Deputy review

Deputy is workforce management software for businesses with shift workers. Its homepage says it serves teams from small businesses to enterprise workforces, with scheduling, timekeeping, HR, payroll, communication and compliance tools in one product.

The scheduling tools let managers create and share rosters, handle shift swaps and plan staffing. Timekeeping tracks hours and turns them into timesheets. Deputy also says its compliance features automate calculations for pay rates, overtime, breaks and premium pay. HR tools cover hiring, onboarding and employee engagement.

The product includes an AI agent, which Deputy describes as turning daily on-shift decisions into actions; the published product information does not explain which decisions it handles. For payroll, approved timesheets can be sent to Paycor in one click. That is a specific workflow, not evidence here of broader payroll integrations.

Deputy’s main appeal is range: the product covers scheduling, time clocks, timesheets and labor compliance, with HR and payroll available as well. For a shift-based team, that can mean fewer separate tools for routine workforce tasks. The pricing page lists labor law compliance even on Lite, while Core adds auto-scheduling, demand forecasting, timesheet auto-approval, and wage and labor budgets.

The entry price is clear enough to compare: the pricing page lists Lite at $5 per user per month, Core at $6.50 and Pro at $9. Pro adds single sign-on, a sandbox environment, 24/7 live chat, Analytics+ and Messaging+. The page says annual billing saves 10%, although it does not publish the annual rates; annual plans are charged upfront.

There are also paid HR and payroll options rather than requiring every buyer to take a larger bundle. HR is listed at $2 per user per month and is available on all plans in the US, UK and Australia. Payroll is listed for eligible annual Core and Pro plans in the US.

The $5 starting price is not the whole bill. The pricing page sets a $30 minimum monthly invoice for monthly Lite, Core and Pro plans. It also counts administrators and supervisors as users, and says users added, archived or unarchived during a month are billed for the full month. That makes the per-user headline easy to underestimate for teams with several managers or changing rosters.

Several costs sit outside the base plan. US payroll is listed at $8 per user per month plus a $49 monthly base fee, and the page says fees vary by business size. It is available on annual Core and Pro plans, not listed for monthly plans. HR costs $2 per user per month after its 30-day free period. SMS is charged by 160-character message, with rates varying by country.

Some prices remain opaque: the weekly event plan has no published price, charity pricing is custom, and separate annual rates are not shown. Buyers need a quote or a user-count calculation to know the actual bill.

The pricing page lists Lite at $5 per user/month, Core at $6.50 and Pro at $9. That makes Core $1.50 more than Lite, while Pro adds another $2.50 per user/month. Annual billing saves 10%, according to the page, but it does not publish annual rates; annual plans are charged upfront for the year.

The starting price leaves out optional tools and minimum charges:

• Monthly Lite, Core and Pro invoices have a $30 minimum. Administrators and supervisors count as users, and users added or archived during the month are billed for the full month.
• US payroll is an extra $8 per user/month plus a $49 monthly base fee, and is available only on annual Core and Pro plans. The page says fees vary by business size.
• HR costs $2 per user/month. Messaging+ is $1.95 and Analytics+ is $1.50 per user/month; both are included in Pro. Each is free for 30 days.

So a small team may pay above the per-user rate, and US buyers wanting Deputy payroll cannot add it to a monthly plan.

Deputy brings scheduling, timekeeping and compliance into one workforce-management product, according to its homepage and feature descriptions. For a switch, map which systems currently hold schedules, timesheets, employee details and payroll approvals, then confirm what must be transferred and what can be rebuilt. The published materials do not document a migration service, supported import formats, data export options or a migration timeline, so get those answers from Deputy before signing or leaving.

The pricing page also makes headcount and billing worth checking before a move: supervisors and administrators count as users, and monthly users are billed for the full month, even when added or archived mid-month. That can affect the cost of a transition.

We can’t responsibly summarize why users leave based on Reddit: no Reddit posts or comments were published for this review. Treat data portability, cancellation terms and any employee-facing changeover as questions to verify, not as established complaints or documented lock-in.