Deputy vs Papershift (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Deputy grades higher than Papershift: 2.6 against 2.2 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 18, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 · graded Oct 18, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
Deputy grades higher on features and ease of use. Papershift grades higher on value for money. They get the same grade on the free plan and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Deputy
Shift scheduling, time clock and labor-law tools for hourly teams
Papershift
German shift planning, time tracking and absence software
Which one is for you
Pick Deputy if
- Fits if you have to follow break rules or Fair Workweek scheduling laws
- Works for teams that want staff to swap shifts and find their own cover
Look elsewhere if
- Pricey if you have 15 or more hourly staff, since every person, managers included, is a paid user
- Skip it if you might shrink, as annual plans can't drop users or plans mid-term and there's no refund
- Tight if you pay monthly with a small team, because there's a $30 monthly minimum
- Watch out: US payroll is $8 a user plus $49 a month on yearly Core or Pro, HR is $2 a user, and texts are 1 cent each
- Not for you if you want auto-scheduling or face-unlock kiosks on Lite, as they start on Core at $6.50 a head
Pick Papershift if
- Fits if you run a small team in Germany and want shifts, absences and time tracking together
- Works for a business that can read the German pricing page and pay in euros
Look elsewhere if
- Pricey if you are very small, as every booking adds a EUR 39 monthly base fee
- Skip it if you want shift planning on the cheapest plan, as Core is time tracking and absences only
- Watch out: prices are in euros and exclude VAT, and the page is in German
- Watch out: higher support levels than Basic are sold separately
How we grade them
| 2.6GPADeputyGood | 2.2GPAPapershiftFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | DLite is $5 a person a month billed yearly, so 15 staff come to $75 a month, and managers count as users too. For a team that size that's in the dearest tenth of this category. Auto-scheduling and face-unlock kiosks wait on Core at $6.50 a head. | CEUR 3.60 a person a month on yearly billing, excluding VAT, plus a EUR 39 base fee. Shift planning starts at Premium, EUR 5.40. For five people that is well above the category middle. |
| Free plan and trial | CNo free plan, but a trial of up to 31 days with no credit card needed. After it you pay for every user, managers included. | CA 14-day test account with all features after booking. The page does not say whether a card is needed. There is no free plan. |
| Features | BSchedules from templates with breaks, shift swaps, clock-ins from phones, browsers, watches or a kiosk, labor-law checks as you build, and timesheets that flow to payroll. That's the whole job, with auto-scheduling and demand forecasts on Core. | CShift planning, automatic assignment, time tracking, absences and payroll prep. The cheapest plan, Core, has no shift planning, so the listing shows a gap. |
| Ease of use | A4.79 from 5,849 App Store ratings. Staff get their shifts, swaps and clock-ins on the phone, which is where most of the use happens. | CNo store rating on record. Accounts, rules and staff have to be set up first. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb, iPhone and Android, plus payroll and till links such as Gusto, ADP, Paychex, QuickBooks, Xero and Square, and a public API. No desktop app, so it stops at a B. | BWeb plus iOS and Android apps, with five integrations listed. |
| Best for | shift teams that must follow labor laws | German shift and absence planning |
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: Deputy and Papershift. How we grade
Price against what you get
Deputy starts at $5 a month for each person and scores 3.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Papershift starts at about $4.02 a month for each person and scores 2.3.
Deputy scores higher, and starts $0.98 a month higher: the question is whether the extra is worth that to you. Of the other shift scheduling apps on the chart, none scores higher than Deputy for less, and 3 score higher than Papershift for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- Deputy also covers auto-scheduling.
- Papershift also covers employee records.
At a glance
| Deputy | Papershift | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free trial |
| Starts at | $5 per user / month, billed annually (Lite) | €3.60 per employee / month, billed yearly (€4 monthly), plus €39 base |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | Free trial of up to 31 days, no credit card required | 14-day free test account after booking, all features |
| Web | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Deputy | Papershift |
| Price read from | deputy.com | papershift.com |
| Checked | Oct 18, 2026 | Nov 12, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Deputy
- Monthly plans carry a minimum spend of $30 a month, and every admin, manager and supervisor counts as a paid user.
- US payroll by Paycor is an add-on for annual Core and Pro plans: $8 per user a month plus a $49 monthly base fee. HR is $2 per user a month.
- Annual plans cannot be moved to a lower plan or fewer users during the term, and cancelling early brings no refund.
- Text messages sent through Deputy, such as published schedules, cost 1 cent per 160 characters in the US.
Papershift
- Prices are in euros, exclude VAT, and the page is in German; the shown totals assume 16 employees.
- Shift planning starts at Premium; Core is time tracking and absences only.
- Every booking carries a €39 monthly base fee that includes Basic support; higher support levels are sold separately.
- For teams of up to 15 there is a separate Papershift Light, and larger companies get an individual Enterprise quote.
Key features
Deputy
- Shift planning and swaps
- Schedules are built from templates with paid and unpaid breaks. Staff can confirm shifts, pick up open ones, swap or offer shifts and find a replacement.
- Auto-scheduling and forecasting
- From the Core plan, Deputy builds and fills shifts from demand and staff availability, and compares forecast sales and wages against actuals.
- Clock-in apps and geofencing
- Staff clock in from the mobile apps, a browser, a watch or a shared tablet kiosk. Geofences block clock-ins away from the site, and Core adds face-unlock kiosks.
- Timesheets to payroll
- Clock-ins become timesheets that managers approve, or that Core approves automatically, and then go to payroll systems such as Gusto, ADP, Paychex or Xero.
- Labor-law compliance
- Rules for breaks, overtime, Fair Workweek scheduling and custom pay rates are checked as shifts are built and worked.
- Team messaging and Shift Pulse
- A news feed and messaging reach staff in the app, and Shift Pulse asks each worker for feedback when a shift ends.
Papershift
- Shift planning
- Schedules are built visually and shared online, with multi-location planning, work-time models and break rules in the Premium and Professional packages.
- Automatic shift assignment
- Premium assigns shifts automatically by rules; Professional lists fully automatic filling of the schedule.
- Time tracking
- Staff clock in via smartphone, tablet or browser, with automatic break rules set per employee.
- Absence management
- Absence requests and employee-specific target hours are in every package; Professional adds blackout periods and employee-specific holidays.
- Payroll preparation
- Professional calculates hours and surcharges (night, Sunday, holiday) and exports to DATEV and LODAS for the tax advisor.
- HR records
- Employee profiles with master data, uploaded contracts and documents, tags and qualifications, and EU-hosted storage described as GDPR-compliant.
Plans
Deputy
Lite$5
per user / month, billed annually ($5.50 billed monthly)
Basic scheduling, timesheets and time clock, shift swaps, leave and availability, labor-law checks, basic reports and team messaging.
Core$6.50
per user / month, billed annually ($7.25 billed monthly)
Adds auto-scheduling, demand forecasting, wage budgets, face-unlock kiosk clock-ins and timesheet auto-approval. Marked most popular.
Pro$9
per user / month, billed annually ($10 billed monthly)
Adds custom access levels, location hierarchies, pay centers, SSO, a sandbox and 24/7 live chat, with Analytics+ and Messaging+ included.
Papershift
Core€3.60
per employee / month, billed yearly (€4 monthly), plus €39 base
Digital time tracking, absence management, employee profiles and documents, no shift planning. The page shows €57.60 a month for 16 employees.
Premium€5.40
per employee / month, billed yearly (€6 monthly), plus €39 base
Adds digital shift planning, rule-based automatic shift assignment, work-time models and multi-location planning. €86.40 a month for 16 employees.
Professional€8.10
per employee / month, billed yearly (€9 monthly), plus €39 base
Adds full automation, absence blackout periods, surcharges, DATEV and LODAS export and reports. €129.60 a month for 16 employees.
Ways to pay less
Deputy
- Annual discount
About 10% off with annual billing
Annual plans cost $5, $6.50 and $9 per user a month against $5.50, $7.25 and $10 billed monthly; the page labels the saving 10%.
- Nonprofit
Special pricing for charities on request
Charities, not-for-profits and community organizations can ask Deputy about special pricing; no figure is published.
- Other savings
6 months free on Pro and Payroll until November 30, 2026
New US businesses that sign up by November 30, 2026 and buy both Pro and Deputy Payroll on a 12-month term get six billing months free.
Papershift
- Annual discount
10% off with yearly payment
The pricing page says paying yearly saves 10% against monthly payment, on a one-year subscription.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Deputy or Papershift?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Papershift is cheaper to start with: about $4.02 a month for each person, against $5 a month for each person for Deputy. Deputy starts at $5 per user / month, billed annually (Lite), and Papershift starts at €3.60 per employee / month, billed yearly (€4 monthly), plus €39 base.
Which has a free plan, Deputy or Papershift?
As of Nov 12, 2026, neither Deputy nor Papershift has a free plan. Both have a free trial.
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.