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
Shift Scheduling Comparison
Deputy vs. Findmyshift
At a glance
At a glance
Best for
Best for teams scheduled by one or a few managers that want a spreadsheet-like rota with a free time clock and a flat price per team.
Cataleo does not name a winner. Both statements come from the vendors themselves.
Full Comparison
| Criterion | Deputy | Findmyshift |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | 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 plan; Starter from 27 US dollars / team / month Flat price per team, billed monthly, or 286 US dollars a year billed yearly. Business is 43 US dollars a month and Enterprise 85 US dollars a month per team; teams above 300 members are quoted on request. Text messages cost extra as credits. |
| Free trial | Free trial, no credit card required | 3-month free trial of all features for up to 300 employees, no credit card required; free plan for teams of up to 5 employees |
| Team size | Priced per user, per month | Not stated |
| Users | Shift-based teams across more than 15 industries, among them hospitality, healthcare, retail, manufacturing and logistics, construction and engineering, education, security and cleaning | Not stated |
| API | Yes, a developer API alongside prebuilt payroll, point-of-sale, HR and accounting connectors | Developer API with API key or OAuth 2.0 on the Enterprise plan |
| Hosting | Cloud (SaaS), with iOS and Android apps and a shared-device time clock | Cloud, in the browser, with Android and iOS apps |
| Shift planning and templates | Basic scheduling on Lite with shift templates for weeks, months or custom periods; Core adds advanced scheduling, micro-scheduling and auto-scheduling | Spreadsheet-style editor with drag and drop of shifts, employees, facilities and comments, multi-cell editing across up to 140 days, overnight shifts, and reusable templates of repeating shift patterns from the Starter plan; forward planning runs from 1 week on the free plan to 3 years on Enterprise |
| Shift swaps and open shifts | Open shifts, open shifts with approval, swapping and offering shifts, and find a replacement, from the Lite plan | Employees request shifts, submit cancellations and swap shifts from their schedule, with notifications to managers for each request; self-scheduling, where employees add and edit their own shifts, is on Business and Enterprise |
| Availability and time off | Leave and availability management from the Lite plan | Time off from the Starter plan, shown on the schedule with a warning when it overlaps a shift, with custom categories, recurring unavailability, allowances as days, hours or a percentage of hours worked, privacy controls and delegation to assistants; Enterprise imports time off from other systems through iCal feeds |
| Time clock and attendance | 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 | Time clock on every plan through the app, mobile site, website or a shared time clock station with PIN, password and optional photo, with auto clock-out, IP whitelisting, alerts for early, late or missed clock-ins and timesheets approved by a manager; Enterprise adds geofencing and location reporting |
| Labour cost and forecasting | 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 | Real-time reporting from the Starter plan showing shifts, scheduled hours and estimated pay on the schedule, a reports dashboard with more than 40 charts, and a schedule versus timesheets report of expected and actual costs |
| Breaks, overtime and labour rules | Labour-law compliance on Lite and advanced labour-law compliance on Core, with paid and unpaid breaks scheduled by time and duration | Break rules that deduct unpaid breaks automatically, overtime and holiday rates, and pay rate exceptions by day, time, facility or the employee's age; Enterprise adds data locks so historical reports cannot be changed |
| Payroll export and integration | 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 | Payroll calculation on Business and Enterprise from hourly rates, rate exceptions, day rates and salaries, with payroll data exported; approved timesheets feed the reports, and an integration with Xero is listed |
| Team messaging and notifications | Messaging and a news feed from the Lite plan, with the Messaging+ add-on for a more integrated messaging experience, included in Pro | Automatic shift reminders up to 30 days ahead, change notifications and group messages by email, push notification, Slack or paid SMS, and a team notice board from the Starter plan |
| Platforms and mobile app | Clock-in apps on web, mobile, tablet and watch, with iOS and Android apps and a shared-device time clock | Website, mobile website, Android and iOS apps for employees and managers, a browser-based time clock station, and calendar integration for the roster |
| Integrations and API | 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 | Developer API on the Enterprise plan with API key or OAuth 2.0 authentication and rate limiting, covering facilities, staff, teams, time clock, time off and reports such as hours, budget and schedule versus timesheets; integrations with Xero, Slack, Lightspeed, Vend, Square, BambooHR, CakeHR, Google Workspace, monday.com and People HR |
| AI features | stated Yes | No |
| Deployment | Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based | Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based |
| Support | Chat, 24/7 | more entries Email helpdesk, Chat, Phone |
| Onboarding | Documentation and knowledge base, Guided onboarding | more entries Documentation and knowledge base, Video tutorials, Live online demos and webinars |
| Company size | Small and mid-sized, Enterprise | Not stated |
| Integrations | more entries 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 | Xero, Slack, Lightspeed, Vend, Square, BambooHR, CakeHR, Google Workspace, monday.com, People HR |
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 Deputy From $5 / user / month Findmyshift Free plan; Starter from 27 US dollars / team / month
- Free trial Deputy Free trial, no credit card required Findmyshift 3-month free trial of all features for up to 300 employees, no credit card required; free plan for teams of up to 5 employees
- Hosting Deputy Cloud (SaaS), with iOS and Android apps and a shared-device time clock Findmyshift Cloud, in the browser, with Android and iOS apps
- Support Deputy Chat, 24/7 Findmyshift Email helpdesk, Chat, Phone
- AI features Deputy Yes Findmyshift No
Every line is one datapoint from the table above, picked automatically. Nothing here is written text.
The trade-offs
Strengths and Limitations
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
Findmyshift
Strengths
- Free plan for teams of up to 5 employees
- Three-month free trial of every feature, no credit card required
- Flat price per team rather than per employee
- Time clock and timesheets included on every plan, the free one too
- 25% discount for charities and volunteer groups with turnover under 1 million US dollars
Limitations
- Starter and the free plan allow only one manager per team
- Geofencing, activity logs and the developer API are limited to Enterprise
- Payroll calculation starts on the Business plan
- Text message notifications are charged as credits on top of the plan
Plans
Pricing
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.
Findmyshift
- Free 0 US dollars / team / month 5 team members, 1 manager, 1 week of historical data and 1 week of forward planning.
- Starter 27 US dollars / team / month Billed monthly, or 286 US dollars a year billed yearly. 20 team members, 1 manager, 1 year of history, 3 months of forward planning, templates, time off and real-time reporting.
- Business 43 US dollars / team / month Billed monthly, or 459 US dollars a year billed yearly. 100 team members and 100 managers, 5 years of history, 1 year of forward planning, self-scheduling and payroll calculation.
- Enterprise 85 US dollars / team / month Billed monthly, or 904 US dollars a year billed yearly. 300 team members and 300 managers, 10 years of history, 3 years of forward planning, geofencing, activity logs, developer API and telephone support.
What users say
Review Scores · opens after launch
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.
Findmyshift
- 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.
Every review is read by a person before it appears. An email address is required and is confirmed: we send a link to it, and a review does not reach us until the author opens that link, so a review has a sender who was reachable at least once rather than being anonymous. Where what somebody writes needs backing, we ask them for evidence that they used the product, and a review that does not get it is not published. We publish positive and negative reviews alike, we pay nothing and offer nothing for a review, and we accept none that was bought or incentivised.
What we cannot do is verify a purchase. There is no shop here and no account, so whether the author really used the tool rests on their own declaration, on whatever we ask them for, and on the plausibility of what they write. We say so rather than implying a check that does not exist.
A vendor cannot buy a review, and cannot have one removed or changed because they dislike it. We remove or edit a review only if it breaks our rules or the law, for example a false statement of fact. Paid placement has no effect on which reviews appear or on any score.
Where this comes from
Where this comes from
Deputy https://www.deputy.com · checked against the official source on 2026-09-12
Findmyshift https://www.findmyshift.com/ · checked against the official source on 2026-11-06
This table lists factual criteria taken from information the vendors publish themselves. For how we put it together, see the methodology.