Deputy — Independent Software Review

The complete people platform for hourly work.

Compliance Transparency Index

Grade: A — Score: 100/100

Best For

• Hourly-workforce businesses in hospitality, retail, healthcare, and food service that schedule shift workers across variable demand patterns.
• Multi-location and franchise operators who need centralized schedule visibility, labor cost roll-ups, and consistent compliance enforcement across dozens or hundreds of sites.
• Growing small businesses that want to move from spreadsheet scheduling to automated shift-building with demand forecasting, starting at $5/user/month.
• Organizations in Fair Workweek jurisdictions (New York, Chicago, San Francisco, and others) that need automated predictive scheduling compliance.

Not Ideal For

• Companies with primarily salaried, office-based workforces. Deputy is built around shift scheduling, time clocking, and hourly labor optimization.
• Businesses that need a full HRIS with benefits administration, performance reviews, and payroll tax filing as a core product. Deputy's HR features are a $2/user/month add-on focused on hiring, onboarding, and document management.
• Organizations that require the platform in languages other than English, or need deep localization beyond the US, UK, and Australia for the HR add-on.

Operational Overview

Pricing Structure

Lite: $5/user/month (billed annually) · $5.50/user/month (billed monthly)

• Basic scheduling and shift templates
• Basic timesheets and time clocking
• Labor law compliance
• Shift swap and find replacement
• Leave and availability management
• Basic reporting
• Messaging and news feed
• Payroll and HR integrations

Core: $6.50/user/month (billed annually) · $7.25/user/month (billed monthly)

• Everything in Lite
• Advanced scheduling and micro-scheduling
• Auto-scheduling
• Demand forecasting
• Biometric time clocking
• Timesheet auto-approval
• Advanced labor law compliance
• Wage and labor budgets
• Customer success manager

Pro: $9/user/month (billed annually) · $10/user/month (billed monthly)

• Everything in Core
• Custom access levels
• Advanced timesheets
• Location hierarchies and pay centers
• Single Sign-On (SSO)
• Sandbox environment
• 24/7 live chat support
• Analytics+ and Messaging+ included

Alternative Consideration

Consider switching to When I Work: Similar functionality focused on employee scheduling.

Frequently Asked Questions

How does Deputy compare to When I Work and Homebase for scheduling?

Deputy differentiates primarily through AI-powered auto-scheduling with demand forecasting and built-in Fair Workweek compliance tools, both of which When I Work and Homebase lack in comparable depth. When I Work is simpler and less expensive for very small teams, while Homebase offers a free tier with built-in payroll for a single location. Deputy's Core plan at $6.50/user/month (billed annually) includes features like biometric time clocking, micro-scheduling, and labor budget tracking that require higher tiers or separate add-ons on the other two platforms.

How does Deputy handle Fair Workweek compliance for cities like New York and Chicago?

Deputy includes purpose-built Fair Workweek tools on its Core and Pro plans for jurisdictions including New York City, Chicago, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Seattle. The system generates good faith estimates of working hours, provides visual warnings when schedule changes trigger consent requirements or predictability pay, and collects digital employee consent records. All schedule changes, consents, and premium pay calculations are logged and exportable for audit purposes, which is critical given that U.S. businesses in Fair Workweek cities paid over $27 million in violations in one recent year.

Does Deputy require an internet connection or can it work offline?

Deputy requires an active internet connection for all core functions, including clocking in/out, viewing schedules, and approving timesheets. The mobile app (iOS and Android) and kiosk app do not support offline mode. This is a known limitation noted in user reviews and makes Deputy less suitable for businesses operating at remote job sites or locations with unreliable connectivity.

What payroll and POS systems does Deputy integrate with?

Deputy integrates with over 50 payroll, POS, and HR platforms. Major payroll partners include ADP, Gusto, QuickBooks, Xero, Paychex, Paycor, Paylocity, and Rippling. POS integrations cover Square, Lightspeed, Clover, and Revel, enabling sales data to flow into demand forecasting. Deputy also offers a dedicated payroll add-on powered by Paycor at $8/user/month plus a $49 monthly base fee, which sends approved timesheets and pay rates to Paycor directly.

How does Deputy's AI auto-scheduling feature work?

Deputy's auto-scheduler, available on the Core plan ($6.50/user/month annually) and above, uses historical sales, foot traffic, and demand signals to forecast staffing needs per location and time slot. It then generates a draft schedule that factors in employee availability, training qualifications, labor budgets, and overtime thresholds. Managers review and publish the result. According to Deputy's case study with a multi-location coffee chain, 85% of AI-generated shifts were left unchanged by managers, and the system eliminated over 60,000 scheduling hours.

Can Deputy manage scheduling across multiple locations and franchises?

Yes. Deputy's Pro plan ($9/user/month annually, $10 monthly) includes location hierarchies and Pay Centers designed for multi-location and franchise operations. Location hierarchies let regional or corporate managers roll up labor costs, schedules, and compliance data across sites, while Pay Centers group locations for payroll routing. Custom access levels restrict what each manager can see by role and geography. Enterprise customers with 250+ users also receive a dedicated customer success manager.

Does Deputy support biometric time clocking to prevent buddy punching?

Biometric face-unlock for kiosk devices is available on the Core and Pro plans. Employees clock in at a shared iPad or Android tablet using facial recognition, which prevents buddy punching (one employee clocking in on behalf of another). The mobile app also supports geofencing, which restricts clock-in to a defined GPS radius around the workplace. Both methods feed directly into timesheets for payroll processing.

How long does it take to set up Deputy for a new business?

According to Deputy, most businesses can be fully operational within about one week. The platform offers a self-guided onboarding video series called Deputy Essentials, and the free trial runs up to 31 days with no credit card required. Core and Pro plan customers get access to a customer success manager for onboarding support. Users on review sites generally praise the setup speed and drag-and-drop interface, though some note that configuring advanced compliance rules (like Fair Workweek) can take additional time.

AI Visibility Report

How AI agents (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, others) read this review page in the past 7 days. Updated weekly. View Deputy AI Visibility Report.