Honest Comparison

RosterMates vs Tanda

Tanda (now Workforce.com) built the best award interpretation engine in the business — we'll say that up front. RosterMates bets on a different buyer: the Australian team that wants transparent pricing, everything included, and a working roster this week instead of a sales cycle. Here's the honest side-by-side.

Comparison last updated 5 July 2026 · pricing from public vendor pages
1 Price
Published, flat, everything included
0
Sales calls needed to see the price
Free
Done-for-you onboarding & training
Week 1
Typical time to a published roster
RosterMates vs Tanda at a glance

Feature and pricing comparison for Australian businesses, from each company's public pages as of July 2026.

RosterMates Tanda / Workforce.com
Published pricing Yes — flat NZ$8 per employee (billed NZD) Mostly no — quote-based, contract-length discounts
Buying process Self-serve — sign up today Sales-led demos and quotes
Modern Award interpretation No — rates stay with your payroll Yes — best-in-class engine
Contract Month to month, cancel anytime Contract-led; discounts favour lock-in
AI auto-rostering Yes Yes
GPS clock-in & kiosk with facial verification Yes, both included Yes — photo-verified tablet clocks
Leave, forms & messaging in base price All included HR module quoted separately
Event staffing with shift bidding & waitlists Yes No
AU payroll path Payroll-ready exports: Xero, MYOB, KeyPay, Employment Hero Own payroll product plus integrations
Free onboarding — setup done for you Yes — included Implementation as part of the deal
Support Unlimited & free — founder-led, replies in minutes Team-based; public reviews are mixed
Best-fit customer 10–150 staff wanting everything, simply Large workforces with complex award needs

Tanda/Workforce.com features from public pages as of 5 July 2026; Tanda does not publish standard per-user pricing. Tanda and Workforce.com are trademarks of their respective owners. RosterMates pricing is currently billed in NZD while Australian billing is finalised. Always confirm current details with each vendor.

Where each tool genuinely wins

These two products serve different buyers well. Pick the column that sounds like you.

Choose Tanda if…

  • Automated Modern Award interpretation across complex agreements is your core requirement — Tanda's engine is the best in this category
  • You're large enough that a sales-led procurement and implementation project makes sense
  • You want wage-cost analytics tied directly to award rules at enterprise depth

Choose RosterMates if…

  • You want the price on a page and the whole product behind it — no quotes, no modules, no contract negotiations
  • Your payroll already applies award rates and what you need is clean, accurate hours delivered to it
  • You want to be rostering this week — free onboarding means we set you up, not a project plan
  • You staff events and functions — bidding and waitlists don't exist in Tanda
  • You'd rather talk to the people who build the product than a support tier

Our verdict

If you employ hundreds of people across complex agreements and automated award interpretation would pay for itself, Tanda deserves its reputation and your evaluation — that engine is the real thing, and we won't pretend otherwise.

But most Australian shift businesses aren't that buyer. They want rosters sorted, clock-ins captured, leave handled, and clean hours delivered to a payroll that already knows their rates — at a published price, set up for them, without a procurement cycle. That's RosterMates: everything included at one flat per-employee price, free done-for-you onboarding, founder-led support through the Australian business day, and month-to-month terms. Start the 30-day trial today; there's no sales call in the way.

Try RosterMates Free
RosterMates vs Tanda FAQs

Common questions from Australian teams comparing the two.

Tanda interprets Modern Awards and RosterMates doesn't — that's not a close contest, it's a different design choice. Tanda's award engine is widely regarded as the best in the category, and if automated award interpretation is your first requirement, Tanda has earned the look. RosterMates keeps rates under your control and delivers accurate, position-tagged hours to the payroll that already applies your award — a simpler model many small and mid-sized teams prefer.
As of July 2026, Tanda (Workforce.com) doesn't publish standard per-user pricing — plans are quoted through a sales process, with discounts tied to contract length. RosterMates publishes one flat per-employee price (currently billed in NZD), signs you up self-serve, and runs month to month with no contract.
RosterMates, by design. Sign up today, and our team imports your staff, builds your first templates and trains your managers — free, usually inside the first week. Tanda's enterprise-style sales and implementation process suits bigger deployments but takes correspondingly longer.
No. Calendar-based event staffing with capacity slots, shift bidding and automatic waitlists is a RosterMates feature Tanda doesn't offer. If you staff functions, venues or festivals alongside a weekly roster, that difference is significant.
Larger Australian workforces — typically hundreds of staff — where automated award interpretation across complex agreements justifies a sales-led procurement and implementation project. For a 10–150 person business that wants a price on a page and a working roster this week, the fit runs the other way.
You can try RosterMates today: 30 days free, no credit card, with onboarding done for you and no lock-in afterwards. Tanda's process starts with a demo request and a sales conversation. Running RosterMates during its trial while you evaluate Tanda costs you nothing.