Deputy vs When I Work
By Sebastiaan Smits ·
Published October 8, 2026 · Updated October 8, 2026
Deputy leans toward demand forecasting, labor budgets and compliance rules across several countries. When I Work leans toward simplicity: open shifts, swaps and messaging at a lower per-user price. Multi-site operators with compliance exposure choose Deputy; small teams that want a rota published by the end of the day choose When I Work.
Side by side
 Deputy |  When I Work | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Shift scheduling with demand forecasting and compliance rules | Easy shift scheduling and team messaging app |
| Best for | Multi-site hourly businesses | Small teams wanting simplicity |
| Headquarters | Australia | United States |
| Pricing model | Per user / month | Per user / month |
| Pricing | Published per-user monthly tiers (Lite, Core and Pro) starting at $5 per user in the US, with a $30 minimum monthly spend on monthly plans and a free trial. | Published per-user monthly plans: Essentials at $2.50, Pro at $5 and Premium at $8 per user, with time tracking as an add-on and a 14-day free trial. |
| Free option | Free trial | Free trial |
| Place in our employee scheduling software ranking | #1 of 13 | #2 of 13 |
| Website | deputy.com | wheniwork.com |
Both are reviewed in full in Best Employee Scheduling Software in 2026. Position in that ranking can be paid for; the wording of a review or of this comparison cannot. Placement disclosure.
Which one to choose
Choose Deputy if
you run several locations, schedule against forecast demand, or operate in places with fair-workweek, break or award rules.
Deputy, #1 in the ranking · Visit Deputy →
Choose When I Work if
you manage a small hourly team, want staff to swap and pick up shifts from a phone, and need the lowest published per-user price.
When I Work, #2 in the ranking · Visit When I Work →
Where they differ
Compliance and labor rules
Deputy lists labor law compliance on its entry tier and our category notes describe warnings for overtime, rest breaks and fair-workweek notice in major US cities, plus Australian award rules and UK working-time limits. Our notes call When I Work's compliance features for predictive-scheduling cities limited. For a business in a regulated scheduling market, Deputy is the safer choice.
Edge: Deputy
Published prices
Deputy's pricing page lists Lite at $5, Core at $6.50 and Pro at $9 per user per month, with a $30 monthly minimum. When I Work lists Essentials at $2.50, Pro at $5 and Premium at $8 per user per month, with a 14-day trial and no minimum shown. At each step When I Work costs less per seat, and a very small team avoids Deputy's minimum. We did not verify what billing basis each figure assumes, so confirm that before comparing totals.
Edge: When I Work
Auto-scheduling and forecasting
Deputy places auto-scheduling and demand forecasting on Core and above, with labor optimization and budget tools alongside. When I Work lists auto scheduling and forecast tools on its Essentials plan, but our category notes call its forecasting and labor-budget tools basic next to Deputy. The cheaper entry point at When I Work is real, while Deputy goes further once cost against budget matters.
Edge: Deputy
Staff-facing simplicity
When I Work lists shift swapping and in-app messaging on its entry plan, and our notes say managers who never used scheduling software usually publish a first rota within a day. Deputy also supports swaps and open shifts in its mobile app, but its broader configuration of compliance rules and integrations takes longer. For adoption with an unwilling team, When I Work asks for less.
Edge: When I Work
Time tracking and enterprise controls
Both include time clocking in some form. Deputy lists timesheets and time clocking on Lite and adds biometrics clocking on Core, while SSO sits on Pro. When I Work offers time tracking as a toggle that our category notes treat as an extra cost, and SAML/SSO, API keys and webhooks sit on Premium. We did not verify the exact add-on price for time tracking at When I Work.
Edge: even
Tally: Deputy 2, When I Work 2, even 1.
When neither fits
Neither fits a single cafe or shop with a handful of staff and no forecasting need, where Homebase or Sling's free tier avoids a per-seat bill. Restaurant groups scheduling against sales data should also look at 7shifts.
See Homebase, 7shifts and Sling by Toast among the 13 products in Best Employee Scheduling Software in 2026.
Questions and answers
How much does Deputy cost per user?
The pricing page we fetched lists Lite at $5, Core at $6.50 and Pro at $9 per user per month, with a $30 monthly minimum and a free trial of unspecified length. It also says Deputy AI is included across plans.
How much does When I Work cost per user?
The page we fetched lists Essentials at $2.50, Pro at $5 and Premium at $8 per user per month, with a 14-day free trial and no credit card required. Time tracking and attendance is a separate feature that can be switched on. We could not verify its price.
Which one has auto-scheduling?
Both. Deputy lists auto-scheduling and demand forecasting on Core and Pro. When I Work lists auto scheduling and forecast tools on all three of its plans.
Which plan do you need for single sign-on?
Deputy lists SSO on Pro. When I Work lists SAML/SSO on Premium, together with API key access and webhooks.
Sources
Prices, plan limits and product facts on this page were checked against the vendors' own pages on October 8, 2026. Vendors change both without notice, so treat the figures as of that date.
- Deputy pricing page: Lite, Core and Pro per-user prices, the $30 monthly minimum, tier feature lists and SSO on Pro
- When I Work pricing page: Essentials, Pro and Premium per-user prices, the 14-day trial, the time tracking toggle and tier feature lists