Planday alternatives for UK small businesses: five rota apps compared on price

TL;DR: The cheapest Planday alternative for most UK teams is Findmyshift, at £31 a month for up to 100 staff with time clocking and time off included, on prices checked on 2 November 2026. Planday Starter is £2.99 per user a month, but holiday management needs Plus, at £3.99 per user plus a £30 monthly fee. For 30 staff, Plus costs £149.70 a month, against £60 on RotaCloud Standard, which includes holiday.

Key takeaways

• The best Planday alternatives for UK teams are Findmyshift, RotaCloud, Deputy, Connecteam and Sling, and the three priced in pounds all include holiday for less than Planday Plus.
• Planday Starter costs £2.99 per user a month with a minimum of 5 users. Anyone with a login counts as a user, and Planday bills in bundles of five, so a team of 23 pays for 25.
• Holiday and absence management needs Planday Plus, at £3.99 per user plus a £30 monthly fee, with a minimum of 10 users. For 30 staff that is £149.70 a month.
• Findmyshift is the cheapest paid Planday alternative, at £31 a month for up to 100 staff with time clocking and time off included.
• RotaCloud Standard includes holiday for £60 a month for 21 to 30 employees, and Deputy Lite includes leave accruals and clocking in at £3.60 per user, excluding taxes.
• Planday still suits restaurants and bars that set labour costs against revenue, and Starter is cheap per person if you track holiday elsewhere.

What are the best Planday alternatives in the UK?

The best Planday alternatives for UK small businesses are Findmyshift, RotaCloud, Deputy, Connecteam and Sling. Findmyshift is the cheapest paid option, RotaCloud includes holiday and phone support on every plan, Deputy suits growing teams that want leave and clocking in from the first plan, and Connecteam and Sling have free plans for small teams.

We checked every price on each company’s pricing page on 2 November 2026 and again on 3 November, in a browser located in the UK, on monthly billing. Deputy shows its prices excluding taxes, and Connecteam and Sling show theirs in US dollars, so check the live page before you sign up.

App and plan	How it charges	Price for 30 staff a month	Holiday and leave
Planday Starter	Per user, in bundles of five	£89.70	Needs Plus
Planday Plus	Per user, plus £30 a month	£149.70	Included
Findmyshift Business	Per team	£31 for up to 100 staff	Included
RotaCloud Standard	By employee band	£60 for 21 to 30 employees	Included
Deputy Lite	Per user	£108, excluding taxes	Leave accruals included
Connecteam Operations Basic	First 30 users, then per user	$35	In a separate HR hub
Sling Premium	Per user	$60	Time-off requests only

For the same rota apps priced against Deputy and RotaCloud, see our guides to Deputy alternatives and RotaCloud alternatives. For a 15-person team, see the best rota app for UK small businesses.

Why compare Planday alternatives?

Planday’s headline price is low, but the plan most UK businesses need costs more. Starter is £2.99 per user a month, while leave and absence management, payroll integrations and revenue reporting come with Plus. Plus adds £1 per user and a £30 monthly fee, and it needs at least 10 users.

The second reason is how Planday counts. Anyone with a login is a user, so managers and admins count, and Planday bills in bundles of five: a team of 23 is billed for 25. Onboarding help and each text message cost extra, and you pay monthly or quarterly.

What does Planday cost as your team grows?

Planday is staff scheduling software priced per user. On monthly billing, Starter costs £2.99 per user a month and Plus £3.99 per user plus a £30 subscription fee, according to Planday’s pricing page on 2 November 2026. You can try Plus free for 30 days with no credit card. For 30 staff, Plus comes to £149.70 a month, or £5,389 over three years.

Team size, everyone with a login	Starter a month	Plus a month	Plus over three years
10 users	£29.90	£69.90	£2,516
30 users	£89.70	£149.70	£5,389
50 users	£149.50	£229.50	£8,262
100 users	£299	£429	£15,444

Starter includes simple time tracking, working time rules and compliance warnings, basic payroll reporting and team communication. Plus adds leave and absence management, payroll integrations, revenue reporting, documents and an API. Pro is priced on request and adds auto-scheduling and phone call-back support.

What do the alternatives cost over three years?

For a 30-person team that needs a rota, clocking in and holiday management, three years on monthly billing would cost £5,389 on Planday Plus, £3,888 on Deputy Lite, £3,132 on RotaCloud Standard with Time and Attendance and £1,116 on Findmyshift Business. Connecteam’s Operations and HR Basic plans would cost $2,520 and Sling Business $4,320.

App and plan, 30 staff	A month	Over three years
Planday Plus	£149.70	£5,389
Deputy Lite, excluding taxes	£108	£3,888
RotaCloud Standard with Time and Attendance	£87	£3,132
Findmyshift Business	£31	£1,116
Connecteam Operations and HR Basic	$70	$2,520
Sling Business	$120	$4,320

Every plan in this table includes a rota, clocking in or time tracking, and holiday management. If you track holiday somewhere else, Planday Starter costs £89.70 a month for 30 staff, or £3,229 over three years. All five alternatives also offer a lower price for paying yearly, while Planday bills monthly or quarterly.

What should a Planday alternative do for a UK business?

A Planday alternative should do two things Planday Starter already does well: warn you when a rota breaks working time rules, and put shifts on every phone. It should also include the holiday management that Planday keeps for Plus.

• Holiday on the plan you price. Allowances and approvals, including holiday for irregular hours workers, without an upgrade.
• Working time warnings. Breaks, 11 hours of rest between shifts and the stricter limits for staff under 18.
• Clocking in and timesheets. Included in the plan, or an add-on you have counted.
• A clear user count. Whether managers and admins count, and whether you pay for exact numbers, bands or bundles.
• Payroll export. Approved hours sent to your payroll software or your accountant.
• Labour against takings. For a restaurant or bar, wage costs set against sales for each day.

Test each rota app with a real week of shifts during its free trial, and count every login in the price.

Findmyshift: the cheapest Planday alternative

Findmyshift is a rota app that charges one price per team, with no fee per user. On 2 November 2026 its Business plan was £31 a month for up to 100 staff and 100 managers, and Starter £21 for up to 20 staff and one manager. Time off comes with both paid plans, and time clocking with every plan, including the free one for 5 staff.

Where it beats Planday: a 30-person team with holiday and clocking in pays £31 a month instead of £149.70 on Planday Plus, and extra managers cost nothing on Business. Where Planday is stronger: revenue reporting on Plus, and working time compliance warnings on every plan, which Findmyshift’s plan table does not list.

RotaCloud: a Planday alternative with holiday on every plan

RotaCloud is rota software that charges by employee band, counting you, your admins and your managers. On 2 November 2026 Standard was £40 a month for 11 to 20 employees and £60 for 21 to 30, with holiday, time off in lieu, sickness, shift swaps and labour costs included, plus live chat and phone support.

Where it beats Planday: 30 staff get holiday management for £60 a month instead of £149.70 on Planday Plus, and phone support comes with every plan instead of Pro only. Where Planday is stronger: time tracking is included in Starter, while RotaCloud sells Time and Attendance as an add-on at £27 a month for 21 to 30 employees. RotaCloud’s bands also step in tens above 10 employees, so the 21st person moves a team from £40 to £60.

Deputy: a Planday alternative for growing teams

Deputy is staff scheduling software that charges per user, with no bundles. On 2 November 2026 Lite was £3.60 per user a month on monthly billing and Core £4.75, excluding taxes, with a £20 minimum monthly spend on monthly plans. Lite includes time clocking, labour law compliance, shift swaps and automated leave accruals.

Where it beats Planday: leave accruals and clocking in come with the cheapest plan, so 30 staff pay £108 a month before taxes instead of £149.70 on Planday Plus. Core adds demand forecasting and auto-scheduling, which Planday keeps for Pro. Where Planday is stronger: Starter costs less per person, at £2.99 against £3.60 before taxes, and Plus adds revenue reporting.

Connecteam and Sling: free Planday alternatives, priced in dollars

Sling’s free plan covers scheduling and time-off requests for up to 30 users, and Premium adds mobile time tracking, timesheets and labour costs for $2 per user a month on monthly billing. Connecteam’s Small Business Plan is free for up to 10 users, and Operations Basic is $35 a month for the first 30 users, with GPS clocking in.

Where they beat Planday: a team of up to 30 can plan its rota and take holiday requests on Sling for nothing, and Planday has no free plan. Where Planday is stronger: prices in pounds and working time compliance warnings on every plan. Sling keeps holiday balances for its $4 Business plan, and Connecteam puts time off in a separate HR hub with its own price.

When should you stay with Planday?

Stay with Planday if you run a restaurant or bar and use Plus to set labour costs against revenue, if you rely on its payroll integrations, or if Pro’s auto-scheduling saves your managers hours each week. If you track holiday elsewhere and only need rotas and time tracking, Starter at £2.99 per user is one of the cheaper per-user plans.

Before you move to one of these Planday alternatives, count every login, including managers, and price the plan you would need at the team size you expect in a year.

Is there a rota app with no fee per staff member?

Yes. Findmyshift charges one price per team, Connecteam a flat fee for its first 30 users, and some businesses have a rota app built for them. Our staff rota app covers the rota, open shifts, holiday requests and a time clock, set up around your business at one fixed price agreed in writing before any work starts, with no fee per staff member or login.

It is our own product, so we have kept it out of the price tables. It is worth a quote when a per-user plan with a monthly fee runs into thousands of pounds over three years. If you only need to plan one week at a time, our free rota maker runs in your browser with no sign-up.

How do you switch from Planday without missing a shift?

Choose a quiet week and line the move up with the end of your monthly or quarterly billing period. Export your staff list, timesheets and holiday balances from Planday first, set up the new rota app with your usual shifts, then run both for two weeks before you cancel.

1. Export your data from Planday: staff details, timesheets, and holiday balances if you are on Plus.
2. Set up the new rota app with your roles, departments and usual week saved as a template.
3. Check the rules for breaks, rest between shifts and weekly hours, using our guide to staff rota rules in the UK.
4. Invite staff and show them where to see shifts, swap and book holiday on their phone.
5. Run both for two weeks, publishing in the new app and keeping Planday as a backup.
6. Cancel Planday at the end of your billing period, after checking its terms.

Frequently asked questions

What is the cheapest Planday alternative?

Findmyshift, at £31 a month for up to 100 staff with time clocking and time off included, on prices checked on 2 November 2026. Sling’s scheduling is free for up to 30 users and Connecteam is free for up to 10.

Who counts as a user on Planday?

Anyone with a login to your Planday account, including managers and admins. Planday bills in bundles of five users, so a team of 23 is billed for 25.

Does Planday include holiday management?

Only from Plus upwards. Planday Starter covers scheduling, time tracking and working time warnings, while leave and absence management starts on Plus, at £3.99 per user plus a £30 monthly fee.

What does Planday cost for 30 staff?

£89.70 a month on Starter and £149.70 on Plus, on monthly billing, from Planday’s pricing page on 2 November 2026. Onboarding help and each text message cost extra.

Is there a free alternative to Planday?

Yes. Sling’s scheduling and time-off requests are free for up to 30 users, Connecteam is free for up to 10 users and Findmyshift for 5 staff. To plan a single week, our free rota maker works in the browser with no sign-up.

Want rotas and holiday without a per-user bill?

Planday makes sense when you use what Plus adds. If you only need rotas, clocking in and holiday, price those three on each app above during a free trial. If none of them fits how your business works, our HR and rota systems service builds a rota app around your team and UK working time rules, at one fixed price.