Deputy review

Deputy is the most complete scheduling system here for businesses where compliance and labor cost decide the schedule. Even the $5 Lite plan includes scheduling, timesheets, a time clock, labor law compliance, shift swaps with replacement finding, leave and availability management, and messaging. Core, at $6.50 per user per month, adds the features that justify Deputy's reputation: auto-scheduling, demand forecasting, wage and labor budgets, micro-scheduling and biometric clocking. Pro adds location hierarchies, pay centers and single sign-on. Deputy AI is included in every plan and accepts plain requests such as replacing a sick worker's shifts for the week. For a hospital unit or a 10-store retail group, these controls save real time. Small teams pay for complexity they may not use, and monthly billing carries a $30 minimum. Payroll by Paycor, HR and analytics are paid add-ons.

Who it is for

Multi-site retail, hospitality and healthcare operators that need compliance rules, forecasting and labor budgets.

Price

Lite from $5 per user per month; Core $6.50; Pro $9; monthly plans carry a $30 minimum spend.

Lite Everything you need to get started with scheduling and time tracking $5 per user per month (USD excl. all applicable taxes)
Quoted from the vendor pricing page on November 5, 2026.

Key features

• Shift swap and find replacement on every plan
• Auto-scheduling with priorities such as lowest cost or equal spread of hours
• Demand forecasting, wage and labor budgets on Core
• Biometric time clocking and advanced labor law compliance on Core
• Deputy AI that builds draft schedules from past patterns, included in every plan

Strengths and weaknesses

• Strength: Deepest compliance and forecasting tools on this list
• Strength: Per-user pricing scales cleanly across many locations
• Strength: Add-ons for payroll, HR and analytics in the US
• Weakness: Auto-scheduling and forecasting need Core, not Lite
• Weakness: Monthly plans have a $30 minimum spend per invoice
• Weakness: Many add-ons make the final bill harder to predict

Key facts

• Plans: Lite, Core, Pro
• Annual discount: 10%
• Workplaces: 390,000+, per Deputy
• Payroll add-on: $8 per user per month plus $49 base fee (US, annual Core and Pro)

Where it ranks

Deputy is No. 2 in our Best Employee Scheduling Software verdict.