Kwickly Answers vs. Deputy: Staff Scheduling and Booking for Local Businesses
Deputy is a workforce platform for shift teams that builds schedules, handles leave and shift swaps, and clocks time, with plans priced per user from $5 a month, whereas Kwickly Answers combines customer booking, phone answering and staff scheduling in one platform. In Kwickly Answers, customers book through your booking page, phone plans add an assistant that answers calls, the schedule screen costs nothing extra, and the Team add-on, a flat $19.99 a month for up to 15 people, gives each person a private link. The pages we read (1 Oct 2026) show no customer booking or phone answering at Deputy, so one account can cover both your staff and your customers.
What Deputy does, and what Kwickly Answers adds
Deputy's pricing page lists three plans per user a month: Lite $5, Core $6.50 and Pro $9 (USD excluding taxes, read 1 Oct 2026). Lite lists basic scheduling, shift swap and find replacement, leave and availability management, and basic time clocking; Core adds auto-scheduling and demand forecasting. It is a dedicated workforce tool for shift teams.
In Kwickly Answers the schedule screen is open on every plan with nothing to pay. Define roles, each with a base rate and, if you like, stations inside it; say how many people each weekday needs; then draft the week by copying last week or your usual shifts, or by applying a day you saved as a template, and undo the whole copy in one step if it is wrong. Fill open shifts for me puts forward people for the gaps and waits for your yes. Warnings, which never stop a save, flag two shifts at once for one person, a shift during their time off and a week past 40 hours. Publishing sends each person an email with their week, and the schedule also prints, downloads as a CSV file and feeds each person's phone calendar.
With the Team add-on, a person's private schedule link shows their own shifts, takes their time-off requests for you to approve or decline, handles shift swaps and open shifts, records when they can work, and lets them clock in and out with their hours this week. Enter pay rates with Team and the schedule shows each day's estimated labor cost and its labor % of that day's sales.
Your customers book in that same account, on the booking page and calendar. With direct booking chosen, the assistant that answers calls on a phone plan books onto a calendar set around your hours and who works when. The pages we read (1 Oct 2026) show no customer booking or phone answering at Deputy, so Kwickly Answers puts booking, phone answering and staff scheduling behind one login.
How do the plans compare?
Deputy starts at $5 per user a month, and Kwickly Answers' Team add-on is $19.99 a month for up to 15 people, added to any plan.
| What is compared | Kwickly Answers | Deputy |
|---|---|---|
| Price of staff scheduling | The schedule screen: no charge on any plan. Team add-on, added to any plan, including the Online booking plan from $14.99 a month: $19.99 a month for up to 15 people, $39.99 for 16 or more | Lite $5, Core $6.50, Pro $9 per user a month (USD excluding taxes) as shown on the page, which also has an Annual/Monthly toggle with a badge showing the annual discount Source: deputy.com/pricing, read October 1, 2026 |
| Pricing basis | A flat add-on priced by headcount band rather than per user | Per user per month; the pricing FAQ says administrators and supervisors count as users, and lists a $30 minimum monthly spend on monthly plans Source: deputy.com/pricing, read October 1, 2026 |
| Time off, shift swaps and open shifts | Team add-on: from a private link a person asks for time off, trades a shift or picks up an open one | Lite lists "Shift Swap & Find Replacement" and "Leave & Availability Management" Source: deputy.com/pricing, read October 1, 2026 |
| Schedule-building tools | At no charge on any plan: roles with stations, a target headcount per weekday, copying a week or a saved template, Fill open shifts for me, and warnings for clashes, time off and weeks past 40 hours | Lite lists basic scheduling; Core lists auto-scheduling and demand forecasting Source: deputy.com/pricing, read October 1, 2026 |
| Customer booking page | $14.99 a month on the Online booking plan buys 100 bookings and a day-before email reminder; extra bookings are 10 cents each. Phone plans carry a booking page too | The pages we read (1 Oct 2026) show no customer booking Source: deputy.com/pricing, deputy.com/features/employee-scheduling, read October 1, 2026 |
| Phone answering | 350 minutes come with phone plans from $129.99 a month, then $0.50 for each minute, counted by the second | The pages we read (1 Oct 2026) show no phone answering Source: deputy.com/pricing, deputy.com/features/employee-scheduling, read October 1, 2026 |
See Kwickly Answers' full published pricing. Prices change, so confirm Deputy's current price on its own site before you decide.
Is Kwickly Answers a Deputy alternative?
Yes, Kwickly Answers is a Deputy alternative for a shift-based service business that wants one login for its crew, its bookings and its calls. Deputy's own pages describe AI-assisted scheduling, auto-scheduling, demand forecasting, time clocking and leave management, priced per user. Kwickly Answers looks after the crew with a free schedule screen, where saved templates and suggested picks for open shifts fill the week, and a Team add-on for each person's own link, and keeps customer booking and phone answering in the same account.
How does Deputy's per-user pricing compare with Kwickly Answers' flat Team add-on?
Deputy counts users, so the gap with a flat Team add-on depends on crew size. On the per-user prices we read on 1 Oct 2026, a 10-person crew on Deputy Lite is 10 users × $5 = $50.00 a month, and on Core 10 × $6.50 = $65.00. Team is $19.99 for up to 15 people and $39.99 at 16 or more; these sums leave out the plan the add-on is attached to. Deputy's page says the price is billed upfront or in monthly installments and does not say which toggle view its figures show, and the feature lists differ, so read this as a pricing-basis illustration, not a feature-for-feature match.
Can Kwickly Answers handle my staff schedule and customer bookings instead of Deputy?
Yes, Kwickly Answers can run both from one account. The crew side is the schedule screen, free on every plan, plus the Team add-on on any plan; the customer side is the booking page and calendar that come with the Online booking plan, the Website and booking plan or any phone plan. Whether a phone plan's assistant books directly or takes a message is the owner's choice, and calls you define as urgent are flagged by email.
Which Deputy features are built, planned or not part of Kwickly Answers today?
- Built, not switched on yet: a connection to Deputy.
- Not part of Kwickly Answers today: demand forecasting, which Deputy's Core plan lists.
- What Kwickly Answers does today: a schedule screen open on every plan at no charge, with roles, staffing targets, Copy and templates and Fill open shifts for me; each person gets a private schedule link through the Team add-on, $19.99 a month up to 15 people or $39.99 from 16, with time off, swaps, open shifts and clocking in and out, beside a booking page for your customers.
Source: deputy.com/pricing, read October 1, 2026
Unhappy with Deputy? What switching to Kwickly Answers looks like
Switching from Deputy to Kwickly Answers means adding each team member by hand in your portal: Calendar, then Who is working, then + Add staff member. Then the Team add-on, added to a Kwickly Answers plan, gives every person a private schedule link covering time off, shift swaps, open shifts and clocking in and out, at $19.99 a month for up to 15 people or $39.99 for 16 or more.
Deputy's pricing page (deputy.com/pricing, read 1 Oct 2026) lists Lite at $5, Core at $6.50 and Pro at $9 per user a month (USD, excluding taxes) beside an Annual/Monthly toggle, says administrators and supervisors count as users, and lists a $30 minimum monthly spend on its monthly plans. Source: deputy.com/pricing, read October 1, 2026
Kwickly Answers charges for that add-on by headcount band, not per user, and the same account can carry your customers' bookings and a phone assistant, so the people, the bookings and the calls are handled behind one login.
Why choose Kwickly Answers instead of Deputy?
- A flat add-on where Deputy counts users: Team is $19.99 a month for up to 15 people and $39.99 for 16 or more, on top of a Kwickly Answers plan.
- Laying out the week costs nothing on any plan: roles, staffing targets, saved templates and Fill open shifts for me are part of the schedule screen.
- A private link per person covers shifts, time off, swaps, open shifts, and clocking in and out with hours this week.
- Booking and phone answering share the account, and the pages we read (1 Oct 2026) do not show them at Deputy: the Website and booking plan from $39.99 a month or any phone plan brings a booking page and calendar, and phone plans from $129.99 a month bring an assistant that answers calls, 350 minutes included.
- Month to month, and no setup fee when you do the setup yourself.
Questions people ask
Is Kwickly Answers a Deputy alternative?
Yes, for a local service business with shift staff that also wants customer booking and phone answering. The schedule screen is free on every plan, the Team add-on gives each person a private schedule link, and booking and calls sit in the same account.
Does Kwickly Answers work if I just need staff scheduling?
Yes, Kwickly Answers works if scheduling staff is the main job. The schedule screen costs nothing on any plan, so the Online booking plan from $14.99 a month already holds it. Through the Team add-on each person gets a private schedule link with time off, shift swaps, open shifts and a clock; Team is $19.99 a month up to 15 people, $39.99 from 16 on. It goes on any plan, including the Online booking plan from $14.99 a month.
Can Kwickly Answers replace Deputy?
Yes, for the day-to-day running of a small crew: roles, staffing targets, saved templates and Fill open shifts for me shape the week at no charge, and with Team a private link for each person covers time off, shift swaps, open shifts and clocking in and out. Kwickly Answers also brings the customer side, with a booking page and, on phone plans, an assistant that answers calls.
Deputy or Kwickly Answers for a local service business?
Kwickly Answers fits a local service business that wants booking, phone answering and staff scheduling under one login. The pages we read (1 Oct 2026) show Deputy covering scheduling, time clocking, leave and messaging for shift teams, with no customer booking or phone answering, and Kwickly Answers adds those two jobs alongside its schedule screen and Team add-on.
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Sources and last verified date
Last verified: 2026-10-01. Every fact about Deputy on this page was read from its own pages, listed here with the date each was read. What this page says about Kwickly Answers was last updated 2026-10-13.
- deputy.com/pricing, read October 1, 2026
- deputy.com/features/employee-scheduling, read October 1, 2026
Deputy is a trademark of its owner. Kwickly Answers isn't affiliated with or endorsed by Deputy. Deputy's prices are from its public page on October 1, 2026.
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