# Deputy

> Shift scheduling, time clock and labor-law tools for hourly teams

Deputy is workforce management software for businesses that run on shifts. Managers build rosters by hand or with auto-scheduling, staff swap shifts and clock in from phones, tablets or a kiosk, and approved timesheets flow to payroll. HR tools and US payroll by Paycor are sold as add-ons.

- **Category:** Shift Scheduling
- **Made by:** Deputy (since 2008)
- **Website:** https://www.deputy.com
- **Runs on:** Web, iOS, Android
- **Facts last checked:** Oct 18, 2026

## Pricing

Deputy is a paid product with a free trial, starting at $5 per user / month, billed annually (Lite).

- **Pricing model:** Free trial
- **Free plan:** None.
- **Free trial:** Free trial of up to 31 days, no credit card required.

| Plan | Price | What you get |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Lite | $5 per user / month, billed annually ($5.50 billed monthly) | Basic scheduling, timesheets and time clock, shift swaps, leave and availability, labor-law checks, basic reports and team messaging. |
| Core | $6.50 per user / month, billed annually ($7.25 billed monthly) | Adds auto-scheduling, demand forecasting, wage budgets, face-unlock kiosk clock-ins and timesheet auto-approval. Marked most popular. |
| Pro | $9 per user / month, billed annually ($10 billed monthly) | Adds custom access levels, location hierarchies, pay centers, SSO, a sandbox and 24/7 live chat, with Analytics+ and Messaging+ included. |

Read from https://www.deputy.com/pricing on Oct 18, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with Deputy before buying.

## Ways to pay less

- **About 10% off with annual billing** (Annual discount): Annual plans cost $5, $6.50 and $9 per user a month against $5.50, $7.25 and $10 billed monthly; the page labels the saving 10%. Source: https://www.deputy.com/pricing
- **Special pricing for charities on request** (Nonprofit): Charities, not-for-profits and community organizations can ask Deputy about special pricing; no figure is published. Source: https://www.deputy.com/pricing
- **6 months free on Pro and Payroll until November 30, 2026** (Other savings): New US businesses that sign up by November 30, 2026 and buy both Pro and Deputy Payroll on a 12-month term get six billing months free. Source: https://www.deputy.com/insights/deputy-wfm-and-payroll-promo-offer-6-months-free

## Key features

- **Shift planning and swaps:** Schedules are built from templates with paid and unpaid breaks. Staff can confirm shifts, pick up open ones, swap or offer shifts and find a replacement.
- **Auto-scheduling and forecasting:** From the Core plan, Deputy builds and fills shifts from demand and staff availability, and compares forecast sales and wages against actuals.
- **Clock-in apps and geofencing:** Staff clock in from the mobile apps, a browser, a watch or a shared tablet kiosk. Geofences block clock-ins away from the site, and Core adds face-unlock kiosks.
- **Timesheets to payroll:** Clock-ins become timesheets that managers approve, or that Core approves automatically, and then go to payroll systems such as Gusto, ADP, Paychex or Xero.
- **Labor-law compliance:** Rules for breaks, overtime, Fair Workweek scheduling and custom pay rates are checked as shifts are built and worked.
- **Team messaging and Shift Pulse:** A news feed and messaging reach staff in the app, and Shift Pulse asks each worker for feedback when a shift ends.

## Good for

- Hospitality, retail and healthcare employers scheduling hourly staff
- Businesses that must follow break rules and Fair Workweek laws
- Multi-location operators that want demand forecasts and wage budgets

## Worth knowing

- Monthly plans carry a minimum spend of $30 a month, and every admin, manager and supervisor counts as a paid user.
- US payroll by Paycor is an add-on for annual Core and Pro plans: $8 per user a month plus a $49 monthly base fee. HR is $2 per user a month.
- Annual plans cannot be moved to a lower plan or fewer users during the term, and cancelling early brings no refund.
- Text messages sent through Deputy, such as published schedules, cost 1 cent per 160 characters in the US.

## ToolGPA grades

**GPA: 2.6 out of 4**, graded Oct 18, 2026. Deputy is the grown-up pick here: schedules, a time clock, labor-law checks and timesheets that go to payroll, in an app staff rate highly. The catch is the price. It charges per person, so 15 hourly staff on Lite cost $75 a month, and plenty of rivals charge a flat fee that comes out far lower.

- **Value for money: D.** Lite is $5 a person a month billed yearly, so 15 staff come to $75 a month, and managers count as users too. For a team that size that's in the dearest tenth of this category. Auto-scheduling and face-unlock kiosks wait on Core at $6.50 a head.
- **Free plan and trial: C.** No free plan, but a trial of up to 31 days with no credit card needed. That's a long, fair look, though after it you pay for every user.
- **Features: B.** Schedules from templates with breaks, shift swaps, clock-ins from phones, browsers, watches or a kiosk, labor-law checks as you build, and timesheets that flow to payroll. That's the whole job, with auto-scheduling and demand forecasts on Core.
- **Ease of use: A.** 4.79 from 5,849 App Store ratings. Staff get their shifts, swaps and clock-ins on the phone, which is where most of the use happens.
- **Platforms and integrations: B.** Web, iPhone and Android, plus payroll and till links such as Gusto, ADP, Paychex, QuickBooks, Xero and Square, and a public API. No desktop app, so it stops at a B.

These are ToolGPA's own grades. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from Deputy's own pages on 18 October 2026, and its App Store rating. Not based on using the product, and shorter than our full reviews.

## Where it stands among shift scheduling apps

- Deputy's GPA of 2.6 is higher than 5 of the 12 other shift scheduling apps we grade, and level with 2.
- It stands best on ease of use (A, above 8 of 12) and worst on value for money (D, above 0).
- Its paid plans start at $5 a month for each person, against a middle price of $5.65 for the category: 5 of the 12 others that charge start lower.
- On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 3.3 out of 4. Nothing scores higher for less, though at least one tool matches that score at a lower price.

The category's chart of price against score: https://toolgpa.com/charts/shift-scheduling

## Keep it, or make your own?

**Keep it.** To replace Deputy you would be making payroll taxes worked out and filed with the government for you. That is not a weekend's work, with an AI app builder or without one. It costs $60 a year.

- You could make: Time off: an app builder makes this well.
- You could not: Payroll taxes worked out and filed with the government for you.
- You could not: A rota the whole staff sees on their phones, with swaps and alerts.
- You could not: Clocking in from a phone, checked against where and when.
- You could not: A scheduler that rearranges your day as things move.
- You could not: A real app for iOS and Android. Something home-made would be a web page.
- You could not: It is priced for each person, which means accounts and billing for a team.
- You could not: It plugs into other products, Gusto, ADP and Paychex among them, and has an API.
- You could not: AI features, unless you pay a model provider for each request yourself.
- You could not: The depth: we grade its features B, which means it covers the whole job.

A judgement by ToolGPA from this listing, by rules that are the same for every tool. Nothing was built to test it.

## What people say

- **App Store rating of the iPhone and iPad app:** 4.8 out of 5 from 5,849 ratings in the United States, read Oct 18, 2026. This is the store's rating of the app, not a score from ToolGPA. Source: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/id477070330

## Works with

Gusto, ADP, Paychex, QuickBooks, Xero, Square, Lightspeed, BambooHR

**Tags:** Shift scheduling, Time clock, Time off, Auto-scheduling, Payroll, AI features, Public API

## Alternatives

- [When I Work](https://toolgpa.com/tools/when-i-work): Staff scheduling with auto-fill, shift trades and an add-on time clock. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/deputy-vs-when-i-work)
- [Homebase](https://toolgpa.com/tools/homebase): Small-business scheduling, time clock and payroll, priced per location. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/deputy-vs-homebase)
- [7shifts](https://toolgpa.com/tools/7shifts): Restaurant scheduling, time clock, tips and payroll, per location. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/7shifts-vs-deputy)
- [Connecteam](https://toolgpa.com/tools/connecteam): Employee app for shifts, time clock, chat and HR, free up to 10 users. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/connecteam-vs-deputy)
- [Sling by Toast](https://toolgpa.com/tools/sling): Free shift scheduling for up to 30 users, with paid time clock tiers. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/deputy-vs-sling)

## Sources

The prices, plans, platforms and features above were read from these pages on Oct 18, 2026:

- https://www.deputy.com/pricing
- https://www.deputy.com
- https://www.deputy.com/about
- https://www.deputy.com/integrations
- https://www.deputy.com/insights/deputy-wfm-and-payroll-promo-offer-6-months-free

Page: https://toolgpa.com/tools/deputy
Listed by ToolGPA (toolgpa.com).