The short version
Pick AttendUX if you run a business in Egypt, Gulf, or MENA, you need native WPS/Mudad/GOSI/MOHRE, and you want face-recognition attendance from employee mobiles (with optional ZKTeco device integration if you own any) under $5/employee/month. Pick Zoho People if you are already on Zoho CRM/Books/Desk and want HR in the same ecosystem, you have a global workforce beyond MENA, and you need deep integration with Zoho Expense / Projects / Analytics.
Pricing — different models, different sweet spots
Zoho People publishes pricing openly: Essential at $1.50/user/month, Professional $2.50, Premium $4.50, Enterprise $7, People Plus $9. All annual billing. Per-user pricing means a 50-person team pays $900-$5,400/year.
AttendUX uses graduated package pricing — Lite (10 emp) $360/year up to Max (100 emp) $2,820/year international, with EGP + Gulf tiers. A 50-person Egyptian business pays ~18,500 EGP/year with AttendUX vs ~$1,500/year with Zoho Essential.
Zoho is cheaper at the lowest tier IF you only need core HR. AttendUX is cheaper at mid-market tiers (20-100) and bundles WPS + ZKTeco that Zoho charges extra for.
MENA labor law + WPS — AttendUX native, Zoho configurable
Zoho People is built for a global audience. Egyptian Labor Law 14/2025, UAE MOHRE WPS SIF format, Saudi Mudad + GOSI brackets, Nitaqat Saudization tracking — none are native out of the box. Zoho customers in MENA typically build custom fields + hire a Zoho partner to configure labor rules, which adds 1-2 weeks of setup + $500-$2,000 in consultant fees.
AttendUX ships these pre-configured. New Egyptian customers select their tier and the labor engine is already compliant on day one. Gulf customers get the WPS module (UAE, Saudi, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman) with a toggle, not a custom build.
ZKTeco integration — the MENA-specific gap
ZKTeco biometric devices dominate MENA offices (90%+ market share in Egypt + Gulf). AttendUX supports 20+ ZKTeco models natively via the ADMS Push protocol — flip a menu setting on the device and attendance starts flowing in minutes.
Zoho People does not have native ZKTeco integration. You either (a) use Zoho's generic SDK and build a custom bridge, (b) hire a Zoho partner to install middleware, or (c) go through a 3rd-party agent like PeopleAccount. All three add cost + fragility. For MENA offices with existing ZKTeco hardware, this is a deal-maker or deal-breaker.
Where Zoho People wins — ecosystem depth + suite breadth
Zoho People is one module in a 40+ app suite. If your business already runs on Zoho CRM, Zoho Books, Zoho Desk, Zoho Projects, Zoho Analytics — People fits natively. HR + sales + accounting + support + projects all share user records, cross-module reports, single sign-on, unified billing.
Zoho also has deeper HR-specific modules beyond attendance + payroll: 360° performance reviews, LMS integration, succession planning, surveys, case management, applicant tracking. AttendUX focuses on HR + attendance + payroll; we do not try to replace Workday for enterprise HR.
For a MENA enterprise (500+ staff) that needs both ecosystem + MENA compliance, the honest answer is: run Zoho for CRM/accounting/projects, run AttendUX for HR/payroll/WPS, connect them via API. We have customers doing exactly this.
