Buk vs Zoho People (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, we pick Zoho People: it is first in our ranking of HR software, though Buk grades higher (2.6 against 2.4) on value for money and the free plan.
Checked Oct 18, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 · graded Oct 18, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
Zoho People grades higher on features. They get the same grade on ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Zoho People
Low-cost HR records, attendance, shifts and reviews from Zoho
Which one is for you
Pick Buk if
- Fits if you run a Chilean company with under 20 employees
- Works for firms that need the Previred file
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you're outside Chile, as the payroll and tax features are local
- Tight if you pass 20 employees, since Starter stops there
- Watch out: the full platform has no price, only a calculator and a quote form
- Watch out: Starter has self-service support only
Pick Zoho People if
- Fits if you already use Zoho apps for hiring, expenses or payroll
- Works for staff who clock in at a kiosk or a biometric device
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you need both attendance and reviews, as that means Enterprise at $8 a user
- Skip it if you want payroll in the same app, as Zoho sells it separately
- Not for you if you're more than 3 people and hoping to stay free
- Pricey if you want recruiting and expenses too, as the People Plus bundle is $9 a user a month
- Watch out: Essential HR at $3 leaves out time off, and firms over 500 users must ask for a quote
How we grade them
| 2.6GPABukGood | 2.4GPAZoho PeopleFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | BBuk Starter is free for up to 20 employees, which sits inside the cheapest quarter. The Basic and Advanced prices aren't shown. | CWorkforce is $5 a user a month on yearly billing, the cheapest plan with time off, so a ten-person company pays $50. It adds attendance and timesheets too. That's under this category's middle; Essential HR is $3 but leaves time off out. |
| Free plan and trial | BA free plan one small Chilean company could live on, capped at 20 employees, with self-service support only. | CFree for up to 3 users, with records, time off and documents. Fine for a look around, but a ten-person team is well past it. There's also a 30-day trial. |
| Features | CPayroll, attendance, digital signature, talent, benefits and AI tools. Starter has limited payslip calculation and set document templates. | BRecords, onboarding, documents, an HR help desk, time off, attendance by kiosk or biometric device, shift rosters, timesheets, goals, appraisals and courses. The whole job, though payroll and hiring are separate Zoho apps. |
| Ease of use | CNo store rating on record. Payroll and records take set-up work. | CNo App Store rating on record, and with features split between Workforce and Talent, you'll need to think before you pick a plan. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb plus a mobile app. No integrations are listed and no desktop app. | BWeb, iPhone and Android, with Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, QuickBooks, Slack and Zoho's own apps. No desktop app. |
| Best for | free payroll for small Chilean firms | small businesses already on other Zoho apps |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Buk and Zoho People. How we grade
Where they differ
- Buk also covers surveys, expense tracking, payroll and applicant tracking.
- Zoho People also covers reports, shift scheduling and time clock.
At a glance
| Buk | Zoho People | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | Free for up to 20 employees (Buk Starter); full platform quoted on request | $3 per user / month, billed annually ($4 billed monthly) |
| Free plan | Buk Starter: employee records, attendance, bonuses and deductions, payslips, Previred file, payment list, self-service portal, documents, and vacation and permissions, for up to 20 employees. | Free for up to 3 users: employee database, time off and vacation planning, and document management. |
| Free trial | None listed | 30-day free trial |
| Web | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Buk | Zoho Corporation |
| Price read from | buk.cl | zoho.com |
| Checked | Nov 13, 2026 | Oct 18, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Buk
- Buk Starter is limited to 20 employees, self-service support and limited payslip calculation.
- The full platform price is not displayed: the pricing page is a build-your-own-plan calculator and a quote button leads to a contact form.
- The Starter page's Basic and Advanced prices are in the page source but hidden from visitors, so they are not recorded here.
- Payroll and tax features such as Previred and DDJJ 1887 are specific to Chile; the site has separate versions for other countries.
Zoho People
- The free plan stops at 3 users in the US (5 elsewhere) and covers only records, time off and documents.
- Payroll and recruiting are separate Zoho products; the People Plus bundle with Recruit, Expense, Sign and others is $9 per user a month billed annually.
- Workforce and Talent each cover half the toolset: getting both attendance and performance reviews means Enterprise.
- Companies with more than 500 users are asked to request a quote.
Key features
Buk
- Payroll
- Payslip calculation, accounting reports, hourly, daily and weekly pay, bonuses, the DDJJ 1887 tax filing and Previred files for Chile.
- Attendance
- Shifts, permissions, vacations and overtime tracking.
- Digital signature and documents
- Document templates, automatic document generation and signatures backed by the Chilean labor directorate (DT).
- Talent modules
- Performance management, recruitment, training, surveys and recognition, listed in the product menu.
- Benefits and finance
- Benefit management and insurance plans, plus expense reports, supplier payments and collections modules.
- AI tools
- Buk AI, plus Buk Studio and agents for building HR flows and delegating tasks.
Zoho People
- Employee records and documents
- A central employee database with self-service profiles, multi-entity management, onboarding and offboarding flows, exit interviews and document storage.
- Attendance and time off
- Staff check in on the web, the mobile app, a face-recognition kiosk or a biometric device, with IP and location limits, leave policies and accruals.
- Shift rosters and timesheets
- Create shifts, rotate them automatically, take shift-change requests, and log time against jobs and clients for approval.
- Goals, appraisals and training
- The Talent plan adds OKRs, appraisals with feedback, and a learning management system for courses.
- Zia AI
- Zoho's assistant answers employees' questions, carries out HR tasks and analyzes people data.
- HR help desk and surveys
- Employees raise cases with HR in a help desk, and HR runs eNPS, pulse and engagement surveys.
Plans
Buk
Buk Starter$0
Free payroll and records for up to 20 employees, with self-service support only, limited payslip calculation and predefined document templates.
Buk BasicCustom
Platform, payroll and digital signature for up to 20 employees, adding custom reports, bulk importers and DT-backed signatures; no price is displayed on the page.
Buk AdvancedCustom
The same modules with no limit on employees; no price is displayed on the page.
Zoho People
Free$0
Up to 3 users, with the employee database, time off and documents.
Essential HR$3
per user / month, billed annually ($4 billed monthly)
AI agent, onboarding and offboarding, documents, benefits and compensation planning, engagement surveys, HR help desk and reports.
Workforce$5
per user / month, billed annually ($6 billed monthly)
Essential HR plus time off, attendance for full-time staff and timesheets with overtime rules.
Talent$5
per user / month, billed annually ($6 billed monthly)
Essential HR plus OKRs, performance evaluations and a learning management system.
Enterprise$8
per user / month, billed annually ($10 billed monthly)
Essential HR, Workforce and Talent together, plus a sandbox and premium support.
Ways to pay less
Buk
No public discounts listed.
Zoho People
- Annual discount
Over 20% off with yearly billing
Zoho says yearly billing saves more than 20%: Essential HR is $3 a user a month billed yearly against $4 monthly.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Buk or Zoho People?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Buk starts at Free for up to 20 employees (Buk Starter); full platform quoted on request, and Zoho People starts at $3 per user / month, billed annually ($4 billed monthly).
Which has a free plan, Buk or Zoho People?
As of Nov 13, 2026, both Buk and Zoho People have a free plan.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.