Compare When I Work vs Deputy: pricing, features, pros, cons, and which is right for your business.
When I Work vs Deputy
Updated October 2026 · Restaurant Employee Scheduling Software software comparison
At a Glance
| Criteria | When I Work | Deputy |
|---|---|---|
| Overall Rating |
★ 4.5
1300 reviews |
★ 4.6
773 reviews |
| Starting Price | $2.50 /user/mo | $5.00 /user/mo |
| Pricing Model | Paid | Paid |
| Free Trial | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Deployment | cloud, mobile | cloud, mobile |
| Best For | Smb, Mid Market, Enterprise | Smb, Mid Market, Enterprise |
Strengths & Weaknesses
Who uses restaurant software — and what each person does with it
Watches sales, food cost, labor and prime cost across shifts and locations on one dashboard — sees which menu items and dayparts actually make money.
Builds the schedule against forecasted sales, approves shift swaps, seats the floor and clears the waitlist, and pulls the daily close from the POS.
Fires orders from the POS or a handheld, splits and adjusts checks, takes payment tableside, and the kitchen sees the ticket instantly on the KDS.
Works tickets on the kitchen display with station routing and timers, marks items 86'd, and depletes inventory automatically as dishes sell.
The flow the software runs end to end: guest orders (dine-in, online or delivery) → ticket fires to the KDS → items depleted from inventory → payment captured at the POS → sales, food and labor cost post to reporting and accounting → schedule and purchasing adjust to the numbers. Each stage hands off to the next without re-keying.
Who Should Choose Which?
- Your team fits the smb or mid market or enterprise profile
- Budget matters — When I Work starts $2.5 cheaper per month
- Your preferred deployment is cloud or mobile
- Builds a weekly schedule in minutes and pushes it to every employee's phone instantly
- Your team fits the smb or mid market or enterprise profile
- You prioritise peer-verified quality — higher rating (4.6 vs 4.5)
- Your preferred deployment is cloud or mobile
- Transparent published per-user pricing — $5/$6.50/$9 per user/mo, no quote needed for the main tiers
Our Verdict
When I Work targets smb/mid_market/enterprise businesses with paid pricing starting at $2.50/user/mo. Its strongest selling points include builds a weekly schedule in minutes and pushes it to every employee's phone instantly and low per-user entry price and no contract — month-to-month, cancel anytime.
Deputy targets smb/mid_market/enterprise businesses with paid pricing starting at $5.00/user/mo. Its key advantages include transparent published per-user pricing — $5/$6.50/$9 per user/mo, no quote needed for the main tiers and scheduling and ease of use are the dominant praise across reviews.
Both tools are reviewed independently — see the full reviews below to dig into integrations, implementation timelines, and user sentiment.
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