How much does rota software cost in the UK? (2026 prices)

Rota software in the UK costs anywhere from nothing to well over £100 a month for the same 20-person team. The difference comes down to three things: how the app charges (per user, per staff band or per team), what's held back for add-ons, and who counts as a user.

Every competitor price on this page was checked on that company's own pricing page on 3 November 2026 and is linked in the sources. Prices are list prices on monthly billing unless we say otherwise. They change, so check the page before you buy.

Typical rota software prices in the UK (checked November 2026)

Two things jump out. Most per-user apps sit between about £2 and £4.25 a head. And "price per user" rarely tells the whole story, because bands, minimums, subscription fees and add-ons change what you actually pay.

What a 10, 20 and 40-person team pays

Here is the monthly bill at list price on monthly billing, as of November 2026, for three common hospitality team sizes: a café or coffee shop (10), a busy pub or restaurant (20) and a large food-led site or two venues (40).

How we worked these out: ShiftComplete is £1.49 x staff. Deputy, Planday and Square multiply their per-user price (Planday Plus adds its £30 fee). RotaCloud and Rapid Rota use the band each team falls into. Shiftbase is £26 for the first 6 staff plus £3.50 for each one after. Findmyshift's Starter plan covers 20 team members with one manager, so a 40-person team moves up to Business.

Price isn't like for like. Deputy and Planday are bigger platforms with features ShiftComplete doesn't have: Deputy's pricing page lists payroll and HR integrations on every plan, and Planday lists payroll integrations on Plus and Pro. Flat team pricing such as Findmyshift's can come in under a per-head price once a team passes about 15 people. What you get for the money matters as much as the number.

A worked example: a 20-person pub

A village pub with 20 staff across bar, kitchen and floor wants rotas on phones, holiday requests and clocking in.

• ShiftComplete: £29.80 a month. Clocking in, temperature logs, allergens and checklists are in the same price.
• RotaCloud Standard: £40, or £58 with the Time & Attendance add-on for clocking in.
• Deputy Lite: £65 excluding taxes, with basic time clocking.
• Planday Starter: £59.80, with simple time tracking.

Over a year that's £357.60 on ShiftComplete against £696 on RotaCloud with clocking in, before any yearly discount.

Per user, per band or per site: which pricing suits you?

Per user (or per staff member). You pay for each person on the system. It's the fairest model when your team grows and shrinks with the seasons, as long as you can remove leavers and seasonal staff without a penalty. Check the minimum: Planday Starter needs at least 5 users and Plus at least 10, and Deputy has a £20 minimum monthly spend on monthly plans.

Staff bands. RotaCloud, Rotify and Rapid Rota charge by band. Bands are simple to budget for, but you pay for the top of the band. A team of 11 on RotaCloud Standard pays the same £40 as a team of 20.

Per team. Findmyshift charges per team with a staff limit. That can be very good value for a large team on one site. Check how many managers each plan allows, because its Starter plan has one.

Per site. Some tools charge a fee for each venue, which adds up for groups. ShiftComplete has no per-site fee: a two-venue group with 40 staff pays the same £59.60 as one venue with 40.

Add-ons that raise the bill

The headline price is often the starting point. As of November 2026, these are the extras listed on the pricing pages we checked:

• Clocking in. RotaCloud's Time & Attendance add-on is £4.50 per 5-staff step (£9 a month for 6 to 10 staff, £18 for 11 to 20, £36 for 31 to 40). Shiftbase's free plan only allows manual time entry; clock in and out starts on Basic, and GPS geofencing on Premium.
• HR, messaging and analytics. Deputy lists HR at £2 per user a month, Messaging+ at £1.40 and Analytics+ at £1, all excluding taxes.
• Text messages. RotaCloud has an SMS add-on, Planday charges a fee for each SMS sent, and Findmyshift sells text credits.
• Set-up help. Planday offers paid onboarding services if you want help getting started.
• Forecasting. Rotaready has a separate Pro + Forecasting package, priced on request.

If you need several of these, add them up before you compare. A cheaper base plan with two add-ons can end up dearer than an all-in price. Our guide to a staff clock-in app for hospitality covers what clocking in should do for a venue.

Free rota apps and their limits

Free plans exist, but they're built for very few staff or hold features back. As of November 2026:

• Sling: free scheduling for up to 30 users. Mobile time tracking is on the paid Premium plan, and paid plans are priced in US dollars.
• Shiftbase Free: up to 15 employees, one department and five teams, with manual time entry only.
• Connecteam: free for up to 10 users. Paid plans are in US dollars and cover the first 30 users.
• Findmyshift Free: up to 5 staff and 1 manager, with one week of forward planning and history.
• Square Shifts Free: basic features for up to five team members, including account owners.

Most hospitality venues outgrow these limits quickly: a 12-person pub is already past three of them. Our free rota app guide looks at each one in more detail.

ShiftComplete isn't free forever. It's free for 60 days with every feature and no card, then £1.49 per staff member a month.

The cost you don't see on the pricing page

The subscription is only part of the cost of running rotas. The rest is time and mistakes:

• Your hours. If the rota takes a manager three hours every Sunday night, that's over 150 hours a year. Software that builds a draft from availability cuts that down.
• Overstaffed shifts. One extra person on a quiet Tuesday for a year costs far more than any rota app. Seeing labour cost while you build is where real savings come from. Try our labour cost calculator to see your numbers.
• Missed changes. A shift change that reaches nobody becomes a no-show, a scramble and a short-staffed service.
• Separate systems. If you pay for, or print, fridge temperature sheets, allergen folders and cleaning checklists separately, that's part of the comparison too.

How ShiftComplete is priced

ShiftComplete is £1.49 per staff member per month, with every feature included:

• Rotas built from staff availability, with events, split shifts (up to four time blocks a day), staff areas and labour cost shown while you build.
• Shift swaps between named colleagues, approved by a manager or deputy manager (a setting you switch on).
• Clocking in and out on a phone or shared tablet, with hours against the rota and a spreadsheet of hours per person (a setting you switch on).
• Temperature logs, allergens mapped to the 14 UK allergens, checklists, incident and maintenance logs and risk assessments.
• Multi-site with a group dashboard, area-manager roles and unlimited managers.

There's no per-site fee and no contract, and you can remove staff any time. For 100+ staff, talk to us. It's free for 60 days with no card, set-up takes about five minutes, and you can book a free 15-minute set-up call if you'd like help with the first rota. See the pricing section for the details.

Questions to ask before you sign

1. Who counts as a user? Deputy counts all users, administrators and supervisors. RotaCloud asks you to include yourself and every manager. Planday counts anyone with a login and bills in bundles of five, so 23 users are billed as 25.
2. Does the price include VAT? Deputy shows prices excluding all applicable taxes. Several pages we checked don't say either way, so ask.
3. Is there a minimum? Look for minimum users, minimum monthly spend or a fixed subscription fee on top.
4. What does yearly billing save, and what does it lock you into? Discounts we saw ranged from 10% (Deputy, Shiftbase, Findmyshift) to 20% (Rotify). RotaCloud's yearly price is ten months of the monthly price.
5. Is clocking in included? If not, price the add-on for your team size.
6. Which currency? Sling and Connecteam price paid plans in US dollars, so your bill moves with the exchange rate.
7. Can you leave easily? Check for contracts and notice periods, and whether you can export your data.
8. How long is the free trial? Trials we saw ran from 14 days to 3 months. A longer trial lets you run real rotas through a busy weekend before you pay.

Which should you choose?

• Very few staff and simple needs: a free plan may do, as long as you can live with its limits.
• A large team on one site and rotas only: flat team pricing such as Findmyshift can be good value.
• You need payroll or till integrations, or biometric clock-in: look at Deputy or Planday and budget for the higher per-user price.
• Larger groups wanting forecasting and HR: Rotaready and Bizimply, on a quote.
• UK pubs, restaurants, cafés, bars and hotels that want rotas, clocking in and food-safety records in one app at one low price: that's what ShiftComplete is built for.

For a feature-by-feature look at the wider field, see our guide to the best rota apps for UK hospitality.