A straightforward Planday alternative
for UK pubs, cafes & restaurants.
Planday is a capable scheduling platform. But per-user pricing adds up fast for a small venue — and after Xero retired Planday in Australia, plenty of UK owners started looking at their options. ClockRota does rotas, clock-in and payroll at a price banded by team size, not charged per person, and £0 while we're in public beta.
Try the public betaThe honest version first.
Planday earns its users — if you depend on its Xero payroll integration or revenue-based scheduling, it does things ClockRota doesn't. The question is whether your venue uses those features, or just pays for them.
Choose Planday if you need…
- A built-in Xero payroll integration
- Revenue and labour-cost forecasting against sales
- Open shifts staff can claim themselves
- A larger, longer-established platform
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.
Planday charges per user, with a minimum of 5 users — and the plan matters. Its published price is £2.99 per user per month on Starter, which does not include leave requests, absence accounts or payroll integrations; those need Plus, whose price Planday no longer publishes. So the table below sets ClockRota against Starter: the cheapest Planday can be, and still not a like-for-like feature set. ClockRota charges by band of 5 staff, with every feature included in every band.
| Team size | ClockRota (every feature) | Planday Starter (no leave mgmt) |
|---|---|---|
| 5 staff | £9/mo | £14.95/mo |
| 10 staff | £19/mo | £29.90/mo |
| 15 staff | £29/mo | £44.85/mo |
| 20 staff | £39/mo | £59.80/mo |
Planday figures use the Starter price published at planday.com on 27 August 2026 — £2.99 per user per month, minimum 5 users. Planday states no VAT treatment, so that is its headline figure as shown. Per its own plan descriptions on the same date, Starter covers scheduling, simple time tracking, working-time rules and basic payroll reporting; leave and absence management, payroll integrations and revenue reporting sit on Plus, and Planday no longer publishes a Plus price — ask them for it before comparing. ClockRota prices are our published post-beta prices, with every feature in every band — and today it's £0 while we're in public beta.
Feature comparison.
| Feature | ClockRota | Planday |
|---|---|---|
| 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, every plan | Plus plan only |
| Payroll CSV incl. bank-holiday, Sunday & night rates | Yes | Yes |
| Multi-venue support | Yes, billed per venue | Yes |
| Xero payroll integration | Not yet (CSV export) | Yes |
| Revenue / labour-cost forecasting vs sales | No | Yes |
| Open-shift self-claiming | No | Yes |
| Every feature on every plan | Yes | No (tiered) |
| Priced by band, not per person | Yes | No |
Planday feature availability per its published 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 Planday for a couple of weeks before you decide anything.
Frequently asked questions.
Is ClockRota a good alternative to Planday?
For a single UK hospitality venue that needs rota building, clock-in, timesheets, shift swaps, leave and payroll exports, yes — ClockRota covers the same day-to-day job at a price banded by team size rather than charged per person. If you rely on Planday's Xero payroll integration or revenue-based scheduling, Planday still has features ClockRota doesn't.
Is Planday being discontinued?
Not in the UK. Xero retired Planday in Australia on 30 September 2024 so Planday could focus on its core European business, and Xero took a stake in Deputy for the Australian market. Planday remains available to UK customers. Some UK venues have still chosen to reassess their options after that news, which is partly why comparison pages like this exist.
How much cheaper is ClockRota than Planday?
Planday charges per user with a minimum of 5 users, and its published price is £2.99 per user per month on Starter — £29.90 a month for a 10-person team. That's Planday's cheapest plan, and it doesn't include leave and absence management or payroll integrations; those need Plus, whose price Planday no longer publishes. ClockRota is £19/month for any team of 6–10 staff once paid plans launch, with leave, holiday accrual and payroll exports included in every band — and £0 during the public beta. Figures read from planday.com on 27 August 2026.
How hard is it to switch from Planday 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 with ClockRota and the beta costs nothing, so you can run it alongside Planday 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