Rota app prices for a pub team: RotaCloud, Deputy and Planday compared for 14 staff

A pub with 14 people on the rota pays between £40 and £85.86 a month for a rota app, on the prices the three suppliers published on 1 October 2026. RotaCloud Standard is £40, Planday Starter £41.86, Deputy Lite £50.40 paid monthly, and Planday Plus £85.86. The order changes with headcount, because RotaCloud charges a flat fee by band and the other two charge per person.

What this is, and is not. A desk check of each supplier's own UK pricing page, read in a browser on 1 October 2026. We did not trial any of the three. Prices and plans change, so read the live page before you sign up.

What each page says

The sum for 14 staff

Count everyone who logs in, not only the people on shifts. RotaCloud's page asks you to include yourself and every other user, admins and managers too. Deputy's page says supervisors and administrators are counted as users.

Deputy's figures are before tax. For the other two, check the invoice wording during the trial.

Where your headcount sits in the band

A flat band is cheap at the top and dear at the bottom. The same four plans at five team sizes, per month:

Five users on Deputy Lite come to 5 × £3.60 = £18.00, which the £20 minimum raises to £20.00.

Three things follow from the table.

1. Without clocking in, Planday Starter is cheaper than RotaCloud Standard up to 13 staff (13 × £2.99 = £38.87). From 14 to 20, RotaCloud is cheaper.
2. With clocking in, RotaCloud costs £58, and Planday Starter stays below that until 19 staff (19 × £2.99 = £56.81). At 20 it is £59.80.
3. The 21st person costs £20 a month on RotaCloud Standard, because the band changes. A pub that takes on summer staff should price the summer headcount, not the winter one.

What the per-user price leaves out

Plans with the same name do different jobs. RotaCloud lists holiday management under Standard. Deputy lists automated leave accruals under Lite. Planday lists leave and absence management under Plus, not Starter. A pub that wants holiday requests handled in the app should compare Planday Plus at £85.86 with the others, not Planday Starter at £41.86.

Each page also mentions working-time checks in some form: Planday lists "working time rules and compliance warnings" and Deputy lists "labour law compliance". We did not test what either one flags. Before you rely on a warning, run one week of your own rota through the five checks in our pub and bar staff rota template, including the 11-hour gap after a close.

The price of the app is small beside the wages it schedules. On the example in our rota cost calculator, a 310-hour week costs £4,906 once employer NI, pension and holiday pay are added. The dearest plan in the table above is £85.86 a month. During the trial, check whether the labour cost the app shows is gross pay or the all-in figure, because the two differ by about a quarter.

How to choose in the trial

1. Count the users in your busiest month, managers and owner included.
2. Read the three prices for that number from the live pages, with clocking in if you want it.
3. Decide whether you would pay for a year. RotaCloud's yearly price saves two months. Deputy's annual plan saves 10% and commits you to the year.
4. Build one real week in each trial and send it to two members of staff. Ask them which one they would open.
5. Export one week of hours and check that your payroll accepts the file.

Where Overlyft fits

Overlyft is an agency, not a rota app, so it is not in the tables above. It can set up an AI Rota Clerk that drafts next week's rota inside the app a venue already uses and puts the all-in cost beside it. The manager approves and publishes it.