Humanity Schedule vs Planday (2026): which should you pick?

Pick Humanity Schedule if

• Fits if you schedule hourly staff and want labour cost beside the rota
• Works for a small team that can pay yearly

Look elsewhere if

• Skip it if you want auto-fill or demand-based scheduling on the cheapest plan, as those need Professional
• Watch out: open API access, Shift Tasks and Labor Optimizer are paid add-ons
• Not for you if you need monthly-billing prices, as only annual rates were readable
• Tight if you are large, as Enterprise is a custom quote and Professional discounts are not published

Pick Planday if

• Fits if you run restaurants, bars or hotels and want wage costs next to revenue
• Works for managers who need a warning before a rota breaks working-time rules

Look elsewhere if

• Tight if you're on Starter and need leave tracking, payroll links or the API, as they wait for Plus
• Pricey if you want auto-scheduling, which only comes on Pro, priced by quote
• Not for you if you have fewer than 5 staff, as Starter bills at least 5 users and Plus at least 10
• Watch out: users are billed in bundles of five, so 23 users pay for 25, and Plus adds a $30 monthly fee
• Watch out: SMS and onboarding help cost extra, with no published prices, and there's no free plan

Humanity Schedule

• Auto-fill, demand-based scheduling, compliance and labor budgeting need the Professional plan or higher.
• Open API access, Shift Tasks and Labor Optimizer are listed as add-ons.
• The pricing page shows annual-billing rates only; the monthly-billing rates were not readable.
• Enterprise is a custom quote, and Professional volume discounts are not published.

Planday

• Users are billed in bundles of five, so 23 users are charged as 25. Starter needs at least 5 users and Plus at least 10.
• Plus adds a monthly subscription fee on top of the per-user price; the page data sets it at 30 in the visitor's currency, and Pro is priced by quote.
• Leave and absence management, payroll integrations and the API need Plus; auto-scheduling needs Pro.
• Each SMS sent through Planday and any onboarding help cost extra, and no prices are published for either.

Humanity Schedule

Shift planning

Drag-and-drop schedule building across multiple locations, with shift swaps, availability and time-off requests handled by employees.

Demand Scheduler

AI forecasting predicts busy periods so the schedule can be staffed to expected demand. Demand-based scheduling is a Professional feature.

Compliance rules

Scheduling rules can be customized to catch conflicts with labor laws, collective bargaining agreements and shift rules before they become violations.

Labor cost and budgeting

Reports show how scheduling affects budgets and labor cost, with adjustments possible in real time.

Mobile app

Managers post open shifts and approve requests; employees view schedules, trade shifts and request time off. The app also works on Apple Watch.

Payroll and HR connections

Connects to payroll, ERP and HCM systems such as ADP, Oracle, Workday and BambooHR, with an open API available as an add-on.

Planday

Rota templates and availability

Rotas are built from templates around the availability staff share, with warnings when a shift breaks your working-time rules. Pro adds auto-scheduling.

Geolocated punch clock

Staff clock in and out on their phones only from approved places, or at a kiosk station using the Planday Kiosk app, and managers see who is late across locations.

Employee app

Employees view their schedule, swap or hand over shifts, apply for open shifts, request time off and see their earnings in the iOS and Android app.

Payroll reports and integrations

Approved hours, overtime and absence become payroll reports, and Plus connects them to payroll systems such as Xero, QuickBooks Online, Sage 50 and Paychex.

Staff cost and revenue reports

Reports set wage costs against revenue and forecasts, so managers can see where a rota is over- or under-staffed.

Messenger and newsfeed

Managers message staff in the app or by SMS and post updates to a newsfeed; in-app messaging is included, while each SMS is charged.

Humanity Schedule

• Essentials$2.75

  per employee / month, billed annually

  Up to 250 employees: drag-and-drop scheduling, swaps, availability, time off, geofenced clock in/out, basic reporting.

• Professional$3.75

  per employee / month, billed annually

  Starting price; volume discounts may apply. Adds auto-fill and demand-based scheduling, compliance, labor budgeting and SSO/SAML.

• EnterpriseCustom

  Quote only, for complex operations with IT, security or cross-functional scheduling needs.

Planday

• Starter$2.99

  per user / month

  Minimum 5 users. Scheduling, simple time tracking, working-time rule warnings, basic payroll reports, team messaging and live chat support.

• Plus$30

  per month, plus $4.49 per user

  Minimum 10 users. Adds advanced scheduling, leave and absence, payroll and revenue integrations, API access, employee records and documents.

• ProCustom

  For larger organizations: auto-scheduling, custom planning metrics, configurable structure, custom roles, phone support and custom setup.

Humanity Schedule

• Annual discount

  Save 20% with annual billing

  TCP's pricing page has a Monthly/Annually switch labeled "Save 20%", and shows the annual per-employee rates.

Planday

No public discounts listed.