Compare Australian rostering software
The rostering and staff scheduling tools Australian businesses actually shortlist — Deputy, Tanda, RosterElf, Humanforce, Connecteam, Droppah and Rosterit — compared honestly against RosterMates, with sources and dates. We say plainly where a rival wins a category (award interpretation, for one), and make our own case on what none of them bundle: everything included at one flat price, onboarding done for you, and support from the people who build the product.
Eight products compared on what Australian buyers get caught out by: real pricing models, minimums, what's actually included, and how each handles compliance. Scroll sideways to see them all.
| RosterMates | Deputy | Tanda | RosterElf | Humanforce | Connecteam | Droppah | Rosterit | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Published pricing | Yes | Yes | Mostly no | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No |
| Price per user | Flat per employee (NZD) | A$6.75–13 | Quote only | A$6–10 | Quote only | US$29+ per hub | NZ$2–4 | Quote only |
| Minimum spend / seats | None | A$30 / US$30 invoice | Quote-based | 3–10 seat minimums | Implementation fees | Per-hub base fee | None | Not published |
| Free tier | No — 30-day trial | No — 31-day trial | No | No — 15-day trial | No | Free ≤10 users | Free ≤10 staff | No |
| Built for Australia | AU rule set built in | Yes — AU-founded | Yes — AU-founded | Yes — AU-founded | Yes — AU enterprise | Global, thin AU localisation | No — NZ-focused | No — NZ-focused |
| Modern Award interpretation | No — your payroll applies rates | Yes | Yes — best in class | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |
| State public holiday calendars | Built in per location | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Manual setup | NZ calendars | NZ calendars |
| GPS mobile clock-in | Yes + kiosk facial | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Kiosk only | Yes + facial |
| AI auto-rostering | Yes | Yes + POS demand | Yes | Assisted matching | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| AU payroll path | Exports: Xero, MYOB, KeyPay, Employment Hero | Integrations incl. Xero | Own payroll + integrations | Xero-first | Own payroll suite | Thin — Xero sync | PayHero (NZ) only | NZ payroll exports |
| Events + shift bidding | Yes | No | No | No | Bidding, no events | No | No | No |
| Leave + forms + messaging | All included | Paid add-ons | HR module extra | Leave; HR tiered | Suite, quote only | Separate hubs | Messaging only | Leave only |
| Month-to-month | Yes, cancel anytime | Yes; annual traps | Contract-led | Yes, costs more | Contract-led | Yes, costs more | Yes | Not published |
| Free onboarding & setup | Yes — done for you | Self-serve | Sales-led | Self-serve | Paid implementation | Self-serve | Self-serve | Not published |
| Unlimited free support | Yes — founder-led, replies in minutes | Varies by plan | Mixed reviews | Help centre | Enterprise tiers | Global teams | Email + help centre | Not published |
All competitor pricing and features from each vendor's public pages as of 5 July 2026. Deputy, Tanda, Droppah, Rosterit, Connecteam, RosterElf and Humanforce are trademarks of their respective owners. RosterMates is our product — we've tried to be scrupulously fair, but always confirm current pricing with each vendor before you buy.
Each product has its niche — here's what it is, and what you'd weigh against RosterMates. Click through for the full head-to-head.
Deputy
Australia's biggest rostering export — mature auto-scheduling that can forecast from sales data, award interpretation, and 300+ integrations. The catches for smaller teams: a A$30 minimum monthly spend, HR and advanced messaging sold as paid add-ons, self-serve onboarding, and support that varies by plan. RosterMates bundles the whole product, sets it up for you, and answers in minutes.
Tanda / Workforce.com
Tanda's Modern Award engine is the best in this list — if automated award interpretation is your first requirement, it belongs on your shortlist. The trade-off is the buying experience: pricing is essentially quote-only with contract-length discounts and a sales-led process. A 15-person café that wants a price on a page and setup done this week is shopping for something else.
RosterElf
A Perth company with 14+ years behind it, transparent A$6–10 pricing and a genuinely strong Xero pedigree. Read the fine print: seat minimums (10 on annual plans), admins count as billable users, HR features are tiered, and there's no events calendar or done-for-you onboarding. RosterMates' single all-inclusive price and free setup are the counter-offer.
Humanforce
Twenty-plus years of Australian workforce management with real enterprise depth — award interpretation, biometric clocks, a full HCM suite and native payroll. It's quote-only with implementation fees and a proper sales cycle: credible for a 1,000-person operation, oversized for a venue with 40 staff that wants to be rostering by Friday.
Connecteam
Connecteam's free Small Business Plan covers up to 10 users — genuinely generous. Past that, the per-hub USD pricing stacks (scheduling, chat and HR are separate US$29+ hubs), your bill moves with the exchange rate, and Australian localisation is thin: no award awareness, manual holiday setup, and a payroll story that ends at a Xero sync.
Droppah
A New Zealand-built scheduler from FlexiTime, free for up to 10 staff with NZD pricing. For an Australian business it's an unusual pick: the payroll path assumes NZ's PayHero, holiday calendars are NZ, clock-in is kiosk-only, and there's no native leave or forms. Included here because it appears in searches — the full page explains the fit honestly.
Rosterit
An Auckland-based scheduler with SMS shift notifications, facial-recognition clock-in and a long list of New Zealand payroll exports. That last part is the issue for Australian buyers: the payroll path is NZ-specific, pricing isn't published, and the public review footprint is nearly nonexistent. The head-to-head covers it for completeness.
Feature tables miss the biggest difference. Every RosterMates plan comes with a founder-led team doing the heavy lifting for you — included in the price, not sold as services.
Free onboarding, done for you
We import your staff, build your roster templates, set up your positions and areas, and train your managers — free. You start with a working roster, not a blank screen.
Support in minutes, not days
Unlimited free support from the team that builds RosterMates — online through the Australian business day. No ticket tiers, no chatbot maze, no queue.
We build what you need
Got a problem your software ignores? Tell us. We listen, design a solution and ship it — RosterMates customers watch their feedback become features.
Complex setups automated, free
Rotating patterns, event crews, multi-site rosters — our team builds your complex roster and event automations for you, at no charge.
How we compare
Every fact on this page and the linked head-to-head pages comes from each vendor's own public pricing and feature pages, checked on 5 July 2026, with review scores taken from public review sites on the same date. Where something couldn't be verified — like a vendor that doesn't publish pricing — we say "quote only" or "not published" rather than guessing. Prices change and features ship, so always confirm current details with the vendor before buying.
Full disclosure: RosterMates is our product, and on one axis we concede up front — we don't interpret Modern Awards, where Tanda in particular is excellent; we keep rates in your control and feed your payroll accurate hours instead. We've noted every other genuine competitor strength we found too, because a comparison you can't trust is worthless. What the tables can't show is the part our customers say matters most: free onboarding done for you, support that answers in minutes, and a team that builds what you ask for. If you spot anything outdated or unfair, tell us via our contact page and we'll correct it.
See RosterMates PricingThe questions Australian businesses ask most when comparing rostering tools.