Planday vs Rotageek (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Planday grades higher than Rotageek: 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
Planday grades higher on the free plan, features, ease of use and platforms. They get the same grade on value for money.
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
Free trial · from $2.99/mo
Which one is for you
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
Pick Rotageek if
- Fits if you run a retail or hospitality chain and want forecast-led rotas
- Works for teams using ELMO for HR
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want a price, as none is shown
- Tight if you need auto-scheduling or forecasting, since they are add-ons
- Watch out: the HR modules are powered by ELMO, not built by Rotageek
How we grade them
| 2.6GPAPlandayGood | 1.6GPARotageekWeak | |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | CNo price on record, and the site's /pricing page is not found. Demos only. |
| Free plan and trial | CNo free plan. There's a 30-day trial of Plus with no credit card needed, long enough to build a few real rotas. | FNothing free is listed: no free plan and no trial on the pages we read. |
| 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. | CRotas, forecasting, time and attendance, pay rules and an app. But auto-scheduling, forecasting and labor modelling are add-ons beyond Digital Scheduling. |
| Ease of use | B4.55 from 4,271 App Store ratings, below the top-rated apps in this category. | CNo store rating on record. It's an enterprise package with add-ons. |
| 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. | CWeb only on the listing, with ELMO the one named integration. |
| Best for | rotas for restaurants, hotels and care teams | retail and hospitality chains |
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 Rotageek. How we grade
Where they differ
- Planday also covers auto-scheduling, team chat and employee records.
- Rotageek also covers reports and payroll.
In commonWebPublic APIShift schedulingTime clockTime off
At a glance
| Planday | Rotageek | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Paid |
| Starts at | $2.99 per user / month (Starter, minimum 5 users) | Not published |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | 30-day free trial of the Plus plan, no credit card required | None listed |
| Web | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Planday | Rotageek Ltd |
| Price read from | planday.com | Not confirmed |
| Checked | Oct 18, 2026 | Nov 13, 2026 |
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.
Rotageek
- No prices are published; the site routes to demos, and /pricing returns a not-found page.
- Auto-scheduling, forecasting, labor modelling and insights are add-ons beyond the core Digital Scheduling package.
- The HR modules are powered by ELMO rather than being a separate Rotageek product.
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.
Rotageek
- Rota building and auto-scheduling
- Rota building with skills, tasks and rules checks, plus an auto-scheduling add-on that creates optimized schedules.
- Forecasting and labor planning
- Demand forecasting, labor modelling and labor budgets are sold as add-ons to the core scheduling package.
- Time and attendance
- Clock in by app, kiosk or geofence, with timesheets.
- Pay rules and payroll export
- Turns hours worked into pay using pay rules and exports the result to payroll.
- Leave and employee app
- Holiday requests and absence management, and a mobile app with shift swaps.
- Platform
- A public API with webhooks, integrations for payroll, HR and POS, and HR modules powered by ELMO.
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.
Rotageek
Pricing could not be confirmed. See rotageek.com.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Planday or Rotageek?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Planday starts at $2.99 per user / month (Starter, minimum 5 users), and Rotageek has no price we could confirm.
Which has a free plan, Planday or Rotageek?
As of Nov 13, 2026, neither Planday nor Rotageek has a free plan. Planday has a free trial.
Which platforms do Planday and Rotageek run on?
As of Nov 13, 2026, only Planday 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.