This is what we found from our good-faith research on each company's own website on 27 October 2026. Prices change, and plans and discounts vary, so we may have missed something. If you think we've made a mistake, let us know and we will correct it and note the change on this page.
Rostering apps are hard to compare on their headline price, because some include payroll and some don't. So we priced seven setups with the same features on every line, for every team size from 1 to 100 employees. This page has the results, every price we used, our assumptions and links to each company's pricing page, so you can check our working.
The short version
- For a team of 20, RosterMates costs $8 per employee a month ($160). The other six setups cost $11.95 to $22.95 per employee ($239 to $458.90 a month).
- That's $948 a year less than the next cheapest setup for a team of 20 (Droppah + PayHero at $239 a month).
- Across every team size from 1 to 100, RosterMates is the cheapest at 94 of 100.
- Where we're not the cheapest: Connecteam and Droppah are free for up to 10 employees. Connecteam + MYOB payroll costs less than RosterMates at 6 to 10 staff, and Droppah + PayHero costs less at 7 to 10 (it's level with us at 6). At 5 staff, RosterMates and Connecteam + MYOB payroll both cost $40 a month.
Cost per employee for a team of 20
| # | Setup | Payroll | Per employeeper month | Totalper month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | RosterMates | Included | $8.00 | $160 |
| 2 | Droppah + PayHero | Separate (PayHero) | $11.95 | $239 |
| 3 | Employment Hero | Included | $12.00 | $240 |
| 4 | RosterElf + MYOB payroll | Separate (MYOB) | $14.11 | $282.28 |
| 5 | Deputy + Crystal Payroll | Separate (Crystal) | $14.52 | $290.34 |
| 6 | Tanda | Included | $15.78 | $315.65 |
| 7 | Connecteam + MYOB payroll | Separate (MYOB) | $22.95 | $458.90 |
Monthly cost at different team sizes
Total monthly cost in NZD, excluding GST. The lowest price at each size is in bold.
| Setup | 1 staff | 5 staff | 10 staff | 11 staff | 20 staff | 50 staff | 100 staff |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RosterMates | $8 | $40 | $80 | $88 | $160 | $400 | $800 |
| Droppah + PayHero | $28 | $44 | $64 | $149 | $239 | $539 | $1,039 |
| Employment Hero | $120 | $120 | $120 | $132 | $240 | $600 | $1,200 |
| RosterElf + MYOB/Xero payroll | $57.59 | $89.32 | $153.64 | $166.50 | $282.28 | $668.20 | $1,301.40 |
| Deputy + Crystal Payroll | $56.89 | $80.01 | $150.12 | $172.14 | $290.34 | $710.99 | $1,412.08 |
| Tanda | $15.78 | $78.91 | $157.82 | $173.61 | $315.65 | $789.12 | $1,578.24 |
| Connecteam + MYOB/Xero payroll | $28 | $40 | $55 | $431.90 | $458.90 | $808.70 | $1,598.20 |
The numbers for every team size from 1 to 100 are in a spreadsheet you can download: monthly cost by team size (CSV). One row per setup, one column per number of employees.
What every setup includes
For each company we priced the cheapest combination of its plans and add-ons that covers all five of these features. Where a company has no NZ payroll of its own, we added the cheapest NZ payroll system it connects to, on that system's cheapest plan.
| Setup | Rosteringwith templates and auto-rostering | Clock-in app and timesheetswith GPS or geofencing | Leaverequests and balances | Team messaging | NZ payrollwith payday filing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RosterMates | Included | Included | Included | Included | Included |
| Droppah + PayHero | Droppah The Works | Droppah The Works | PayHero | Droppah The Works | PayHero |
| Employment Hero | Rostering & Time and Attendance add-on | Rostering & Time and Attendance add-on | Payroll plan | Chat add-on | Payroll plan |
| RosterElf + MYOB/Xero payroll | Core plan | Core plan | Core plan | Core plan | MYOB Payroll Only up to 90 staff, Xero from 91 (RosterElf has no NZ payroll; in NZ it connects to Xero, MYOB and Smartly) |
| Deputy + Crystal Payroll | Core plan (auto-scheduling needs Core) | Core plan | Core plan | Core plan | Crystal Payroll (Deputy connects to Crystal; Deputy Payroll is Australia-only) |
| Tanda | All-in-one | All-in-one | All-in-one | All-in-one | All-in-one (Tanda Payroll, NZ) |
| Connecteam + MYOB/Xero payroll | Operations Hub Expert (auto-assign shifts) | Operations Hub Expert | HR & Skills Hub Advanced (leave balances) | Communications Hub Basic | MYOB Payroll Only up to 90 staff, Xero from 91 (Connecteam has no NZ payroll; in NZ it connects to Xero and MYOB) |
The prices we used
| Setup | Price used | Source |
|---|---|---|
| RosterMates | Everything plan: $8 per employee per month, NZD. No minimum, base fee or setup fee. | rostermates.com/nz/pricing |
| Droppah + PayHero | Droppah: free up to 10 employees, then The Works at $4 per employee per month. PayHero: Origin, $24 + $4 per employee, up to its 10-employee cap, then Super, $39 + $6 per employee. Droppah and PayHero are made by the same company; Droppah has no leave or payroll of its own, so PayHero covers those. | droppah.com, payhero.co.nz |
| Employment Hero | Payroll plan, $7 per employee (billed for at least 10 users), + Rostering & Time and Attendance add-on, $3 per employee ($30 minimum), + Chat add-on, $2 per employee ($20 minimum). All per month, NZD. | employmenthero.com |
| RosterElf + MYOB/Xero payroll | RosterElf Core, monthly billing: $8 AUD per user per month, minimum 3 staff (RosterElf bills NZ customers in AUD). Plus whichever of MYOB Payroll Only ($25 + $3 per employee) and Xero is cheaper at that size. Smartly, which RosterElf also connects to, costs more than both at every size it publishes a price for (up to 30 staff). | rosterelf.com, myob.com, xero.com |
| Deputy + Crystal Payroll | Deputy Core, monthly billing: $9.75 AUD per user per month, $30 AUD minimum (Deputy bills NZ customers in AUD). Plus Crystal Payroll Self Service, paid monthly: $19.90 for 1 to 5 staff, plus $10 for every extra 5 staff. | deputy.com, crystalpayroll.com |
| Tanda | All-in-one (workforce management, payroll and HR): $12.80 AUD per user per month. This is Tanda's only published price. | tanda.co.nz |
| Connecteam + MYOB/Xero payroll | Free Small Business Plan up to 10 users. Above that, monthly billing: Operations Hub Expert $119 USD, Communications Hub Basic $35 USD and HR & Skills Hub Advanced $59 USD, each covering 30 users, plus $5.00, $0.60 and $1.80 USD per user over 30. Plus whichever of MYOB Payroll Only ($25 + $3 per employee) and Xero is cheaper at that size. | connecteam.com, myob.com, xero.com |
Our assumptions
- NZD, excluding GST.
- Monthly billing. Some companies, such as Crystal, charge less if you pay yearly. We used monthly prices for everyone.
- Exchange rates. Deputy, Tanda and RosterElf publish prices in AUD, and Connecteam in USD. We converted them at the xe.com mid-market rates on 27 October 2026: $1 AUD = $1.2330 NZD and $1 USD = $1.7554 NZD. Your bank or card rate will be a little different.
- Subscriptions only. One-off costs such as setup, registration or training fees aren't included for anyone.
- Payroll pairings. Where an app has no NZ payroll, we added the cheapest NZ payroll it connects to: Crystal for Deputy, PayHero for Droppah, and MYOB Payroll Only (Xero from 91 staff, where Xero becomes cheaper) for RosterElf and Connecteam.
What we left out
- Humanforce isn't included because it doesn't publish its prices.
- RosterMates features we didn't price for anyone else: forms and checklists, the events calendar and online bookings, the AI timesheet and roster bots, pay rules, and the kiosk with face matching. Adding those to the list could only keep the other setups' prices the same or raise them, so leaving them out favours the other setups, if anything.
Found a mistake?
This comparison is what we found from our good-faith research on each company's website on 27 October 2026. We've tried to be fair to everyone in it, and we'd rather be corrected than be wrong. If you think a price, plan or assumption here is wrong or out of date, let us know, ideally with a link to where you found it. We'll check it, correct this page if we got it wrong, and note what changed and when.
Want to see what RosterMates would cost your team? It's $8 per employee a month with everything included. Try it free for 30 days: no card, no lock-in, and our NZ team will set it up for you.
Sources
- RosterMates pricing
- Droppah pricing
- PayHero pricing
- Employment Hero pricing (NZ)
- RosterElf pricing (NZ)
- Deputy pricing (Deputy bills NZ customers in AUD)
- Crystal Payroll pricing
- Tanda pricing (NZ)
- Connecteam pricing
- MYOB pricing (NZ)
- Xero pricing plans (NZ)
- xe.com mid-market exchange rates, 27 October 2026
Prices checked on each company's website on 27 October 2026. If something here is wrong or out of date, tell us; we will correct it and note the change.
