Planday vs Remote People
Side-by-side comparison — pricing, features, ratings, use cases. Find which Workforce Management fits you best.
🔍 Independently researched ·
📊 Data-driven
28/100
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Planday is best for shift-based employers in hospitality, retail, and care sectors with hourly staff who need efficient
💰 Pricing
Pricing not publicly available
🔧 Features
✓ Scheduling✓ Shift Based✓ Payroll Integration
📋 Assessment
💪 Strengths
- The drag-and-drop shift planner is intuitive and efficient, allowing managers to create complex rosters in minutes. Recurring shift templates and copy functionality mean that weekly schedules can be generated with a few clicks, saving significant time for managers who would otherwise build schedules from scratch. This feature is especially valuable in industries like hospitality, where shift patterns are repetitive and constant.
- The employee mobile app is a major selling point. Staff can view their shifts, request time off, and swap shifts with colleagues without needing managerial approval, as long as they meet predefined rules. This self-service capability reduces the number of administrative requests managers handle and empowers employees to manage their own work-life balance, leading to higher satisfaction and fewer scheduling conflicts.
- Planday integrates seamlessly with leading payroll providers such as ADP, QuickBooks, and Personio. This two-way integration ensures that hours worked are accurately captured and automatically transferred to payroll, eliminating manual data entry errors and saving HR teams hours of work each pay period. For businesses already using these payroll systems, this integration is a major time-saver.
- The platform offers robust reporting tools, including labor cost forecasting and budget tracking. Managers can monitor labor costs in real-time against revenue, helping them make data-driven decisions about staffing levels. This feature is particularly useful for businesses that need to closely manage overtime and stay within budget.
- Availability-based scheduling is a core strength. Employees can input their availability and time-off requests in advance, and the system automatically flags conflicts when building schedules. This reduces the risk of understaffing or overstaffing, and it makes the scheduling process more predictable for both managers and staff.
⚠ Watch out for
- Planday does not offer a permanent free plan. The free trial ends after a set period, and then you must pay a recurring per-employee fee. For large teams, these costs can add up quickly, making Planday more expensive than some competitors that offer flat-rate pricing or a freemium tier. This is a significant consideration for budget-conscious small businesses.
- While Planday integrates with payroll providers, it does not offer native payroll processing. You still need a separate payroll service to actually pay your employees. This means two subscriptions and a dependency on third-party systems. For businesses looking for an all-in-one solution, this could be a drawback.
- Advanced features, such as multi-location reporting, custom permissions, and advanced analytics, are only available on higher-priced subscription tiers. Small businesses on the basic plan may find these limitations restricting, especially if they operate across multiple sites. The tiered pricing model can force an upgrade sooner than expected.
- The onboarding process can be time-consuming for larger organizations, especially when setting up integrations with payroll providers. While the interface is user-friendly, initial data migration and configuration of rules and permissions require careful planning. Some users report that the support team's response times can be slow during peak hours.
- The mobile app, while functional, has been reported to have occasional performance issues, such as lag or syncing delays. This can be frustrating for employees who rely on the app to check their schedules or request swaps. These issues, while not universal, are a point of concern for a product that depends heavily on mobile usability.
🎯 Best for
Planday is best for shift-based employers in hospitality, retail, and care sectors with hourly staff who need efficient scheduling, shift management, and payroll integrations.
🚫 Who should skip
Freelancers, very small teams, or anyone looking for a completely free or lightweight scheduling tool should skip Planday, as should companies that require project management or performance tracking features.
📚 Learning curve
Moderate — building schedules is intuitive, but configuring payroll integrations, compliance rules, and multi-location workflows requires more time and training.
🧑⚖️ Verdict
Planday is an excellent choice for businesses with shift-based hourly employees that prioritize scheduling efficiency and employee self-service. Its integrations with payroll systems are a major plus, especially for those already using ADP or QuickBooks. However, the lack of a free plan and escalati
54/100
$199 starting
Small-to-mid-sized companies and startups that want a single vendor for international recruitment, payroll, contractor m
★ Best
💰 Pricing
Starting at $199
🔧 Features
✓ Eor✓ In House Recruitment✓ Payroll✓ 150 Countries✓ G2 Rating 49
📋 Assessment
💪 Strengths
- Bundled recruitment is a game-changer for companies that need to hire internationally but lack an internal talent acquisition team. Remote People includes recruitment in its EOR service, meaning you can post jobs, vet candidates, and onboard them through a single provider. This eliminates the need to separately engage a staffing agency, which typically charges 15-25% of the first-year salary. For a startup hiring a senior engineer in Germany, this could save thousands of dollars and significantly speed up the hiring process.
- Transparent pricing starting at $199/month is remarkably competitive, undercutting the $500-$600/month standard for EOR in many countries. The pricing page clearly states the base fee, which is refreshing in an industry known for opaque quotes. This makes it accessible for small businesses and startups that are hiring their first international employee, as they can budget with a predictable monthly cost before adding country-specific taxes and benefits.
- Comprehensive country coverage in 150+ countries gives you flexibility to hire talent anywhere in the world, from established markets like the UK and Germany to emerging ones like Vietnam and Kenya. This breadth means you can scale your global workforce without constantly evaluating new vendors. The service includes compliance with local labor laws, which is particularly valuable in regions with complex regulations like Latin America and the Middle East.
- The inclusion of contractor management alongside EOR is a practical advantage. Many companies blend a full-time remote workforce with freelancers, and Remote People lets you handle both through one dashboard. This simplifies payments, compliance, and record-keeping, as you don’t need separate systems for employees and contractors. For example, a tech company might have a full-time engineer in Poland (EOR) and a part-time designer in Brazil (contractor), and manage both under one roof.
- Entity incorporation is a boon for growing companies that eventually want to establish a physical presence abroad. Remote People can handle the legal setup of a subsidiary, which typically costs thousands of dollars and takes months. This is a service most EORs offer only as an add-on, but Remote People bundles it into their platform, providing a clear path from EOR to direct employment when you’re ready.
⚠ Watch out for
- Brand trust is a concern. Remote People is a relatively new player compared to the established giants Deel and Remote, which have been in the market since 2019. In a field where compliance mistakes can cost millions, enterprise buyers may be hesitant to trust a less-proven provider with their international payroll. While the G2 rating is high, there are fewer third-party reviews and case studies available to validate their claims.
- The base price of $199/month is almost certainly not the total cost. EOR services typically charge the base fee plus local employer taxes, mandatory benefits (like health insurance or pension contributions), and sometimes a setup fee. For a country like Germany, these extras can double or triple the monthly cost. Remote People’s pricing transparency is good at the base level, but potential clients must ask for a full country-specific quote to understand the true cost.
- There is limited public information about the platform’s user interface, integrations, and API capabilities. Where Deel and Remote offer extensive integration ecosystems with HRIS tools, accounting software, and APIs for custom workflows, Remote People’s technical documentation is scarce. This could be a deal-breaker for companies that rely on automated data flow between their HR and finance systems.
- Customer support quality is an unknown. While the website mentions a dedicated support team, there are few user reviews detailing response times or support channels. In critical situations like a payroll error or a legal compliance issue, slow support can have serious consequences. Buyers should test the support responsiveness during a trial before committing.
- The platform may not be suitable for very large enterprises with thousands of international employees. Remote People’s service is aimed at SMBs and startups, and it lacks the enterprise-grade features, dedicated success managers, and multi-tiered support structures that large corporations often require. For big enterprises, the absence of granular permission controls and advanced security certifications might be a non-starter.
🎯 Best for
Small-to-mid-sized companies and startups that want a single vendor for international recruitment, payroll, contractor management, and compliant employment without setting up their own legal entities.
🚫 Who should skip
Large enterprises that need deep API integrations, custom HR workflows, or a highly self-serve platform may find Remote People too lightweight or bundled for their needs.
📚 Learning curve
Minimal — the platform is designed to abstract away legal complexity, so HR or ops teams can get started in a day or two without deep international employment expertise.
🧑⚖️ Verdict
Buy Remote People if you are an SMB or startup looking for a cost-effective, all-in-one solution to hire internationally for the first time, especially if you need bundled recruitment. It's also great for paying contractors in multiple countries without legal headaches. Look elsewhere if you are an
📊 Use Case Suitability
Higher score = better fit. Scores from editorial review.
Use CasePlandayRemote People
Shift scheduling for restaurant and hospitality staff95—
Planday is built around shift-based rosters, making it simple to assign shifts b
Availability-based schedule planning for retail teams90—
Employees set availability in advance, and the scheduler flags conflicts and ope
Preparing hours data for payroll82—
Time tracking and schedule totals can be sent to integrated payroll systems, but
Coordinating shift swaps and time-off approvals85—
The employee app makes shift swaps and absence requests simple, with automatic n
Multi-location workforce management70—
Planday supports multiple locations, but permissions, visibility, and costs beco
Hiring Your First International Employee—97
Remote People's EOR lets you hire in 150+ countries without creating a foreign l
Paying Contractors Compliantly in Multiple Countries—90
Their contractor management and payroll capabilities keep payments compliant for
Bringing In Talent Through a Bundled Recruiter—88
In-house recruitment combined with EOR means you can source and hire talent in o
🧭 Which One Should You Pick?
Choose Planday if...
- You are: Planday is best for shift-based employers in hospitality, retail, and care sectors with hourly staff who need efficient
- 👍 Drag-and-drop shift planning with recurring shift templates and copy functionality, which saves time
- 👍 Employee mobile app lets staff view shifts, request time off, and swap shifts without needing direct
- 👍 Two-way integrations with payroll providers such as ADP, QuickBooks, and Personio reduce manual data
- ⚠ Trade-off: No permanent free plan; the free trial ends and recurring per-employee fees appl
Choose Remote People if...
- You are: Small-to-mid-sized companies and startups that want a single vendor for international recruitment, payroll, contractor m
- 👍 All-in-one bundle includes EOR, payroll, contractor management, recruitment, and entity incorporatio
- 👍 Transparent base pricing starting at $199/month, which is competitive for employers of record servic
- 👍 Coverage in 150+ countries gives broad flexibility for global hiring needs.
- 💰 From $199/mo
- ⚠ Trade-off: Less established brand compared to larger EOR providers like Deel or Remote, whi
❓ Frequently Asked Questions
Does Planday have a permanent free plan?
No. Planday offers a free trial, but ongoing use requires a paid subscription based on the number of employees you schedule. The 'Free' listing generally refers to the trial or an affiliate offer, not a free tier.
What payroll systems does Planday integrate with?
Planday integrates with payroll providers like ADP, Ceridian, QuickBooks, and Personio, plus APIs for custom connections. It pushes approved hours, tips, and time-off data into payroll, but it does not run payroll itself.
Can employees swap shifts and request time off through Planday?
Yes. Employees can use the web portal or mobile app to view schedules, swap shifts with colleagues, and submit time-off requests. Managers receive notifications and can approve or decline changes in real time.
Is Planday suitable for large organizations with multiple locations?
Planday supports multiple locations and advanced reporting, but these features often require higher-priced plans. The per-employee cost can become significant, so large organizations should evaluate total subscription fees carefully.
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