Shiftbase vs Dyflexis: Which WFM Tool Fits Hospitality & Retail SMEs Best?

If you running a restaurant, retail business or healthcare facility you’re juggling no-shows, rota changes, and wage costs that can creep up overnight. The wrong platform means manual spreadsheets, payroll errors, and frazzled managers; the right one saves hours every week, keeps you compliant, and gives teams clarity.

In this guide, we compare Shiftbase vs Dyflexis for SMEs, focusing on hospitality, retail, restaurants, and healthcare. We’ll cover pricing, ease of use, compliance, integrations, and support; with real customer results and local context. You’ll get a clear summary table, mini-verdicts per factor, and sector-specific examples, so you can decide with confidence (not guesswork). By the end, you’ll know which tool fits your budget, team, and growth plans.

Shiftbase vs Dyflexis

Decision area	Shiftbase	Dyflexis
Pricing & transparency	Public pricing with a 14-day free trial; plans include a block of employees (e.g., Premium includes first 12) with clear per-employee add-ons; onboarding & full support included.	No public prices; demo/quote flow via Request a demo / Request pricing on site.
Mobile app (staff & managers)	iOS & Android app for schedules, time registration, leave, availability; manager functions available.	iOS & Android app; view schedules, request leave, swap shifts, respond to open shifts; manager dashboard.
Core features	Employee scheduling, time tracking/punch clock, absence/leave, reporting, HRM.	Scheduling, time & attendance (clock system), leave approvals, reporting; positioned as a complete WFM system.
Compliance & accuracy	Designed for accurate time/leave records and rota controls within the UI (help centre coverage across modules).	Emphasises clear reports, approval workflows and accurate time recording via clock system.
Integrations (payroll/HR/POS)	Broad marketplace incl. Exact Online, AFAS, Personio, Lightspeed, Nmbrs,	Cites “various integrations” and automations across WFM modules; details typically covered during demos.
Forecasting / optimisation	Budget & forecast options available on higher tiers; focus on practical cost control.	Strong data-driven positioning incl. Labour Demand Forecasting and Auto-Scheduling content.
Support & onboarding	Onboarding & account setup help; full support desk (chat, email, phone) with same-business-day response.	Multiple support channels reported (incl. 24/7 live rep per listings).

🤔Which suits my company best?

If you want transparent pricing, quick self-serve start, and plug-and-play integrations, Shiftbase has the edge. If you’re exploring forecasting/auto-scheduling via a guided demo, Dyflexis is worth evaluating alongside.

Key decision factors

The five factors that actually decide it 👉 price, usability, compliance, integrations and support.

Pricing & total cost of ownership

Getting to a realistic monthly figure shouldn’t take a sales call. Shiftbase lists public pricing with a free trial, so you can compare plans and per-employee costs in minutes. Dyflexis typically uses a demo/quote flow, which can be helpful if you want a guided package comparison, but it does slow down early budgeting.

💡If you’re the owner-operator or HR lead wearing multiple hats, transparent pricing and a self-serve trial reduce friction. If you’re chasing advanced optimisation from day one, a consultative demo can be the right path.

✅ Quick checklist:

Public pricing you can evaluate now
Free trial or starter tier
Clear per-employee add-ons
Forecasting/auto-scheduling available when you need it
Onboarding/support included in the price

👉 Prefer clarity and speed? Start with Shiftbase. Want a guided bundle with advanced optimisation? Add Dyflexis to your demo list.

Usability & adoption (managers & frontline)

If supervisors and staff don’t adopt the app, you’ll drift back to spreadsheets and WhatsApp. Both tools are designed for everyday scheduling tasks (creating rotas, approving swaps, handling leave) and both offer mobile apps so teams can check shifts and clock in on the go. The difference often shows up in time to first win: customers report moving from clunky checks to clean exports within the first cycle.

Manager view: drag-and-drop shifts, open-shift posting, quick approvals.
Employee view: clear rota, availability, shift swaps, leave requests, dependable time tracking.

Compliance & accuracy

Rota rules, rest periods, contract caps and holiday pay are where HR software earns its keep. You want scheduling tools that flag issues as you plan, not after the fact. Look for clear alerts on maximum hours and rest, consistent overtime calculations, and leave balances that match what payroll expects. Equally important is a proper audit trail; who changed what, when.

💡Buyer tip: export a test payroll file from your trial environment and sanity-check it with Finance. Fewer adjustments now equals less risk later.

Integrations (payroll, HR, POS)

Double entry is the hidden tax on every rota. Shift-driven businesses in the UK and Netherlands typically need connectors for payroll/HR (e.g., Personio, AFAS, Exact Online, Visma Nmbrs, Loket.nl) and POS (e.g., Lightspeed, unTill) to see labour cost next to revenue. An open API helps for edge cases, but pre-built, plug-and-play integrations are what save hours every pay cycle.

⚖️ How to test: in your trial/demo, push a week of approved timesheets to payroll and reconcile a day’s POS sales against scheduled labour. Measure how many manual fixes you needed.

Support & onboarding

Most rollouts fail not on features, but on change management. Look for included onboarding (data import, roles/permissions, first payroll), clear response times, and real people on chat/phone/email. Local presence in the NL/UK helps with time zones and language, especially for multi-site hospitality, restaurants and healthcare.

💡Practical plan: run a four-week pilot (import staff, publish a rota, approve timesheets, export payroll) then count admin hours and payroll adjustments. That’s your baseline ROI.

Main take away: If you want self-serve pricing, fast adoption, and ready-made integrations, start with Shiftbase. If you’re evaluating advanced forecasting with a consultative demo, trial Dyflexis in parallel.

Real-world outcomes and how to test them

Real results from hospitality, retail, restaurants and healthcare, plus how to validate them fast.

Busy weekends, last-minute changes, and split shifts make accuracy and manager time precious. Anthony hotel reported cutting monthly hour checks from a full day to around 30 minutes, achieving 100% administrative accuracy after switching from spreadsheets. Team satisfaction rose too; when the rota stops slipping, service follows.

💡Hospitality needs speed and certainty. Pick the tool that flags conflicts as you plan, not at payroll.

👉 What to verify in your demo (both tools): rest-rule alerts, bulk shift edits across departments, clean payroll export after approvals.
With multi-site operations and student staff, visibility is everything. Spare Ribs Express, a franchise network gained branch-level labour cost insight by connecting POS and scheduling — then reduced personnel costs by acting on those comparisons. When you can see labour % by site every week, gut feel gives way to better decisions.

💡For franchises, cross-site comparisons should be a one-click habit.

👉 What to verify in your demo (both tools): POS integration showing labour % vs revenue, templates you can reuse across locations, permission sets for HQ vs site managers.
Seasonal peaks shouldn’t mean “spreadsheet season.” Bomenbezorgd, a retail/e-commerce operator reported over 20% faster scheduling and centralised control across freelancers, zero-hours and fixed contracts. Contract-aware rules and quick copy/paste of week templates keep pace when footfall surges.

💡Time saved is your first ROI; contract-aware checks protect the second (payroll accuracy).

👉 What to verify in your demo (both tools): caps/alerts for contract limits, mobile availability + open shifts, fast week-template workflows.
Qualifications, audit trails and rapid scaling are non-negotiable. A public-health team moved from Excel to live scheduling in about six weeks, crediting responsive support and simpler planner workflows — crucial when staffing test lanes and contact tracing at speed.

💡Choose the platform that scales safely; skills coverage and audit logs are essentials, not extras.

👉 What to verify in your demo (both tools): skill/qualification tagging with required-role coverage, full change logs, fast import from spreadsheets/HR to go live quickly.

Ready to choose? Here’s a low-risk way to decide

Run a side-by-side pilot and let the numbers speak.

Week 1 – Set up

Import staff and contracts; switch on payroll/POS integrations you already use.
Create two identical rotas (Shiftbase and Dyflexis) for one site/department.

Week 2 – Operate

Publish the rota, handle swaps/leave, and approve times daily in both tools.
Note any compliance alerts surfaced while planning.

Week 3 – Export

Push approved hours to payroll in each tool.
Reconcile one day’s POS revenue against scheduled labour.

Week 4 – Review

Measure: admin hours saved, number of payroll adjustments, manager/staff satisfaction.
Pick the platform with the cleanest export and least manual fixes.

Final take away:

If transparent pricing, quick setup, and plug-ins matter most, start your free Shiftbase trial and run the 4-week pilot today. If you’re prioritising advanced forecasting/auto-scheduling, book a Dyflexis demo alongside and compare outcomes head-to-head.

Employee scheduling and Time-tracking software!

Easy Employee scheduling
Clear time-tracking
Simple absence management

Try for free Request a demo

Frequently Asked Questions

Shiftbase lists public pricing and a 14-day free trial, so you can budget within minutes. Dyflexis uses a request-a-demo/pricing flow, which suits buyers who want a guided package comparison. Decide whether you prefer self-serve clarity or a consultative quote.
Dyflexis positions strongly on Labour Demand Forecasting and Auto-Scheduling. If optimisation is your priority, ask for a live demo and proof on your historical data. Shiftbase focuses on practical cost control and day-to-day scheduling; check its higher-tier options if you need forecasting later.
Shiftbase publishes a broad set of out-of-the-box connectors (e.g., Personio, Exact Online, AFAS, Nmbrs, Loket.nl, Lightspeed, Kolibrie). Map your stack against the integrations list and test an export/import before go-live. Dyflexis offers integrations as well—confirm specifics during the demo.
From customer stories, organisations have moved from Excel to live scheduling in weeks when scope and data are ready. Build a two-week pilot: import employees/contracts, run one approval cycle, then export to payroll. Time each step and compare across tools.
Adoption hinges on simplicity and early wins. In hospitality and retail case studies, teams report faster admin and clearer rotas after rollout. Run a supervisors-first pilot: measure time-to-first clean payroll export and the number of rota edits handled without spreadsheets.