A rota can be fully staffed and still be wrong. There may be three people on the floor while the kitchen needs more hands, or six people working during a quiet hour because the rota does not follow sales.
The best staff scheduling system therefore does more than fill boxes in a calendar. It connects employees' availability, skills and actual hours with the restaurant's bookings, revenue and labour budget.
Here, we compare ten solutions using public product descriptions and prices checked on 7 August 2026. We have not physically tested every app or support function. A supplier's claim about time savings is not the same as an independent measurement.
Independent assessment: This article is not sponsored. All information comes from publicly available sources, and Gastroplan has not received payment, commission, products or any other consideration from the suppliers mentioned. The selection and assessments are our own. Information, prices and terms may change, so always check the specific quotation and current agreement.
Our longlist: In our market review, we identified Planday, Workfeed, Smartplan, SameSystem, Quinyx, tamigo, Timegrip, Plangy, FlexyPlan, Intempus, Deltaplan, Planvagt, Planmatic, PowerPlan and VagtPilot. The table is our editorial selection of ten solutions with the clearest relevance to restaurant operations and enough public information for an initial comparison. The longlist shows every candidate we found; it does not imply that no other supplier exists.
The selection is not a ranking of the largest companies. Comparable market shares are not public. We selected a mix of simple Danish systems, established hospitality platforms and solutions for chains. Restaurant relevance, documented workflows, price transparency and the ability to connect planned and actual hours carry more weight than company size alone.
What should a staff scheduling system solve?
A useful system should at least be able to:
- Schedule by role, skills, location and availability
- Share the rota and handle shift swaps without a parallel Messenger thread
- Record actual start, break and finish times
- Check relevant rest-time, collective-agreement and company rules
- Manage illness, holidays and other absences
- Export the correct hours and supplements to payroll
- Compare staffing with bookings, sales or labour percentage
The decisive factor is not whether every feature exists, but whether they work within one coherent process.
The system should support the rules, not invent them
The Danish Working Time Act requires employers to have an objective, reliable and accessible system for recording each employee's daily working time. The information must be retained for five years. This makes the time clock and correction history more than a convenience.
As a general rule, the current executive order on rest periods and weekly days off requires at least 11 consecutive hours of rest within every 24-hour period, as well as a weekly day off adjoining the rest period. Exceptions and agreement options exist, and collective agreements may impose additional requirements.
A green tick in the ‘rule checking’ column does not therefore prove that the restaurant's rota is correct. Ask the supplier to load your actual rules on rest, breaks, young workers, supplements, notice and skills. Then deliberately create an unlawful or undesirable shift and see whether the system blocks it, issues a warning or simply allows the manager to continue.
Ten systems on the public shortlist
How to read the table: Yes means the feature is described publicly. Package means it is available only in a particular plan or as a module. Integration means data is exchanged with another system. Not documented means we did not find a sufficiently clear public answer.
Comparison - part 1 of 2
| System | Rota | Time clock | Shift swaps | Absence | Rule checking |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Planday | Yes | Yes | Yes | Package | Yes |
| Workfeed | Yes | Package | Yes | Package | Package |
| Smartplan | Yes | Yes | Yes | Package | Package |
| SameSystem | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Quinyx | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| tamigo | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Package |
| Timegrip | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Plangy | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Package |
| FlexyPlan | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Intempus | Package | Yes | Not documented | Yes | Yes |
Comparison - part 2 of 2
| System | Payroll | POS/sales | Multiple locations | Public price* | Term/cancellation* |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Planday | Report/integration | Integration | Yes | From £2.99/user/month; minimum 5 users | Cancel at any time; paid period runs to expiry |
| Workfeed | Export/package | Package | Package | DKK 0 limited plan; from DKK 24/user/month billed annually | 1 month with monthly billing; 1 year with annual billing |
| Smartplan | Package/integration | Pro | Yes | From DKK 149/month including 10 employees | No minimum term; subscription runs in 30-day periods |
| SameSystem | Yes/integration | Integration | Yes | Quotation required | Not publicly stated |
| Quinyx | Integration | Integration | Yes | Quotation required | Public German standard term: 3 years; then 1 year; 90 days' notice; Danish orders may differ |
| tamigo | Export/package | Integration | Yes | From DKK 110/location/month; Standard from DKK 225 | 12 months; 1 month's notice before the end of the term |
| Timegrip | Export/integration | API/integration | Yes | From DKK 1,600/month with at least 20 employees | Not publicly stated |
| Plangy | Package | Not documented | Yes | From DKK 18/user/month; minimum DKK 129 | No minimum term; runs in 30-day periods |
| FlexyPlan | Integration | Yes | Yes | Quotation required | Term and renewal are stated in the agreement |
| Intempus | Integration | Not documented | Unclear | From DKK 65/user/month + setup from DKK 4,900 | Monthly; cancel no later than the day before renewal |
* Prices are visible starting prices, normally excluding VAT. The entry-level package does not necessarily include every feature marked in the row. Employee numbers, locations, modules, onboarding and integrations may change the total. Terms in a specific quotation or order document may differ from the standard terms. ‘Not publicly stated’ does not mean ‘no minimum term’.
Suitability and the most important open questions
| System | Best suited to | What needs clarification |
|---|---|---|
| Planday | Restaurants, hotels and larger teams with many integrations | Danish price for the required package, locations and integrations |
| Workfeed | Small and medium-sized hospitality teams focused on an app and operational data | Whether Basic, Pro or Pro+ is required for the complete workflow |
| Smartplan | Smaller teams prioritising simple pricing and quick setup | Whether Basic or Pro is needed for payroll, rules and POS data |
| SameSystem | Hospitality and retail businesses with several locations | Total price, onboarding and the specific integration package |
| Quinyx | Chains and enterprises with forecasting and complex compliance requirements | Price, implementation and whether the solution is too heavy for a small team |
| tamigo | Hospitality and retail businesses wanting per-location pricing | Which package covers rules, payroll and financial data |
| Timegrip | Larger teams needing scheduling, time tracking, rules and payroll integrations | Restaurant configuration and total price at the actual employee count |
| Plangy | Smaller Danish businesses with straightforward scheduling needs | POS data, payroll depth and which features require Pro/Pro+ |
| FlexyPlan | Restaurants already using FlexyBox | Module price and the consequences of consolidating more with the same supplier |
| Intempus | Businesses focused on time, absence and documentation | Shift swaps, multiple locations and whether the workflow is sufficiently restaurant-specific |
The starting list depends on the organisation
| Operating case | Relevant starting points | The decisive choice |
|---|---|---|
| One restaurant with 8-15 employees | Smartplan, Plangy and Workfeed | A simple employee app, time clock and accurate payroll export may be more valuable than advanced forecasting. Check which features require a more expensive package. |
| Busy restaurant or small group with 20-60 employees | Workfeed, Planday, tamigo and Timegrip | Sales, bookings and actual hours must be comparable. Here, an inexpensive plan without integration can become costly in management time. |
| Chain with many locations | SameSystem, Quinyx, tamigo and Planday | Shared rules and reports must be combined with local skills, opening hours and manager permissions. Implementation and data quality become part of the price. |
| Restaurant already using FlexyBox | FlexyPlan and at least one independent candidate | Direct integration may simplify operations, but compare this with the value of free supplier choice and an easier exit. |
The rota must follow demand
A system can save administrative time, but the greatest economic value only appears when staffing follows the restaurant's actual workload.
Compare sales hour by hour with recorded working time. Include bookings, takeaway, weather, events and seasonality, but retain the manager's ability to make corrections. An algorithm does not automatically know that a function requires more service, a new employee works more slowly or the kitchen has a special preparation task.
Workfeed, for example, describes POS integration, sales targets and labour budgets in its paid packages. This is useful, but the value depends on whether the restaurant's own sales data enters the system correctly and whether the manager actually uses it.
Planned labour percentage = planned labour costs / expected revenue × 100
After the week, this should be compared with the actual labour percentage. Otherwise, the forecast never improves.
One percentage point is not a small difference. At DKK 5 million in annual revenue, one percentage point of labour cost equates to DKK 50,000. This does not mean the rota should blindly cut hours; understaffing can cost sales, quality and employees. The system's value is to show where the discrepancy occurs: quiet hours, overtime, overlaps that are too long or a kitchen lacking the right skills.
Calculate the full cost - including the manager's time
The price may be per employee, per location or per module. Use one shared formula:
Annual system price = base price per location + active employees × user price + integrations + time clock/hardware + onboarding
Then add the hidden costs: the manager's scheduling time, payroll corrections, duplicate data entry, text messages, misunderstood shifts and manual exports.
A more expensive system may be cheapest if it prevents payroll errors and saves more management hours. A low-cost system may be exactly right if the team is small and its needs simple.
Give every supplier the same trial week
Do not create only three neat standard shifts. Use a realistic week with:
An employee calling in sick two hours before service.
Two employees wanting to swap shifts.
A new employee with limited skills.
One day with a large booking and another with uncertain demand.
Breaks, evening and weekend supplements, and relevant rest-time rules.
Actual clock-in and clock-out times that differ from the rota.
An export to the restaurant's actual payroll system.
Have both a manager and two employees use the trial. A system that is easy only for the administrator may still create many questions in day-to-day use.
Conclusion: The best rota improves after every week
Smartplan is a strong first option for a small team focused on straightforward pricing. Workfeed is interesting for restaurants seeking to connect the rota, employee app and operational data. Planday is relevant when breadth and integrations matter. Chains should compare SameSystem and Quinyx, while tamigo offers a transparently priced alternative per location.
The final winner can only be selected after it has handled the restaurant's trial week and delivered accurate hours to payroll. A good staff scheduling system does more than create a rota faster. It makes the difference between expected and actual operations visible.
Gastroplan helps restaurants translate bookings, sales and tasks into a specific staffing requirement before selecting a system and package.
Sources
- Retsinformation: The Danish Working Time Act and working-time registration
- Retsinformation: Rest periods and weekly days off
- Workfeed: Packages, prices and feature limits
- Smartplan: Packages and prices
- Official supplier product and pricing pages linked directly in the table
