Planday vs When I Work
We give Planday a 2.6 GPA and When I Work a 2.8, out of 4.0. When I Work 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
When I Work
Staff scheduling with auto-fill, shift trades and an add-on time clock
How we grade them
| 2.6GPAPlandayGood | 2.8GPAWhen I WorkGood | |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | CEssentials is $2.50 a user a month, so 15 staff pay $37.50 for scheduling, the middle of this category for a team that size. Add the time clock and it's $4 a user, or $60. The page doesn't say whether these are monthly or yearly rates. |
| 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. There's a 14-day trial with every feature and no credit card needed, which covers a couple of schedule cycles. |
| 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. | BAuto-scheduling from availability, templates, multi-week and multi-location schedules, forecasting, shift trades, messaging and payroll exports, with a time clock as an add-on. 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. | A4.79 from 57,666 App Store ratings. Swapping or picking up a shift is a couple of taps for staff. |
| 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 payroll partners such as Rippling, Gusto, Square Payroll, Paychex, QuickBooks Online and OnPay, plus Zapier. API keys need Premium, and there's no desktop app. |
| Best for | rotas for restaurants, hotels and care teams | auto-filled schedules for hourly 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 When I Work. 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. When I Work starts at $2.50 a month for each person and scores 3.3.
When I Work scores higher and starts $0.49 a month lower. Of the other shift scheduling apps on the chart, 1 scores higher than Planday for less, and none scores higher than When I Work 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). When I Work starts at $2.50 per user / month (Essentials, without time tracking).
- Planday also covers employee records.
At a glance
| Planday | When I Work | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free trial |
| Starts at | $2.99 per user / month (Starter, minimum 5 users) | $2.50 per user / month (Essentials, without time tracking) |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | 30-day free trial of the Plus plan, no credit card required | 14-day free trial with every feature, no credit card required |
| Web | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Planday | When I Work, Inc. |
| Price read from | planday.com | wheniwork.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
When I Work
- Restaurants, retail stores and call centers scheduling hourly staff
- Managers who want shifts filled automatically from availability
- Multi-location businesses sharing staff between sites
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.
When I Work
- The time clock, breaks and attendance are an add-on that raises each plan by $1.50 to $2 per user a month, though the page's FAQ says every plan includes them.
- The pricing page offers monthly or annual billing but does not say which basis the listed prices use.
- API keys, webhooks and SAML single sign-on need the Premium plan.
- Payroll runs through partners; Rippling, the preferred partner, offers When I Work customers six months free.
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.
When I Work
- Auto-scheduling
- Managers enter the coverage they need and the app assigns shifts from employee availability and qualifications in one click.
- Templates and multi-week schedules
- Saved templates such as a weekend rush or holiday plan are reused to build schedules weeks ahead, across several locations.
- Shift trades and OpenShifts
- Employees swap or pick up open shifts from the app, and managers approve or decline each request before the schedule updates.
- Time clock on any device
- With the time tracking add-on, staff clock in from phones, tablets or terminals, with GPS or geofencing, break tracking and overtime tracking tied to the schedule.
- Team messaging
- Managers and staff message individuals or the whole team in the app without sharing phone numbers.
- Payroll exports
- Approved hours go to payroll services including Rippling, Gusto, Square Payroll, Paychex, QuickBooks Online and OnPay.
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.
When I Work
Essentials$2.50
per user / month ($4 with time tracking and attendance)
Unlimited users. Auto-scheduling, multi-week and multi-location schedules, templates, forecasting, messaging, OpenShifts and swaps.
Pro$5
per user / month ($7 with time tracking and attendance)
Adds scheduling rules, role permissions, labor sharing, custom forecasting units, custom reports and callout reporting.
Premium$8
per user / month ($10 with time tracking and attendance)
Adds API keys, webhooks and SAML single sign-on.
