Leavely vs Zoho People
Part of the Zoho suite. Affordable HR module but works best within the broader Zoho ecosystem.
Zoho People is the HR module within Zoho's massive software ecosystem. While its headline price is low, it works best when paired with other Zoho products — and its global, one-size-fits-all approach means UK-specific features often require manual workarounds. Leavely is a standalone tool built specifically for UK leave management: no ecosystem lock-in, no configuration headaches, and every feature included from day one.
Leavely
£8/user/mo
All features included. No tiers.
Zoho People
From £1.50/user/mo
Pricing at time of writing
Feature comparison
Based on publicly available information from Zoho People's website as of March 2026. Zoho and Zoho People are registered trademarks of Zoho Corporation Pvt. Ltd. Features and pricing may have changed since publication. All trademarks belong to their respective owners.
| Feature | Leavely | Zoho People |
|---|---|---|
| Visual leave calendar | ||
| One-click approvals | ||
| Automatic balance tracking | ||
| UK bank holidays (auto) | Manual setup | |
| Custom leave types | ||
| Bradford Factor monitoring | ||
| TOIL tracking | ||
| Return-to-work forms | ||
| Employee directory | ||
| Full audit trail | Higher tier | |
| Works standalone (no ecosystem) | ||
| No credit card for trial | ||
| Set up in under 5 minutes | ||
| All features in one plan | ||
| No contract lock-in | Annual |
Why teams choose Leavely over Zoho People
Standalone simplicity — Leavely works perfectly on its own. Zoho People is designed as part of the Zoho ecosystem, and many features work best (or only) with other Zoho apps like Zoho CRM, Zoho Payroll, and Zoho Projects.
UK-first, not global — Leavely is built specifically for UK employment law, statutory leave, and bank holidays. Zoho People takes a global approach that requires manual setup for UK-specific requirements.
Faster setup — get your team tracking leave in under 5 minutes. Zoho People's extensive configuration options and ecosystem integrations mean a longer time-to-value.
Purpose-built for leave management — Leavely focuses on doing one thing brilliantly. Zoho People tries to be a full HR platform, spreading its features thin across attendance, timesheets, performance, and more.
Bradford Factor built in — automatically monitor absence patterns using the UK-standard scoring method. Zoho People doesn't offer this feature.
No ecosystem dependency — switch or cancel without losing access to your other business tools. With Zoho, leaving People can mean reconsidering your entire Zoho stack.