Per-Employee vs Per-Location Pricing for Scheduling Software: The Real Math

Per-employee scheduling software charges you a recurring fee for every person on the roster — typically $2.50 to $5 per employee per month. Per-location pricing charges one flat fee per store or venue, no matter how many people you hire. The practical difference: with per-seat, your software bill moves every time you add a casual for a busy weekend. With per-location, it doesn't. Below is the arithmetic across three real staffing states, plus why the model itself — not just the price — is the thing worth examining.

The moment the bill arrives

It's a Thursday in late November. You've just finalised the schedule for Black Friday weekend. You added four extra staff — two for the floor, two for the stockroom — because last year you got crushed. You publish the schedule. You feel good.

Then the email arrives. Your scheduling software just billed you for the new headcount. Four extra seats, prorated for the month, plus the full charge next cycle. You haven't sold a single dollar of Black Friday revenue yet. You're already paying more.

This is the structural feature of per-seat pricing that nobody puts on the pricing page: the bill moves before the revenue does. Every hire is a cost event before it becomes a productivity event.

The math across three staffing states

Let's use a real per-employee price — $3.50/employee/month, which sits in the middle of the major incumbents' base tiers — and compare it against a flat $29/month per-location rate.

| Scenario | Headcount | Per-seat bill ($3.50/employee) | Per-location bill (flat $29) | Difference | |---|---|---|---|---| | Lean month (one retail store) | 6 | $21.00 | $29.00 | +$8 per-location | | Peak surge (same store, holiday hires) | 14 | $49.00 | $29.00 | −$20 per-location | | Casual-heavy venue (FEC or hospitality) | 22 | $77.00 | $29.00 | −$48 per-location |

At 6 staff, per-seat is actually cheaper by $8. That's the trap — it looks fine at the start. At 14 staff, per-location is $20/month cheaper. At 22, it's $48/month cheaper — and more importantly, it's predictable. You knew in January what December would cost.

Multiply scenario three across a 12-month year and the gap is $576. Across two locations, $1,152. That's a part-time shift every week, paid for by the pricing model alone.

Why the model is misaligned

Here's the part nobody says out loud. Per-seat scheduling software has a vendor whose revenue grows every time you hire. Their best customer is the one staffing up. Your best month — when you're surging to meet demand — is also their best month, before you've earned a dollar of that demand.

Per-location pricing flips the incentive. The vendor only grows when you open another store or venue. They win when you stay, not when you add a casual. That's not a marketing line — it's just what the contract structure does. Read the per-location pricing page if you want the full version of the argument.

"But I'm small, per-seat is fine for me"

This is the most common objection, and it's right — until it isn't. Per-seat is fine at 5 staff. It's fine at 6. It starts to sting at 10, and at 15 you're paying $50+/month for software that does the same thing it did when you were paying $17.

The specific moment it stops being fine is the moment you didn't plan for: a school-holiday week, a Christmas casual run, a busy summer at the venue. You hire four casuals for the long weekend. With per-seat, the bill moves. With per-location, it doesn't. The surprise never arrives.

If your headcount only ever goes one direction — up — per-seat pricing is a tax on growth.

For Australian operators: stacked unpredictability

Australian rostering already runs on variable cost. Casual loading is 25% on top of base. Weekend penalty rates on the General Retail Industry Award and the Hospitality Award add another layer. Public holidays add more. Your labour line is the least predictable thing in the P&L.

Layering per-employee rostering software on top of that means your software bill also moves with headcount — compounding the unpredictability of the cost it's meant to help you manage. A flat per-location rostering fee is one fixed line. You know the number in January for the whole year, casuals or no casuals. That's not a feature pitch; it's just arithmetic.

The entry point: free up to 8 staff

The proof that the per-location philosophy is real, not marketing: Schedaddle is free up to 8 employees, no credit card. If you're a small store or a quiet venue, the per-location price isn't even relevant yet — you don't pay anything. The model only kicks in when you grow past the free tier, and when it does, it's flat.

The full breakdown — what's included, where the per-location line sits, what happens when you add a second store — is on the per-location pricing page.

A question worth sitting with

When did your scheduling software last get more expensive without you deciding to spend more?