Best Employee App for Hospitality Businesses in 2026
Hotels, restaurants and venues run on shifts, last-minute changes and staff who check a phone between tasks. This guide ranks twelve products on how quickly a menu change or a shift cover request reaches the floor, how much of the rota sits in the same app, and what the bill becomes in a seasonal business.
Speakap leads because its hospitality page names several hotel, restaurant and venue customers and it carries news, chat and tasks together.
Vendors can pay for more visibility on this website, for example a higher place in a ranking or more room on a page. Commercial relationships can also affect which products we feature and how prominently. Every vendor link is marked the same, whatever the arrangement behind it. How that works.
In short
What hospitality employee app software does
An employee app for hospitality businesses gives hotel, restaurant and venue staff one place on their phone for rotas, shift swaps, news and chat, so a change in the kitchen or at reception reaches the right people during the shift.
In this order: setup effort, what it really costs, how your data comes back out, whether you can leave, and who each hospitality employee app tool is built for. Top three places belong to challengers outside the best-known brands whenever possible, and incumbents follow from four. We explain on how we work why the tests are these five and why no product receives a score.
Small teams of hourly staff who want a rota app that people open
Operators with complicated pay rules or payroll in several countries
The country column shows the vendor's headquarters or contracting entity. Data hosting is a separate matter, and an entry flags it when the two diverge.
Staff app naming hotel and restaurant customers, with recognition and tasks
Ranked #1 of 12 in Best Employee App for Hospitality Businesses in 2026.
Pricing on requestEurope
Speakap's hospitality page is about keeping front and back of house in step: instant updates to staff devices, recognition for good work and task management for routine jobs, with a menu change and a request to cover a shift as its own examples.
It quotes Hotel Okura Amsterdam, Rank Group, Pura Vida Miami, Restaurant Company Europe and Puttshack UK. It does not build the rota itself, so pair it with a scheduling product through its integrations.
What stands out
Frontline
ISO 27001
EU or US hosting
Where it costs you
It does not plan rotas, so a scheduling tool sits beside it
Tasks and journeys are held for the top tier and no price is shown
Right for
Hotel, restaurant and venue groups wanting news, chat, recognition and tasks in one branded app
Wrong for
Single venues wanting rota, clocking and a price list in one tool
NetherlandsQuote on request, sized by tier and number of licensed users; annual terms
Checklists, tasks and an AI Buddy for multi-site hospitality teams
Ranked #2 of 12 in Best Employee App for Hospitality Businesses in 2026.
Published pricingEurope
Oneteam names hospitality among its industries and joins internal communication with forms, checklists, tasks, onboarding and e-learning, which maps well to opening and closing routines.
The AI Buddy answers staff questions from your own handbooks in any language. It is a Rotterdam company with an office in New York, and its site comes in English, Dutch, German and French. We could not read the price, so ask for it before a demo.
What stands out
Frontline
Dutch company
Tasks and forms
Where it costs you
No price or trial length could be read from the vendor's site
Rota planning is not its centre, so check the scheduling integration
Right for
Multi-site operators wanting checklists, onboarding and staff questions answered in one app
Wrong for
Buyers who need a published price or built-in rota planning
NetherlandsWe could not read a price; free account available, 30-minute demo on request
Rota, swaps and clock-in with a feed and messenger for the team
Ranked #3 of 12 in Best Employee App for Hospitality Businesses in 2026.
Pricing on requestEurope
Planday handles the week a hospitality manager actually has: rota, availability, shift swaps, clock-in and a payroll export, with a newsfeed, messenger and SMS for the team.
The communication side replaces a messaging group rather than a staff app with targeting and read tracking. Starter has a five-user minimum and a 30-day trial. A seasonal terrace that doubles its team for four months pays for those people every month it employs them.
What stands out
Scheduling first
30-day trial
Eight languages
Where it costs you
Per-employee pricing punishes seasonal headcount
Communication is a feed and messenger, with no read tracking in the entry tier
Right for
Venues whose weekly hours, availability and swaps change every week
Wrong for
Operators who want one system for the whole site, including food cost
United KingdomStarter from £2.99 per user per month with a five-user minimum; 30-day trial
Dutch rota, clocking and absence tool with a free small-team plan
Ranked #4 of 12 in Best Employee App for Hospitality Businesses in 2026.
Free tierPublished pricingEurope
Shiftbase is a Dutch product for the Monday-morning jobs: build the rota, let staff swap shifts, clock hours, record absence and send hours to payroll.
It names hospitality, retail and care as its audience, sells online in euros or pounds and has a free plan for small teams. Demand forecasting is basic and the payroll connector for your provider is the first thing to test. It carries little in the way of news or chat.
What stands out
Scheduling
Dutch vendor
Published pricing
Where it costs you
Forecasting labour against sales is basic
Staff communication is minimal beside the rota features
Right for
Dutch, Belgian and UK venues wanting published prices and a fast rota setup
Wrong for
Multi-country operators needing demand-based labour forecasts
NetherlandsPublished per-employee monthly plans; a free plan for small teams
Work app for food and beverage teams: rota, checklists, training, chat
Ranked #5 of 12 in Best Employee App for Hospitality Businesses in 2026.
Free tierPublished pricingMiddle East
Connecteam lists food and beverage among its industries and gives deskless staff one app for scheduling, checklists, training, chat and time tracking.
A free plan covers up to 10 users, and paid plans charge a flat fee per hub for the first 30 users, which suits a single restaurant or small group. Its scheduling rules are simpler than at the dedicated tools, and working time compliance stays your responsibility.
What stands out
Published price
Mobile first
Forms and checklists
Where it costs you
Scheduling rules are basic, and compliance stays with you
Operations, communication and HR hubs are billed separately
Right for
Single restaurants and small groups that want checklists, rota and chat in one app
Wrong for
Employers with collective agreement scheduling rules to enforce
IsraelFree for up to 10 users; each paid hub has a published flat fee for 30 users plus a per-user charge
Proven rota and timesheet app used in hospitality across countries
Ranked #6 of 12 in Best Employee App for Hospitality Businesses in 2026.
Published pricingAsia-Pacific
Deputy is the product most rota tools get compared with, and its site lists hospitality alongside retail and healthcare. Staff swap shifts, clock in by phone or kiosk and send timesheets to payroll.
Published per-user plans keep the first year predictable. European collective agreements and working time rules need configuration instead of arriving as defaults, and each add-on moves the per-user price upward.
What stands out
Scheduling
Time and attendance
Global
Where it costs you
European rules are configured, not built in
Each HR or payroll add-on lifts the price per user
Right for
Multi-site hospitality groups in several countries wanting a proven rota app
Wrong for
Operators who need local agreements encoded out of the box
Restaurant rotas that show labour against projected sales
Ranked #7 of 12 in Best Employee App for Hospitality Businesses in 2026.
Free tierPublished pricingNorth America
7shifts is built for restaurants. It pulls sales from the till, so a manager sees projected takings and labour as a percentage of revenue while building next week's rota.
A free plan covers one location with up to 15 employees, and paid plans are priced per location. Tip pooling and compliance features are North American, and its payroll is for US-based customers only. A hotel or a venue without a till link gets less out of it.
What stands out
Free tier
POS integrations
Labour percentage
Where it costs you
Tip pooling, compliance and payroll are North American
Built for restaurants, so reports fit other venues poorly
Right for
Restaurant operators who steer labour as a share of sales each day
Wrong for
Hotels and venues outside North America, or anything that is not a restaurant
CanadaPublished per-location monthly plans; free plan for one location
Mobile channel for hospitality staff without a company email address
Ranked #8 of 12 in Best Employee App for Hospitality Businesses in 2026.
Pricing on requestEurope
Oak Engage is a phone-first staff app from Newcastle upon Tyne for people who never had a company email, and its site lists hospitality among its industries. Its client list skews toward UK retail and consumer brands.
The 99 percent mobile adoption figure on its own site is self-reported, so ask a hospitality reference for its own number. It does not run the rota, and pricing is quote-only.
What stands out
Quote only
Mobile-first
UK based
Where it costs you
No rota planning, and pricing is quote-only
Document governance trails the larger UK intranets
Right for
UK hospitality groups wanting a phone-first news channel for staff without company email
Wrong for
Venues that need rota, clocking and a published price in one product
Plain rotas and leave for UK venues leaving spreadsheets
Ranked #9 of 12 in Best Employee App for Hospitality Businesses in 2026.
Published pricingEurope
RotaCloud is a small UK rota product for businesses leaving a spreadsheet: rotas reach staff phones, leave requests are built in, and clocking needs the time and attendance add-on.
Prices are listed by employee band and setup takes days. The Pro plan reports staff cost against sales and sets budget caps, though it does not build rotas from forecast demand. Ask how a vendor this small plans for continuity.
What stands out
Rotas
UK vendor
Published pricing
Where it costs you
It does not build rotas from a demand forecast
A small vendor, so continuity is worth asking about
Right for
UK hospitality businesses with one to twenty sites leaving spreadsheets behind
Wrong for
Operators outside the UK or needing forecast-driven scheduling
United KingdomPublished prices by employee band per month; time and attendance is an add-on
French rota planning that encodes restaurant and hotel agreements
Ranked #10 of 12 in Best Employee App for Hospitality Businesses in 2026.
Published pricingEurope
Skello is shift planning for French employers, where a sector agreement for restaurants or hotels sets breaks, night premiums and the monthly hours declaration. It handles those as features, publishes monthly plans from €79 and offers a 14-day trial.
A chain running the same venue concept in three countries will find the second and third far less well served, because the rule library and support are built for France.
What stands out
Published price
French labour rules
Payroll exports
Where it costs you
Rules, support and payroll links are built for France
Staffing forecasts and automated scheduling need the Max plans
Right for
French restaurants and hotels bound by a sector agreement
Wrong for
Groups operating the same concept across several countries
FrancePublished monthly plans starting at €79, with a 14-day trial
Rota and budget control for chains operating in several European countries
Ranked #11 of 12 in Best Employee App for Hospitality Businesses in 2026.
Published pricingEurope
Tamigo suits a hospitality chain that runs one model in four or five European countries and wants head office to hold a single labour budget. Country rules and payroll exports are the vendor's job, not yours.
Entry plans are priced per location from €15, but collective agreement set-up starts on Standard and the multi-country features sit on quoted plans. The interface has aged next to newer tools.
What stands out
Multi-country
Budget control
Published entry price
Where it costs you
The multi-country features are on quoted plans
The interface is dated
Right for
European chains with one operating model across several countries
Wrong for
Single-country venues that never need the multi-country plans
DenmarkPublished from €15 per location per month; Advanced and Premium plans quoted
Easy hourly rota app with shift trades and auto-scheduling
Ranked #12 of 12 in Best Employee App for Hospitality Businesses in 2026.
Published pricingNorth America
When I Work does rotas and clocking for hourly staff without asking for a project. Employees find the app obvious, shift trades are understood without training and rollout takes an afternoon.
Auto-scheduling and a labour forecasting view are included, but custom reports wait for the Pro plan. Night premiums, collective agreements and payroll outside the United States sit outside its design, with payroll left to partners.
What stands out
Published price
Quick rollout
Shift trades
Where it costs you
Pay rules and non-US payroll are outside its design
Custom reports need the Pro plan
Right for
Small teams of hourly staff who want a rota app that people open
Wrong for
Operators with complicated pay rules or payroll in several countries
United StatesPer user per month by plan, published
An employee app for hospitality businesses gives hotel, restaurant and venue staff one place on their phone for rotas, shift swaps, news and chat, so a change in the kitchen or at reception reaches the right people during the shift. The differences that matter are rarely in the feature list, so this is the order we would work through them.
01
Check who publishes a price
The split is 9 published against 3 quoted. If you want to compare numbers first, start with Oneteam, Shiftbase, Connecteam, Deputy, 7shifts, RotaCloud, Skello, Tamigo, When I Work.
02
Look at where the vendor sits
Jurisdiction is a buying criterion here. The 12 vendors are spread over 8 countries (Europe 8, North America 2, Asia-Pacific 1, Middle East 1), and the home country determines which disclosure rules bind them.
Is your problem the rota or the message?
Hospitality software splits into two jobs that vendors blur. Planday, Shiftbase, Deputy, RotaCloud, 7shifts and When I Work build the rota, swaps and hours. Speakap, Oneteam and Oak Engage deliver news, recognition and tasks. Connecteam sits in between.
A venue that loses money on mis-staffed Fridays needs the first kind, and a group that struggles to tell twenty sites about a new menu needs the second. Write down which pain is costlier this quarter, then buy that kind first and connect the other later. Many groups end up with two products, and that is fine if they connect cleanly.
Name the costlier problem: staffing, or telling people things.
List the tools the new product must replace.
Ask each vendor which integration links its rota or news to the other kind.
Seasonal headcount and the price per person
A per-person price is fair for a hotel with a steady team and punishing for a terrace that doubles its staff for four months. Planday prices per user per month with a five-user minimum on Starter, Shiftbase and RotaCloud price by employee or band, and 7shifts prices per location.
Model the busiest month and the quietest, and ask whether a leaver or a seasonal worker can be deactivated mid-month without paying for the full month. A product that charges for a leaver until the next billing date will cost more than its price list suggests.
Price the peak month and the quiet month, not the average.
Ask whether staff can be paused between seasons.
Compare per-person and per-location pricing at your site count.
Rules that differ by country
A rota that breaks a rest rule is a legal risk, not a cosmetic bug. Skello encodes French sector agreements, and Tamigo takes on country rules for chains. Deputy and Connecteam leave more to configuration, and 7shifts and When I Work are shaped by North American rules.
For a venue in one country the match to local rules matters more than any feature list, so ask for your own agreement running in a sandbox before you sign. Do this early, because an agreement that has to be coded by a consultant changes the cost of the whole project.
Ask to see your collective agreement configured in the product.
Check which country the payroll export has been tested in.
Find out who is liable when the rota breaks a rule.
Staff on a phone between tasks
Hospitality staff read messages in short gaps. Speakap's hospitality page stresses instant updates to staff devices, and Planday's free mobile app carries the shift swap. Adoption comes from habit, so a rota app that people open every week often beats a news app they open monthly.
Check whether staff without a company email can join, whether swaps need manager approval and how push notifications behave in a busy shift. Run a two-week pilot with one hotel or venue and read the weekly active numbers before extending it. Ask what a manager sees when a notice has not been read.
Invite staff on personal phones and time the sign-in.
Check how shift swaps and approvals work from the phone.
Read weekly active users after two weeks, not downloads.
What goes wrong most often when buying hospitality employee app software
Buying a news app to fix a staffing problem, or a rota tool to fix a communication problem.
Pricing the quiet month and being surprised by the summer headcount.
Trusting a US-built product with night premiums or tip rules that follow European agreements.
Piloting with managers only and never asking dishwashers and floor staff to sign in.
07
Frequently asked questions
11 answers
What is the best hospitality employee app software in 2026?
Our ranking of 12 puts Speakap first. A Dutch employee platform whose hospitality page names Hotel Okura Amsterdam, Rank Group and Puttshack UK.
It delivers news, chat, recognition and tasks to staff phones but does not plan the rota, so it sits beside a scheduling tool. Tiers decide the features, no price list is shown and terms are annual.
Which hospitality employee app tools publish their pricing?
9 out of 12 state a price model on their own site:
Oneteam: We could not read a price; free account available, 30-minute demo on request.
Shiftbase: Published per-employee monthly plans; a free plan for small teams.
Connecteam: Free for up to 10 users; each paid hub has a published flat fee for 30 users plus a per-user charge.
Deputy: Per user per month by plan, published.
7shifts: Published per-location monthly plans; free plan for one location.
RotaCloud: Published prices by employee band per month; time and attendance is an add-on.
Skello: Published monthly plans starting at €79, with a 14-day trial.
Tamigo: Published from €15 per location per month; Advanced and Premium plans quoted.
When I Work: Per user per month by plan, published.
3 vendors do not print a price.
Is there a free hospitality employee app tool?
Shiftbase, Connecteam, 7shifts offer a free tier or a free self-hosted edition.
Where are these hospitality employee app software vendors established?
In 8 countries across 4 regions: Europe 8, North America 2, Asia-Pacific 1, Middle East 1.
Speakap: Netherlands.
Oneteam: Netherlands.
Planday: United Kingdom.
Shiftbase: Netherlands.
Connecteam: Israel.
Deputy: Australia.
7shifts: Canada.
Oak Engage: United Kingdom.
RotaCloud: United Kingdom.
Skello: France.
Tamigo: Denmark.
When I Work: United States.
What should you use instead of Speakap?
Oneteam and Planday are the next two on this page. Oneteam is for Multi-site operators wanting checklists, onboarding and staff questions answered in one app; Planday is for Venues whose weekly hours, availability and swaps change every week.
Who should not buy Speakap?
Single venues wanting rota, clocking and a price list in one tool. It does not plan rotas, so a scheduling tool sits beside it.
Which employee apps name hospitality customers?
Speakap's hospitality page quotes Hotel Okura Amsterdam, Rank Group, Pura Vida Miami, Restaurant Company Europe and Puttshack UK. Oneteam, Planday, Shiftbase, Deputy, Oak Engage and Skello also name hospitality as a sector. Ask any shortlisted vendor for a reference from a venue of your size.
Do I need a rota tool and a staff app?
Often yes. Planday, Shiftbase, Deputy and 7shifts build rotas, while Speakap, Oneteam and Oak Engage deliver news, tasks and recognition. Connecteam covers parts of both in one app. Choose the one that fixes your costlier problem first and connect the second later.
Which products have a free plan for one venue?
7shifts has a free plan for one location with up to 15 employees, Shiftbase has a free plan for small teams and Connecteam is free for up to 10 users. Each is limited, so check the cap against your busiest month.
What does Planday cost?
Planday publishes a Starter plan from £2.99 per user per month with a minimum of five users and a 30-day trial. Plus and Pro add leave, API access and documents. Seasonal staff count as users while they are employed.
Which products suit a hotel group in several countries?
Tamigo is built for chains running one operating model across several European countries, and Deputy is used in several countries but needs local rules configured. Speakap adds the staff-communication layer with translation from Premium.
Vendors who think their hospitality employee app software product should be here can tell us about it: what it does, who it is for. The call is ours, and software advice sets out what being listed means.
