People vs Darwinbox
Enterprise HCM, without the rolloutLive in one payroll cycle, not one fiscal year.
Darwinbox is an enterprise HCM suite sold on quotes, priced per employee and usually aimed at companies above about 200 employees, with implementation billed separately. Fyboard People publishes per-operator prices with a free plan and no setup fee, while Darwinbox is ahead on mobile, biometric devices, native payroll outside India and AI agents.
- Darwinbox: Enterprise HCM suite
- Rival facts checked 14 September 2026, with sources
- Both sides of every row, including where People trails
- 01At a glance
- 02Why it matters
- 03Cost
- 04Capabilities
- 05Differences
- 06Switching
Side by side
At a glance.
| Fyboard People | Darwinbox | |
|---|---|---|
| How pricing works | Per HR operator; approvers and employees free | Per employee, quote only |
| Entry paid price | ₹1,999 per operator a month, billed annually | About ₹280–450 per employee a month for core HR with payroll (third-party estimate) |
| Free plan | Free plan: 2 operators, 25 employees | No free plan; rarely quotes below about 200 employees |
| Payroll coverage | India certified; US, UK, Japan, Australia in preview | India, Southeast Asia and GCC natively, more through partners |
| Hiring (ATS) | Included from Growth, no recruiter seats | Included in the suite |
| Mobile app | iOS and Android app coming soon; web self-service today | iOS and Android app |
| Setup | No setup fee; self-serve import | Implementation reported at 1.5–2× the annual subscription |
Why it matters
From contract to first payroll run.
Darwinbox implementations are commonly reported at three to nine months and billed separately. People is self-serve: import, configure, run one cycle in parallel.
A year's cost
What a year costs.
A year at three company sizes. People is billed per HR operator from published prices, annually; Darwinbox's figures are third-party estimates, excluding tax and setup.
50 employees · 3 HR operators
250 employees · 8 HR operators
1,000 employees · 20 HR operators
Row by row
Both sides of every row.
People's statuses come from a code audit; Darwinbox's from the sources listed below. Rows we couldn't verify say so.
| Capability | Fyboard People | Darwinbox |
|---|---|---|
| Hire and onboard | ||
| Applicant tracking and careers site | IncludedGated pipelines, careers site, no recruiter seats | Included |
| Job board posting | RoadmapLinkedIn and Naukri on the roadmap | Included |
| Resume parsing | Not available | Included |
| Offer letters with e-signature | IncludedFyDoc letters signed with FySign | Partial |
| Onboarding checklists | Included | Included |
| Core HR and organisation | ||
| Employee records and custom fields | Included | Included |
| Org chart and org dimensions | IncludedSites, projects, clients, cost centres | Included |
| Multiple legal entities | IncludedUnlimited on Business | Paid add-onExtra countries priced separately |
| Row-level access and confidential records | Included9 scope dimensions | Included |
| Bulk import and migration | IncludedEmployees and 14 master data types | Not verified |
| Time and attendance | ||
| Attendance with geofence | IncludedWeb clock-in today | Included |
| Biometric device sync | Not available | Included |
| Shifts and rosters | Included | Included |
| Leave, holidays and comp-off | Included | Included |
| Project timesheets and billing | PartialHours with billable flag; billing arrives with Project | Not verified |
| Payroll and money | ||
| India payroll (PF, ESI, TDS, gratuity) | IncludedCertified | Included |
| India filing exports (ECR, 24Q, Form 16) | PartialIn preview | Included |
| Payroll outside India | RoadmapUS, UK, Japan, Australia in preview; not yet finalisable | PartialAbout 12 countries natively, partners elsewhere |
| Employer of record and contractor payments | Not available | Not verified |
| Expenses | Included | Included |
| Benefits administration | PartialPlans, enrolments, claims; no insurer link | Partial |
| Compensation and appraisal cycles | Included | Included |
| Payroll posting to accounting | IncludedNative Fyboard Finance ledger | Not verified |
| Performance and growth | ||
| Goals, reviews, 360 feedback | Included | Included |
| Learning management | PartialTraining admin; no hosted courses | Paid add-on |
| Career paths and succession | IncludedIncludes 9-box | Included |
| Engagement surveys and eNPS | Coming soonArrives with DataBoard | Included |
| Self-service and support | ||
| Employee self-service portal | Included | Included |
| Mobile app | Coming sooniOS and Android app coming | Included |
| HR helpdesk | Coming soonArrives with the Requests engine | Paid add-on |
| Announcements and recognition | Not available | IncludedVibe |
| Exit | ||
| Separation, exit interview, full and final | Included | Included |
| Asset tracking and return | Coming soonArrives with MM | Included |
| Platform | ||
| Approval workflows | Included | Included |
| AI assistant | PartialAsk FyAI on the employee record | IncludedAI agents and an MCP server |
| Public API and webhooks | Not availableCareers API only | Included |
| SAML single sign-on | Coming soonArrives with the Identity engine | Paid add-on |
Key differences
Where they part ways.
01 · How you buy
Fyboard People
Prices are published per HR operator, with a free plan and self-serve checkout.
Darwinbox
Pricing is quote-only per employee, typically for larger companies.
02 · Implementation
Fyboard People
No setup fee; teams import their own data, with optional guided implementation.
Darwinbox
Implementation is a separate engagement, commonly reported at 1.5–2 times the annual subscription and several months long.
03 · Countries
Fyboard People
India payroll is certified; the United States, United Kingdom, Japan and Australia calculate in preview and can't be finalised yet.
Darwinbox
Darwinbox runs native payroll in India, Southeast Asia and GCC and uses partners for other countries.
04 · Depth of the suite
Fyboard People
People covers hire to exit on shared Fyboard engines, with the app, surveys and helpdesk still arriving.
Darwinbox
Darwinbox ships a mature suite including mobile, engagement, helpdesk and AI agents.
Switching
Moving over in one payroll cycle.
01
Export from Darwinbox
Ask Darwinbox for exports of the employee master, org structure, leave balances and payroll history, or use its report exports as CSV.
02
Import into People
Bulk import checks names and codes for employees and master data, and flags rows to fix before you commit.
03
Set up policies and payroll
Leave, attendance, pay components and statutory registrations; add your HR operators. Approvers and employees join free.
04
Run one cycle in parallel
Run payroll and attendance in both, compare the results, then switch over.
No setup fee. People doesn't depend on your old system — run one cycle side by side before you switch.
Questions
Asked and answered.
How does Fyboard People pricing compare with Darwinbox?
For 250 employees and 8 HR operators, People Growth costs ₹2,87,904 a year. A comparable Darwinbox core HR and payroll quote is estimated at about ₹13,50,000, before implementation.
Is Fyboard People built for enterprises like Darwinbox?
People has enterprise controls such as nine-dimension scoped access, confidential records and multi-entity payroll. Darwinbox is further ahead on mobile, engagement and payroll outside India.
Does Fyboard People charge an implementation fee?
No. Setup is self-serve with bulk import. Guided implementation is optional and waived on annual Business plans with ten or more operators.
Does Darwinbox publish its prices?
No. Darwinbox is quote-only, so the figures on this page are third-party estimates and marked as such.
Can I move from Darwinbox to Fyboard People?
Yes. Export your employee, org and leave data and load it with People's bulk import, which covers employees and 14 master data types.
Sources and method
Where these facts come from.
Darwinbox facts last checked . Estimates come from third-party or quote-based sources and may differ from your quote.
People prices are Fyboard's published prices, billed annually per HR operator, excluding tax and optional services. Spotted something out of date? Tell us through the contact page.
People
Try People beside Darwinbox for one cycle.
Start on the free plan, import a slice of your people, and compare a real payroll cycle before you decide.