RotaCloud is one of the best-known rota tools in UK hospitality — and rota building is genuinely its strong suit. Kiwii is an operations tool for hospitality and beauty businesses of 5–50 staff, with published pricing and your team clocking in on WhatsApp, no app and no per-message fees. Here is which one fits you — without the marketing.
No card · No sales call · No commitment
If you are shopping for staff scheduling software in the UK, you have almost certainly seen RotaCloud. It is a UK company, it has been building rotas for hospitality teams for years, and its planner is genuinely good.
This page is not about calling RotaCloud bad. On the contrary: if deep rota planning is the core of your problem, RotaCloud does it with more depth than Kiwii. That is in the table below, in plain sight.
What we do compare is the total job. On RotaCloud's own pricing page (verified July 2026), Time & Attendance is a paid add-on (£4.50) and SMS notifications — sold with the pitch "works on every phone; no need for an app" — are another paid add-on (£2). In Kiwii, both of those jobs are done by WhatsApp, the app your staff already live in, and they are included in every plan. Prices may change; always check their current page.
And there is the part nobody sells you until it bites: HMRC can ask for six years of records to prove you paid at least the National Minimum Wage. Keeping inadequate records — or falsifying them — is a criminal offence, with penalties of up to 200% of arrears (capped at £20,000 per worker) and public naming. For an hourly-paid team, your time records are your defence. Kiwii treats them that way.
Dimension by dimension
| Dimension | Kiwii | RotaCloud |
|---|---|---|
| Published pricing | Yes (£19.90–£59.90/month per business, flat) | Yes — from £10/month (1–5 staff), scales with headcount (verified Jul 2026) |
| Clock-in via WhatsApp | Yes (included, every plan) | No |
| Time & Attendance | Included | Paid add-on (£4.50, verified Jul 2026) |
| Shift notifications without per-message fees | Yes (WhatsApp, included) | SMS is a paid add-on (£2, verified Jul 2026) |
| Rota builder depth | Schedules, shift swaps, change trail | Core product — deeper (templates, drag & drop) |
| NMW-ready records (6-year retention) | Yes (export audit-ready PDF) | Time data available on paid T&A add-on |
| Tamper-evident audit trail (blockchain) | Yes (OpenTimestamps on Bitcoin) | No |
| Payroll handoff | BrightPay-ready CSV (hours by employee) | Own integrations — check their site |
| Beyond rotas: cash close, expenses OCR, QR menus | Yes (depending on plan) | No (focus on rotas & attendance) |
| Signed documents (payslips, contracts) via WhatsApp | Yes | No |
| UK-based company & support | No (EU company, English support) | Yes |
| Free trial | 14 days, no card | Yes — see their site |
| Typical customer | Hospitality & beauty SMBs, 5–50 staff | UK hospitality, small to mid-size teams |
| Commitment | None — cancel in 1 click | See their terms |
RotaCloud data: rotacloud.com/pricing, verified live July 2026. Their prices and features may change — always check their current site. We only state what we verified.
The three angles that decide it
RotaCloud sells SMS notifications as an add-on precisely because "works on every phone" matters for hourly teams. We agree — that is why Kiwii runs on WhatsApp: clock-in, clock-out, shift notices, payslips, holiday requests. No app to install, no SMS fee per message, included in every plan.
NMW records must be kept for six years, and falsifying them is a criminal offence. Every Kiwii time entry carries a cryptographic fingerprint anchored to Bitcoin (OpenTimestamps): nobody — not even us — can quietly rewrite history. One click exports an audit-ready, signed PDF.
Your accountant or bureau runs payroll — Kiwii feeds them. Export normal and overtime hours per employee as a CSV that BrightPay imports natively. End of period: download, send, done. No re-typing hours into spreadsheets on payday eve.
Fair is fair
Questions people actually ask
The UK does not require a specific clocking system — what employers must keep are adequate records to prove National Minimum Wage compliance, for six years. Kiwii records every clock-in and clock-out with date, time and a tamper-evident fingerprint anchored to Bitcoin via OpenTimestamps, and exports audit-ready PDFs. If HMRC comes knocking, you have the trail. As always, check your specific obligations with your accountant or adviser.
Kiwii publishes its prices: £19.90 to £59.90/month per business (not per employee), fixed, no sales call. Clock-in via WhatsApp is included in every plan. RotaCloud prices its base plans per employee — check rotacloud.com for current figures. What we can tell you (verified on their pricing page, July 2026): Time & Attendance is a paid add-on (£4.50) and SMS notifications are another paid add-on (£2). In Kiwii, both jobs are done by WhatsApp and included.
Yes, and we will say it plainly: rota building is RotaCloud's core product and it is deeper than ours — templates, drag-and-drop planning, and years of refinement for UK hospitality. It is also a UK company with UK-based support and an established client base. If sophisticated rota planning is 90% of your problem, RotaCloud deserves a serious look.
No. Your team clocks in and out on WhatsApp — the app they already use every day. No new app, no logins to forget, no timeclock hardware to buy. It works on every phone, and unlike SMS-based systems, there is no per-message fee.
Kiwii does not run payroll — your accountant or payroll bureau does, and that is by design. Kiwii exports a CSV of normal and overtime hours per employee that BrightPay imports natively (matching by name, NINO or works number). At the end of the pay period you download it, send it, done.
From 2027, employers must offer guaranteed hours to zero- and low-hours workers, give reasonable notice of shifts, and pay for cancelled or curtailed shifts. That makes documented schedules, shift changes and notice trails essential. Kiwii already keeps your rotas, shift swaps and changes on record — so when 2027 arrives, your paper trail exists.
Yes. During your 14-day free trial we help you import your employees and schedules. Your historical data stays exportable from RotaCloud — we simply start your Kiwii record from day one.
Kiwii processes data in the EU under GDPR-grade safeguards, and UK-EEA data flows are covered by the UK adequacy framework. Every time record carries a cryptographic fingerprint anchored to Bitcoin, so neither Kiwii nor anyone else can silently alter it — which is exactly what you want to show an inspector.
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