FAIR PRODUCT COMPARISON · REVIEWED 19 OCTOBER 2026

RotaCloud vs FlowRota: which is right for your team?

Both offer UK-focused staff rotas, leave management, shift swaps and TOIL. Their clearest differences are how you pay for team size, whether clock-ins cost extra, and which advanced tools you need.

Compare your monthly cost Explore the feature table

FlowRota: £1 + VAT per active user monthly, including clock-ins and timesheets. RotaCloud: Standard from £10/month for 1–5 people; Time & Attendance is an optional add-on.

Both offer 30-day trials Try the real manager and employee workflows.
Clocking costs differ RotaCloud Time & Attendance is an add-on.
Different growth curves FlowRota prices per active user; RotaCloud uses employee bands.

RotaCloud

Connecteam screenshot

FlowRota

FlowRota screenshot

THE QUICK ANSWER

Which product suits your workflow?

Both do the fundamentals. Focus on the additional capabilities you actually plan to use, not the length of a feature checklist.

Single-plan pricing

Consider FlowRota when…

  • You want a full rota system at the most affordable price.
  • You want rota planning, leave, clock-ins, timesheets and payroll reports without separately priced attendance tools.
  • You prefer an exact charge per active user rather than a pricing jump when crossing an employee-size band.
  • You mainly run shift-based teams and value a narrower product built around that daily workflow.

FlowRota is not a direct replacement for every advanced RotaCloud Pro tool or its integrated payroll connections.

Explore FlowRota features
Mature scheduling + optional extras

Consider RotaCloud when…

  • You want more advanced labour forecasting, budget caps or bulk shift actions through its Pro tier.
  • You use its payroll integrations or prefer the Staffology integration option.
  • You value telephone support, plus broader reporting and workforce tools.

Clock-ins, automated timesheets and payroll reports require Time & Attendance on top of Standard or Pro.

Explore RotaCloud features
RotaCloud has proper TOIL tracking and supports holiday accrual from worked hours (the latter through Time & Attendance). Both products can handle these jobs. What differs is the setup, detail and subscription price.

INTERACTIVE PRICING

What would your team actually pay?

Choose the number of users, select whether you need Time & Attendance, and see the monthly price for FlowRota, RotaCloud Standard and RotaCloud Pro.

5 users
1 10 30 50

FlowRota

All current features
£5 / month + VAT

£1 per active user/month. Clock-in, TOIL, timesheets and reporting included.

See FlowRota pricing →

RotaCloud Standard

1–5 employee band
£14.50 / month + VAT

Core rota, holiday, swaps and TOIL. Attendance and payroll reports are included only when the add-on is selected.

£10 Standard + £4.50 Time & Attendance Official RotaCloud pricing ↗

RotaCloud Pro

1–5 employee band
£19.50 / month + VAT

Standard plus labour forecasting, budget caps, document storage and bulk shift tools; attendance optional.

£15 Pro + £4.50 Time & Attendance See Pro features ↗
For 5 people, FlowRota costs £5 + VAT/month; RotaCloud Standard with Time & Attendance costs £14.50/month before VAT, and Pro with it costs £19.50/month before VAT.

RotaCloud's monthly pricing bands are 1–5, 6–10, 11–20, 21–30, 31–40 and 41–50 people. Its published Standard prices for these bands are £10, £20, £40, £60, £80 and £100 per month; Pro is £15, £30, £60, £90, £120 and £150; Time & Attendance adds £4.50, £9, £18, £27, £36 or £45. Yearly billing is shown as a monthly equivalent at 10/12 of these monthly amounts, with the full year paid in advance. SMS notifications and any negotiated discounts are excluded. Pricing excludes VAT ; FlowRota's figure is also before VAT. Check RotaCloud's live pricing calculator before buying. Last checked 19 October 2026.

FEATURE-BY-FEATURE

What can each platform actually do?

A tick means the feature is publicly described as available, not necessarily included in the least expensive RotaCloud plan. The plan notes explain extras.

Offered Not in that product/plan model Not verified
Feature FlowRota RotaCloud Plan / scope notes
Rota planning & staff tools
Build and publish staff rotas Included / offered Included / offered Both support browser-based shift planning and mobile viewing.
Availability and time-off visibility Included / offered Included / offered Both let staff communicate availability and managers plan around absences.
Open shifts / shift cover Included / offered Included / offered Both support open or claimable shifts and employee cover.
Shift swaps and manager approval Included / offered Included / offered Both have staff shift-swapping workflows.
Reusable rota templates Included / offered Included / offered RotaCloud supports templates up to 12 weeks; FlowRota supports reusable and rolling rotas.
Multiple locations and teams Included / offered Included / offered RotaCloud lists unlimited sites/departments on Standard.
Role-specific hourly pay rates Included / offered Included / offered Both allow roles with rate settings; precise overrides should be tested.
Employee mobile app and rota alerts Included / offered Included / offered Email/push notifications and mobile access are offered by both.
Holiday, clocking & attendance
Annual leave requests and balances Included / offered Included / offered RotaCloud includes leave management with Standard; FlowRota includes it in its single plan.
Dedicated TOIL balances and requests Included / offered Included / offered RotaCloud has a full TOIL tool on Standard; managers can credit TOIL and staff can request it.
Accrue holiday from recorded hours Included / offered Included / offered RotaCloud automated accrual requires Time & Attendance; verify the calculation rules for your policy.
Absence and sickness records Included / offered Included / offered Both record leave/absence; RotaCloud also offers Bradford Factor reports.
GPS-based staff clock-ins Included / offered Included / offered FlowRota included; RotaCloud requires the Time & Attendance add-on.
Tablet / shared clock-in terminal Included / offered Included / offered FlowRota included; RotaCloud requires Time & Attendance.
Clock-in-generated timesheets Included / offered Included / offered FlowRota included; RotaCloud requires Time & Attendance.
Scheduled-versus-actual hours Included / offered Included / offered RotaCloud includes the comparison through its Time & Attendance add-on.
Payroll-ready hours and leave exports Included / offered Included / offered RotaCloud payroll exports require Time & Attendance; FlowRota has downloadable reports.
Pricing, payroll & extras
30-day free trial without card Included / offered Included / offered Both advertise a 30-day free trial without payment details.
One subscription including clocking and timesheets Included / offered Included / offered FlowRota includes these tools in its base price; RotaCloud sells Time & Attendance separately.
Exact per-active-user subscription pricing Included / offered Included / offered FlowRota bills £1 per active user; RotaCloud sells fixed employee-size brackets.
Free permanent full-feature plan Included / offered Included / offered Neither provider advertises a free, full-feature subscription; both offer trials.
Separate Pro package with advanced labour forecasting Included / offered Included / offered RotaCloud Pro includes labour forecasting, budget caps and bulk actions.
Document storage as part of a paid tier Included / offered Included / offered RotaCloud Pro advertises secure document storage.
Direct Staffology payroll integration Included / offered Included / offered RotaCloud advertises a Staffology connection; FlowRota offers CSV-based reports.
Preformatted Sage payroll export Included / offered Included / offered RotaCloud describes Sage-formatted exports; confirm the FlowRota export format before marking it included.
Free live chat support Included / offered Included / offered RotaCloud advertises UK-based live chat and telephone support. FlowRota offers live chat support as well.
Pro secure/password-protected rota share links Included / offered Included / offered RotaCloud lists protected externally shared rota links under Pro.
How to read this: a tick is not a promise of identical implementation. Test payroll, leave, holidays, TOIL and permissions against your own policies. RotaCloud feature notes are based on its published pricing, feature and support pages; FlowRota capabilities reflect its current product descriptions.

SIDE-BY-SIDE SCREENSHOTS

Compare real screens, not just feature names.

Use equivalent views from each product, ideally at the same team size and with similar test data.

RotaCloud interface screenshot
RotaCloud interface

RotaCloud's leave management interface with a TOIL request form.

FlowRota interface screenshot
FlowRota interface

FlowRota's staff calendar page showing scheduled leave, absence and reference to shifts and overtime with a leave request form.

PRACTICAL DECISION

Three situations worth testing.

01

A five-person team

Compare FlowRota's £5 monthly fee with RotaCloud Standard £10 without attendance or £14.50 with it. Price matters, but check whether you need extra Pro functionality.

RotaCloud still includes holiday, TOIL and swaps in its Standard price.

02

Ten to twelve employees

Check the cost when the headcount crosses a RotaCloud band. A sixth person moves Standard from £10 to £20; an eleventh to £40. FlowRota increases by £1 per extra active user.

The step price may be fine if RotaCloud's workflow saves more manager time.

03

Payroll & multi-site operations

Run one real payroll export, including role rates and absence. Evaluate RotaCloud's Staffology connection, Standard reports, and Pro labour forecasting against what you need.

A direct payroll integration can easily outweigh a difference in licence cost.

HOW TO TEST THEM FAIRLY

Use the same week in both trials.

RotaCloud and FlowRota both advertise a 30-day trial. An apples-to-apples test matters more than a promotional feature checklist.

  1. Set up the same team: include a salaried worker, variable-hours worker and manager.
  2. Build and publish one rota: add an availability conflict, swap and open shift.
  3. Run attendance and leave: record clock-ins, TOIL earned and requested, and a holiday request.
  4. Export payroll and check costs: confirm the plan and add-ons needed for your workflow.

RESEARCH & TRANSPARENCY

How we checked these claims.

RotaCloud information comes from official published pages and documentation, not guesses about unavailable features.

RotaCloud official sources

FlowRota information & scope

Disclosure: this comparison is written by FlowRota. FlowRota is not affiliated with RotaCloud. Prices, features and limits were reviewed 19 October 2026; vendors may update them. Some capabilities are plan- or add-on-dependent. Always check the current vendor terms.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Questions buyers ask.

Specific answers on pricing, trials and overlapping features.

Is FlowRota cheaper than RotaCloud?

For an equivalent set of rota, clock-in and timesheet features, FlowRota often has a lower published price for small teams: £1 plus VAT per active user monthly. RotaCloud uses team-size bands, and Time & Attendance adds to the Standard or Pro price. Compare with the pricing calculator for your exact team size.

How much does RotaCloud charge for five employees?

On monthly billing, RotaCloud Standard is £10 for 1–5 employees, Pro £15, and Time & Attendance adds £4.50. Standard with the add-on is £14.50 per month before VAT; Pro with it is £19.50.

Does RotaCloud offer a free trial?

Yes. RotaCloud advertises a 30-day free trial with no payment information required, as does FlowRota.

Is clocking in included in RotaCloud Standard?

Clocking in, automatically populated timesheets, GPS restrictions and payroll reports are part of the separately priced Time & Attendance add-on. Standard without this add-on handles scheduling and leave, but does not include those attendance tools.

Does RotaCloud support TOIL and holiday accrual?

Yes. RotaCloud has dedicated time-off-in-lieu balances and requests on Standard. Automated holiday accrual from worked hours is available through the Time & Attendance add-on. These are not FlowRota-exclusive features.

What does RotaCloud Pro add?

Its published Pro package includes bulk shift actions, labour forecasting, budget caps, document storage, leave request rules, secure rota share links, logbooks and enforced two-factor authentication.

Does RotaCloud integrate with payroll?

Yes. RotaCloud advertises a Staffology integration and Sage-formatted payroll exports, with payroll reports under Time & Attendance. FlowRota offers downloadable payroll reports/CSV exports that can be customised and mapped to a format of your choice, exported to a Sage-50 compatible CSV; these can be used to process payroll externally.

Does RotaCloud support unlimited locations?

RotaCloud lists unlimited sites and departments in Standard. FlowRota also organises teams and locations. Choose based on permission rules and reporting needs, not a blanket assumption that multi-site working is exclusive to either.

Who published this comparison?

FlowRota published this comparison and is not affiliated with RotaCloud. Feature and pricing information was checked against RotaCloud’s own published pages on 19 October 2026; verify live checkout terms before purchase.

EXPLORE OTHER OPTIONS

Compare more software.

Use similar criteria across products to find the right fit for your team.

All rota software alternatives See the full comparison index. Connecteam alternative Compare wider workforce tools and free plans. Deputy alternative Compare advanced scheduling and attendance.

Choose the rota workflow that fits your business.

Both platforms offer a 30-day trial. Compare the exact features and total monthly cost you need—not just the headline price.

Try FlowRota free Try RotaCloud free ↗