Planday
Rota planning, punch clock and payroll reports for shift-based teams
Planday report card
Good · out of 4.0 · graded Oct 18, 2026
Best for rotas for restaurants, hotels and care teams
Planday builds rotas around staff availability, warns you when a shift breaks your working-time rules, and turns approved hours into payroll reports. Starter is cheap per head at $2.99. Just know that leave management, payroll links and the API all sit on Plus, which adds a $30 monthly fee.
Who Planday is for
- Great if you run restaurants, bars or hotels and want wage costs next to revenue
- Handy when managers need a warning before a rota breaks working-time rules
- Good for care providers and retailers paying staff through Xero or Sage
Who Planday is not for
- Tight if you're on Starter and need leave tracking, as that waits 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
Why Planday gets a 2.6
Five grades, each with its reason. The GPA is their average: an A is 4 points, an F is none.
- CValue for moneyStarter 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.
- CFree plan and trialNo 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.
- BFeaturesRota 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.
- BEase of use4.55 from 4,271 App Store ratings. Good, though a step behind the best-rated apps in this category.
- BPlatforms and integrationsWeb, iPhone and Android, with Xero, QuickBooks Online, Sage 50, Paychex and Personio among its connections, and an API on Plus. No desktop app.
What these grades rest on. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from Planday's own pages on 18 October 2026, and its App Store rating. Not based on using the product, and shorter than our full reviews. How we review and grade.
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<a href="https://toolgpa.com/tools/planday#review"><img src="https://toolgpa.com/badge/planday.svg" alt="Planday: 2.6 GPA on ToolGPA" width="196" height="56"></a>Where Planday stands among shift scheduling apps
Planday'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 (B, above 6 of 12) and worst on free plan and trial (C, above 0).
Its paid plans start at $2.99 a month for each person, against a middle price of $5.65 for the category: 3 of the 12 others that charge start lower.
On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 3.0 out of 4. 1 tool scores higher and costs less.
Each grade against the category
Every bar is all 13 shift scheduling apps we grade, cut by the letter each got. Planday’s own letter is outlined.
- CValue for moneyAbove 2 of 12, level with 6
- CFree plan and trialAbove 0 of 12, level with 6
- BFeaturesAbove 4 of 12, level with 8
- BEase of useAbove 6 of 12, level with 1
- BPlatforms and integrationsAbove 1 of 12, level with 11
Price against what you get
Each dot is one of 13 shift scheduling apps. Further left costs less, and higher up scores better on features, ease of use and platforms. Point at a dot to see which tool it is.
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
Keep Planday, or make your own?
Keep it
To replace Planday you would be making chat that a whole team counts on staying up. That is not a weekend's work, with an AI app builder or without one.
It costs $35.88 a year.
What you could make
- Time off and employee records: an app builder makes these well.
What you could not
- Chat that a whole team counts on staying up.
- A rota the whole staff sees on their phones, with swaps and alerts.
- Clocking in from a phone, checked against where and when.
- A scheduler that rearranges your day as things move.
- A real app for iOS and Android. Something home-made would be a web page.
- It is priced for each person, which means accounts and billing for a team.
- It plugs into other products, Xero, QuickBooks Online and Sage 50 among them, and has an API.
- The depth: we grade its features B, which means it covers the whole job.
What this rests on. Planday’s listing: what it does, where it runs, what it plugs into and what it costs. It is a judgement about the kind of software this is. We have not built a replacement for it, and making your own means looking after it too. How we decide, and every tool’s verdict.
What is Planday?
Planday is workforce management software for shift-based businesses in hospitality, retail, care and hotels. Managers build rotas from templates and staff availability, employees clock in with a geolocated punch clock and swap shifts in the app, and approved hours feed payroll reports and integrations. It is priced per user, with a minimum team size on each plan.
Planday is a paid product with a free trial, starting at $2.99 per user / month (Starter, minimum 5 users). See every plan
Good for
- 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
Worth knowing
- 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.
Key features
- 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.
Planday pricing
- Starts at
- $2.99 per user / month (Starter, minimum 5 users)
- Free plan
- None
- Free trial
- 30-day free trial of the Plus plan, no credit card required
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Starter | $2.99per user / month | Minimum 5 users. Scheduling, simple time tracking, working-time rule warnings, basic payroll reports, team messaging and live chat support. |
| Plus | $30per 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. |
| Pro | Custom | For larger organizations: auto-scheduling, custom planning metrics, configurable structure, custom roles, phone support and custom setup. |
Read from planday.com on Oct 18, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with Planday before you buy.
How people rate the Planday app
4.5
out of 5 for the iPhone and iPad app
- 5 stars80%
- 4 stars8%
- 3 stars5%
- 2 stars2%
- 1 star6%
4,271 ratings on the App Store in the United States, read Oct 18, 2026. It rates the app, not everything the product does. See the listing
Works with
- Xero
- QuickBooks Online
- Sage 50
- Paychex
- TriNet
- Personio
- Tenzo
- Tipjar
Planday alternatives
- Planday vs Deputy
Free trial · from $5/mo
- Planday vs RotaCloud
Free trial · from £10/mo
- Planday vs Shiftbase
Free plan · from €27/mo
- Planday vs When I Work
Free trial · from $2.50/mo
- Planday vs 7shifts
Free plan · from $39.99/mo
Common questions
Is Planday free?
No, Planday is a paid product, but you can try it first. 30-day free trial of the Plus plan, no credit card required.
How much does Planday cost?
Planday lists 3 plans. Starter: $2.99 per user / month. Plus: $30 per month, plus $4.49 per user. Pro: custom pricing. Prices were read from planday.com on Oct 18, 2026.
What platforms does Planday work on?
Planday is available on Web, iOS and Android.
How is Planday rated?
Planday's iPhone and iPad app averages 4.5 out of 5 from 4,271 ratings on the App Store in the United States, as read on Oct 18, 2026. That is the store's rating of the app, not a score from us.
Does Planday have a Windows app?
No Windows app was listed when its pages were read on Oct 18, 2026. Planday is listed for Web, iOS and Android.
Does Planday have a macOS app?
No macOS app was listed when its pages were read on Oct 18, 2026. Planday is listed for Web, iOS and Android.
Is Planday open source?
Planday is not described as open source on its own site, as read on Oct 18, 2026.
Does Planday have an API?
Yes. Planday offers a public API, according to its own site.
What does Planday integrate with?
Planday's listing names Xero, QuickBooks Online, Sage 50, Paychex, TriNet, Personio, Tenzo and Tipjar. A listing names up to eight integrations, so it may connect to more.
Who makes Planday?
Planday is made by Planday. It dates from 2004.
What are the alternatives to Planday?
The closest alternatives to Planday in our directory are Deputy, RotaCloud, Shiftbase, When I Work and 7shifts. Each one has a side-by-side comparison with Planday.
How does Planday compare with other shift scheduling apps?
Planday'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 (B, above 6 of 12) and worst on free plan and trial (C, above 0).
Is Planday good value for money?
ToolGPA grades Planday C for value for money. Its paid plans start at $2.99 a month for each person, against a middle price of $5.65 for the category: 3 of the 12 others that charge start lower. On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 3.0 out of 4. 1 tool scores higher and costs less.
Could I make my own version of Planday?
To replace Planday you would be making chat that a whole team counts on staying up. That is not a weekend's work, with an AI app builder or without one. It costs $35.88 a year. What you could not make: Chat that a whole team counts on staying up. A rota the whole staff sees on their phones, with swaps and alerts. Clocking in from a phone, checked against where and when. A scheduler that rearranges your day as things move. This is a judgement from its listing. We have not built one.
Sources for this page
The prices, plans, platforms and features above were read from these pages on Oct 18, 2026. What people say is linked where it appears.