Best for
Best for Australian employers with hourly staff under Modern Awards who want rosters, time and attendance, award-interpreted pay and payroll in one system.
Shift Scheduling Comparison
Tanda vs. When I Work
At a glance
At a glance
Best for
Best for hourly teams that need a published rota and a GPS time clock whose hours go straight into payroll.
- Small and mid-sized
- Enterprise
Cataleo does not name a winner. Both statements come from the vendors themselves.
Full Comparison
| Criterion | Tanda | When I Work |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | From 12.80 dollars + GST / user / month Price for the bundle of HR, Payroll and Workforce Management. The pricing page shows a dollar sign plus GST and does not name the currency. Prices for the individual modules are given on request. | From $2.50 / user / month Essentials $2.50, Pro $5 and Premium $8 per user per month, each with unlimited users. Time tracking and attendance is offered as an add-on toggle on every plan. |
| Free trial | Free trial set up by the vendor on request | 14-day free trial, no credit card required |
| Team size | Not stated | Priced per user per month, unlimited users on every plan |
| Users | Australian employers with hourly staff; the vendor names hospitality, retail, healthcare, professional services, early learning, pharmacy, clubs, franchises, quick service restaurants, restaurants and grocery | Hourly and shift-based teams in restaurants, retail, healthcare, hospitality, manufacturing, construction, call centres, franchises, events and non-profits |
| API | Yes, a REST API with OAuth authorisation and webhooks | Yes, API key access and webhooks on the Premium plan |
| Hosting | Cloud, in the browser, with a mobile app and a tablet time clock app | Cloud (SaaS), with iOS and Android apps and a shared-device terminal |
| Made in | Australia | Not stated |
| Shift planning and templates | Rosters built from templates for a typical week or specific events, or generated from staff's regular hours; shifts are copied, pasted or dragged and named by title or team, a heads-up view shows who works, for how long and at what cost, and rosters can be planned weeks ahead. Published rosters go to staff in the app, where they accept shifts or flag a problem | Auto scheduling, multi-week and multi-location scheduling and reusable custom schedule templates from Essentials; Pro adds advanced scheduling, scheduling rules and role permissions |
| Shift swaps and open shifts | Staff request replacements or offer to cover shifts in the app with manager approval, and vacant shifts are offered to staff by push notification. Suggested replacements are filtered by availability, by qualifications such as an RSA or blue card and by a minimum number of hours between shifts, with award-interpreted cost differences shown for each candidate | OpenShifts and shift swapping from Essentials, with managers keeping final approval; Pro allows overlapping OpenShifts |
| Availability and time off | Staff apply for leave and unavailability in the app and see their leave balances; managers approve requests on the go in a leave planner calendar, split requests above the balance into paid and unpaid leave, add custom events to discourage or block leave in peak periods, and manage time off in lieu | Availability, time-off requests, qualifications and shift preferences in one place; managers approve or decline requests on web or mobile, and auto scheduling fills shifts from availability and qualifications |
| Time clock and attendance | Time Clock app that turns an Android or Apple tablet into a time clock for shift starts, finishes and breaks, plus GPS clock-ins from the mobile app that flag clock-ins away from an approved location. Timesheets are built from clock-ins, and shifts that match the roster can be auto-approved | Clock-in from mobile, web, tablet or a dedicated terminal, with GPS captured on every punch, geofencing that limits clock-in to the work location, photo clock-ins for identity verification, break logging, real-time overtime alerts, manager approval of timesheets and an edit log for the audit trail |
| Labour cost and forecasting | Roster costs shown while the roster is built, and Live Insights with sales, wage cost and wages as a percentage of revenue through the day against expected numbers, by location. Staffing levels can be planned from historical sales, foot traffic and weather data, with sales streamed from over a dozen supported point-of-sale integrations | Forecast tools from Essentials track scheduled against budgeted hours, with labour costs in the scheduling view; Pro adds custom unit forecasting and labour sharing |
| Breaks, overtime and labour rules | Over 30 vendor-maintained Modern Award templates and custom rules for enterprise agreements, breaks added to rosters and timesheets according to the award, minimum break durations enforced at clock-in, and roster validations that warn about overtime, qualification risks, maximum hours and days, staff rostered on leave or shifts in different locations; the vendor states that pay rates are updated after Fair Work wage rulings | Overtime and maximum-hours alerts while scheduling and when an OpenShift or trade would add overtime, plus break logging on the time clock |
| Payroll export and integration | Tanda Payroll runs pay inside the same system, including STP filing and superannuation contributions; award-interpreted timesheets and leave also export to ADP, Xero, Ascender, Attache, iPayroll, iChris, Ready Pay, WageEasy, Aurion and TriniTEQ | Payroll and point-of-sale integrations from Essentials, among them Rippling, Gusto, Square Payroll, Paychex, QuickBooks Online and OnPay, which take the approved timesheets |
| Team messaging and notifications | Push notifications for shifts that need filling and for pending requests, shift reminders with multiple alerts, announcements with acknowledgement requests and attached documents, and manager notifications when staff are late, work past their finish time, go into unexpected overtime or miss a required break | In-app team messaging from Essentials, with notifications to managers about time-off requests and staff nearing their hours |
| Platforms and mobile app | Web app at my.tanda.co, the Tanda mobile app for staff and managers, and a separate Time Clock app for Android and Apple tablets from Google Play and the App Store | Web, plus iOS and Android apps; the time clock runs on mobile, web, tablet or a dedicated terminal |
| Integrations and API | REST API (v2) with OAuth authorisation code or personal access tokens, covering rosters, schedules, shifts, timesheets, leave, availability, clock-ins, payroll and users, with webhooks and code samples on GitHub; integrations with payroll, point-of-sale and HR systems such as ADP, Xero, Square, Lightspeed, SwiftPOS, Redcat and ELMO | Prebuilt payroll and operations connectors for Rippling, Gusto, Square Payroll, Paychex, QuickBooks Online, OnPay, SimplePay, GoCo and ResaleAI, Zapier for anything else, and API key access with webhooks on the Premium plan |
| Deployment | Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based | Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based |
| Support | Not stated | Chat |
| Onboarding | Documentation and knowledge base | Documentation and knowledge base |
| Company size | Not stated | Small and mid-sized, Enterprise |
| Integrations | more entries ADP, Xero, Ascender, Attache, iPayroll, iChris, Ready Pay, WageEasy, Aurion, TriniTEQ, Beam, Square, Lightspeed, Vend, SwiftPOS, Redcat, Impos, Doshii, Tenzo, Peiso, Tip Sheet, vSure, WorkJam, ELMO, ROLLER, Kidsoft, Allara Global, etrainu, Paytime | Rippling, Gusto, Square Payroll, Paychex, QuickBooks Online, OnPay, SimplePay, GoCo, ResaleAI, 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 Tanda From 12.80 dollars + GST / user / month When I Work From $2.50 / user / month
- Free trial Tanda Free trial set up by the vendor on request When I Work 14-day free trial, no credit card required
- Hosting Tanda Cloud, in the browser, with a mobile app and a tablet time clock app When I Work Cloud (SaaS), with iOS and Android apps and a shared-device terminal
- Users Tanda Australian employers with hourly staff; the vendor names hospitality, retail, healthcare, professional services, early learning, pharmacy, clubs, franchises, quick service restaurants, restaurants and grocery When I Work Hourly and shift-based teams in restaurants, retail, healthcare, hospitality, manufacturing, construction, call centres, franchises, events and non-profits
- API Tanda Yes, a REST API with OAuth authorisation and webhooks When I Work Yes, API key access and webhooks on the Premium plan
Every line is one datapoint from the table above, picked automatically. Nothing here is written text.
The trade-offs
Strengths and Limitations
Tanda
Strengths
- Rostering, timesheets, payroll and HR bundled from 12.80 dollars plus GST per user per month
- Over 30 Modern Award templates maintained by the vendor's compliance team
- Replacement suggestions filtered by availability, qualifications and rest time between shifts, with cost differences shown
- Documented REST API with OAuth and webhooks
Limitations
- Prices for the individual modules are only given on request
- The pricing page does not name the currency of its dollar price
- No self-serve trial; a free trial is arranged through the vendor
- Award templates and payroll are built around Australian Fair Work rules
When I Work
Strengths
- GPS, geofencing and photo clock-ins tie every punch to the scheduled location
- Auto-scheduling assigns shifts by eligibility, availability and approved time off
- Forecast tools put a sales and hours budget next to the schedule while it is built
- Unlimited users on every plan, from $2.50 per user per month
Limitations
- No client invoicing: the timesheet is built for payroll rather than for billing work
- API key access, webhooks and single sign-on require the Premium plan
- Time tracking and attendance is an add-on toggle rather than part of the plan price
- No free plan, only a 14-day trial
Plans
Pricing
Tanda
- HR + Payroll + Workforce Management 12.80 dollars + GST / user / month All three modules in one discounted subscription.
- Workforce Management Not stated Rosters, time and attendance and leave. Price on request.
- Payroll Not stated Pay runs from timesheets, entitlements and STP filing. Price on request.
- HR Not stated Hiring, onboarding and staff records. Price on request.
When I Work
- Essentials $2.50 Per user per month. Unlimited users, auto scheduling, multi-week and multi-location scheduling, schedule templates, forecast tools, in-app team messaging, OpenShifts and shift swapping, help centre and live chat, and payroll and point-of-sale integrations.
- Pro $5 Per user per month. Everything in Essentials plus advanced scheduling, scheduling rules, role permissions, labour sharing, custom unit forecasting, 24-hour callout reporting, custom reporting, overlapping OpenShifts and timezone toggling.
- Premium $8 Per user per month. Everything in Pro plus API key access, webhooks and SAML single sign-on.
What users say
Review Scores · opens after launch
Tanda
- 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.
When I Work
- 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
Tanda https://www.tanda.co · checked against the official source on 2026-11-07
When I Work https://wheniwork.com · checked against the official source on 2026-09-16
This table lists factual criteria taken from information the vendors publish themselves. For how we put it together, see the methodology.