Expert Curated
Bootstrapped Indian startups don't need to pay for software in their early months. There are genuinely powerful free tiers across CRM, helpdesk, HR, accounting, and communication. Here are the best free tools — ones we'd actually recommend, not stripped-down demos.
Zoho Payroll free plan handles up to 10 employees. Zoho People has a free plan for up to 5 users. Keka does not have a free tier. For very early startups (2–4 employees), Zoho Payroll free + Excel-based leave tracking is sufficient until you have a larger team.
HubSpot CRM, Freshdesk Sprout, and Zoho Payroll (up to 10 employees) are permanently free — not time-limited trials. You'll hit limits as you grow (team size, features needed), at which point upgrading becomes necessary. We recommend starting free, then upgrading when specific paid features become genuinely needed.
Growing beyond free tools? We help Indian startups build a proper IT stack for their next stage — CRM implementation, HRMS setup, and IT infrastructure from ₹10,000/month.