How much does it cost to replace Planday with your own system?
Planday (a Xero company) is a clean, simple rostering tool that's strong across Norway, Denmark and the UK, priced at ~£2.99–£4.49 per user/month (source: planday.com, July 2026). At that price the honest maths don't favour a rebuild for a typical team: a 50-person operation spends only ~£2,700 a year, while a custom replacement (~£38,000 build, ~£7,600 per founding firm, ~£3,000/year to run) comes to ~£22,600 over five years versus ~£16,500 staying on Planday. Worth building only at 150+ seats or for multi-site chains where enforced annual minimum-term contracts create a genuine business case.
Side-by-side comparison
| Planday (per-seat) | Your own system | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost model | £2.99–£4.49/user/mo; annual minimum-term contract; min 5–10 users | One-off build share (~£7,600) + flat ~£3,000/yr — no per-seat, ever |
| 50-user team, year 1 | ~£2,700 (Plus tier) | ~£10,600 (build share + running) |
| 50-user team, year 2 | ~£3,000 (+ any price change) | ~£3,000 |
| 5-year cumulative (50 users) | ~£16,500 | ~£22,600 (build share + 5× running) |
| When it pays back | n/a — you're the payer | Only at ~150+ seats or multi-site chains; does not pay back at 50 |
| Contract | Enforced annual minimum term; charged even if you cancel before go-live | No lock-in — perpetual, escrow-backed licence you own |
| Perpetual access | Stop paying, lose access immediately | Perpetual, escrow-backed licence you own |
Related questions
Usually not on cost alone — the seat price is too low to justify a rebuild at that size, and we'll say so. It makes sense for large or multi-site chains (150+ seats), or where Planday's annual lock-in and pricing surprises are the real problem.
Sources
- Planday UK pricing as published (planday.com/pricing, 2025–2026) — Starter £2.99 / Plus £4.49, Pro quote-only; EU/NOK pricing not public
- Capterra / G2 — annual minimum-term contract enforcement, Xero-integration friction (July 2025)
- Rollout IT build and running-cost estimates (workforce scheduling, 2025); Xero acquisition of Planday (2021, ~€183.5M)
See what your SaaS spend looks like with a flat annual fee.
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