People · Payroll
VanVed vs Keka
for Payroll
Why businesses choose VanVed over Keka
VanVed publishes what it costs, and the module registry means a customer pays for payroll without being sold a suite — with Keka, geo-fenced attendance, advanced shift rotation, multi-entity payroll and e-signature are all things you move up a tier or buy as add-ons to get. On the engineering side the overtime path is honest in a way that is unusual: if a tenant has not set an overtime rate, the run records zero and says so rather than inventing a number, and encashments and overtime are frozen at their computed rate so a later change never silently reprices a finalised month.
Capability by capability
Every row below is what our 2026 research found — including the rows we lose.
| Capability | VanVed | Keka |
|---|---|---|
| Salary structure engine | Yes — components as fixed, % of basic or % of gross, versioned by effective date per employee | Yes, with pay groups and multiple legal entities (entities are a paid add-on) |
| Statutory files (PF ECR, ESIC ECR, 24Q, 26Q) | None — CSV summaries only | PF and ESIC ECR files generated on payroll close, plus 24Q and 26Q |
| TDS, declarations, Form 16 | Manual TDS field. No declarations, no proof submission, no Form 16 | Declarations with proof submission, monthly TDS, digitally signed Form 16 |
| Gratuity and full-and-final | Neither exists | Gratuity module from policy to disbursal; F&F in payroll |
| Loans and salary advances | None | Disbursal and automatic recovery |
| Expense reimbursement reaching the payslip | Expense claims with receipts and approval exist — and stop there. Nothing carries an approved claim onto a payroll run | Expense module pays out through payroll |
| Overtime priced into the run | Yes — weekly overtime beyond the org's cap is priced and folded into gross, so PF/ESI/PT see it | Yes, with night-premium and rest-period rules |
| Payslip PDF | Yes — per-component breakdown, employer contributions disclosed | Yes |
| Published price | Listed, per tenant, with modules you switch on and off | No price on the pricing page today — the figures are hidden and you have to talk to sales |
Where Keka is ahead of us today
On Indian statutory payroll Keka is simply a finished product and VanVed is a half-finished one. Keka closes a payroll and hands you the PF and ESIC ECR files, 24Q, 26Q and a signed Form 16; VanVed hands you four CSV summaries and a TDS box someone has to fill in by hand. Gratuity, full-and-final, loans and advances do not exist here. Worst of the lot for a buyer: VanVed already collects expense claims with receipts and an approval step, and then never pays them — the claim cannot reach a payslip.
We publish this because a comparison that only flatters us is worth nothing to you. If one of these gaps is the thing you actually need, Keka may well be the better buy.
What VanVed's Payroll module does
- Salary components
Define reusable salary components — basic, HRA, allowances, deductions.
- Salary structures
Build salary structures from components, versioned by effective date so history stays intact.
- Statutory deductions
PF, ESI and PT computed as part of the run.
- Payroll runs & reports
Run payroll and get the reports that come out of it.