Planday vs Skello (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Planday grades higher than Skello: 2.6 against 2.0 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, ease of use and platforms. They get the same grade on value for money and features.
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
Skello
Staff scheduling, time clocking and payroll prep for field teams
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 Skello if
- Fits if you run a shop, restaurant or clinic in France and want rules like RTT and DPAE built in
- Works for teams that want scheduling and clocking from one vendor
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you're outside France, because the legal rules follow French employment law
- Not for you if you want a clear per-head price, as the basis isn't stated
- Tight if you need forecasting and auto-scheduling, which start on Max tiers
- Watch out: the Business plan for 200 to 10,000 employees has no price
How we grade them
| 2.6GPAPlandayGood | 2.0GPASkelloFair | |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | CFrom EUR 59 for clocking, EUR 79 for scheduling and EUR 107 for Planning Max, with the basis (site or head) not stated. A 10% annual discount is offered. |
| 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. | DA 14-day trial on every plan; the page doesn't say whether a card is needed. |
| 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. | BCompliant scheduling, clocking, absences, payroll prep and employee files. Nothing in the listing is missing from the core job. |
| Ease of use | B4.55 from 4,271 App Store ratings, below the top-rated apps in this category. | CNo store rating on record. Legal rules and payroll prep take configuring. |
| 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 with an employee app on the listing. No integrations are named and no desktop app. |
| Best for | rotas for restaurants, hotels and care teams | French and European shift teams |
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 Skello. 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. Skello starts at about $65.91 a month and scores 2.3.
Planday scores higher and starts $62.92 a month lower. Of the other shift scheduling apps on the chart, 1 scores higher than Planday for less, and 12 score higher than Skello 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 also covers auto-scheduling and team chat.
- Skello also covers payroll.
At a glance
| Planday | Skello | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free trial |
| Starts at | $2.99 per user / month (Starter, minimum 5 users) | €59 per month and up (Standard Clocking), basis not stated |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | 30-day free trial of the Plus plan, no credit card required | 14-day free trial on every plan |
| Web | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Planday | Skello |
| Price read from | planday.com | skello.io |
| 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.
Skello
- Prices are in euros and shown as a starting figure; the page does not say what the monthly amount is based on, such as site or headcount.
- The Business plan for 200 to 10,000 employees has no published price.
- Several features, including the Smart Planner and unlimited document storage, depend on the plan tier.
- Legal rules built in, such as RTT and DPAE, follow French employment law.
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.
Skello
- Compliant scheduling
- Week, month and day views with regulatory alerts set from the collective agreement, schedule locking and templates.
- Smart scheduling
- Planning Max and Duo Max forecast staffing needs and create schedules automatically; Smart Planner is an optional extra on lower tiers.
- Time clocking
- Staff clock in on a tablet or mobile with geolocation, and hours worked are tracked for payroll.
- Absences and counters
- Leave and absence management with paid-leave, RTT, overtime and annualized-hours counters.
- Payroll preparation
- Payroll variables are calculated automatically; a separate payroll service starts at €20 a month per employee.
- Employee files
- Contracts, documents and the staff register are stored per employee, with automatic payslip distribution on higher tiers.
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.
Skello
Standard Clocking€59
per month and up
Tablet and mobile clocking with geolocation, hours tracking and employee records. Clocking Max starts at €89.
Scheduling Standard€79
per month and up
Compliant schedules, absence tracking, payroll variables and a mobile app.
Planning Max€107
per month and up
Standard plus staffing forecasts, automatic schedule creation, e-signed timesheets and unlimited AI assistant.
Duo Standard€99
per month and up
Scheduling and clocking together. Duo Max adds forecasts, automatic scheduling and AI assistant from €129.
BusinessCustom
For 200 to 10,000 employees: HR system connections, priority support and training.
Ways to pay less
Planday
No public discounts listed.
Skello
- Annual discount
10% off with an annual commitment
The pricing page states a 10% discount on the Scheduling, Clocking and Duo plans with an annual commitment.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Planday or Skello?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Planday starts at $2.99 per user / month (Starter, minimum 5 users), and Skello starts at €59 per month and up (Standard Clocking), basis not stated. One is priced for each person and the other is not, so which costs less depends on how many of you use it.
Which has a free plan, Planday or Skello?
As of Nov 13, 2026, neither Planday nor Skello has a free plan. Both have a free trial.
Which platforms do Planday and Skello 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.