A simpler Deputy alternative
built for UK hospitality.
Deputy is a powerful workforce platform. But if you run one pub, cafe or restaurant and just need rotas, clock-in and payroll sorted, you may be paying per-user prices for features you never open. ClockRota does the day-to-day job at a price banded by team size, not charged per person — and it's £0 while we're in public beta.
Try the public betaThe honest version first.
Comparison pages usually trash the competitor. We won't — Deputy is good software and for some businesses it's the right choice. The real question is what your venue actually needs.
Choose Deputy if you need…
- Demand forecasting and labour optimisation
- Payroll & POS integrations (Xero and others)
- SMS notifications and open-shift claiming
- An HR add-on, or workforce tools beyond hospitality
- Enterprise features across many large sites
Choose ClockRota if you need…
- Drag-and-drop rotas your team actually checks
- Clock-in by GPS or PIN, from any phone browser
- Timesheets, swaps, leave and UK holiday accrual
- Payroll CSVs with bank-holiday, Sunday & night rates
- Priced by band of five, not per person — one extra hire usually costs nothing
Price comparison by team size.
Deputy charges per user per month, across tiers: Lite is its basic plan, while advanced scheduling, auto timesheet approval and richer reporting sit in Core — and extras like enhanced messaging, analytics and HR are paid add-ons on top. ClockRota charges by band of 5 staff, with every feature included in every band.
| Team size | ClockRota | Deputy Lite | Deputy Core |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 staff | £9/mo | £20.00/mo | £23.75/mo |
| 10 staff | £19/mo | £36.00/mo | £47.50/mo |
| 15 staff | £29/mo | £54.00/mo | £71.25/mo |
| 20 staff | £39/mo | £72.00/mo | £95.00/mo |
Monthly against monthly, so both columns sit on the same basis. Deputy figures use its published UK monthly prices (Lite £3.60, Core £4.75 per user/month, excluding VAT), read from deputy.com on 27 August 2026 — the £3.25 headline on that page is its annual rate, billed upfront for the year. Deputy applies a £20/month minimum per invoice on monthly plans, so a 5-staff venue on Lite pays £20 rather than £18. The Messaging+, Analytics+ and HR add-ons are charged extra per user on top. ClockRota prices are our published post-beta prices with nothing gated behind a higher tier or add-on — and today it's £0 while we're in public beta.
Feature comparison.
| Feature | ClockRota | Deputy |
|---|---|---|
| Drag-and-drop rota builder | Yes | Yes |
| Copy last week & shift templates | Yes | Yes |
| Publish notifications (app, email, push) | Email & push | Yes |
| Clock-in: GPS, PIN & shared kiosk | GPS & PIN, in the browser | Yes |
| Timesheets with approval & late tracking | Yes | Yes |
| Staff-initiated shift swaps | Yes | Yes |
| Leave management with UK holiday accrual | Yes | Yes |
| Payroll CSV incl. bank-holiday, Sunday & night rates | Yes | Yes |
| Multi-venue support | Yes, billed per venue | Yes |
| Demand forecasting & labour optimisation | No | Yes (Core+) |
| Payroll & POS integrations | Not yet (CSV export) | Yes |
| SMS notifications | No | Yes |
| Open-shift self-claiming | No | Yes |
| Every feature on every plan | Yes | No (tiered) |
| Priced by band, not per person | Yes | No |
Deputy feature availability per its published UK plan descriptions, read 27 August 2026. If we've got something wrong, tell us at hello@clockrota.co.uk and we'll fix it.
Switching takes an afternoon.
Create your venue, set up your roles, and invite your team by email — each person sets themselves up from the invite. Build your first rota with drag and drop, publish it, and everyone's notified. There's no contract and the beta costs nothing, so you can run ClockRota alongside Deputy for a couple of weeks before you decide anything.
Frequently asked questions.
Is ClockRota a good alternative to Deputy?
It depends on what you need. If you run a single UK hospitality venue and mainly need rota building, clock-in, timesheets, shift swaps, leave and payroll exports, ClockRota covers the same day-to-day job at a price banded by team size rather than charged per person. If you need demand forecasting, POS and payroll integrations, or enterprise features across many sites, Deputy is the more powerful (and more expensive) tool.
How much cheaper is ClockRota than Deputy?
Deputy charges per user. Monthly against monthly, its published UK prices are £3.60 per user per month on Lite and £4.75 on Core, excluding VAT, with a £20/month minimum per invoice — so a 10-person team is £36 to £47.50 a month before paid add-ons like enhanced messaging, analytics or HR. The £3.25 Deputy leads with is its annual rate, billed upfront for the year. ClockRota is £19/month for any team of 6–10 staff once paid plans launch — and £0 during the public beta. Figures read from deputy.com on 27 August 2026.
What does Deputy have that ClockRota doesn't?
Deputy offers demand forecasting, payroll and POS integrations, SMS notifications, open-shift claiming and an HR add-on, and serves industries beyond hospitality. ClockRota doesn't have those — it focuses on doing rotas, clock-in, timesheets, swaps, leave and payroll CSV exports really well for UK hospitality venues.
How hard is it to switch from Deputy to ClockRota?
Switching takes an afternoon. Create your venue, add your roles, and invite staff by email — they set themselves up from the invite. You can build and publish your first rota as soon as your staff are on the invite list. There's no contract to break with ClockRota and the beta costs nothing, so you can run it alongside Deputy before deciding.
Try the simpler way.
Every feature unlocked while we're in public beta. No card, no contract — build your rota, publish it, and everyone knows where to be.
Join the public beta