Planday vs Shiftbase
We give Planday and Shiftbase the same GPA: 2.6 out of 4.0. Planday grades higher on ease of use. Shiftbase grades higher on the free plan. They get the same grade on value for money, 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
Shiftbase
Dutch shift scheduling, time clock and absence app, free to 15 staff
How we grade them
| 2.6GPAPlandayGood | 2.6GPAShiftbaseGood | |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | CBasic is €27 a month billed yearly for 6 employees, plus €3.60 for each extra, so 15 staff pay €59.40. Prices are in euros or pounds only. That's in the dearer quarter of this category, and most payroll links need App Center+ on top. |
| 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. | BFree for up to 15 employees, 1 department and 5 teams, with drag-and-drop scheduling and staff profiles. There's no clock-in, only hours typed in by hand, but a small team can run its rota on it. |
| 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. | BDrag-and-drop schedules, swaps and open shifts, clock-in on phone, desktop or kiosk, leave with balances and surcharges, and payroll exports. Premium adds labor cost targets and skill-based scheduling. That's the whole job. |
| Ease of use | B4.55 from 4,271 App Store ratings. Good, though a step behind the best-rated apps in this category. | CWe have no App Store rating on record for it. Schedules need departments, teams and surcharge rules set up before they pay off. |
| 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, with Nmbrs, AFAS, DATEV, Personio and Lightspeed, though most need the App Center+ add-on at €17.50 a month billed yearly. No desktop app. |
| Best for | rotas for restaurants, hotels and care teams | European shift teams with surcharges |
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 Shiftbase. 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. Shiftbase starts at about $30.26 a month and scores 2.7.
Planday scores higher and starts $27.27 a month lower. Of the other shift scheduling apps on the chart, 1 scores higher than Planday for less, and 5 score higher than Shiftbase 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). Shiftbase starts at €27 per month for up to 6 employees, billed yearly (Basic).
- Shiftbase has a free plan. Planday does not, though it has a free trial.
- Planday also covers auto-scheduling and team chat.
- Shiftbase also covers reports.
At a glance
| Planday | Shiftbase | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free plan |
| Starts at | $2.99 per user / month (Starter, minimum 5 users) | €27 per month for up to 6 employees, billed yearly (Basic) |
| Free plan | None | Free plan for up to 15 employees, 1 department and 5 teams: drag-and-drop scheduling, hours entered by hand and approved by managers, employee profiles and news messages. |
| Free trial | 30-day free trial of the Plus plan, no credit card required | 14-day free trial of the paid plans, no card details needed |
| Web | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Planday | Shiftbase B.V. |
| Price read from | planday.com | shiftbase.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
Shiftbase
- Hospitality, retail and care teams in the Netherlands, Germany and the UK
- Small teams of up to 15 that want a free schedule instead of a spreadsheet
- Businesses that pay surcharges for nights, Sundays and public holidays
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.
Shiftbase
- Prices are shown in euros or pounds only; there is no dollar price.
- Each paid plan includes a set number of employees; every extra one costs €3.60 to €5.40 a month billed yearly (€4 to €6 monthly).
- Most payroll, POS and HR integrations and API tokens need the App Center+ add-on at €20 a month (€17.50 yearly), except on Enterprise. Basic includes three free integrations.
- The Free plan has no clock-in, only hours typed in by hand. Yearly plans are paid up front and not refunded; monthly plans have one month's notice.
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.
Shiftbase
- Drag-and-drop scheduling
- Shifts are dragged onto employees, staff share availability, swap shifts and claim open ones, and Premium adds skill-based scheduling, required shifts and a flexpool.
- Clock-in and kiosks
- From Basic, staff clock in on mobile, desktop or a shared tablet kiosk; Premium allows unlimited kiosks and limits clock-ins to a GPS radius.
- Absence and leave
- Leave requests, approvals, sickness and balances are handled in the app, with surcharges for Sundays, public holidays and, on Premium, night rates.
- Labor cost targets
- Premium sets labor cost or hours budgets per team and day, shows whether the schedule stays inside them, and has a KPI dashboard and AI revenue forecasts.
- Payroll export
- Contract versus worked hours, surcharges and leave payouts export as Excel or CSV, or go to payroll systems such as Nmbrs, AFAS and DATEV through the App Center.
- Employee records and news
- One profile per person with contact and emergency details, plus news messages to the whole team; the HR Pro add-on generates and e-signs contracts.
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.
Shiftbase
Free€0
Up to 15 employees, 1 department and 5 teams: scheduling, manual time entry, employee profiles and team news.
Basic€27
per month for up to 6 employees, billed yearly (€30 billed monthly)
Adds availability, swaps and open shifts, clock-in on phone, desktop or one kiosk, absence management and payroll export. Extra staff €3.60 each (€4 monthly).
Premium€64.80
per month for up to 12 employees, billed yearly (€72 billed monthly)
Adds labor cost targets and budgets, skill-based scheduling, geofenced clock-in and unlimited kiosks. Extra staff €4.50 each (€5 monthly).
Enterprise€302.40
per month for up to 48 employees, billed yearly (€336 billed monthly)
Adds App Center+, API access, custom integrations and a success manager. Sold through a demo. Extra staff €5.40 each (€6 monthly).
Ways to pay less
Planday
No public discounts listed.
Shiftbase
- Annual discount
Save 10% with yearly billing
Yearly billing takes 10% off every paid plan and extra employee, for example Basic at €27 instead of €30 a month.
- Nonprofit
Discount for charities and non-profits
Charities and non-profits get a discount that depends on team size and plan, through a proposal from the sales team.
