Deputy is a scheduling engine with a time clock attached. Auto-scheduling, demand forecasting, biometric punches, and Fair Workweek-style rules are the pitch. Communication is a news feed plus messaging. Richer chat is Messaging+ at $1.95 per user per month, unless you move to Pro at $9.

Pebb is the daily employee app. Shifts and GPS clock-in sit next to team chat, calls, a news feed, PTO, tasks, forms, and a wiki. Basic is $2.50 per user per month; Premium is $4. There is no add-on just to talk to your people, and there is no free plan. The full trial runs without a credit card, and unlimited Spaces are included in both paid plans.

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Who this page is for

This is for owners, GMs, and operations managers in hospitality, retail, construction, and field teams, especially when:

• Deputy (or the quote) is “schedule plus clock,” while the team still lives in WhatsApp;

• you are paying for Core, then Messaging+, then HR, and the stack looks like $10 or more per user;

• you do not need demand forecasting; you need people to see the roster and the update;

• office and frontline teams should share one app.

If Fair Workweek templates, biometric kiosks, and labor-demand auto-scheduling are the reason you bought Deputy, keep Deputy for that. This page is for teams using Deputy as a general employee app and wondering why nobody chats in it.

Pebb vs. Deputy at a glance

Prices below are in USD, excluding tax. Deputy list prices come from deputy.com/pricing, checked August 31, 2026. Deputy lists Lite at $5, Core at $6.50, and Pro at $9 per user per month, billed upfront or in monthly installments. Its pricing page also lists a $30 monthly minimum per invoice on monthly Lite, Core, and Pro. A separate no-commitment monthly rate card was not published there.

• Price: Pebb Basic is $2.50 per user per month; Pebb Premium is $4. Deputy Lite is $5, Core is $6.50, and Pro is $9 per user per month.

• Free plan: Pebb has no free plan, and Deputy has no free plan. Pebb offers a full product trial without a credit card.

• Minimum spend: Pebb has no published minimum. Deputy lists a $30 monthly minimum per invoice on monthly Lite, Core, and Pro.

• Team chat: Pebb includes team chat on Basic and Premium. Deputy has messaging and a news feed on Lite; Messaging+ is $1.95 per user per month and is included in Pro.

• Voice and video calls: Pebb includes them on Premium. Native calls are not listed on Deputy’s pricing page.

• News feed: Pebb includes it on Premium. Deputy lists it on Lite and above.

• Shift scheduling: Both products schedule shifts. Deputy Core adds auto-scheduling, micro-scheduling, demand forecasting, and labor budgets.

• Clock-in: Pebb includes GPS clock-in. Deputy lists time clocking and geofencing, with biometrics on Core.

• Timesheets: Both products support timesheets. Deputy lists basic timesheets on Lite, auto-approval on Core, and advanced timesheets on Pro.

• PTO and leave: Pebb includes PTO on Premium. Deputy lists leave and availability on Lite.

• Tasks: Pebb includes tasks on Premium. Deputy has task assignments, but they are not a headline Lite, Core, or Pro bullet on the pricing page.

• Forms and wiki: Pebb includes digital forms and a wiki on Premium. Deputy’s pricing page does not position it as a general forms and wiki bundle.

• Directory: Pebb includes a directory on Basic and an org chart on Premium. Deputy lists people records for scheduling.

• Analytics: Pebb includes analytics on Premium. Deputy Analytics+ is $1.50 per user per month and is included in Pro.

• SSO: Pebb includes SSO on Premium. Deputy lists it on Pro.

• Payroll: Pebb does not include payroll. Deputy Payroll, enabled by Paycor, is listed at $8 per user plus a $49 monthly base for annual US Core and Pro plans.

What 25 people actually cost

These examples use Deputy’s published per-user rates and add-ons from the same pricing page:

• Pebb Basic: $62.50 per month — chat, shifts, clock-in, timesheets, and directory.

• Pebb Premium: $100 per month — the full app, including calls, feed, PTO, tasks, forms, wiki, analytics, and SSO.

• Deputy Lite: $125 per month — above the $30 minimum; messaging is basic.

• Deputy Core: $162.50 per month — auto-scheduling, forecasting, and biometrics; chat is still not Messaging+.

• Deputy Core plus Messaging+: $211.25 per month — $6.50 plus $1.95 per user.

• Deputy Core plus Messaging+, Analytics+, and HR: $298.75 per month — $6.50 plus $1.95 plus $1.50 plus $2 per user.

• Deputy Pro: $225 per month — Messaging+ and Analytics+ included; HR remains extra.

Lite at $5 is not “a dollar more than Pebb.” For 25 people, it is $125 versus $100 for Pebb Premium, and Premium is the full communications layer rather than an add-on. For five people on monthly Lite, the $30 minimum means the bill is not $25.

“We need Deputy’s auto-scheduler and compliance.”

Then you might still need Deputy. Say that out loud.

Core is where Deputy earns its reputation: auto-scheduling, demand forecasting, labor optimization, wage budgets, biometric clocking, and advanced labor-law compliance. Multi-state retail with Fair Workweek requirements and a labor analyst on staff is Deputy’s home turf.

Pebb’s scheduling is shift scheduling, not a demand-forecast engine. We will not invent AI rostering or jurisdiction templates that Pebb does not publish on its pricing page.

The honest split:

• Deputy if the hard problem is building the roster under labor rules.

• Pebb if the hard problem is running the day: who is on, clock in, “read this,” “fill this form,” “here is the SOP,” and “call the GM.”

Plenty of teams overbuy a scheduler because they wanted a better WhatsApp. That is the switch this page is for. If predictive scheduling is central to your evaluation, see Fair Workweek and predictive scheduling explained.

“Messaging is already included.”

A news feed and basic messaging are on Deputy Lite. That is not the same product as Pebb Premium.

Deputy’s pricing page sells Messaging+ at $1.95 per user per month for shift-aware actions, role-based permissions, and richer ways to reach your team. It is included in Pro at $9. Analytics+ is another $1.50 unless you are on Pro, and HR is $2 on every plan.

So the “we already have chat” stack is often:

• Core at $6.50 plus Messaging+ at $1.95 = $8.45 per user before tax;

• or Pro at $9 per user to unlock the messaging that was just upsold.

Pebb Premium is $4 per user with team chat, voice and video calls, and a news feed on the same plan. There is no Messaging+ line item. Basic is $2.50 if you only need chat, shifts, clock-in, timesheets, directory, and unlimited Spaces. See the employee clock-in app guide for more on clock-ins.

Deputy bills every admin and supervisor as a user, and monthly plans have a $30 minimum. A five-person crew on Lite is not $25; it is $30.

Spaces: crews and locations without another chat subscription

Pebb organizes work in Spaces for a branch, crew, project, managers-only group, or everyone. Spaces are unlimited on Basic and Premium. You activate the tools that fit each context: shifts and clock-in in a warehouse, forms on a job site, or private files in a managers’ Space. Chat runs across the organization and is already included in Basic. A new location does not need a second chat tier or another subscription.

For example:

• Managers Space: feed, group context, and private files.

• Warehouse Space: shifts, clock-in, and an opening checklist.

• Job-site Space: GPS clock-in with an optional near-branch check and safety forms.

• Security Space: open shifts, schedules, and handover forms.

Read more in What are Pebb Spaces?

Feature reality: clock-in, scheduling, and operations

GPS clock-in versus biometrics

Deputy lists geofencing and, on Core, biometrics. That can be useful for buddy-punch prevention at a shared device. Pebb places a GPS stamp on the punch and can optionally require the person to be near a saved branch. It answers “was this person clocked in here?” It is not live tracking and does not create a map of live breadcrumbs during the shift.

Shift scheduling and the working day

Both products can handle shifts and clock-ins. Pebb combines scheduling and open shifts with organization-wide chat in the same app. A lead can see an open shift, write to the team, and open the location Space without switching to WhatsApp. Deputy remains the stronger engine when forecasting and compliance templates carry the roster.

Tasks, PTO, forms, and wiki

In Pebb, tasks, PTO, forms, and wiki are in Premium at $4. Deputy sells HR separately at $2 and does not position forms and wiki as the same all-in-one bundle. Basic is enough for chat, shifts, clock-in, timesheets, directory, and unlimited Spaces. Premium makes sense when tasks, time off, forms, knowledge, feed, or calls are part of the daily work.

Payroll and specialist systems

Pebb does not include payroll. Timesheets can feed your existing payroll process; payroll remains payroll. Deputy Payroll, enabled by Paycor, is a separate product. If payroll, an LMS, or an ATS is a core process, keep the specialist tool. Pebb does not replace it.

Leaving Deputy without a painful migration

Payroll history and two years of timesheets can stay where they are. You do not have to burn the archive to give people a better daily app.

The Pebb trial is the full product with no credit card. Create the workspace, make a Space per site, and invite the team with a link. Run the next two weeks of scheduling in Pebb in parallel if you want a clean cutover. Desktop apps exist for Mac and Windows, alongside iPhone, Android, and web, so managers are not stuck at a tablet kiosk.

You do not need a customer-success manager to send an invite. Deputy’s comparison materials describe that support threshold as 50 or more users for Core and 250 or more for Pro.

FAQ

Is Pebb cheaper than Deputy? At list prices, often yes for the all-in-one job. For 25 users, Pebb Premium is $100 versus Deputy Lite at $125, Core at $162.50, and Pro at $225. Core plus Messaging+ is above $200. Pebb has no published monthly minimum. Confirm Deputy’s “billed upfront or in monthly installments” terms on its site; a separate month-to-month rate was not posted.

Does Pebb replace Deputy for Fair Workweek? Do not assume that. Deputy Core and Pro are the compliance scheduler. Pebb provides shifts, GPS clock-in, timesheets, and PTO. If labor-law templates were the reason you bought Deputy, keep that requirement on the table.

Do we have to buy calls separately? No. Voice and video calls are on Pebb Premium with chat and the news feed. Deputy’s pricing page does not list native voice and video calls; richer messaging is Messaging+ or Pro.

Can employees clock in with GPS? Yes. Pebb includes GPS clock-in and can optionally check that the person is near a saved branch. Deputy lists geofencing and, on Core, biometrics. These are different tools: Pebb stamps location on the punch, while Deputy’s kiosk biometrics address buddy-punching at a shared device.

Does Pebb include payroll? No. Deputy Payroll is listed at $8 per user plus a $49 base for annual US Core and Pro plans. Pebb Premium includes HRIS and AD sync plus 50 or more HR and payroll integrations. Timesheets can go out to payroll; payroll stays in payroll.

Is there a free Pebb plan? No. Pebb has Basic and Premium paid plans, plus a full trial without a credit card.

Does Pebb track employees live? No. Pebb uses a GPS stamp when someone clocks in and can optionally check near-branch presence. It does not provide live breadcrumbs or live tracking during a shift.

Does Pebb replace an LMS or ATS? No. Pebb does not include an LMS, ATS, or payroll system.

Basic or Premium? Basic at $2.50 includes chat, shifts, clock-in, timesheets, directory, and unlimited Spaces. Premium at $4 adds calls, the news feed, PTO, tasks, forms, wiki, analytics, and SSO. The trial is complete with Premium features.

Chat included. Calls included. $4.

If you opened Deputy and still needed a group chat, you bought a scheduler. With Pebb, shifts, GPS clock-in, and organization-wide chat sit in one app: Basic from $2.50, Premium at $4 USD, unlimited Spaces, and a full trial without a credit card.

Keep reading: Employee Clock-in App · Best Shift Scheduling App for Small Teams · What are Pebb Spaces? · Fair Workweek and predictive scheduling explained

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