A straightforward Planday alternative
for UK pubs, cafes & restaurants.
Planday is a capable scheduling platform. But per-user pricing with base fees 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 one flat banded price, free while we're in public beta.
Try ClockRota freeThe 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, PIN or a shared kiosk device
- Timesheets, swaps, leave and UK holiday accrual
- Payroll CSVs with bank-holiday, Sunday & night rates
- One flat banded price instead of per-user + base fees
Price comparison by team size.
Planday charges per user, with minimum user counts and a base fee on its Plus plan — and the plan matters. Planday's Starter tier does not include leave requests, absence accounts or payroll integrations, so the like-for-like plan against ClockRota's feature set is Plus. ClockRota charges a flat price per band of 5 staff, with every feature included in every band.
| Team size | ClockRota | Planday Starter (no leave mgmt) | Planday Plus (like-for-like) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 staff | £9/mo | £14.95/mo | — (min. 10 users) |
| 10 staff | £19/mo | £29.90/mo | £69.90/mo |
| 15 staff | £29/mo | £44.85/mo | £89.85/mo |
| 20 staff | £39/mo | £59.80/mo | £109.80/mo |
Planday figures use its published UK prices (Starter £2.99 per user/month, minimum 5 users; Plus £3.99 per user/month plus £30/month base fee, minimum 10 users), checked July 2026. Per Planday's own plan documentation, Starter excludes leave requests, absence accounts, contracted-hours tracking and payroll/POS integrations — features that need Plus. Planday withdrew some public pricing during 2025, so confirm current figures at planday.com. ClockRota prices are our published post-beta prices — 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) | Yes | Yes |
| Clock-in: GPS, PIN & shared kiosk | Yes | 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 | 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) |
| Flat banded pricing (not per-user) | Yes | No |
Planday feature availability per its published UK plan descriptions, July 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 is free, 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 flat banded price. 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: its published UK pricing has been £2.99 per user per month on Starter (minimum 5 users) and £3.99 per user plus a £30/month base fee on Plus (minimum 10 users). For a 10-person team that's roughly £30/month on Starter or £70/month on Plus — and Starter doesn't include leave management, so the like-for-like plan is Plus. ClockRota charges a flat £19/month for any team of 6–10 staff once paid plans launch — and is completely free during the public beta.
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. Most teams publish their first rota within minutes of adding their staff. There's no contract with ClockRota and the beta is free, so you can run it alongside Planday before deciding.
Try the simpler way, free.
Every feature unlocked while we're in public beta. No card, no contract — build your first rota in five minutes.
Join the beta free