Deputy alternative

Timesheets, time off and HR, without a bill per user.

A time clock, approved weeks, time off, HR files, hiring and Team chat in the same app as your CRM, deals and invoices. HR comes included, and every plan has unlimited users.

Start free

Free plan, no card. Add your team and invite them by email.

Northwind StudioEmployeesWebsite chatTasksCustomersMaya, operations lead

Deputy and Alori, side by side.

DeputyAlori

Main ideaWorkforce management for shift-based teamsAn all-in-one app with a time clock, HR and a CRM

Price$5 to $9 a user a month, $30 monthly minimumFree to start, Solo from $99 a month, unlimited users

Shift scheduling and auto-schedulingYes, a strengthNo

Demand forecasting and labor budgetsYes, on Core and ProNo

Clock-inIncluding biometric clocking and geofencingFrom My space on a computer or phone

Timesheets and payroll hoursYes, payroll add-on in the USApprove the week, Export to CSV with overtime

HR files and documentsDeputy HR add-on, $2 a user a monthIncluded, with documents signed in the app

CRM, deals and invoicesNoBuilt in

From a clock-in to payroll.

Watch a teammate clock in, the week get approved, a time off request get answered and the hours go out for payroll.

1Clock in from My space
2Approve the week
3Answer time off, with who else is off
4Export the hours for payroll

Clock in from My space

What changes on Monday.

01
BeforeDemand forecasts and auto-scheduling for a team without shifts
With AloriA clock, an approved week and time off
02
BeforeHR and payroll as paid add-ons per user
With AloriHR files, onboarding and documents included
03
BeforeHours in Deputy, clients in a CRM, chat somewhere else
With AloriThe team, the chat and the clients in one app

The bot meets every applicant first.

Post an opening and it shows on your career page. When someone applies with a phone number, the bot texts them your questions, one at a time, then gives you a fit from 1 to 5.

Keep the usual questions or write up to 5 of your own.
Click Hire and their employee file and first-day list start on their own.
Contracts are signed in the app with a finger.

Team chat, with your bot in it.

Channels, direct messages, threads and voice rooms you drop into. Write @Sam in any channel and he answers there: who is off, whose week waits for approval, which client is waiting.

Voice rooms are always open: click one and you're talking.
Invite a client or a contractor to one channel as a guest.
Unlimited users on every plan, so everyone is in.

Change it by asking.

Your app isn’t frozen on day one. Write what you need, the way you’d text it. Alori makes the change and shows you before anything goes live.

Who is off next week?
Approve everyone's hours for last week
How much overtime did Theo do this month?
Post an opening for a part-time support rep

The full guide

Everything above, in detail: how it works, what it replaces and what it does not.

Short answer: Alori is a Deputy alternative for small software companies and agencies that need a time clock, approved timesheets, time off and the HR around them, but not a shift scheduler. Alori keeps those next to your CRM, deals and invoices, with HR files, hiring, onboarding and Team chat included and unlimited users on every plan. It has no shift scheduling or labor forecasting, so teams that plan shifts against demand should stay on Deputy. Switching is adding your team and inviting them by email.

Why teams leave Deputy

Deputy is a strong workforce management app for shift-based teams. Teams that don't work in shifts leave it for these reasons:

Deputy's depth is auto-scheduling, demand forecasting and labor budgets. A software company or agency mostly needs a clock, an approved week and time off.
Every plan is priced per user, with a monthly minimum, and HR and payroll are paid add-ons on top.
Hours are in Deputy, clients, deals and invoices in a CRM, and the team chat somewhere else.

What you pay

Deputy, as listed on its pricing page in November 2026 (monthly billing):

Team of 5	Deputy	Alori
Plan	Lite $5, Core $6.50, Pro $9 a user a month, with a $30 monthly minimum	Free to start, Solo from $99 a month, Business from $249
For 5 people	$30 on Lite, $32.50 on Core, $45 on Pro	Unlimited users on every plan
HR	Deputy HR add-on, $2 a user a month	Included: files, documents to sign, onboarding
Payroll	Add-on in the US, $8 a user a month plus $49 a month	Not included: export approved hours to your payroll provider
CRM, deals and invoices	Not included	Included

For scheduling and time tracking alone, Deputy costs less. Alori pays off when it replaces the time clock, the HR tool, the team chat and the CRM together. See pricing.

What Alori replaces

A time clock: people clock in and out from My space, on a computer or a phone, or tell Ask Sam "clock me in".
Approve each person's week under Timesheets, or approve everyone's at once by asking Sam. Fix a day or add hours someone forgot; an approved week is locked until you reopen it.
Export hours for payroll to CSV: regular hours, overtime past 40 hours, hours on a statutory holiday and the total, per person per week. Pay rates are never in the file.
Time off requests come from the phone and are answered under To answer. Supervisors answer for the people under them on the org chart. Each file shows what is left.
HR files hold role, department, supervisor, hourly or salaried, emergency contact, documents and file notes only managers see. Cards and permits get expiry reminders.
For hiring and onboarding: openings on your career page, a bot that texts applicants your questions and rates the fit, a first-day list that starts by itself, and contracts signed in the app.
Team chat with channels, direct messages, voice rooms and Sam, your team bot. See the Slack alternative.
The client work around it: customers, deals, tasks and invoices.

What Alori doesn't do yet

Shift scheduling: no shift schedules, auto-scheduling, shift swaps or replacement finding. No demand forecasting or labor budgets, no biometric or geofenced clock-in, no break tracking or timesheet auto-approval, and no payroll. If you plan shifts against demand across sites, stay on Deputy.

How to switch

Start free. Describe your business. Alori builds your app with Employees and Team chat.
Add your team. Click Add an employee for each person, or paste your Deputy people list into Ask Sam: "Add these employees". Set each person's supervisor, pick Hourly for anyone who keeps a timesheet, and invite them by email.
Bring their papers. Upload contracts and policies on each file, and click Ask to sign for the ones that need a signature.
Run your first week. Your team clocks in from My space. Approve the weeks under Timesheets and click Export to CSV for payroll. Past timesheets stay in Deputy: export them there for your records.

Questions

Another question? Ask it when you start.

Yes for software companies and agencies that need a time clock, timesheets, time off and HR next to their clients and invoices. For teams that plan shifts against demand, Deputy fits better.

Alori has a free plan with no card needed, and unlimited users on every plan. For scheduling and time alone, Deputy's per-user price is lower for a small team. Alori costs less once it also replaces your HR tool, team chat and CRM.

Your team: paste the list into Ask Sam or add each person, then upload their documents. Shift schedules and past timesheets stay in Deputy.

No. Alori approves hours and exports them for your payroll provider. See the Gusto alternative.

Small software companies and agencies, usually under 50 people. See how Alori handles team management.

See all →

Your turn.

Describe your business in a sentence. Alori builds the app.