PTODesk vs Deputy for leave
Deputy is a shift-scheduling and time-clock platform with leave attached. If rotas are the centre of your operation it earns its price. If you are a salaried team that just needs leave to be right, most of it goes unused.
| Deputy | PTODesk | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | $5 to $9 per user per month, with a $30 monthly minimum | Flat per company — $29, $59 or $99 a month |
| Free plan | None | Up to 5 employees, full engine |
| Accruals | Available, shift-oriented | Every plan, including free |
| Mid-year hire proration | Varies | Automatic, with the arithmetic shown |
| US state sick leave | Not encoded | Encoded, dated and statute-linked |
| Integrations | Payroll and POS systems | Slack, plus an ICS feed any calendar reads |
Deputy list pricing checked 18 August 2026. Competitors change prices — confirm on their site before deciding.
What Deputy is good at
If these are the things you need, they are the better buy and we would rather say so.
Best-in-class shift scheduling, demand forecasting and award interpretation.
Strong time clock with geofencing and photo verification for hourly teams.
Deep payroll integrations for hourly workforces.
Where teams outgrow Deputy
You pay for scheduling you may not use
Per-user pricing with a monthly minimum, for a platform whose value is mostly in rota building. A salaried 30-person team is buying a scheduling engine to get a leave tracker.
Leave policy depth is shift-shaped
Tenure tiers, carryover with expiry, mid-year proration shown as arithmetic, and state sick-leave denominators are modelled for salaried leave rather than shift entitlement.
No free tier
There is no way to run it quietly for a five-person team before committing.
What it costs as you grow
Deputy at list price, against the cheapest PTODesk plan that covers the same team. Per-seat pricing rises with every hire; a flat price does not move until you cross a plan boundary.
| Employees | Deputy | PTODesk | Difference a year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | $32.50/mo | $0.00/mo Free | Save $390 |
| 10 | $65.00/mo | $29.00/mo Starter | Save $432 |
| 25 | $162.50/mo | $29.00/mo Starter | Save $1,602 |
| 50 | $325.00/mo | $59.00/mo Team | Save $3,192 |
| 75 | $487.50/mo | $59.00/mo Team | Save $5,142 |
List prices with no discounts applied, including Deputy's free tier and monthly minimum where they have one. Rows where they come out cheaper are left in.
Common questions
Can Deputy replace a PTO tracker?
For an hourly, shift-based workforce it can. For salaried staff the leave model is thinner than a dedicated tool and you are paying for scheduling regardless.
Can we use both?
Yes — Deputy for rotas, PTODesk as the leave system of record, joined by CSV export and the calendar feed.
Does PTODesk track hours worked?
It accepts hours worked so it can drive hours-based accrual, which is what the state sick-leave statutes require. It is not a time clock.
Try it against your own numbers
Free for teams up to five, with the whole accrual engine. Import your roster from a CSV, set opening balances, and run it alongside what you have now for a month.
No credit card. Flat monthly price, never per seat.