Planday vs When I Work

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.

When I Work brings employee scheduling, shift swaps, team messaging, and time tracking together for shift-based workplaces. Auto scheduling assigns shifts using staff availability and qualifications, and managers can oversee multiple stores, departments, or job sites from one dashboard. The time clock tracks attendance, breaks, and time off, while staff can message without sharing phone numbers. It runs on the web, Android, and iOS. Essentials costs $2.50 a month billed per user per month; Pro is $5 a month billed per user per month; Premium is $8 a month billed per user per month. A 14-day trial offers complete access and requires no credit card, but there is no free plan. API key access, webhooks, and SAML/SSO are included in Premium. When I Work says it uses AWS, TLS, daily backups, multiple-disk writes, and mobile two-step verification. It does not offer an SLA, although its hosting partners guarantee 99.9% uptime.