HotSchedules vs. Paylocity

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
HotSchedules
Score 6.4 out of 10
N/A
HotSchedules is a cloud-based scheduling, labor and communication management software solution serving the restaurant and hospitality industry. According to the vendor, key benefits include: Build & Communicate Schedules The scheduling and labor management software reduces the time it takes managers to create and communicate schedules. All scheduling and employee information is stored in one central location, so managers have access to time-off requests,…N/A
Paylocity
Score 7.8 out of 10
N/A
Paylocity provides 24/7 access to your online payroll and human resource data management. Paylocity offers highly customizable payroll functionality, as well as HR, benefits administration, and time and talent management programs.N/A
Pricing
HotSchedulesPaylocity
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
HotSchedulesPaylocity
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
HotSchedulesPaylocity
Considered Both Products
HotSchedules
Chose HotSchedules
I'd prefer to use only HotSchedules, for the potential ease with which one could streamline all aspects of employee maintenance. For instance, since we use 3 separate platforms, it is easy, around payroll time, to end up with discrepancies and have to triage those at the last …
Chose HotSchedules
We still use Paylocity for our payroll but the time monitoring and scheduling on hotschedules is more user friendly. It also allows for easier and better communication outside of normal emailing.
Paylocity
Chose Paylocity
With the exception of Oracle PeopleTools (2010 US Census version) and CompuPay (I don't even think it exists anymore), Paylocity is the only system I have used in my HR career. I have never had the need or want to switch. Both companies I worked for used Paylocity, and I am …
Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
HotSchedulesPaylocity
Human Resource Management
Comparison of Human Resource Management features of Product A and Product B
HotSchedules
-
Ratings
Paylocity
7.8
859 Ratings
0% below category average
Employee demographic data00 Ratings8.5810 Ratings
Employment history00 Ratings8.2791 Ratings
Job profiles and administration00 Ratings7.8726 Ratings
Workflow for transfers, promotions, pay raises, etc.00 Ratings7.6739 Ratings
Organizational charting00 Ratings7.1677 Ratings
Organization and location management00 Ratings7.8659 Ratings
Compliance data (COBRA, OSHA, etc.)00 Ratings7.5565 Ratings
Payroll Management
Comparison of Payroll Management features of Product A and Product B
HotSchedules
-
Ratings
Paylocity
8.1
847 Ratings
1% above category average
Pay calculation00 Ratings8.6823 Ratings
Support for external payroll vendors00 Ratings7.3390 Ratings
Off-cycle/On-Demand payment00 Ratings8.5593 Ratings
Benefit plan administration00 Ratings7.2564 Ratings
Direct deposit files00 Ratings8.9822 Ratings
Salary revision and increment management00 Ratings8.2650 Ratings
Reimbursement management00 Ratings7.9403 Ratings
Leave and Attendance Management
Comparison of Leave and Attendance Management features of Product A and Product B
HotSchedules
-
Ratings
Paylocity
7.6
710 Ratings
6% below category average
Approval workflow00 Ratings7.9631 Ratings
Balance details00 Ratings7.4678 Ratings
Annual carry-forward and encashment00 Ratings7.4528 Ratings
Employee Self Service
Comparison of Employee Self Service features of Product A and Product B
HotSchedules
-
Ratings
Paylocity
8.3
859 Ratings
2% above category average
View and generate pay and benefit information00 Ratings8.5836 Ratings
Update personal information00 Ratings8.6850 Ratings
View company policy documentation00 Ratings8.0676 Ratings
Employee recognition00 Ratings8.3592 Ratings
View job history00 Ratings8.3714 Ratings
Asset Management
Comparison of Asset Management features of Product A and Product B
HotSchedules
-
Ratings
Paylocity
7.5
240 Ratings
3% below category average
Tracking of all physical assets00 Ratings7.5240 Ratings
HR Reporting
Comparison of HR Reporting features of Product A and Product B
HotSchedules
-
Ratings
Paylocity
7.0
785 Ratings
8% below category average
Report builder00 Ratings7.0751 Ratings
Pre-built reports00 Ratings7.4765 Ratings
Ability to combine HR data with external data00 Ratings6.5459 Ratings
Onboarding
Comparison of Onboarding features of Product A and Product B
HotSchedules
-
Ratings
Paylocity
8.2
731 Ratings
2% above category average
New hire portal00 Ratings8.3727 Ratings
Manager tracking tools00 Ratings8.0568 Ratings
Performance and Goals
Comparison of Performance and Goals features of Product A and Product B
HotSchedules
-
Ratings
Paylocity
7.4
381 Ratings
10% below category average
Corporate goal setting00 Ratings7.4289 Ratings
Individual goal setting00 Ratings7.4352 Ratings
Line-of sight-visibility00 Ratings7.3250 Ratings
Performance tracking00 Ratings7.4354 Ratings
Performance Management
Comparison of Performance Management features of Product A and Product B
HotSchedules
-
Ratings
Paylocity
7.4
490 Ratings
7% below category average
Performance plans00 Ratings7.2439 Ratings
Performance improvement plans00 Ratings7.2364 Ratings
Review status tracking00 Ratings7.4451 Ratings
Review reminders00 Ratings7.5453 Ratings
Multiple review frequency00 Ratings7.6370 Ratings
Succession Planning
Comparison of Succession Planning features of Product A and Product B
HotSchedules
-
Ratings
Paylocity
7.1
225 Ratings
10% below category average
Create succession plans/pools00 Ratings6.7148 Ratings
Candidate ranking00 Ratings7.1183 Ratings
Candidate search00 Ratings7.4205 Ratings
Candidate development00 Ratings7.4165 Ratings
Recruiting / ATS
Comparison of Recruiting / ATS features of Product A and Product B
HotSchedules
-
Ratings
Paylocity
7.7
462 Ratings
1% below category average
Job Requisition Management00 Ratings7.8379 Ratings
Company Website Posting00 Ratings8.1405 Ratings
Publish to Social Media00 Ratings7.7312 Ratings
Job Search Site Posting00 Ratings7.7379 Ratings
Duplicate Candidate Prevention00 Ratings7.0317 Ratings
Applicant Tracking00 Ratings8.0424 Ratings
Notifications and Alerts00 Ratings7.9422 Ratings
Best Alternatives
HotSchedulesPaylocity
Small Businesses
7shifts
7shifts
Score 9.0 out of 10
Patriot Software
Patriot Software
Score 9.0 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Jolt
Jolt
Score 9.5 out of 10
Paypro Workforce Management
Paypro Workforce Management
Score 9.5 out of 10
Enterprises

No answers on this topic

Infor Human Resources
Infor Human Resources
Score 7.3 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
HotSchedulesPaylocity
Likelihood to Recommend
1.0
(167 ratings)
7.7
(894 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
9.1
(2 ratings)
8.9
(85 ratings)
Usability
8.9
(12 ratings)
8.5
(59 ratings)
Availability
-
(0 ratings)
8.8
(9 ratings)
Performance
-
(0 ratings)
9.4
(9 ratings)
Support Rating
8.9
(4 ratings)
7.2
(80 ratings)
Online Training
-
(0 ratings)
8.3
(10 ratings)
Implementation Rating
-
(0 ratings)
8.2
(34 ratings)
Configurability
-
(0 ratings)
8.3
(7 ratings)
Contract Terms and Pricing Model
-
(0 ratings)
8.1
(4 ratings)
Ease of integration
-
(0 ratings)
6.6
(7 ratings)
Product Scalability
-
(0 ratings)
8.8
(8 ratings)
Professional Services
-
(0 ratings)
9.1
(4 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
-
(0 ratings)
7.3
(7 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
-
(0 ratings)
9.0
(6 ratings)
User Testimonials
HotSchedulesPaylocity
Likelihood to Recommend
HotSchedules and Fourth
For small to medium-sized companies HotSchedules works great when business is very static. If you are simply using HotSchedules for a schedule writing tool, it is phenomenal. However, it does miss the mark as a labor control software. Needs more controls to keep managers aware of spending versus historical sales data.
Read full review
Paylocity
Paylocity works well for our organization. Ease of use for our managers and employees is very important. Makes it easier for us in HR to manage. Time and attendance works very well. Efficient and effective. Payroll runs very smoothly. We appreciate the performance and compensation module for tracking employees performance, journals and getting feedback and annual compensation.
Read full review
Pros
HotSchedules and Fourth
  • Communication is so simple on HotSchedules. Whether it is communicating a new schedule release, or a quick note about tonight's shift we as managers are able to easily communicate and know that it will reach our team through text notifications, or email notifications.
  • The Meal Break planning tool is very useful in being able to help our floor leaders clearly understand and plan for what breaks are needed throughout the shift. This allows them to come up with a strategic game plan quickly and spend more time with our guests.
  • Shift Swaps and Releases are so seamless. This is our favorite tool as it makes helping our team cover shifts extremely easy and painless. On the flip side it also makes staff who want more hours be able to find what is available in real time.
Read full review
Paylocity
  • Customer Service is always helpful with little wait time.
  • Always improving; for example, the recent change to processing payroll. So much easier.
  • Onboarding makes it simple and the fact that the company can personalize the messaging to new hires allows us to make it more personalized.
  • Having an assigned account manager regardless of company size is definitely a plus.
Read full review
Cons
HotSchedules and Fourth
  • Clocking In and out can be a little slow. It takes longer to clock in then our previous method. Before we just had a card you swiped and it would clock you in. Took 2 seconds. Now with the Hotschdules method we use it take 30 seconds or so. Not a huge issue but it can add up if you have one computer and a line of employees waiting to clock in.
  • Time Cards. It does not allow you to view someones current time until the "punch" has ended. If the manager would like to check what time the employee clocked in/out from lunch they have to wait until the employee has clocked out for the day before the record is generated. As a shift lead you may send and employee to lunch but forget to note what time you sent them. Awhile passes and you feel like they should be back by now, so you want to go in and see what time they left for lunch but it does not show you that punch record because the employee is still "clocked in" they are just on their "Meal Break"
  • The ability to customize the restrictions for Clocking in and out. You can set it up so that employees can only clock in from a specific location, however if you have a manager who is allowed to work from home they would not be able to clock in without being at the same location as set in the software. It would be nice to see it able to be customized per user.
Read full review
Paylocity
  • Recruiting piece/ATS could be improved.
  • A candidate being able to save progress on their application is really a must as they can't leave and come back to their application without having to restart, i.e. if they need to get a phone number for a reference for example.
  • Could use more room in entering the job for internal notes.
  • Quirky when doing cut and paste of job details that leaves spaces that aren't in the document being pasted.
Read full review
Likelihood to Renew
HotSchedules and Fourth
Ease of use, efficiently creating and posting staff schedules.
Read full review
Paylocity
We have had many issues with the way our platform was set up at implementation that still continue to plague us. In addition, our benefits, in particular our FSA, have been mis-managed causing a balance due from an employee (and also a lot of work for our accounting and HR team, as well as stress for the employee). Our service rep continues to answer incorrectly on many fronts (original response is usually check out this paylocity article, vs. helping) and recently our COBRA management was mishandled (not adding Dental to a person on Cobra who had requested it). So- all in all...we are not particularly happy w/ Paylocity
Read full review
Usability
HotSchedules and Fourth
6 Years of Experience provides me the insight on the upgrades and changes that HotSchedules has done to improve the experience of its users. There are so many features that we still have not started or used to the fullest, but we believe that we are currently getting a strong value out of the money that is paid for this product.
Read full review
Paylocity
Overall, in my experience, Paylocity has been easy to use for both staff and administrators. First, the staff has an application and inputting Paid Time Off is easy to do. I then get an alert on my app and I am able to approve it on the spot from my app that gives me access as an employee and an administrator without having to use multiple apps or logins. As an administrator I think the portal is easy to use, Paylocity did a great job showing me tools and rolling out training classes before rollout.
Read full review
Reliability and Availability
HotSchedules and Fourth
No answers on this topic
Paylocity
Paylocity support is always available and I never have to wait endlessly on hold. If our dedicated account manage is not available, there is an entire team assigned to our account. Every one of them is knowledgeable about our organization and Paylocity's process.
Read full review
Performance
HotSchedules and Fourth
No answers on this topic
Paylocity
pages load in an acceptable amount of time, reports come back quickly, but integration is very complicated and hasn't been possible
Read full review
Support Rating
HotSchedules and Fourth
On rare occasions a phone call has been required to find the solution to a problem, the HotSchedules response staff have been helpful, courteous, and genuinely seem to care for their clients and take pride in what they do. The consistent development and fine tuning of the platform, interface, and mobile environment shows that this is not a program full of people who rest on their laurels.
Read full review
Paylocity
Everyone wants immediate assistance. Awaiting a response from an email only to ask 2-3 more questions is time consuming. Within the first six months of setup, I would rather respond back to the instructors who provided me the training in each category of my contract.
Read full review
Online Training
HotSchedules and Fourth
No answers on this topic
Paylocity
The training was live online, but was with a group of other companies. We did not receive any personalized training with our team. Whenever we would ask for training, we would be sent a peak article link or a video. It felt like the reps we dealt with didn't know the answer to the questions.
Read full review
Implementation Rating
HotSchedules and Fourth
No answers on this topic
Paylocity
I had gone through an implementation process of another HR platform (Paycom) in my previous job and was traumatized, it was painful. I was surprised how easy and fast it was with Paylocity, the team was very helpful and set us up for success
Read full review
Alternatives Considered
HotSchedules and Fourth
I have not used any other Scheduling software for employees. As a campground manager in the summer season, we are using campground master for reservations. it is very similar in process to employee scheduling. the ability to the user of that program to set up their own parameters for time and reservations is something that would benefit the employee scheduling software.
Read full review
Paylocity
We honestly had a program that only kept track of our Demographics, salaries, etc. then all of our Payroll was done on paper with paper leave slips etc. When I saw Paylocity, I was very excited about how easy it is/would be to use. [...] Our Paylocity rep that I spoke to was super GREAT in the explanation of Paylocity and I didn't even shop around much.
Read full review
Contract Terms and Pricing Model
HotSchedules and Fourth
No answers on this topic
Paylocity
I wasn't involved in the sales process. I joined the organization after Paylocity was implemented.
Read full review
Scalability
HotSchedules and Fourth
No answers on this topic
Paylocity
You have an account manager assigned to you on a daily basis but that person is barely available to you
Read full review
Professional Services
HotSchedules and Fourth
No answers on this topic
Paylocity
Support is quick and proffessional
Read full review
Return on Investment
HotSchedules and Fourth
  • Saving time on scheduling means our managers can focus more on guest experience, managing the floor and other areas that contribute to the success of our business.
Read full review
Paylocity
  • Definitely more consistent processes. Everything is very user friendly and it reduces the amount of time it has taken us in the past before we started using Paylocity. Everything flows super smoothly.
  • We have an improved retention since we have used Paylocity. Before hand, many employees thought it was difficult to find anything like tax forms, pay stubs, benefit elections, etc. when we used other platforms before we implemented our data into Paylocity.
  • Costs have been reduced and the decision-making process has improved and got quicker. Before Paylocity, it would take at least a week to get a salary increase approved, or a job title change approved. Now, it take less than a day and is super easy.
Read full review
ScreenShots

HotSchedules Screenshots

Screenshot of Time-Off, Availability, Employee Hours, Sales Volume are all available in the scheduler.Screenshot of Employees are able to swap and pick-up shifts from the HotSchedules Mobile App. All shift changes or requests require a manager's approval.Screenshot of Managers and employees can communicate with each other from the mobile and web apps - from anywhere and at anytime.Screenshot of Employees can submit a time-off, request - paid, or unpaid - and can request to work or request off right from the mobile app.Screenshot of Managers can view sales and labor data from their phone.