery letter carries a QR code and document ID anyone can verify. No e-signature.	Yes
Onboarding checklists	YesNew joiners fill in details, read policies and upload documents from one link. Everyone gets a short getting started checklist and tours of the main pages.	Yes
Probation tracking	YesConfirm or extend probation, with a reminder a week before it ends.	Not confirmed
Resignation and exit	YesEmployees resign in the app; managers accept with a last working day.	Yes
Former employees can still get their documents	YesFormer employees sign in to download their letters and documents.	Not confirmed
Reports and exports	YesAttendance and leave reports to download for a person or everyone as PDF or Excel, and monthly exports for payroll.	Yes
Asset management	YesAn asset bank of owned, leased and client provided equipment, assigned to people who confirm they have it, with lease and warranty alerts.	Not confirmed
Client placements and billing rates	YesPlace people at clients with their own holidays and leave policy. Owners and admins can keep a billing rate for each placement.	Not confirmed
Import from your old HR tool over its API	YesConnect Zoho People, Keka, greytHR, Darwinbox (beta), BambooHR, HiBob, Personio or Freshteam with an API key and pull employees. Past payroll from Keka and greytHR, and salaries from Keka, too.	Not confirmed

Leave and attendance: Sunday People and Darwinbox
Feature	Sunday People	Darwinbox
Leave policies with accrual and carry forward	YesMonthly accrual, carry forward with caps, probation and notice period rules, and loss of pay.	Yes
Sandwich rule	YesCount weekends, holidays or both between leave days.	Not confirmed
Leave encashment	YesPer leave type: automatic or on request, monthly to yearly, with caps and a minimum balance to keep.	Not confirmed
Holiday calendars	YesSeveral calendars, for different offices or teams.	Not confirmed
Notice and backdating rules per leave type	YesEach leave type can ask for notice (for example casual leave a week ahead) and limit how far back people can apply.	Not confirmed
Check in and out from a phone	YesFrom the iPhone or Android app, or the web app in any phone browser.	Yes
Selfie check-in with face match	YesOptional selfie at check-in and check-out, always taken live and matched against the profile photo. Admins can turn it off.	Yes
Shifts	YesShifts with timings and weekly offs, assigned to people or departments.	Yes
Late, half day and short day rules	YesGrace period, late marks, half and short days, with loss of pay rules per shift.	Not confirmed
Attendance corrections with approval	YesEmployees request a correction; their manager or HR approves it from Approvals or the email.	Not confirmed

Payroll and compliance: Sunday People and Darwinbox
Feature	Sunday People	Darwinbox
Payroll	YesMonthly payroll for India in the same plan: salary structures, loss of pay from attendance and leave, review and approval, payslips, arrears, bonuses and reimbursements.	Add-on
Statutory compliance (PF, ESI, PT, TDS)	YesPF, ESI, professional tax and labour welfare fund for every state, TDS under the old and new regimes, and the Labour Codes 50% wage rule. Makes the PF ECR, ESI, PT and LWF files and Form 138 (24Q) and Form 130 (Form 16) data; you file them on each portal.	Yes
Salary bank transfer files	YesA generic NEFT/RTGS file, or your bank's own format: map a sample file once for SBI, HDFC, ICICI, Axis, Kotak and other banks.	Not confirmed
Full and final settlement	YesLast salary, leave encashment, gratuity, notice pay, bonuses, reimbursements and recoveries, paid on their own date.	Not confirmed

Performance: Sunday People and Darwinbox
Feature	Sunday People	Darwinbox
Performance reviews	YesAppraisal cycles with self reviews, peer feedback, manager reviews and calibration, potential and a 9-box, and promotions approved into dated title and level changes. Increments from ratings, by CTC, job level or salary band, become salary revisions in payroll. Also 1:1s, kudos, private feedback, development plans, performance improvement plans, a skill matrix, job levels and salary bands.	Add-on
OKRs	YesCompany, team and personal objectives with key results and weekly check-ins.	Not confirmed
Recurring check-ins, including from client managers	YesA short review of each person every week, month or quarter by their manager, peers, and their manager at a client, who answers from an emailed link without an account.	Not confirmed

Expenses: Sunday People and Darwinbox
Feature	Sunday People	Darwinbox
Expenses and reimbursements	YesClaims with receipts and advances, approved by managers, and paid with the next payroll or by finance. Unspent advances are recovered from pay.	Not confirmed

Devices and location: Sunday People and Darwinbox
Feature	Sunday People	Darwinbox
Geofencing or GPS location	YesDraw a circle around each office. A check-in inside one counts as in office, and anywhere else as remote (work from home), never as an absence. Field tracking for the staff you choose: a live map, routes with stops and distance, between check-in and check-out only, after each person accepts a notice in the app. Field tracking needs the latest Android app for now and is coming to iPhone in a later update. Included in the plan.	Yes
Fingerprint and face machines	YesZKTeco, eSSL and other machines that support ADMS push send each punch straight into attendance.	Not confirmed

Apps and other Sunday products: Sunday People and Darwinbox
Feature	Sunday People	Darwinbox
Android and iPhone apps	YesThe Android app is on Google Play and the iPhone app is on the App Store.	Yes
Check-in and check-out reminders on the phone	YesThe iPhone and Android apps remind people at the start and end of each shift. Everyone also gets email reminders.	Not confirmed
Timesheets and project time	Add-onSunday Timesheets, free up to 10 users, then ₹25 per user with People.	Not confirmed
Recruitment (ATS)	Separate productSunday ATS is a separate Sunday product. New hires flow into People when they join.	Add-on

Pricing: Sunday People and Darwinbox
Feature	Sunday People	Darwinbox
Free plan	YesFree for up to 10 employees, with every feature.	No
Prices published on the website	Yes₹79 per active employee per month billed annually.	No

"Not confirmed" means we couldn't verify it from public sources, not that it's missing. A plan name means the feature is on that plan or higher.

Where each one is stronger

Where Darwinbox is stronger

Single sign-on (Google, Microsoft, SAML). Darwinbox has it. Sunday: sign in with a Google or Microsoft work account, or a one-time code sent to your email. Admins can limit Google and Microsoft sign-in to your email domains, turn email codes off, and require two-step verification for admins or everyone. SAML isn't supported.
E-signature or QR-verified letters. Darwinbox has it. Sunday: every letter carries a QR code and document ID anyone can verify. No e-signature.

Where Sunday People is stronger

Public pricing. Every Sunday price is on this page. Darwinbox sells on custom quotes.
A real free plan. Free with every feature for up to 10 employees.
One plan, everything in it. No tiers to compare, no features held back for a bigger plan, no setup fee and no minimum.
Former employees never take a seat. When someone leaves, their seat goes to your next hire, and they can still sign in for their letters and documents at no cost.
Payroll. Monthly payroll for India in the same plan: salary structures, loss of pay from attendance and leave, review and approval, payslips, arrears, bonuses and reimbursements. Darwinbox: paid add-on.
Performance reviews. Appraisal cycles with self reviews, peer feedback, manager reviews and calibration, potential and a 9-box, and promotions approved into dated title and level changes. Increments from ratings, by CTC, job level or salary band, become salary revisions in payroll. Also 1:1s, kudos, private feedback, development plans, performance improvement plans, a skill matrix, job levels and salary bands. Darwinbox: paid add-on.

Switching from Darwinbox

You can run both side by side while you move. Nothing about Sunday People needs a long implementation.

Bring your data acrossConnect Darwinbox from Import with an API key and pull your people (in beta). Leave balances, leave history and attendance come from Darwinbox's exports, which Import knows, and you check every row before anything changes.
Set your rulesPick a leave policy, add your holiday calendars and shifts, and choose who approves what. Most teams finish in an afternoon.
Invite the teamEveryone signs in with Google, Microsoft or a one-time code sent to their work email. New joiners get an onboarding link for their details and documents.
Turn on payrollTurn on payroll in Settings and set up your salary structures. Past months from your old tool come in from a spreadsheet. Or keep your current provider and hand it monthly attendance, leave and loss of pay exports.

Start free See all Darwinbox alternatives

Sources

Last checked 23 October 2026.

Caveats

Darwinbox doesn't publish prices. Third-party estimates vary widely, so no figure is shown here.
Modules such as payroll, performance, recruitment and learning are priced per deal, so 'Add-on' means priced as a module in a custom quote.
Implementation is quoted separately.
Most feature details come from Darwinbox's marketing pages rather than help documentation.

Competitor prices and features come from public sources, mainly vendor websites and pricing pages plus some third-party listings, as checked on 23 October 2026. They exclude GST, may differ by plan, region and billing cycle, and can change at any time, so check each vendor's site for current pricing. Where a vendor's own pages disagree, we show the price as approximate. Product names belong to their owners. Sunday prices also exclude GST.

Try Sunday People free.

Free for up to 10 employees, with every feature. No card and no setup fee.

Start free See pricing

Sunday People vs Darwinbox: startup HR or an enterprise platform

Choose Sunday People if

Choose Darwinbox if

Pricing at a glance

Sunday People

Darwinbox

Monthly price at 10, 25, 50 and 100 employees

Feature by feature

Core HR15 features, 11 different

Leave and attendance10 features, 6 different

Payroll and compliance4 features, 3 different

Performance3 features, 3 different

Expenses1 feature, 1 different

Devices and location2 features, 1 different

Apps and other Sunday products4 features, 3 different

Pricing2 features, 2 different