Planday vs Staffomatic (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Planday grades higher than Staffomatic: 2.6 against 2.2 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 18, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 · graded Oct 18, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
Planday grades higher on features and ease of use. They get the same grade on value for money, the free plan 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
Staffomatic
Shift planner and time tracking priced per person in euros
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 Staffomatic if
- Fits if you run a team of 10 or more and want shifts and absences together
- Works for a business in Europe that is fine with prices in euros
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you are under 10 people, as every plan has a 10-person minimum
- Skip it if you want time tracking on the cheapest plan, as that needs Professional
- Watch out: Basic has one admin login and a 30-day activity log, against 60 and 90 days higher up
- Watch out: prices exclude VAT, and the Personio link is limited to Professional on yearly billing
How we grade them
| 2.6GPAPlandayGood | 2.2GPAStaffomaticFair | |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | CEUR 2.00 a person a month on yearly billing, excluding VAT, but with a 10-person minimum, so one person pays EUR 20. For five people that is about EUR 4 a head. |
| 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. | CA 14-day trial of all features with no payment details. There is no free plan. |
| 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. | CShift planner, absences, time tracking, working-time accounts, an AI assistant and an API. Time tracking needs Professional and working-time accounts need Premium. |
| Ease of use | B4.55 from 4,271 App Store ratings, below the top-rated apps in this category. | CNo store rating on record. Staff and rules have to be set 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 plus iOS and Android apps, with an API and two integrations listed. |
| Best for | rotas for restaurants, hotels and care teams | shift planning in euros |
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 Staffomatic. 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. Staffomatic starts at about $2.23 a month for each person and scores 2.3.
Planday scores higher, and starts $0.76 a month higher: the question is whether the extra is worth that to you. Of the other shift scheduling apps on the chart, 1 scores higher than Planday for less, and 1 scores higher than Staffomatic 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.
At a glance
| Planday | Staffomatic | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free trial |
| Starts at | $2.99 per user / month (Starter, minimum 5 users) | €2.00 per person / month, billed yearly (€2.40 monthly), minimum 10 people |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | 30-day free trial of the Plus plan, no credit card required | 14-day free trial of all features, no payment details needed |
| Web | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Planday | Staffomatic |
| Price read from | planday.com | staffomatic.com |
| Checked | Oct 18, 2026 | Nov 12, 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.
Staffomatic
- Prices are in euros and exclude VAT, with a minimum of 10 people on every plan.
- Time tracking needs Professional and working-time accounts need Premium; Basic is planning only.
- Basic includes only one admin login, and its activity log goes back 30 days against 60 and 90 on the higher plans.
- The Personio interface is limited to the Professional plan on yearly billing; teams of 100 or more get an enterprise 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.
Staffomatic
- Shift planner
- Builds and publishes weekly rotas, with shift swaps and shift applications from employees; multiple locations cost nothing extra.
- Absence planning
- A vacation planner is in every plan, and the digital personnel file is included from Basic up.
- Time tracking
- Time tracking starts on the Professional plan, with roles and permissions, availability, qualifications and prioritized shifts.
- Working-time accounts
- Premium adds working-time and overtime accounts, surcharges and a DATEV export of the accounts.
- Staffo AI assistant
- An AI assistant called Staffo is listed on every plan in beta, with a daily usage limit, and its scope and price may change after the beta.
- Mobile app and API
- Staff use a mobile app on iOS and Android, and the Professional and Premium plans include API access.
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.
Staffomatic
Basic€2.00
per person / month, billed yearly (€2.40 monthly)
Shift and absence planning, mobile app, shift swaps, personnel file and 1 admin login. Minimum 10 people.
Professional€4.00
per person / month, billed yearly (€4.80 monthly)
Adds time tracking, roles and permissions, availability, qualifications and API access. Minimum 10 people.
Premium€6.00
per person / month, billed yearly (€7 monthly)
Adds working-time accounts, surcharges, overtime account, DATEV export and bulk import. Minimum 10 people.
Ways to pay less
Planday
No public discounts listed.
Staffomatic
- Annual discount
Up to 17% off with yearly payment
The pricing page shows lower per-person rates for yearly payment (12 months in advance) than for monthly billing.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Planday or Staffomatic?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Staffomatic is cheaper to start with: about $2.23 a month for each person, against $2.99 a month for each person for Planday. Planday starts at $2.99 per user / month (Starter, minimum 5 users), and Staffomatic starts at €2.00 per person / month, billed yearly (€2.40 monthly), minimum 10 people.
Which has a free plan, Planday or Staffomatic?
As of Nov 12, 2026, neither Planday nor Staffomatic has a free plan. Both have a free trial.
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.