The best self-hosted HRMS in 2026, including Indian payroll

At a glance

Checked on 8 November 2026 from each project's licence file, release tags and official pricing pages.

Frappe HR

Best for: organisations that want full HR and payroll, including Indian statutory payroll, without per-employee fees.

Watch for: It requires ERPNext to be installed (required_apps in hooks.py), so you run the ERP stack even if you only need HR. [13]

India: India payroll covers Professional Tax in 15+ states, Labour Welfare Fund in 14 states, ESI, PF, surcharge and marginal relief, an old vs new tax regime comparator, and EPF/ESIC/LWF registers. [14]

OrangeHRM Starter

Best for: small and mid-sized companies that need core HR records, leave, time, attendance, recruitment and performance.

Watch for: The open-source Starter repository has leave, time, attendance, recruitment and performance plugins but no payroll plugin; payroll integration is marketed with the paid Advanced edition. [5]

Odoo HR

Best for: companies already on Odoo that want HR linked to accounting, timesheets and projects.

Watch for: The LGPL Community repository (20.0) includes Employees, Attendance, Time Off and Recruitment but has no hr_payroll module, so Payroll needs the paid Enterprise edition. [15]

India: Odoo documents India payroll (PF, ESIC, Professional Tax, LWF, TDS, gratuity, EPF/ESI reports) via l10n_in_hr_payroll, a module not present in the Community repository. [16]

IceHrm

Best for: small companies that want a simple self-hosted HR system with a low-cost upgrade path.

Watch for: The vendor describes the split as an open-source core with paid modules, IceHrmPro and Cloud, so some features need a paid edition. [11]

How to choose

• If you need Indian statutory payroll in the free edition, Frappe HR is the only option here that documents it.
• If you need payroll in OrangeHRM or Odoo, plan for their paid editions.
• For factories, check shift rosters, overtime and attendance-to-payroll flow, not just leave and records.

Where OwnHRMS fits

OwnHRMS is a commercial product, not open source. It covers attendance, leave, shift rosters with overtime tracking, and payroll with statutory deductions, from attendance data to disbursement with an audit trail. It is sold as a perpetual licence or a managed subscription, with no per-employee pricing, and runs on your infrastructure.

Choose an open-source option above if you want no licence cost and have the team to run it. Choose Own360 if you want one supported product across functions, bought outright, on your own infrastructure.

Questions buyers ask

What is the best self-hosted HRMS?

Frappe HR is the most complete free self-hosted HRMS for India, with documented PF, ESI, Professional Tax and Labour Welfare Fund payroll, though it requires ERPNext. OrangeHRM's free Starter has no payroll, and Odoo's India payroll needs its paid Enterprise edition.

Are these options really free?

The software in the open-source editions is free to run, but hosting, upgrades and support are not, and several projects keep features such as SSO, payroll or reporting in paid editions. Check each Watch for note above.

Is Own360 open source?

No. OwnHRMS is a commercial product sold as a perpetual licence or a managed subscription, deployed on your own infrastructure.

Read next

• Own360 vs Workday
• Own360 vs Darwinbox
• HRMS for factories in India