Deputy vs Shiftie
We give Deputy a 2.6 GPA and Shiftie a 2.0, out of 4.0. Deputy grades higher on features, ease of use and platforms. Shiftie grades higher on value for money. They get the same grade on the free plan.
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
Shiftie
UK rota and time clock web app with one per-employee plan
How we grade them
| 2.6GPADeputyGood | 2.0GPAShiftieFair | |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | C£2.75 an employee a month, billed monthly with no yearly plan, so 15 staff cost £41.25 a month. Prices are in pounds only. That's above the middle of this category for a team that size, though it buys every feature. |
| Free plan and trial | CNo free plan, but a trial of up to 31 days with no credit card needed. That's a long, fair look, though after it you pay for every user. | CNo free plan, but a 28-day trial with no card details needed. Enough to run a month of real rotas before you pay. |
| 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. | CRota templates, open shifts, swaps with conflict checks, GPS-limited clock-ins, timesheets, leave and documents, all on one plan. The gap the listing names is payroll: there's no payroll connection, only a timesheet export. |
| 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 App Store rating to go on, since there's no store app. Staff save the web app to their home screen, and a rota still needs teams, roles and templates 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. | CWeb only, as a progressive web app, with no native phone or desktop app. Its connections are UK ticketing, till and vetting tools such as DigiTickets and ICRTouch, and API access is by request. |
| Best for | shift teams that must follow labor laws | UK venues that staff to bookings |
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 Shiftie. 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. Shiftie starts at about $3.64 a month for each person and scores 2.0.
Deputy scores higher, and starts $1.36 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 4 score higher than Shiftie 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 starts at $5 per user / month, billed annually (Lite). Shiftie starts at £2.75 per employee / month.
- Only Deputy lists iOS and Android apps.
- Deputy also covers auto-scheduling and payroll.
- Shiftie also covers reports and employee records.
At a glance
| Deputy | Shiftie | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free trial |
| Starts at | $5 per user / month, billed annually (Lite) | £2.75 per employee / month |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | Free trial of up to 31 days, no credit card required | 28-day free trial, no card details required |
| Web | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Deputy | Shiftie |
| Price read from | deputy.com | shiftie.co |
| Checked | Oct 18, 2026 | Oct 18, 2026 |
Who each one suits
Deputy
- Hospitality, retail and healthcare employers scheduling hourly staff
- Businesses that must follow break rules and Fair Workweek laws
- Multi-location operators that want demand forecasts and wage budgets
Shiftie
- UK visitor attractions and hospitality venues that staff to bookings
- Small teams that want every feature on one per-employee price
- Employers tracking holiday allowances and absence patterns
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.
Shiftie
- Prices are shown in pounds sterling only; the site gives no dollar price.
- There is no native mobile app: Shiftie is a progressive web app that staff save to their phone's home screen.
- Listed integrations are UK ticketing, till and vetting tools; there is no named payroll integration, only a timesheet export, and API access is arranged on request.
- Billing is monthly for each user active in the previous month, with no annual plan, and teams of 200 or more need a 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.
Shiftie
- Rota building
- Shifts are added by drag and drop or from shift and schedule templates, with open shifts staff can volunteer for and suggestions for who to assign.
- Swaps and conflict checks
- Staff can swap shifts and acknowledge new ones, and conflict detection flags clashes in the rota, which can be split by team, role or location.
- Clock-in with GPS limits
- Staff clock in on their phones or at a shared on-site portal, with optional GPS restrictions, and managers see who is on site at any moment.
- Timesheets for payroll
- Clock-ins create timesheet entries automatically, with auto-approval and auto clock-out settings, and approved timesheets export for payroll.
- Leave, absence and documents
- Holiday requests and allowances, absence tracking, an employee directory and stored documents such as policies and personal records.
- Booking-led scheduling
- Integrations with DigiTickets, TrekkSoft and ICRTouch bring pre-booked visitor numbers or till sales into the rota so staffing can follow demand.
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.
Shiftie
Monthly Plan£2.75
per employee / month, £1.50 for each employee past 30
Every feature: scheduling, availability, leave, documents, time clock and timesheets, multiple venues, team messaging, reports and 7-day support.
EnterpriseCustom
For teams of 200 or more employees, priced by quote.
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.
Shiftie
No public discounts listed.
