Best for
Best for restaurants, from a single cafe to multi-location groups and franchises, that schedule front and back of house against sales and labor laws.
- Small and mid-sized
- Enterprise
Shift Scheduling Comparison
7shifts vs. Deputy
At a glance
At a glance
Best for
Best for businesses rostering hourly staff across sites, where the hours have to reach payroll rather than an invoice.
- Small and mid-sized
- Enterprise
Cataleo does not name a winner. Both statements come from the vendors themselves.
Full Comparison
| Criterion | 7shifts | Deputy |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | Free for 1 location and up to 15 employees Comp is the free plan. The paid plans are Essentials (up to 30 employees, unlimited locations), Pro and Premium (unlimited employees and locations), paid monthly or annually; companies that joined before July 2, 2025 keep the earlier plans Entrée, The Works and Gourmet. | From $5 / user / month The $5 Lite plan covers basic scheduling, timesheets and time clocking. Core is $6.50 and Pro $9 per user per month. Deputy Payroll adds $8 per user per month plus a $49 monthly base fee, HR $2, Messaging+ $1.95 and Analytics+ $1.50 per user per month. |
| Free trial | 14-day free trial with access to the features of The Works plan, no credit card needed; afterwards the free Comp plan or a paid plan | Free trial, no credit card required |
| Team size | Not stated | Priced per user, per month |
| Users | Quick-service and full-service restaurants, cafes and coffee shops, bars and breweries, pizzerias, bakeries, juice bars, pubs, caterers, franchises and multi-location groups | Shift-based teams across more than 15 industries, among them hospitality, healthcare, retail, manufacturing and logistics, construction and engineering, education, security and cleaning |
| API | Yes, a REST API at api.7shifts.com/v2 with OAuth for partners, webhooks and a read-only MCP server; API access depends on the plan | Yes, a developer API alongside prebuilt payroll, point-of-sale, HR and accounting connectors |
| Hosting | Cloud, on the web with a free mobile app and the 7punches time clock app | Cloud (SaaS), with iOS and Android apps and a shared-device time clock |
| Shift planning and templates | Drag-and-drop schedule builder with availability and time off shown while planning, unlimited customisable templates per role, season or location, any published schedule reusable as a template, and auto-fill of shifts from past schedules and availability | Basic scheduling on Lite with shift templates for weeks, months or custom periods; Core adds advanced scheduling, micro-scheduling and auto-scheduling |
| Shift swaps and open shifts | Shift Pool lets employees offer up shifts or pick up open ones, with manager approval on every change, and shows which staff are available to cover sick, late or no-show shifts | Open shifts, open shifts with approval, swapping and offering shifts, and find a replacement, from the Lite plan |
| Availability and time off | Employees submit availability changes and time-off requests in the app, managers approve them from anywhere, and PTO and sick time are tracked for scheduling and payroll | Leave and availability management from the Lite plan |
| Time clock and attendance | Clocking in and out with the 7punches app on a smartphone or a tablet at the restaurant, break and approaching-overtime notifications, timesheet approval, punch audit reports of missed clock-ins and timesheet edits, and a live view of who is clocked in | Time clocking from the iOS and Android apps or a shared device, with biometric time clocking from the Core plan, timesheets with auto-approval from Core and advanced timesheets on Pro, plus shift swaps, find-a-replacement, leave and availability management and labour-law compliance rules |
| Labour cost and forecasting | AI sales forecasting from historical sales and labor data to predict staffing needs, labor budgets set and tracked while scheduling, and real-time labor against sales once a POS is connected | Wages shown against scheduled hours; Core adds demand forecasting, labour optimisation and wage and labour budgets, with forecast-to-actual variance in sales and wage metrics |
| Breaks, overtime and labour rules | Real-time alerts for local labor law violations while scheduling, required breaks set up and enforced, overtime alerts, fair workweek support for California, DC, Nevada, New York and Philadelphia, scheduling restrictions for minors under 16 and 18, tracking of expired certifications, and tip credit calculations and reporting | Labour-law compliance on Lite and advanced labour-law compliance on Core, with paid and unpaid breaks scheduled by time and duration |
| Payroll export and integration | Approved punches and tips exported to the existing payroll provider, or paid through 7shifts Payroll, with tip pooling fed by synced sales and time data and on-demand pay offered alongside | Payroll and HR integrations from the Lite plan; the Deputy Payroll add-on, enabled by Paycor and offered in the US on annual Core and Pro plans, sends approved timesheets, pay rates and leave to Paycor |
| Team messaging and notifications | Direct and group messaging with attachments, one-way announcements with read receipts, automated reminders for shifts, breaks and tasks, a manager log book, task management, shift feedback and training videos sent through the app | Messaging and a news feed from the Lite plan, with the Messaging+ add-on for a more integrated messaging experience, included in Pro |
| Platforms and mobile app | Web app, a free mobile app for managers and employees, and the 7punches time clock app on a smartphone or a tablet at the location | Clock-in apps on web, mobile, tablet and watch, with iOS and Android apps and a shared-device time clock |
| Integrations and API | Integrations with POS, payroll, analytics, hiring, back office and training tools; a REST API at api.7shifts.com/v2 for sales, time punches, employees, schedules and reports, with webhooks, an embed SDK, OAuth for partners with endpoint access tied to the plan, and a public read-only MCP server | A developer API plus prebuilt connectors for payroll (ADP, Gusto, Paychex, Paycor, Paylocity, OnPay, Wagepoint, Xero), point of sale (Square, Clover, Lightspeed, Revel, Epos Now), HR (BambooHR, HiBob, Rippling, TriNet, Okta) and accounting (QuickBooks, NetSuite, Xero), with Zapier for anything else |
| AI features | Yes | Yes |
| MCP-ready | stated Yes | No |
| Deployment | Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based | Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based |
| Support | Not stated | Chat, 24/7 |
| Onboarding | Documentation and knowledge base | more entries Documentation and knowledge base, Guided onboarding |
| Company size | Small and mid-sized, Enterprise | Small and mid-sized, Enterprise |
| Integrations | Not stated | ADP, Gusto, Paychex, Paycom, Paycor, Paylocity, OnPay, Wagepoint, Talenox, Xero, QuickBooks, NetSuite, Square, Clover, Lightspeed, Revel, Epos Now, BambooHR, HiBob, Rippling, TriNet, Okta, JobAdder, Box, Dropbox, ServiceM8, Tapcheck, Wagestream, TipHaus, Zapier |
Add a tool
Adds a column to the table, from the tools in this category.
Row where the values differ The small markers point at the lower number, the longer list or the stated feature. They describe the data, they are not a verdict.
The short version
Key Differences
- Starting price 7shifts Free for 1 location and up to 15 employees Deputy From $5 / user / month
- Free trial 7shifts 14-day free trial with access to the features of The Works plan, no credit card needed; afterwards the free Comp plan or a paid plan Deputy Free trial, no credit card required
- Hosting 7shifts Cloud, on the web with a free mobile app and the 7punches time clock app Deputy Cloud (SaaS), with iOS and Android apps and a shared-device time clock
- MCP-ready 7shifts Yes Deputy No
- Users 7shifts Quick-service and full-service restaurants, cafes and coffee shops, bars and breweries, pizzerias, bakeries, juice bars, pubs, caterers, franchises and multi-location groups Deputy Shift-based teams across more than 15 industries, among them hospitality, healthcare, retail, manufacturing and logistics, construction and engineering, education, security and cleaning
Every line is one datapoint from the table above, picked automatically. Nothing here is written text.
The trade-offs
Strengths and Limitations
7shifts
Strengths
- Free Comp plan for one location and up to 15 employees
- 14-day free trial with no credit card needed
- Fair workweek support for California, DC, Nevada, New York and Philadelphia
- Scheduling, time clocking, tip pooling and payroll in one platform
- Public MCP server and a documented REST API with webhooks
Limitations
- Built for restaurants; the product pages, templates and tip features address food service
- Comp is limited to one location and Essentials to 30 employees
- The MCP server is read-only and exposes GET endpoints only
- API endpoint access for partner integrations depends on the customer's plan
Deputy
Strengths
- Biometric time clocking and a shared-device clock cover on-site and shift work
- Deep payroll and point-of-sale connector list, including ADP, Gusto, Paychex, Xero, QuickBooks and Square
- Demand forecasting and auto-scheduling build rosters against wage and labour budgets
- Single sign-on, custom access levels and location hierarchies on the Pro plan
Limitations
- No client invoicing: timesheets are built for payroll rather than for billing work
- Forecasting, auto-scheduling and biometric clocking all require the Core plan or above
- Payroll, HR, Messaging+ and Analytics+ are separately priced add-ons, and Deputy Payroll carries a monthly base fee
- No free tier; Lite is the cheapest paid plan
Plans
Pricing
7shifts
- Comp Free 1 location and up to 15 employees.
- Essentials Not stated Up to 30 employees and unlimited locations.
- Pro Not stated Unlimited employees and locations.
- Premium Not stated Unlimited employees and locations.
Deputy
- Lite $5 Per user per month. Basic scheduling, timesheets and time clocking, labour-law compliance, shift swap and find a replacement, leave and availability management, basic reporting, messaging and news feed, and payroll and HR integrations.
- Core $6.50 Per user per month. Everything in Lite plus advanced scheduling, timesheet auto-approval, biometric time clocking, micro-scheduling, auto-scheduling, demand forecasting, labour optimisation, wage and labour budgets and a customer success manager.
- Pro $9 Per user per month. Everything in Core plus custom access levels, advanced timesheets, location hierarchies, single sign-on, a dedicated customer success manager, a sandbox environment, 24/7 live chat and the Analytics+ and Messaging+ add-ons.
- Add-ons Not stated Deputy Payroll $8 per user per month plus a $49 monthly base fee, HR $2, Messaging+ $1.95 and Analytics+ $1.50 per user per month. HR, Messaging+ and Analytics+ carry 30-day free trials.
What users say
Review Scores · opens after launch
7shifts
- Ease of use
- Not rated yet
- User interface
- Not rated yet
- Onboarding
- Not rated yet
- Support and service
- Not rated yet
- Value for money
- Not rated yet
- Features
- Not rated yet
No reviews yet. Nothing has been published here yet, and no score is shown. How a review is checked before it appears is described below.
Deputy
- Ease of use
- Not rated yet
- User interface
- Not rated yet
- Onboarding
- Not rated yet
- Support and service
- Not rated yet
- Value for money
- Not rated yet
- Features
- Not rated yet
No reviews yet. Nothing has been published here yet, and no score is shown. How a review is checked before it appears is described below.
How we check reviews
Before sending, the author has to confirm three things: that they have used the product themselves, that they work neither for the vendor nor for a competitor, and that nobody is paying them for the review. We also ask whether the vendor invited them to write it. That answer is required, either answer is accepted, and it stays with the review.
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Where this comes from
Where this comes from
7shifts https://www.7shifts.com · checked against the official source on 2026-11-05
Deputy https://www.deputy.com · checked against the official source on 2026-09-12
This table lists factual criteria taken from information the vendors publish themselves. For how we put it together, see the methodology.