Comparison

Deputy vs MakeShift for Employees

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Deputy

This app simplifies employee scheduling, time tracking, and workforce management for businesses. It allows for easy creation of balanced schedules, communication with staff, and integration with payroll systems. Employees can view their schedules, manage availability, and clock in/out.

Highlights
  • Create balanced, cost-effective schedules
  • Publish shift information via push notification
  • Fill open shifts with team pick-up
  • Approve leave and shift changes
  • Manage team communications and tasks
  • Track time and attendance
  • Integrate with payroll and POS systems
Features
Read full description

Deputy is the ultimate employee scheduling app, shift planner, staff timesheet app, & complete workforce management solution. Get started for free today! Over 250,000 workplaces in 90+ countries trust Deputy for their employee scheduling software, leave management, time & attendance tracking, team task management, staff communication, demand forecasting and performance management. HOW DEPUTY HELPS BUSINESSES ◆ Easily create balanced, cost-effective schedules in minutes from any device. ◆ Publish personalized shift information to your team via push notification, email, and SMS. ◆ Fill open shifts easily by pushing alerts to your team and letting them pick up available shifts. ◆ Approve leave from your mobile easily so you're never caught off guard. ◆ Quickly approve employee shift swaps and shift changes in seconds straight from a mobile device. ◆ Manage team communications easily in one place: broadcast announcements, assign tasks to specific individuals / shifts, and get confirmation that your team has seen it. ◆ Get greater insight and control of your business, and keep yourself compliant with inbuilt fair workweek compliance. ◆ Connect with your existing apps to give you end-to-end visibility. Deputy syncs with over 300+ of the world's most used solutions such as ADP, Square, QuickBooks, Xero, Gusto, NetSuite, Revel, LightSpeed and many more! HOW DEPUTY HELPS EMPLOYEES ◆ Get your work schedule on your device as soon as it’s published. ◆ View all your upcoming shifts in one place and receive alerts on days when you’re due to work. ◆ Manage your availability and time off easily, see what’s approved, and make it simple for your manager to know when you are and aren’t available. ◆ Clock in and out of work quickly from the app. ◆ See important company updates, manage your tasks and communicate with your team from your mobile device. TRY DEPUTY TODAY Setting up your business? Sign up for a free trial today. No setup fee. Pick the plan to suit your business: monthly, annually or flexi. Always know that you have the right people scheduled with our Shift Planner: Deputy makes it easy to create fully costed schedules in minutes, then notify staff when they’re working. Deputy will even automatically remind employees of their shifts on the morning that they are due to work. Manage employees’ leave requests or unavailability from a central location, then integrate with your online schedules so there’s no risk of scheduling someone who is not available. Need to be smart about staffing levels? Deputy integrates with your POS & payroll information to make sure you’re scheduling efficiently, and pulls in real-time weather information so you know if you need extra shifts or not! Clocking in to work is made simple with our time clock software, including GPS validation, to quickly track time and attendance (or optionally from a tablet Kiosk, using our inbuilt facial detection technology). Finalizing your timesheets and exporting to payroll can be done with one click from your mobile device. Joining an existing team? It's free - just log in. CUSTOMER TESTIMONIALS “Straightaway, the time and attendance headache disappeared. There’s no need to manually enter data from one system to another. It’s all uploaded effortlessly. And on our tablets or phones, we can sign off timesheets with a swipe." "Everyone gets alerted to their shifts, which they can check on their smartphones. Everyone knows where they should be, when they should be there and what they should be doing." "Deputy has been a revelation for our business. We’re saving approximately $30,000 a year in admin costs alone. But even more importantly, we’re now able to optimize all shifts and staffing levels." ABOUT DEPUTY APP Our staff scheduling app is updated regularly to make sure we’re always providing the best and most flexible features to the businesses we work with. Any feedback? Need help? Email experience+ios@deputy.com Terms of Use: https://www.deputy.com/subscription-agreement

About

MakeShift for Employees

Manage your work schedule effortlessly. Pick up extra shifts, request time off, trade with colleagues, and stay informed about company updates. This app streamlines communication and helps you balance work with personal life.

Highlights
  • View up-to-date schedule
  • Pick up open shifts
  • Set availability
  • Request time off
  • Trade or cover shifts
  • Clock in/out
  • Company news
Features
Read full description

MakeShift puts your shift schedule at your finger tips. Pick up extra shifts, let your manager know you’re available to work, request time off, trade shifts with co-workers and more. MakeShift connects you with your workplace, makes scheduling better, improves communication and helps you balance shift work with your personal life. Please note: in order to use the MakeShift app, your employer must be an existing MakeShift customer. FEATURES • View your up-to-date schedule at any time • Get notified of open shifts that are available to you • Set your own availability and let your manager know when you’re free to work • Request time off • Trade shifts with your co-workers or get a shift covered • Receive instant notifications when your schedule is updated • Clock in and out of work right from your phone • See who else is working • Sync your schedule with your iOS calendar or share it with others • Stay up-to-date on your company’s news and happenings

Screenshots

Deputy4 screens
MakeShift for Employees4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Deputy at 4.8 against MakeShift for Employees's 2.6. Deputy also leads on update cadence (weekly vs every 2 months) and ratings volume (6.1K vs 32). MakeShift for Employees's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 2). On price, ads and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Deputy sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $59.99 per month. MakeShift for Employees asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Deputy holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 2.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Deputy has 6.1K ratings behind it against 32, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 59% of Deputy's written reviews are positive against 48% of MakeShift for Employees's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Deputy ships an update weekly, MakeShift for Employees every 2 months. Both last shipped on November 1, 2026.

Scorecard8 real differences · 3 level
Deputy versus MakeShift for Employees: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterDeputyMakeShift for Employees
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (6.1K ratings) — better2.6 (32 ratings)
Positive reviews59.2% of reviews — better48.4% of reviews
Number of ratings6.1K — better32
Update frequencyWeekly — betterEvery 2 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
Best chart rank#180 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — betteriPhone
Requires iOS18.017.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size285 MB26 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperDeputy.comAppColony Inc.

Customer experience

Deputy

All ratings5,977 ratings
Positive95.5%
Neutral1.1%
Negative3.4%
Written reviews429 reviews
Positive59.2%
Neutral9.6%
Negative31.2%

MakeShift for Employees

All ratings32 ratings
Positive37.5%
Neutral6.3%
Negative56.3%
Written reviews31 reviews
Positive48.4%
Neutral9.7%
Negative41.9%

Bugs and requests

Deputy

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • App crashes or freezes frequently
  • Timesheets not accurately recording hours worked
  • Shift scheduling issues after updates
  • Notification system not reliable

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add ability to cancel shifts
  • Improve communication features between employees
  • Provide more detailed reporting and analytics
  • Allow employees to view their leave balances
  • Integrate with more payroll/HR systems

MakeShift for Employees

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Deputy

Subscriptions2
  • 10 users1 Month trial$59.991 Month
  • 25 users1 Month trial$144.991 Month
None

MakeShift for Employees

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Deputy free?
Deputy is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is MakeShift for Employees free?
MakeShift for Employees is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Deputy or MakeShift for Employees?
Deputy is rated higher. Deputy averages 4.8 out of 5 from 6.1K ratings, while MakeShift for Employees averages 2.6 from 32 ratings.
Do Deputy or MakeShift for Employees have ads?
Neither Deputy nor MakeShift for Employees shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Deputy or MakeShift for Employees?
Deputy ships an update weekly, and MakeShift for Employees every 2 months. Most recently, Deputy was updated on November 1, 2026 and MakeShift for Employees on November 1, 2026.

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