A Deputy alternative for small venues.
Deputy is good software with a per-user price and an enterprise surface area. If you run one venue and a casual team, you may be paying for — and clicking past — a lot you don’t use. Here’s the honest comparison.
The short version
Deputy charges per user per month and does more: award interpretation, demand forecasting, and payroll as an add-on. Rostru charges a flat amount by roster size, starts free, and deliberately does less — rostering, availability, geofenced attendance and clean exports — in exchange for being simpler and usually much cheaper for a single venue.
Pricing, side by side
Deputy
Rostru
Deputy prices are AUD excluding taxes, with a minimum spend of AUD $30 per month per invoice. Add-ons are extra: Payroll $5, HR $3.50, Messaging+ $2.75, Analytics+ $2 per user per month.
Rostru prices are AUD including GST, flat per plan — not per user. Every plan has every feature and a 30-day free trial with no card.
A 10-person cafe, per month
Deputy Core: 10 × $8.75 = $87.50 + tax
Rostru Counter: $29 including GST
At 20 staff the gap widens: $175 + tax against $59. Deputy Core includes award interpretation at that price; Rostru doesn’t have it — that’s the real trade, and it’s covered honestly below.
Feature by feature
| Feature | Rostru | Deputy |
|---|---|---|
| Drag-and-drop roster builder | ✓ | ✓ |
| Staff availability & leaveSet by staff in their app | ✓ | ✓ |
| Fills shifts from availability | ✓ | ✓ |
| Geofenced clock-on / clock-off | ✓ | ✓ |
| Shift swaps with approval | ✓ | ✓ |
| Live wage cost while building | ✓ | ✓ |
| Free staff app (iPhone & Android) | ✓ | ✓ |
| Timesheet CSV export | ✓ | ✓ |
| Award interpretationPenalty rates applied automatically | ✗ | ✓ |
| Payroll | ✗ (CSV to your payroll) | Add-on ($5/user) |
| Demand forecasting | ✗ | ✓ (Pro) |
| Pricing model | Flat, by roster size | Per user + $30/mo minimum |
| Free tier | Up to 4 people, all features | ✗ (trial only) |
When Deputy is the better choice
- You want penalty rates and award rules applied automatically inside the roster — Deputy interprets awards, including hospitality; Rostru leaves award maths to your payroll.
- You run multiple locations with hundreds of staff and need forecasting, demand-based scheduling and enterprise integrations.
- You want rostering, HR and payroll from one vendor, and the bundle price works at your headcount.
When Rostru is the better choice
- You run one venue with a small casual team, and per-user pricing punishes you for every student who works four hours a week.
- You want software the least technical manager learns in an evening — fewer features is the feature.
- You’d rather start at $0 with everything included than start a sales conversation.
Deputy details checked against deputy.com/au/pricing on 20 October 2026. Deputy is a trademark of its owner; Rostru isn’t affiliated with it. Spotted something out of date? Email hello@rostru.com and we’ll fix it.
Questions people switching ask
Is Rostru cheaper than Deputy?
For most single venues, clearly: a 10-person team is $29 including GST on Rostru against $87.50 plus tax on Deputy Core. But Deputy’s price includes award interpretation, which Rostru doesn’t do — if you need that in the roster itself, price Deputy against Rostru plus your payroll’s award engine.
Can I move from Deputy to Rostru?
Export your people from Deputy, paste them into Rostru from the spreadsheet, and invite them by email. Staff set their availability in the app and the builder starts offering them shifts straight away. Most venues switch between two rosters.
What does Rostru deliberately not do?
Award interpretation, payroll, POS integrations and demand forecasting. Rostru rosters, tracks availability, verifies attendance with a geofence and exports approved hours — and tries to be the best at exactly that.
Try the simpler one tonight.
Free for up to 4 rostered people, 30 days free on every paid plan, no card and no sales call. If it doesn’t earn its place in your week, your data waits 90 days and the exports are free.