7shifts and Deputy both solve shift-based workforce management, but they are built for different worlds. 7shifts was designed from the ground up for…
| 7shifts | Deputy | |
|---|---|---|
| Primary category | Scheduling | Scheduling |
| Rating | Not documented | Not documented |
| Pricing model | Free plan + paid subscription tiers (per location/month) | Subscription (per-user) |
| Starting price | Free (Comp plan) | $5/user/month |
| Free plan | Yes | Not documented |
| Free trial | Yes | Yes |
| Platforms | Web, iOS, Android | Web, iOS, Android |
| Team collaboration | Not documented | Not documented |
| AI features | Not documented | Not documented |
| Public API | Yes | Yes |
Core Industry Focus
7shifts: 7shifts is built specifically for restaurants and food service, with terminology and features like tip pooling tailored to that vertical.
Deputy: Deputy targets shift-based teams broadly, including retail, hospitality, and healthcare, without restaurant-specific tooling like tip pooling.
A tool built around your industry ships fewer workarounds and more relevant defaults out of the box.
Pricing Structure
7shifts: 7shifts prices per location, with paid plans starting around 30 dollars per month per location.
Deputy: Deputy prices per user per month, starting at 5 dollars USD on the Lite plan, subject to a minimum monthly account spend.
Per-location pricing scales differently than per-user pricing depending on staff headcount versus number of sites.
Free Plan Availability
7shifts: 7shifts offers a genuine free plan for a single location with a small team covering basic scheduling and time tracking.
Deputy: Deputy has no permanent free plan, only a free trial on its paid tiers.
A free tier lowers the barrier for very small or budget-constrained teams to start using the software at all.
Auto-Scheduling and Demand Forecasting
7shifts: 7shifts offers labor cost forecasting that compares scheduled hours against POS sales data, but does not auto-generate draft schedules.
Deputy: Deputy offers auto-scheduling on Core and Pro tiers that uses historical sales or foot-traffic data to auto-generate draft schedules for manager review.
Auto-generating a draft schedule saves manager time versus only getting cost comparisons after a schedule is built manually.
Compliance Alert Depth
7shifts: 7shifts flags overtime risk and supports predictive scheduling or fair workweek requirements where applicable.
Deputy: Deputy checks for rest-break violations, overtime thresholds, and award or union pay-rule conflicts before a schedule is published.
Businesses in jurisdictions with complex break and award-rule regulations need more granular compliance checks than overtime alone.
Task and Checklist Management
7shifts: 7shifts provides a manager log book for digital shift notes and handoffs, but does not document dedicated shift-level checklists.
Deputy: Deputy provides dedicated tasking, letting managers assign checklists such as opening and closing duties tied to a specific shift or location.
Formal checklists tied to shifts help ensure operational tasks are completed and tracked, not just communicated.
Hiring and Onboarding Tools
7shifts: 7shifts supports posting jobs, tracking applicants, and onboarding new hires on higher-tier plans.
Deputy: Deputy's documented feature set does not include hiring or applicant-tracking tools.
Built-in hiring tools can reduce the number of separate systems a growing restaurant needs to manage staff turnover.
Payroll and HR Integration Breadth
7shifts: 7shifts offers payroll integrations and, in some markets, a payroll add-on, but is not primarily a payroll or HR platform.
Deputy: Deputy integrates with Gusto, QuickBooks, Xero, and ADP, and offers its own US payroll product through a partnership with Paycor.
A wider roster of payroll integrations reduces the chance a business has to switch its existing payroll provider to adopt the scheduling tool.
POS Integration Depth
7shifts: 7shifts connects with major restaurant point-of-sale systems to sync sales and labor data, powering its labor forecasting.
Deputy: Deputy's documented facts do not confirm restaurant POS integrations.
POS-linked labor forecasting only works as well as the depth of the POS integration behind it.
Clock-In Method and Time Theft Prevention
7shifts: 7shifts supports clock-in from a tablet, POS terminal, or the mobile app.
Deputy: Deputy adds a tablet kiosk clock-in option with photo capture to help reduce buddy punching.
Photo capture at clock-in adds a verification layer that plain tablet or POS clock-in does not provide.
| Feature | 7shifts | Deputy |
|---|---|---|
| Drag-and-drop schedule builder | Available | Available |
| Shift swaps and trading | Available | Available |
| Auto-generated draft schedules | Unavailable | Available |
| Shift templates and copy-previous-week | Available | Available |
| Feature | 7shifts | Deputy |
|---|---|---|
| Mobile time clock | Available | Available |
| Tablet kiosk clock-in with photo capture | Limited | Available |
| Automatic timesheet reconciliation against schedule | Not documented | Available |
| Feature | 7shifts | Deputy |
|---|---|---|
| Overtime and predictive scheduling alerts | Available | Available |
| Rest-break and award or union rule violation checks | Not documented | Available |
| Real-time labor cost or wage budget tracking | Available | Available |
| Feature | 7shifts | Deputy |
|---|---|---|
| In-app team messaging | Available | Available |
| Shift-level checklists or tasking | Not documented | Available |
| Manager shift notes and handoff log | Available | Available |
| Feature | 7shifts | Deputy |
|---|---|---|
| Hiring and applicant tracking | Available | Not documented |
| Payroll provider integrations | Available | Available |
| Dedicated HR module | Not documented | Limited |
| Feature | 7shifts | Deputy |
|---|---|---|
| POS system integrations | Available | Not documented |
| Single sign-on (SSO) | Not documented | Available |
| Open API access | Available | Available |
| Feature | 7shifts | Deputy |
|---|---|---|
| Permanent free plan | Available | Unavailable |
| Minimum monthly account spend | Not documented | Limited |
Starting price reflects the lowest paid tier, not the full cost for every team size or usage level.
Pros
Cons
Pros
Cons
Deputy's Lite plan starts lower at around 5 dollars USD per user per month, while 7shifts' paid plans start around 30 dollars per month per location, but 7shifts also offers a free plan for a single location that Deputy does not match, so the cheaper option depends on staff count versus number of locations.
7shifts is purpose-built for restaurants, with tip pooling, POS-linked labor forecasting, and terminology tailored to food service, while Deputy is a more general shift-based workforce tool used across retail, hospitality, and healthcare.
No, Deputy does not offer a permanent free plan; it provides a free trial on its paid plans, whereas 7shifts has a genuine free tier for a single location with a small team.
Not based on documented features; 7shifts offers labor cost forecasting that compares scheduled hours to POS sales data, but Deputy's auto-scheduling on its Core and Pro tiers goes further by using historical sales or foot-traffic data to auto-generate draft schedules.
Deputy's documented compliance tooling is broader, covering rest-break violations, overtime thresholds, and award or union pay-rule conflicts, while 7shifts documents overtime risk flags and predictive scheduling or fair workweek support without confirming break-rule or union award checks.
Deputy documents integrations with Gusto, QuickBooks, Xero, and ADP plus its own US payroll product via Paycor, while 7shifts offers payroll integrations and a regional payroll add-on without naming as many specific providers.