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
Time Tracking Comparison
Deputy vs. DeskTime
At a glance
At a glance
Best for
Best for managers who want automatic time tracking with productivity analysis across remote and hybrid teams.
- Freelancers
- Small and mid-sized
- Enterprise
Cataleo does not name a winner. Both statements come from the vendors themselves.
Full Comparison
| Criterion | Deputy | DeskTime |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | lower value 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. | Pro from $6.42 / user / month Billed annually; $7.50 per user / month billed monthly. Premium from $9.17 ($10.71 monthly). Enterprise custom for 200+ users. |
| Free trial | Free trial, no credit card required | 14-day free trial |
| 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 | Not stated |
| Hosting | Cloud (SaaS), with iOS and Android apps and a shared-device time clock | Not stated |
| Made in | Not stated | Latvia |
| Time tracking | 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 | Yes, automatic background tracking with app and website logging and productivity scoring |
| Invoicing | No. Deputy's published feature set ends at approved timesheets, which export into payroll and accounting systems such as ADP, Gusto, Paychex, Paycor, Paylocity, Xero and QuickBooks; client invoicing happens in those tools | Yes, invoices are built from tracked project time and project hourly rates, saved as reusable templates, emailed to the client as a PDF and tracked through created, sent, unpaid, paid and cancelled statuses |
| Reporting and controlling | Basic reporting on Lite; Core adds demand forecasting, labour optimisation and wage and labour budgets; Pro includes the Analytics+ add-on alongside advanced timesheets and location hierarchies | Yes, productivity reports, project tracking and an absence calendar |
| 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 | Yes, an API and integrations (Jira, Asana, Outlook, Google Calendar, GitLab, Trello) from the Premium tier |
| AI features | Yes | Yes |
| Deployment | Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based | Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based |
| Support | Chat, 24/7 | more entries Email helpdesk, Phone, Chat |
| Onboarding | Documentation and knowledge base, Guided onboarding | more entries Documentation and knowledge base, Video tutorials, Guided onboarding |
| Company size | Small and mid-sized, Enterprise | more entries Freelancers, Small and mid-sized, Enterprise |
| 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 | Jira, Asana, Outlook, Google Calendar, GitLab, Trello |
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 DeskTime Pro from $6.42 / user / month
- Free trial Deputy Free trial, no credit card required DeskTime 14-day free trial
- Company size Deputy Small and mid-sized, Enterprise DeskTime Freelancers, Small and mid-sized, Enterprise
- Support Deputy Chat, 24/7 DeskTime Email helpdesk, Phone, Chat
- Time tracking Deputy 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 DeskTime Yes, automatic background tracking with app and website logging and productivity scoring
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
DeskTime
Strengths
- Automatic tracking with productivity scoring out of the box
- Shift scheduling and absence calendar for team management
- AI-generated summaries of work patterns
Limitations
- Monitoring focus leans toward oversight
- Screenshots and API sit behind the Premium tier
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.
DeskTime
- Pro $6.42 Per user / month, billed annually ($7.50 monthly).
- Premium $9.17 Per user / month, billed annually ($10.71 monthly). Adds screenshots, integrations and API.
- Enterprise Custom For 200+ users; adds an account manager and training.
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. Be the first to review this tool. Every review is checked for fairness before it appears, and the vendor cannot have one removed.
DeskTime
- 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. Be the first to review this tool. Every review is checked for fairness before it appears, and the vendor cannot have one removed.
Where this comes from
Where this comes from
Deputy https://www.deputy.com · checked against the official source on 2026-09-12
DeskTime https://desktime.com · checked against the official source on 2026-09-04
This table lists factual criteria taken from information the vendors publish themselves. For how we put it together, see the methodology.