Planday vs RotaCloud
We give Planday a 2.6 GPA and RotaCloud a 2.4, out of 4.0. Planday grades higher on ease of use. They get the same grade on value for money, the free plan, features and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Planday
Rota planning, punch clock and payroll reports for shift-based teams
RotaCloud
UK rota planning with leave tracking and an add-on clocking-in app
How we grade them
| 2.6GPAPlandayGood | 2.4GPARotaCloudFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CStarter is $2.99 a user a month, billed in bundles of five, so 15 staff are three bundles: $44.85 a month, with no yearly rate listed. That's the dear end of normal here. Plus, which has leave and payroll links, is $30 plus $4.49 a user, so $97.35 for 15. | CStandard is £40 a month at 11 to 20 employees, or £400 a year paid yearly, so 15 staff cost about £33 a month. Prices are in pounds only. That's near the middle of this category, and clocking in costs £18 a month more at that size. |
| Free plan and trial | CNo free plan. There's a 30-day trial of Plus with no credit card needed, which is plenty of time to build a few real rotas. | CNo free plan, but a 30-day trial with no payment details needed. Long enough to run a month of real rotas before you pay. |
| Features | BRota templates built around availability, working-time warnings, a geolocated punch clock, shift swaps in the staff app, and wage costs set against revenue. Across its plans that's the whole job, with auto-scheduling only on the custom-priced Pro. | BRota templates, labor costs as you plan, holiday, TOIL and absence tracking, shift swaps and reports on Standard. Pro adds labor forecasting against sales and budget caps. Clocking in, timesheets and payroll exports are a paid add-on. |
| Ease of use | B4.55 from 4,271 App Store ratings. Good, though a step behind the best-rated apps in this category. | CNo App Store rating to go on, as its app has too few ratings on record. Rotas are built by drag and drop from templates, but teams, roles and leave rules need setting up first. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb, iPhone and Android, with Xero, QuickBooks Online, Sage 50, Paychex and Personio among its connections, and an API on Plus. No desktop app. | BWeb, iPhone and Android. It connects to Sage, PayCaptain, Staffology, Breathe, People HR, Tevalis, Google Calendar and Zapier, and has an API. Mostly UK payroll and HR tools. |
| Best for | rotas for restaurants, hotels and care teams | UK care, hospitality and retail rotas |
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: Planday and RotaCloud. How we grade
Price against what you get
Planday starts at $2.99 a month for each person and scores 3.0 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. RotaCloud starts at about $13.22 a month and scores 2.7.
Planday scores higher and starts $10.23 a month lower. Of the other shift scheduling apps on the chart, 1 scores higher than Planday for less, and 3 score higher than RotaCloud 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
- Planday starts at $2.99 per user / month (Starter, minimum 5 users). RotaCloud starts at £10 per month for up to 5 employees, billed monthly (Standard).
- Planday also covers auto-scheduling and team chat.
- RotaCloud also covers reports.
At a glance
| Planday | RotaCloud | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free trial |
| Starts at | $2.99 per user / month (Starter, minimum 5 users) | £10 per month for up to 5 employees, billed monthly (Standard) |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | 30-day free trial of the Plus plan, no credit card required | 30-day free trial, no payment details required |
| Web | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Planday | RotaCloud |
| Price read from | planday.com | rotacloud.com |
| Checked | Oct 18, 2026 | Oct 18, 2026 |
Who each one suits
Planday
- Restaurants, bars and hotels running rotas across several sites
- Care providers and retailers that must follow working-time rules
- Teams that want payroll-ready hours flowing into Xero or Sage
RotaCloud
- UK care homes, vets and dental practices planning staff rotas
- Employers tracking holiday, TOIL and sickness beside the rota
- Small teams that want to add clocking in only if they need it
Worth knowing
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.
RotaCloud
- Prices are shown in pounds sterling only; the site gives no dollar price.
- Clocking in and timesheets are a Time & Attendance add-on, priced by the same headcount bands: £4.50 a month for up to 5 employees, £18 at 11 to 20 and £45 at 41 to 50.
- Text message notifications are a further add-on: £2 a month for up to 5 employees, £8 at 11 to 20 and £20 at 41 to 50; email and push are included.
- There is no free plan, and businesses with more than 500 employees need a custom quote.
Key features
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.
RotaCloud
- Drag-and-drop rotas
- Rotas are built by drag and drop with templates and copying tools across unlimited sites and departments, and shared by email and push notifications.
- Availability and shift swaps
- Staff set recurring availability patterns, swap shifts and check the rota in the free iOS and Android apps.
- Labor cost control
- Daily, weekly and monthly labor costs show while the rota is planned; Pro adds labor forecasting as a share of sales and budget caps.
- Holiday and absence
- Holiday requests, time off in lieu and sickness are tracked beside the rota, and Pro lets managers set rules for when leave can be requested.
- Clocking in and timesheets
- With the Time & Attendance add-on, staff clock in on their phones within a geofence or at a fixed terminal, and timesheets, lateness flags and payroll exports follow.
- Payroll, HR and care integrations
- Connects to Sage, PayCaptain and Staffology payroll, Breathe and People HR, calendar apps, Zapier and care management systems.
Plans
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.
RotaCloud
Standard£10
per month for up to 5 employees, billed monthly
Rotas, templates, labor costs, holiday, TOIL and absence tracking, shift swaps and reports. By headcount band: £20 at 6 to 10 employees, £40 at 11 to 20, £100 at 41 to 50.
Pro£15
per month for up to 5 employees, billed monthly
Adds bulk edits, labor forecasting against sales, budget caps, documents, leave rules, a logbook and enforced 2FA. £30 at 6 to 10 employees, £60 at 11 to 20, £150 at 41 to 50.
Ways to pay less
Planday
No public discounts listed.
RotaCloud
- Annual discount
2 months free with yearly billing
Paying yearly costs ten times the monthly price, for example £100 a year for Standard at up to 5 employees instead of £120.
