RotaCloud

RotaCloud is rota planning software from York for restaurants, hotels, care homes, retail and similar shift-based employers. The RotaCloud Standard plan includes unlimited sites and departments, drag-and-drop rota planning, shift notifications, holiday and absence management, shift swapping, reporting and the mobile apps.

Pro adds labour forecasting, budget caps, document storage, custom leave request rules and enforced two-factor authentication. The RotaCloud app for iOS and Android lets managers edit shifts and approve timesheets and lets employees view rotas, swap shifts and request leave. RotaCloud says more than 5,000 businesses use it.

RotaCloud is a product of Kettle and Keyboard Limited, company number 08625682, registered at 20 George Hudson Street in York. The about page states that RotaCloud has grown to more than 50 employees with zero outside investment and therefore has no external shareholders.

RotaCloud states that its core network runs on Amazon Web Services in multiple availability zones within the London region and that stored data is encrypted at rest with AES-256. The contract is governed by English law, which places RotaCloud outside the EU but inside a jurisdiction with an EU adequacy decision.

RotaCloud prices in bands: for 1-5 employees Standard costs GBP 10 per month or GBP 120 per year and Pro costs GBP 15 per month or GBP 180 per year, and teams above 500 employees get a custom quote; the published figures are tied to an employee band, so the price for a larger team has to be read on the RotaCloud pricing page itself.

The terms state that VAT is added to the price. Clocking in and timesheets come as the Time & Attendance add-on, and text messages as a second add-on. The 30-day trial needs no payment information.

RotaCloud fits British employers who pay staff through Sage, PayCaptain or Staffology; EU companies that want data stored inside the EU are better served higher in this list.

What RotaCloud does well

• RotaCloud states that it has grown with zero outside investment
• RotaCloud hosts on Amazon Web Services in the London region with AES-256 encryption at rest
• RotaCloud offers the longest trial in this comparison: 30 days without payment information
• RotaCloud Standard includes unlimited sites and departments
• RotaCloud integrates with Sage, PayCaptain, Staffology and Breathe

Where RotaCloud falls short

• RotaCloud is based and hosted in the United Kingdom, outside the EU
• Clocking in and timesheets require the paid RotaCloud Time & Attendance add-on
• RotaCloud prices are in GBP only on the pricing page, with VAT added under the terms
• RotaCloud states no security certification on its GDPR page

Standout feature. RotaCloud is owner-run: Kettle and Keyboard Limited in York states that it built the product to more than 50 employees without any outside investment.