A Deputy alternative for businesses with 2–5 locations
A good Deputy alternative for 2–5 locations is one priced per location or flat instead of per user: Deputy Core costs $217.50/month for 30 users on monthly billing, against $90 for Homebase Essentials (3 × $30) or $147 for Square Plus (3 × $49). Deputy counts managers, supervisors and administrators as users, so the bill grows with every login.
Cost at 3 locations and 30 staff
Example: Core is $7.25 per user per month on monthly billing. 30 × $7.25 = $217.50/month; with 3 managers, 33 × $7.25 = $239.25. Billed annually, Core is $6.50: 30 × $6.50 = $195. Lite is cheaper ($5.50 monthly, 30 × $5.50 = $165), but Deputy's help center says Lite can select only 1 location at a time in the Scheduling tab and lacks the multi-location view, so Core is the cheapest plan built for several locations. Monthly plans have a $30/month minimum. For comparison, Homebase Essentials is 3 × $30 = $90/month and Square Plus is 3 × $49 = $147/month plus card processing fees (cost of 10 scheduling apps at 3 stores and 30 staff).
Verdict
Choose Deputy if you need auto-scheduling and biometric time clocking (Core), geofencing and shift swap with find-replacement (from Lite), SMS at 1¢ per message in the US, and Square sales data next to wages, and you accept paying per user including managers.
Choose Assistlify if you want cash-drawer counts and stock counts per location in the same app as the schedule, time clock and time-off requests, one flat monthly price per business instead of $7.25 per user including managers, and setup done for you: we load your current schedule and staff. It has no shift swaps, payroll, POS integrations, GPS or SMS. Assistlify's price is not yet published, so we cannot say whether it costs less. It is in early access; you can try it in the preview workspace.
Side by side
| Item | Deputy | Assistlify |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Per user per month in USD; managers and admins count as users; $30/month minimum on monthly plans | One flat monthly price per business, not per location or per user |
| Cost at 3 locations / 30 staff | Core: 30 × $7.25 = $217.50/month (monthly billing); with 3 managers 33 × $7.25 = $239.25; billed annually 30 × $6.50 = $195 | One flat monthly price per business; Assistlify's price is not yet published, so we cannot say whether it costs less. |
| Free plan | Not found on Deputy's site (free trial only) | Not published; in early access, with an open preview workspace to try |
| Scheduling | Yes; Lite basic scheduling, Core advanced scheduling and auto-scheduling | Yes: weekly schedules built by hand or generated from staff availability and approved time off, then published to the team; staff can be assigned to one or more locations |
| Time clock | Yes; Lite basic time clocking, Core biometrics time clocking | Yes: clock in/out with breaks; attendance CSV export |
| Shift swaps / open shifts | Yes: shift swap and find replacement on Lite; open shift types listed in the help-center plan table | No |
| Time off | Yes: leave and availability management on Lite | Yes: requests from the phone; approval flags overlapping shifts |
| Payroll | Payroll integrations on Lite; Deputy Payroll by Paycor $8/user/month + $49 base, on annual Core and Pro in the US | No (attendance CSV export only) |
| POS integrations | Yes, including Square sales data | No |
| GPS / geofence | Yes, geofencing on Lite | No |
| SMS | Yes, paid per message: 1¢ USD per 160 characters in the US | No |
| Cash-drawer counts | Not found on Deputy's site | Yes, per location |
| Stock counts | Not found on Deputy's site | Yes, per location |
| Setup and trial | Free trial (default package Core); trial length not found on Deputy's site | We set it up for you: we load your current schedule and staff. Staff join by link or QR code and use it in the browser on iPhone, Android or desktop |
Vendor cells come from Deputy's own pages, checked November 12, 2026. "Not found" means we did not find it on those pages, not that it does not exist.
Related: cost of 10 scheduling apps at 3 stores and 30 staff, Homebase alternative for 2–5 locations, cash drawer count calculator.
Questions
How much does Deputy cost per user?
On monthly billing Lite is $5.50, Core $7.25 and Pro $10 per user per month; billed annually they are $5, $6.50 and $9.
Do managers count as users in Deputy?
Yes. Deputy's pricing FAQ says all users, administrators and supervisors are counted in the total user number.
Can Deputy Lite handle several locations?
Deputy's help center says Lite can select only 1 location at a time in the Scheduling tab; Core adds the multi-location view.
Sources
- Deputy pricing (checked 2026-11-12)
- Deputy help: pricing plans (checked 2026-11-12)
- Deputy help: downgrading a plan (checked 2026-11-12)
- Deputy Square integration (checked 2026-11-12)
- Homebase pricing (checked 2026-11-12)
- Square pricing (US) (checked 2026-11-12)