If you’re comparing Zoho People against a self-hosted option, you already know the thing that makes Zoho unusual: it’s one of the very few products that actually ships true per-user IP restriction on clock-in. Most SMB time clocks do GPS only. Zoho People and Buddy Punch are the short list that genuinely gate attendance by network address — so credit where it’s due, Zoho has the feature that matters, and it’s a capable, mature HRIS.
The question isn’t whether Zoho can restrict by IP. It can. The question is what you have to buy, and where your data lives, to get it. Zoho People is a cloud-hosted HRIS with an upsell ladder — you’re on someone else’s servers, on a per-user plan, inside a suite that’s forever nudging you toward the next tier and the broader Zoho ecosystem. Punchwell does the one control you came for — a hard, per-employee office-IP lock — as a self-hosted WordPress plugin at a flat price, with no ladder to climb.
Punchwell is an independent product by Sturdyhaus. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Zoho, Zoho People, or any other vendor named on this page. Competitor names are used descriptively (nominative fair use) only, to help you compare. All third-party names and trademarks belong to their respective owners.
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Per site, not per seat. Unlimited employees. Your data stays on your server.
The TCO: flat vs. per-user, and no ladder
Lead with the money, because that’s where the models diverge hardest. Zoho People is priced per user, per month. Its attendance/time-tracking capability sits on a plan that runs roughly $2 per user per month (approximate, as of June 2026 — confirm current rates; Zoho tiers and bundles change often). That sounds small, and for a handful of users it is — but it scales with every hire, and the plan that carries the features you want tends to sit a rung or two up the ladder.
- Per-user creep. At ~$2/user/month, a 25-person shop is roughly $600/year — and it climbs every time you hire. Add the higher tiers or the wider Zoho One bundle and it climbs faster.
- The upsell ladder. Zoho People is one product in a large suite. The pattern is familiar: the feature you need is on the next plan up, and there’s always a broader bundle being suggested.
- Punchwell is flat. $99/year per site. Unlimited employees on every tier. Everything bundled — the full IP-lock depth, GPS geofence, kiosk, mobile punch, payroll export, PTO accrual, reminders, checklists, recruitment, loans, attendance reports, self-service, and permissions. No per-user line, no next tier, no bundle to graduate into. Your bill doesn’t move when you hire your hundredth person, and the renewal price is locked for as long as you never lapse.
To be fair: for a very small team, Zoho’s per-user price can start out cheaper than $99, and if you want a full cloud HRIS with recruiting, performance reviews, and the wider Zoho ecosystem wired together, that breadth is real. Punchwell is deliberately narrower and flat.
Where the two genuinely differ
Both products can restrict clock-in by IP — that’s real common ground, and worth saying plainly. The difference is where the software lives, how you’re billed, and how granular the IP control gets.
- Self-hosted vs. cloud. Punchwell runs inside your own WordPress site; your timesheets are rows in your own database. Zoho People is a hosted HRIS — your employee and attendance data lives in Zoho’s cloud. For a clinic, dental practice, or agency that would rather not put staff data on a third party’s servers, that’s the whole decision.
- Flat price vs. per-user + tiers. Zoho is per user per month on a plan ladder. Punchwell is one flat annual price, unlimited employees, everything bundled — no upsell.
- IP-control depth. Both do per-user IP restriction. Punchwell adds CIDR blocks and address ranges, IPv4 and IPv6, three allowlist scopes (company + per-office + per-employee, unioned/widen-only), block/warn/flag modes, and an optional clock-in time window — and it refuses the off-site punch server-side rather than only recording it.
Everything below expands on those. Competitor figures stay hedged — approximate, as of June 2026 — so confirm current rates before you budget against them.
Side by side
Here’s the honest comparison. Zoho People gets credit where it’s due — it’s one of the rare products that ships true IP restriction at all, inside a mature HRIS.
| Zoho People | Punchwell | |
|---|---|---|
| Hosting | Cloud SaaS — data on Zoho’s servers | Self-hosted in your own WordPress site |
| Your data | Held in vendor cloud | Stays in your WordPress database; no data call-home (verified) |
| Pricing model | Per user / month, on a plan ladder | Per site, flat — never per seat |
| Approx. price | ~$2/user/mo (approximate, as of June 2026 — confirm current rates) → ~$600/yr for 25 staff | $99/yr flat, unlimited employees |
| Upsell ladder | Yes — tiers + wider Zoho One bundle | None — everything bundled in one price |
| Office-IP clock-in lock | Yes — true per-user IP restriction | Yes — hard-enforced, refuses the punch server-side |
| IP allowlist depth | IP restriction | Exact IPs, CIDR blocks, address ranges, IPv4 + IPv6 |
| Allowlist scope | Account / policy level | Company + per-office + per-employee (unioned, widen-only) |
| Enforcement modes | — | Block / Warn / Flag, plus optional clock-in time window |
| GPS geofence | Yes | Yes — opt-in, per-office radius (metres or feet) |
| Kiosk / shared-device clock | Yes | Yes — short code + 6-digit PIN, enrolled device, venue IP must match |
| Mobile punch | Native iOS / Android apps | Responsive web / PWA punch screen (add-to-home-screen, not an app-store app) |
| Breadth | Full HRIS — recruiting, performance, cases, Zoho ecosystem | Focused time clock + HR suite; no CRM/performance/ecosystem |
| License | Proprietary SaaS | GPL — you genuinely own the code |
| Best fit | Teams who want a full cloud HRIS and accept per-user billing | Teams on WordPress who want the IP lock, flat pricing, and data they own |
1. Self-hosted: your roster stays on your server
This is the cleanest reason to choose Punchwell over a cloud HRIS. Punchwell lives inside the WordPress site you already run. Employees are just WordPress users; timesheets are rows in your own database. Nothing syncs to a vendor cloud — all of the original’s outbound network code was removed and verified — the free version makes no outbound calls at all, and the only outbound call Pro makes is validating your license key against our own billing server, never your data. (The only external content is optional YouTube tutorial embeds and Gravatar avatars — standard WordPress, and only if you use them.)
Zoho People, by contrast, holds your employee and attendance data in Zoho’s cloud. For privacy-sensitive shops — clinics, dental practices, agencies handling client staff — keeping staff data on your own server is often the whole point, and it helps with your privacy obligations. (Compliance is your configuration, not our certification — but self-hosting removes the “it’s in someone else’s cloud” problem entirely.)
And “self-hosted” doesn’t mean “manage a server.” If you already run WordPress, you have everything you need — Punchwell installs like any other plugin and updates through your dashboard. There’s no separate server and no cloud account to set up.
See the security and privacy picture →
2. Flat price, no ladder: what you buy is what you get
Zoho People’s per-user pricing is genuinely low at the entry rung — but two things move the real cost. First, it scales with headcount: every hire adds to the monthly bill. Second, it’s a ladder: the capability you want often sits on a higher tier, and the wider Zoho One bundle is always in the sales conversation.
Punchwell is flat, and there’s nothing above it to climb toward:
- Free / Community — $0 on WordPress.org. Base HR: employees, departments, leave, basic attendance, and a basic single-office IP lock.
- Pro — $99/year, per site. Everything bundled: the full per-employee/per-office IP-lock depth, GPS geofence, kiosk, mobile punch, payroll export, PTO accrual, reminders, checklists, recruitment, loans, attendance reports, self-service, and permissions.
Per site, never per seat. Unlimited employees on every tier. Hire your hundredth person and your bill doesn’t change. The renewal price is locked for as long as you never lapse — no surprise increase at employee #26, no “that’s on the next plan.” And because it’s GPL and self-hosted, even if you cancel you keep the plugin and every record.
Free on WordPress.org. Unlimited employees. No card required.
3. Deeper IP control — the part you actually came for
Both products restrict clock-in by IP — that’s the reason Zoho is even on your shortlist. Where Punchwell pulls ahead is the depth and the enforcement, and that depth is exactly what makes the lock practical for a real multi-site, mixed-workforce business.
Punchwell’s office-IP lock is per-employee and hard-enforced. Flag a worker as office-only and they can clock in or out only from an allowlisted address. It refuses the punch server-side when they’re off your network — it doesn’t merely log a location after the fact. That’s the difference between a record of a bad punch and a blocked one.
The depth:
- Allowlist by exact IP, CIDR block (e.g.
203.0.113.0/24— a whole range of office addresses without listing each one), or address range. IPv4 and IPv6. - Three scopes, unioned (widen-only): company-wide, per-office (each location can carry its own IPs), and per-employee (“additional allowed IPs” on the profile). Adding an address only ever widens access — so on-site cashiers can be locked to the building while remote staff clock in from anywhere.
- Block / Warn / Flag enforcement modes — choose how strict to be. Plus an optional clock-in time window (only accept punches around shift start; it never blocks clock-out) and a blocked-attempt email to HR.
And because GPS can be spoofed from a couch and needs a device with location on, Punchwell pairs the IP lock with an opt-in GPS geofence (per-office radius, in metres or feet), a kiosk/wall-tablet clock, and a mobile/PWA punch screen. GPS is a deterrent, the IP lock is the hard control — you choose how strict to be.
Where Zoho People may be the better fit (the honest part)
Naming the limits is what makes the rest believable. We’d rather be straight with you than win a sale you’ll regret.
- Full HRIS breadth. Zoho People is a broad HR platform — recruiting, performance reviews, case management, and tight integration with the wider Zoho ecosystem (CRM, Books, Zoho One). Punchwell is a focused time clock and HR suite; it doesn’t do performance reviews, applicant-tracking at that depth, or CRM. If you want an all-in-one HRIS wired into a business suite, Zoho’s breadth is a real advantage.
- Very small teams may pay less. At ~$2/user/month, a tiny team can start below Punchwell’s $99/yr. The flat price wins as you grow, but for, say, five users, Zoho’s entry rung can be cheaper on day one.
- Native mobile apps. Zoho ships native iOS and Android apps. Punchwell’s mobile punch is a responsive web / PWA screen you add to your home screen — plenty for on-site clock-in, but not an App Store / Play Store app.
- Hosted convenience. With Zoho there’s nothing to host. Punchwell needs a WordPress site (which you likely already have, but it’s a prerequisite).
If those trade-offs are dealbreakers, Zoho People may suit you better — and that’s fine. If you want the IP lock without the cloud, the per-user bill, or the upsell ladder — and you’d rather own your data — Punchwell is built for exactly that.
FAQ
Is Punchwell affiliated with Zoho People? No. Punchwell is an independent product by Sturdyhaus. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Zoho, Zoho People, or any other vendor. We reference “Zoho People” descriptively (nominative fair use) only, to help you compare time-clock options. All third-party names and trademarks belong to their respective owners.
Does Zoho People really do IP restriction, or is that a Punchwell-only thing? Zoho People genuinely does it — it’s one of the very few products, alongside Buddy Punch, that ships true per-user IP restriction on clock-in. We’re happy to say so. Where Punchwell differs is depth and enforcement (CIDR blocks, address ranges, IPv4 + IPv6, company + per-office + per-employee allowlists, block/warn/flag, and a server-side refusal), plus self-hosting and flat pricing.
Does Punchwell cost less than Zoho People? It depends on your size. Zoho People is roughly $2/user/month (approximate, as of June 2026 — confirm current rates), so a 25-person shop is about $600/year and climbs as you hire. Punchwell is $99/year flat with unlimited employees. For a very small team, Zoho’s per-user entry rung can start cheaper; the flat price wins as you grow, and there’s no upsell ladder.
Why choose a self-hosted plugin over a cloud HRIS? Because your data stays on your own server. Punchwell lives inside your WordPress database — no vendor cloud holds your timesheets, and there’s no data call-home (all of the original’s outbound network code was removed and verified; Pro’s only outbound call is license validation, never your data). For clinics, dental practices, and agencies that can’t put staff data in someone else’s cloud, that’s often the deciding factor. Zoho’s breadth is real, but it’s cloud-hosted.
Is my data really mine if it’s self-hosted? Yes. Punchwell lives inside your own WordPress database — your employees, timesheets, and leave records are your rows on your server. There’s no vendor cloud holding them, and no data call-home. It’s GPL, so even if you cancel a Pro license you keep the plugin and every record.
When is Zoho People the better choice? When you want a full cloud HRIS — recruiting, performance reviews, case management, and the wider Zoho ecosystem — and per-employee, self-hosted clock-in locking isn’t your top priority. Zoho’s breadth and native apps are real advantages. Punchwell is narrower and focused on attendance integrity, flat pricing, and data you own.
Own the clock, skip the ladder
Zoho People genuinely ships the IP restriction you came for, and if you want a full cloud HRIS wired into a business suite, it’ll serve you. But if you’d rather get that same office-network lock without the cloud, the per-user bill, or the upsell ladder — and keep your team’s data on your own server — Punchwell is built for exactly that, at a flat $99/yr.
Get Punchwell Pro — $99/yr → · See how the IP lock works → · Review the security posture →
Per site, not per seat. GPL. Self-hosted. Your data stays on your server.
Disclaimer: Punchwell is an independent product by Sturdyhaus and a maintained GPL fork of the “WP Human Resource Management” plugin. Sturdyhaus is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Zoho, Zoho People, or any other vendor named on this page. “Zoho People” and any other product names are referenced descriptively (nominative fair use) solely to allow honest comparison. Competitor pricing is approximate and as of June 2026; vendors price dynamically — confirm current rates before budgeting. All third-party names and trademarks belong to their respective owners. Punchwell, by Sturdyhaus.