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Deputy vs Connecteam
Side-by-side comparison of pricing, features, and trade-offs, and which one actually fits your team.
What each tool does
Deputy: Deputy is a shift scheduling and workforce management platform for businesses with hourly employees.
Connecteam: Connecteam is a mobile-first workforce management app bundling time tracking, scheduling, communication, and training for deskless teams.
Deputy vs Connecteam at a glance
| Deputy | Connecteam | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Subscription | Freemium |
| Starting price | Subscription $4.5/mo (lowest published recurring price) | Freemium Free (<10 users), $29/mo (Basic), $49/mo (Advanced) |
| Free tier | No | Yes |
| Category | hr | operations |
| Best for | Multi-location shift-based businesses like restaurants, retail chains, and healthcare providers | Small to mid-sized businesses with deskless or field-based workers |
| Top strength | Ties auto-scheduling and demand forecasting to POS sales data and deep payroll integrations. | Its GPS-verified time tracking and geofencing eliminate disputes over hours and job site attendance. |
| Main limitation | Add-ons like payroll, HR, and SMS notifications push real costs well above the headline price. | It has no native payroll, so timesheets must still be exported to a separate payroll system. |
| Full review | Deputy review → | Connecteam review → |
Strengths & weaknesses
Deputy highlights
Pros- Mobile-first design: hourly staff use the mobile app effectively.
- Auto-scheduling AI: handles labor demand forecasting and optimal shift assignments.
- Payroll integrations: clean export to ADP, Gusto, Xero, QuickBooks.
- Compliance handling: state-specific overtime and break rules enforced automatically.
- Reasonable pricing: cheaper than When I Work at comparable feature levels.
- Auto-scheduling takes tuning: AI needs weeks of historical data to schedule well.
- Reporting depth limited on lower tiers: advanced labor analytics need Enterprise.
- UI varies in polish: some areas feel more refined than others.
- Limited recruiting features: scheduling-only, not full HRIS.
Connecteam highlights
Pros- Genuinely mobile-first: Unlike tools that bolt a mobile app onto a desktop platform, Connecteam was designed phone-first. The app is intuitive enough that workers with minimal tech experience can use it without training.
- Free plan is real: 10 users get full access to everything. For micro-businesses (a small restaurant, a 5-person cleaning crew), this is a complete workforce management solution at zero cost.
- All-in-one value: Replacing separate tools for scheduling, time tracking, communication, and training with one platform reduces both cost and complexity. Workers download one app instead of four.
- GPS and geofencing: For field service businesses, the location-verified time tracking eliminates disputes about hours and job site attendance. The geofencing auto-clock feature is a genuine time-saver.
- Affordable at scale: Even with all three hubs, the per-user cost is lower than most competitors. A 30-person team on the Basic plan across all hubs pays about $2.90/user/month.
Which should you pick?
Deputy: Deputy suits multi-location shift employers needing rostering, compliance, and clean payroll export, though per-user costs climb once add-ons like payroll and HR are switched on.
Connecteam: Best for small to mid-sized businesses with construction, retail, or field-service workers who need one mobile app for scheduling and time tracking, but mobile app stability draws complaints.
Still unsure? Read the deep-dive reviews: Deputy and Connecteam.
Sources
Prices and plan details come from each vendor's own pricing page, re-checked by the Toolradar pricing tracker.
- Deputy pricing, checked Sep 2026
- Connecteam pricing, checked Sep 2026
Frequently asked questions
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