Deputy vs Planday: Which Rota App Suits a UK Hospitality Business?

Deputy and Planday are the two names that come up most when a UK hospitality business outgrows the spreadsheet rota. Both are mature, both are used by bars, restaurants and hotels, and both do far more than a rota: clock-in, leave, payroll exports and till integrations. The differences are in how they charge, what sits on which plan, and how they handle clocking in.

Every fact below was checked on Deputy's and Planday's own websites as of October 2026 and is linked in the sources. Prices change, so check before you sign. ShiftComplete publishes this page; we've tried to be fair to both.

The short answer

• Choose Deputy if you want auto-scheduling and demand forecasting without a sales call (Core plan), geofenced or facial-recognition clock-in, and a long list of UK payroll and EPOS integrations.
• Choose Planday if you want hospitality-focused scheduling and time tracking at a lower entry price, are happy with a 5-user minimum and bundles of five, and like that it's owned by Xero.
• Look at a third option if you run one or a few UK venues, don't need payroll or till integrations, and want temperature logs, allergens and checklists in the same app as the rota.

Deputy vs Planday at a glance

Who Deputy suits

What Deputy does well. Deputy has one of the most complete feature sets in the category. Its Lite plan already includes rotas, timesheets, time clocking, labour law compliance, shift swaps, leave accruals, messaging and payroll integrations. Core adds auto-scheduling, demand forecasting, wage and labour budgets, micro-scheduling (splitting a shift into segments) and biometric clocking. Its time clock lists GPS geofencing and an iPad kiosk that uses facial recognition. Its integrations page lists UK payroll tools such as Xero, Sage, PayCaptain and MyPAYE, EPOS systems including Lightspeed, Square, Epos Now and Tabology, and TipHaus for tips.

Best for: multi-site operators and larger single venues that pay from clock-in data, want the rota built from forecast demand, and want hours flowing into payroll and sales flowing in from the till.

Watch for: the £20 per invoice monthly minimum, every manager and admin counting as a paid user, and add-ons (HR £2, Messaging+ £1.40, Analytics+ £1 per user per month on Lite and Core). Deputy also charges for SMS, at £0.05 per 160 characters in the UK.

Who Planday suits

What Planday does well. Planday was founded in Copenhagen in 2004 and Xero agreed to buy it in 2021, so it has a long history with European hospitality. Its hospitality page covers reusable rotas across teams and locations, open shifts and swaps, phone clock-in with remote approval, real-time staff costs, revenue forecasts and cost-to-revenue reporting, plus messaging and a news feed. Starter includes working time rules and compliance warnings, useful given the UK working time rules. Plus adds leave and absence, payroll integrations and revenue integration. Its integrations page lists Xero, Sage 50 and QuickBooks Online, and tills including Lightspeed, Square, Zettle and GoodTill by SumUp.

Best for: small and mid-sized hospitality teams who want solid scheduling, phone clock-in and a till or payroll link, and who already use Xero or like a lower per-user rate on Starter.

Watch for: the minimums (5 users on Starter, 10 on Plus), bundles of five (23 users are billed as 25), the £30 monthly fee on Plus, auto-scheduling only on the custom-priced Pro plan, and paid onboarding services and SMS charges listed in its FAQ.

A third option for UK hospitality: ShiftComplete

Deputy and Planday are built to serve many industries and many countries. ShiftComplete is built only for UK pubs, restaurants, cafés, bars and hotels, and it covers the kitchen side of running a venue as well as the rota.

• Rotas: staff set availability from their phones weeks ahead. You add events (a Friday match needing two more on the bar), weight the people you want on, and ShiftComplete builds a draft rota in seconds, fair across the team. Up to four time blocks per person per day, custom staff areas, day notes and labour cost as you build.
• Clocking in and out (a setting you switch on): staff clock in on their phone or the tablet behind the bar; you see hours against the rota and download them as a spreadsheet with a total per person for payroll.
• Food-safety and venue records: temperature logs with out-of-range flags, the 14 UK allergens per dish, weekday-specific checklists with named ticks, incidents, maintenance and risk assessments.
• Price: £1.49 per staff member per month, every feature included, no minimums, bundles or contracts. Free for 60 days, no card.

What it doesn't do: there's no payroll, no payroll or till integration and no GPS geofencing. If you need clock-in data flowing straight into Xero or Sage, Deputy or Planday will suit you better.

What it costs for a typical UK team

List prices as of October 2026, per month, before VAT. Deputy prices exclude taxes. Planday rounds up to the next bundle of five users. Count managers too: both Deputy and Planday bill them as users.

Planday Starter works out cheaper than Deputy Lite when your headcount sits at or just under a multiple of five; just over one, the bundle rounding can tip it the other way. On the mid plans, Deputy Core is cheaper than Planday Plus at every size here because of Plus's £30 fee and 10-user minimum. Deputy offers 10% off for annual billing; Planday lets you pay monthly or quarterly.

The differences that matter in a venue

Building the rota

Both have drag-and-drop rotas, templates, availability, open shifts and swaps. The bigger split is automation: Deputy puts auto-scheduling and demand forecasting on Core, while Planday keeps auto-scheduling for Pro. If you want the system to propose the rota from sales data, Deputy gets you there on a published price.

Clocking in

Deputy is the stronger choice if you need proof someone was on site: GPS geofencing, a location stamp on mobile clock-ins and facial verification on its kiosk. Planday's pages describe phone clock-in with manager approval; we didn't find geofencing mentioned on the Planday pages we checked.

Payroll and tills

Both integrate widely. Deputy lists more UK-specific payroll tools (PayCaptain, MyPAYE) and EPOS systems (Epos Now, Tabology). Planday's Xero ownership is a plus if your accountant already lives in Xero, but payroll integrations sit on Plus, not Starter.

The kitchen side

Neither lists temperature logs, allergen matrices or food-safety checklists on the pages we checked. Most venues on either app run those on paper or in a separate food-safety app.

How to choose

1. Do you need the rota built from sales forecasts? Deputy Core.
2. Do you need geofenced or facial-recognition clock-in? Deputy.
3. Are you on Xero and want a lower entry price for scheduling and time tracking? Planday Starter, or Plus for payroll integrations.
4. Do you mostly need a fair rota, simple clock-in and your temperature logs, allergens and checklists off paper? Try ShiftComplete free for 60 days, or book a 15-minute set-up call.

For more options, see our Deputy alternatives and Planday alternatives guides.