ShiftCal vs Planday
ShiftCal and Planday compared for European shift teams: AI assistant, auto-scheduling, time tracking, payroll and price.
For most European shift teams, ShiftCal is the stronger pick: an AI assistant that builds and edits schedules by chat, an auto-scheduler with skills, labour cost and fairness optimisation included in the standard Pro plan at 2.99 EUR per employee per month, and a free tier for up to 5 employees. Planday, a Denmark-founded scheduler owned by Xero since 2021, is mainly worth considering when you need one of its direct payroll integrations or its revenue forecasting.
ShiftCal has a free plan for up to 5 employees and a Pro plan at 2.99 EUR per employee per month that includes the unlimited AI assistant and the auto-scheduler with skills, labour cost and fairness optimisation. Planday has no free plan: its Starter tier starts from 2.99 GBP per user per month with a 5-user minimum, and auto-scheduling is reserved for its custom-priced Pro tier.
The constraints to weigh on Planday’s side: no free plan, a minimum of 5 paid users on Starter, payroll integrations and absence management only from the unpublished-price Plus tier, and auto-scheduling only on the custom-priced Pro tier. If you already run payroll through one of its integrated providers or use Xero for accounting, weigh that native fit against those constraints.
| Feature | ShiftCal | Planday |
|---|---|---|
| AI assistant (build and edit schedules by chat) | Yes, unlimited on Pro; reads PDF, Excel and CSV. 5 uses per month on Free | AI-powered rota tools; no chat assistant advertised |
| Auto-scheduling | Included in Pro: skills, labour cost and fairness optimisation | Only on the custom-priced Pro tier |
| Time clock | GPS, selfie verification and kiosk mode with PIN or QR | Punch Clock with timesheets |
| Payroll | Payroll-ready exports and signed monthly PDF time records | Payroll reporting; direct payroll integrations only from the Plus tier, incl. the Xero ecosystem |
| Free tier | Yes: free forever for up to 5 employees, 1 location | No free plan; 30-day free trial, no card required |
| Starting price | 2.99 EUR per employee/month (Pro); annual billing saves 19% | From 2.99 GBP per user/month (Starter, 5-user minimum) |
| Shift swaps and open shifts | Yes, with manager approval flows | Yes, swap and handover requests in the app |
| Time off and absence | Yes, requests, balances and approvals | Only from the Plus tier: leave and absence management |
| Compliance help | Per-country compliance warnings, incl. break rules | Configurable working-time rules with schedule alerts |
| Platforms | Web, iOS and Android | Web, iOS and Android |
| Languages | 8 languages, auto-detected | 8 languages, incl. Danish, Swedish and Norwegian |
Choose ShiftCal if…
- You want an AI assistant that builds and edits schedules by chat and can read PDF, Excel and CSV files — included, unlimited, on the standard Pro plan.
- You want auto-scheduling with skills, labour cost and fairness optimisation at 2.99 EUR per employee, instead of negotiating a custom-priced tier to get it.
- You have a small team: the free plan covers up to 5 employees at one location, forever — Planday has no free plan and a 5-user minimum.
- You need stronger clock-in verification: GPS, selfie checks and a kiosk mode with PIN or QR.
- You want transparent per-employee pricing with no user minimum and signed monthly PDF time records for legal peace of mind.
Choose Planday if…
- You specifically need a direct payroll integration rather than exports, and your provider is on Planday’s list — available from its Plus tier, which has no published price.
- You already use Xero for accounting and want the native fit of a Xero-owned product.
- You specifically need revenue integration and forecasting to plan staffing against sales data, which ShiftCal does not offer.
- Your procurement checklist requires ISO 27001 certification, which Planday holds.
- You specifically need phone support with a call-back service — Planday offers it only on its custom-priced Pro tier.
Pricing compared
ShiftCal is free forever for up to 5 employees at one location, including basic scheduling, time clock, time off and the mobile app. Pro costs 2.99 EUR per employee per month (annual billing saves 19%) and adds unlimited employees and locations, the unlimited AI assistant, reports, payroll export, labour rules and legal time records, with a 14-day trial and no card required. Enterprise adds SSO, API access and 24/7 support with SLA at custom pricing.
Planday advertises pricing from 2.99 GBP per user per month on its Starter tier, which requires a minimum of 5 users; the Plus tier (payroll integrations, absence management, API access) is priced per user but not published, and the Pro tier (auto-scheduling, custom metrics) is custom-priced. There is no free plan, but every plan starts with a 30-day free trial without a card. Prices change — always confirm current pricing on both shiftcal.app/pricing and planday.com/pricing before deciding.
Frequently asked questions
Is ShiftCal cheaper than Planday?
For small teams, yes: ShiftCal is free for up to 5 employees, while Planday has no free plan and its Starter tier requires a minimum of 5 paid users. At paid level the entry prices are similar — 2.99 EUR per employee on ShiftCal Pro versus from 2.99 GBP per user on Planday Starter — but ShiftCal includes the AI assistant and auto-scheduler at that price, whereas Planday reserves auto-scheduling for its custom-priced Pro tier.
Does Planday have a free plan?
No. As of July 2026 Planday offers a 30-day free trial with no card required, but all plans are paid, starting from 2.99 GBP per user per month with a 5-user minimum. ShiftCal offers a free-forever plan for up to 5 employees at one location.
Which is better for AI scheduling, ShiftCal or Planday?
ShiftCal is built AI-first: a chat assistant builds and edits schedules, reads PDF, Excel and CSV files, and is unlimited on the Pro plan, alongside an auto-scheduler that optimises for skills, labour cost and fairness. Planday markets AI-powered rota tools and offers auto-scheduling, but only on its custom-priced Pro tier and without a chat-based assistant.
Do ShiftCal and Planday handle European working-time compliance?
Both do, in different ways. ShiftCal ships per-country compliance warnings out of the box, including break rules, and produces signed monthly PDF time records suitable for legal record-keeping. Planday takes a configure-it-yourself approach: you set up working-time rules and leave policies and it alerts you when a schedule breaks them.
Does ShiftCal integrate with payroll like Planday does?
ShiftCal takes an export approach: payroll-ready exports plus signed monthly PDFs that work with any payroll provider or gestor, in any country. Planday offers direct integrations with specific payroll providers, but only from its Plus tier, which has no published price. If a direct sync to one specific payroll system is a hard requirement, verify it is on Planday’s integration list; for provider-agnostic output, ShiftCal covers it on the standard Pro plan.
Competitor facts last verified on 2026-07-21. All trademarks belong to their respective owners. Competitor details come from their public websites and may change — always check their current pricing.