Keka is a popular India-based human-resources and payroll platform that bundles a hiring module alongside its core strengths in payroll, attendance, leave, and performance management. It is widely used by Indian SMBs and mid-market companies that want one system to run day-to-day HR operations with local payroll and statutory compliance built in, priced on a per-employee subscription. Pitch N Hire is also India-based, but it is a recruiting-first, AI-native platform rather than an HR suite: it pairs an applicant tracking system with async AI video interviews (Intuvos) and candidate sourcing (OnJob.io), and offers a free single-user tier. Since both serve Indian employers, this comparison is less about geography and more about focus — a broad HRMS with a hiring add-on versus a specialist AI recruiting platform. Which fits depends on whether your priority is running HR and payroll or winning at hiring.
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| Feature | Pitch N Hire | Keka |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Indian and global teams that want a recruiting-first platform with AI interviews | Indian SMBs and mid-market firms wanting HR, payroll, and hiring in one suite |
| Pricing model | Per-seat / per-job tiers with a free single-user plan | Per-employee subscription across HR and payroll modules |
| Free plan | Yes — one user free forever | No permanent free plan; paid per-employee tiers |
| AI interviewing | Native async AI video interviews with structured scoring through Intuvos | Hiring module handles tracking and workflow; AI video interviewing is not its focus |
| Candidate sourcing | Built-in sourcing via OnJob.io | Applicant tracking within the HR suite; limited dedicated sourcing |
| Ease of setup | Recruiting-only onboarding, sales-assisted, quick to go live | Straightforward for HR teams; full value spans several HR modules |
| Integrations | Core HRIS, job boards, and productivity integrations | Integrates with payroll, attendance, and Indian compliance tooling |
| Support | Dedicated onboarding from an India-based team serving customers worldwide | Well-regarded India-based support and local compliance expertise |
| Structured hiring & scorecards | Consistent AI-assisted scoring on every async video interview | Basic hiring workflows; evaluation is not the suite's centre of gravity |
| Analytics & reporting | Recruiting funnel and interview-scoring analytics | HR analytics spanning payroll, attendance, and workforce data |
| Target company size | Startups to mid-market, India and global | SMB to mid-market, India-focused |
For Indian employers the decision usually comes down to what you most need to fix. Keka is a strong, locally built HR and payroll platform: it handles statutory compliance, payroll runs, attendance, and leave with an interface Indian HR teams find easy to adopt, and it includes a hiring module so recruitment sits alongside operations. If your pain is running HR smoothly and staying compliant, Keka is a proven, comfortable choice.
Pitch N Hire, also India-based, is built for the hiring problem specifically. Its applicant tracking, Intuvos async AI video interviews, and OnJob.io sourcing are designed to help you attract, screen, and evaluate candidates faster and more consistently — capabilities a payroll-led suite does not prioritise. If recruiting quality and speed are what you want to improve, the specialist depth matters, and the free single-user tier lets a small team start without cost. Many Indian companies conclude they want both, using each for what it does best.
The biggest difference is everything that surrounds hiring. Keka is fundamentally an HRMS: payroll, statutory deductions like PF and ESI, attendance, leave, and performance are its core, and recruitment is one part of a wider operational system. That breadth is exactly why so many Indian SMBs rely on it — one platform covers most of HR administration.
Pitch N Hire deliberately does not try to be an HRMS. It focuses on the front of the funnel — sourcing, tracking, and interviewing candidates — and adds AI to make screening consistent and scalable. It will not run your payroll or file your compliance, and it is not meant to. For a company whose recruiting is the constraint, that focus, combined with AI video interviews and a free tier, is the advantage; for one that needs to centralise HR and payroll, Keka's breadth is the better answer, which is why the two are often complementary rather than competing.
Choose Keka if you want a well-established India-based HR and payroll suite to run operations — payroll, attendance, compliance, performance — with hiring included as one module. Choose Pitch N Hire if recruiting is the priority and you want a specialist AI-native platform with async AI video interviews, structured scoring, and built-in sourcing, plus a free tier. Because both are Indian and address different needs, plenty of teams use Keka for HR and Pitch N Hire for hiring rather than treating it as an either-or decision.
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