Deputy vs Push Operations (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Deputy grades higher than Push Operations: 2.6 against 1.6 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 18, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 · graded Oct 18, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
Deputy grades higher on the free plan, ease of use and platforms. They get the same grade on value for money and features.
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
Push Operations
Scheduling, time tracking, payroll and HR for restaurant teams
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 Push Operations if
- Fits if you run a restaurant of up to 15 staff and want payroll and HR in the same tool
- Works for operators who want POS-linked scheduling and are fine with a quote
Look elsewhere if
- Pricey if you have a small team, because $200 a month per location is the floor
- Skip it if you need auto scheduling, as it is on the Supreme plan
- Not for you if you have over 50 staff and want a published price
- Watch out: plans can't be customised, and no trial is named
How we grade them
| 2.6GPADeputyGood | 1.6GPAPush OperationsWeak | |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | D$200 a month per location for up to 15 employees. For one person or a team of five that is far above the category's middle of $24. |
| 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. | FNo free plan, and the page names no trial; billing starts on the day you sign. |
| 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. | BScheduling, POS integrations, time tracking, payroll, hiring and reporting. Nothing in the listing is missing from the job. |
| 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. Payroll and POS links need setup. |
| 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. | CWeb only on the listing, with no integrations named, though POS links are mentioned. |
| Best for | shift teams that must follow labor laws | single restaurants with up to 15 staff |
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 Push Operations. 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. Push Operations starts at $200 a month and scores 2.3.
Deputy scores higher and starts $195 a month lower. Of the other shift scheduling apps on the chart, none scores higher than Deputy for less, and 12 score higher than Push Operations 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.
- Push Operations also covers reports and applicant tracking.
At a glance
| Deputy | Push Operations | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Paid |
| Starts at | $5 per user / month, billed annually (Lite) | $200 per month per location for up to 15 employees |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | Free trial of up to 31 days, no credit card required | None listed |
| Web | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Deputy | Push Operations |
| Price read from | deputy.com | pushoperations.com |
| Checked | Oct 18, 2026 | Nov 13, 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.
Push Operations
- Only the Essentials price is published; Signature, Supreme and Enterprise prices come from a quote, and teams over 50 employees are asked to request one.
- The $200 starting price is per location per month, and goes up with plan and employee count.
- Push bills on the day of signing and monthly after that; the page names no free trial.
- Add-ons can be bought, but the services in each plan cannot be customized.
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.
Push Operations
- Team scheduling
- Scheduling with labor forecasting, labor cost controls, shift swapping and compliance alerts; auto scheduling is on the Supreme plan.
- POS integrations
- Connects to POS systems so sales and labor data feed forecasts and reports, including sales versus labor.
- Time tracking
- Time tracking with photo capture to prevent buddy punching, and e-sign for forms.
- Payroll
- Payroll including multi-province and multi-location management and a full-service migration, on Signature and above.
- Hiring and HR
- Paperless digital onboarding, an applicant tracking system, turnover reporting and license and visa expiry tracking.
- Reporting
- Workforce costing, employee statistics and sales versus labor reports.
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.
Push Operations
Essentials$200
per month for up to 15 employees, per location
Recommended for a single location with 15 employees or fewer.
SignatureCustom
Adds payroll, HR and onboarding, scheduling with POS integrations, time tracking, reporting and leave management as an add-on.
SupremeCustom
Signature plus auto scheduling, comprehensive leave management and multi-location employee linking.
EnterpriseCustom
For larger and multi-location operators; the page gives no price or feature list for it.
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.
Push Operations
No public discounts listed.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Deputy or Push Operations?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Deputy starts at $5 per user / month, billed annually (Lite), and Push Operations starts at $200 per month per location for up to 15 employees. One is priced for each person and the other is not, so which costs less depends on how many of you use it.
Which has a free plan, Deputy or Push Operations?
As of Nov 13, 2026, neither Deputy nor Push Operations has a free plan. Deputy has a free trial.
Which platforms do Deputy and Push Operations run on?
As of Nov 13, 2026, only Deputy lists iOS and Android apps. Both list a web app. A platform missing from a listing is one its maker's pages did not mention.
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.