Runtime HRMS

Runtime HRMS is a cloud HR platform for managing employee records, leave, onboarding, performance and time tracking. It suits businesses looking to centralize those core tasks alongside reporting and integrations. Its low advertised starting price is tempered by a 10-employee billing floor and limits on HR Portal users.

Overview

Runtime HRMS combines day-to-day people management with payroll, reporting and administrative controls. Browser access and mobile apps give teams more than one way to reach the system, while an organization wall supports internal sharing and configurable HR Portal rights distinguish administrator and user access.

The vendor says its software manages more than 80,000 employees across 1,250+ companies. Employee data is hosted in Indian datacenters on AWS, Google and Azure infrastructure. A free onboarding session and recorded sessions in the HR Portal can help organizations get started; support is offered through chat, email, tickets, online sessions and an AI answering bot.

Key features

• Core HR: Employee records, time-off management, onboarding, performance management and time tracking cover a broad base of HR work. The Scale plan adds performance management, while Growth includes onboarding forms; check plan scope before assuming every feature is included at the lowest paid tier.
• Reporting: More than 50 MIS reports and natural-language AI report generation give HR teams ways to produce operational views without relying solely on manual reporting.
• Integrations: Connections include Microsoft Entra ID, SpringVerify, Zwitch, SMTP, Gmail, Microsoft Email and local biometric systems. Biometric integration requires a database stored on a local PC, so organizations using cloud biometrics will need another approach.
• Administration: HR Portal access rights and additional users as an add-on support differentiated access, though included user limits range from one to five depending on plan. Certain account masters—departments, designations, shifts and week-off policies—are capped at 999 records each.

Pricing

Runtime HRMS uses monthly subscription charges based on employee count and selected plan or features. Paid plans include a 7-day free trial with no credit card required. The key caveat is the 10-employee minimum for billing: even an organization with fewer staff is charged as though it had ten.

• Free: free for up to 5 employees. This is the lowest-risk option for a very small organization, but it does not remove the 10-employee minimum that applies to paid billing.
• Get Started: ₹₹350 a month, billed annually, for 10 employees. It includes the mobile app, payroll and HR management, and 50+ MIS reports. Its included employee count makes the billing floor explicit, but the plan description does not state an included HR Portal user limit.
• Seed: ₹₹35 a month, annual billing, with a one-user limit. Aimed at small businesses with basic needs, it is the cheapest paid plan; the 10-employee minimum means its headline rate is not a realistic total for fewer than ten employees.
• Growth: ₹₹50 a month, with annual billing available and three users. It adds HR letters, policies, onboarding forms, tax compliance, shift rostering and biometric integration to Seed features. That is a more useful step up for teams needing formal HR processes, provided local-PC biometric storage fits their setup.
• Scale: ₹₹75 a month, with annual billing available and five users. Designed for 500+ employees, it adds travel, performance, project management and API access to Growth features. The higher tier is the fit for larger operations needing those additions, though teams with more than five HR Portal users must budget for add-ons.
• Start: ₹₹7,200 a year for up to 40 employees, with yearly renewals. This is a distinct annual option; compare its employee cap and renewal term against the monthly plans before choosing.
• Phone support: Custom pricing for a dedicated account manager, available Monday to Friday, 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM.

Platforms

Runtime HRMS offers Android and iOS mobile apps, plus browser access through modern browsers such as Chrome or Edge. That combination suits office and mobile use, although the available platform list does not include desktop apps.

Who it's for

Runtime HRMS is a sensible fit for small and mid-sized organizations that want core HR, payroll, reporting and employee access in one cloud service, especially when the 10-employee billing floor is acceptable. Growth and Scale are more relevant for teams needing compliance, rostering, broader operational modules or API access. A smaller employer paying for fewer than ten people, a team needing many HR Portal users, or an organization dependent on cloud biometric devices should weigh the constraints carefully.

Pros and cons

• Pro: More than 50 MIS reports plus AI report generation can serve teams that need operational summaries without building every report from scratch.
• Pro: A 7-day trial without a credit card and one free onboarding session reduce the commitment and setup burden.
• Pro: The plan ladder adds concrete capabilities—from tax compliance and rostering to travel, project management and API access—as organizational needs grow.
• Con: Paid billing is calculated for at least 10 employees, weakening the appeal of the low starting rate for very small teams.
• Con: Included HR Portal access is capped at one, three or five users across the main tiers, with additional users costing extra.
• Con: Biometric integration depends on a locally stored PC database, excluding cloud biometric workflows.

Alternatives

For a broader comparison, see HR Software. Zoho People is a freemium option with a free plan for five users and web, iOS and Android access; consider it if a five-user free tier is central to your choice. Frappe HR also has a free plan and trial, with web, mobile, API and self-hosted platforms; it is worth considering if self-hosting matters. TalentHR offers a free plan for up to 10 active users with core HR tools and a no-time-limit term, making it a relevant option for a small team seeking a larger free allowance.

WebHR has a free plan for five employees and a yearly plan priced at $2 a month for up to 1,000 employees; consider it when those stated employee bands suit better. factoHR offers a free plan for up to 20 employees with no credit card required, a useful alternative if a larger free employee cap is the priority. IceHrm is another freemium option with a free trial and self-hosted availability. Rippling uses custom pricing and offers products separately, with most billed per employee per month; consider it if that purchasing model fits. Happy HR offers free recruitment software and a 30-day free trial, so it is the alternative to consider when recruitment is the immediate need.

Verdict

Choose Runtime HRMS if you want core HR and payroll alongside substantial reporting, mobile access and a tiered path to compliance and operational tools. The trial and onboarding support make it easier to assess, but the 10-employee billing minimum, limited included HR Portal users and local-only biometric requirement are meaningful reasons to look elsewhere if they conflict with your team’s size or setup.