Planday vs ShiftCal

Planday provides employee scheduling and workforce-management software for shift-working teams, on the web and on Android and iOS. Scheduling tools cover availability preferences, shift swaps, open and draft shifts, and reusable schedule templates. Workers can use Punch Clock to clock in and out from their devices, with location restrictions and rounding rules. Managers can compare scheduled and worked hours, approve shifts for payroll, and export timesheets through integrations. The mobile app also supports schedule viewing and updates, hour approvals and team communications. Planday connects with payroll, POS and HR systems, including Xero, Personio, Square, Lightspeed and ADP. Customers can configure working-time rules, contract hours and absence policies for automatic application to schedules, with real-time alerts for violations. The Starter plan includes Help Centre and live chat support; Pro includes dedicated phone support through a call-back service. Planday says it serves small, medium and enterprise businesses across industries such as hospitality, care homes, hotels, entertainment, retail, and fitness and wellness. There is no free plan; a 30-day trial is available. Starter costs £2.99 a month, billed per user/month, with a five-user minimum.

ShiftCal provides shift scheduling, clock-ins by GPS or kiosk, time-off management, and payroll exports for shift-based businesses, including gyms. Its assistant and solver draft rosters around coverage, availability, rest, and fairness rules. Gym scheduling supports class-shaped shifts, instructors working across multiple gyms, and shift swaps to arrange cover. The assistant can extract roles, shifts, sites, rules, and coverage needs from Excel, PDF, CSV files, and schedule photos. A confirmation card appears before changes are applied or published. Employees can use Android and iOS apps for calendars, push notifications, clock-ins, leave requests, and shift swaps; the service also runs on the web. Timesheets and payroll can be exported in CSV, Excel, or PDF formats, but no specific payroll integrations are named. The free plan is listed at free for five people and one site, with no card required and cancellation anytime. The pricing note lists paid plans from €2.99/mo and a 14-day trial; the plan details also list Pro at €299 a month and Crew at €999 a month. Precise location is collected only at workplace clock-in, not tracked in the background.