Clockie vs Droppah: time clock + visitor sign-in on one tablet
Droppah is a strong hospitality rostering and photo time clock. If you also need visitors and contractors signed in, PIN or face verification, and clock-ins that keep working offline, Clockie does the whole front door on one device.
2-in-1
Staff clock-in + visitor sign-in
PIN/face
Verification, not just a photo
Offline
Never loses a clock-in
Direct
Xero & Crystal payroll
Why teams pick Clockie
Droppah is built around rostering and shift costing for hospitality. Clockie is built to handle everyone who walks through your door — staff and visitors — reliably, and to feed hours straight into NZ payroll.
Visitor & contractor sign-in included
Droppah does not describe visitor sign-in on its site or support centre. Clockie runs your team time clock AND a full visitor / contractor sign-in and health-&-safety register on the same tablet — inductions, host notifications, and an evacuation muster of everyone on site.
- Staff clock-in + visitor sign-in
- Contractor inductions & host alerts
- Evacuation roll-call included
Verification, not just a snapshot
Droppah captures a photo at clock-in. Clockie adds PIN entry and on-device face matching against an enrolled photo, so a buddy can’t clock in for a mate — useful where time theft is a real cost. Speed is a choice too: turn the optional Tap to Clock setting on and staff clock in by tapping an NFC badge or fob on an Android kiosk, or by showing a printed QR card or the rotating QR code from their own phone to any kiosk with a camera, iPads included. It is off by default, works offline, and a tap or scan replaces the PIN and face check rather than adding to it.
- PIN, face-match and photo
- On-device, privacy-first matching
- Cuts buddy punching
Offline-first reliability
A tap is never lost. Clock-ins and visitor sign-ins save on the device and sync when you’re back online — built for basement kitchens, rural sites and flaky Wi-Fi.
- Local queue is the source of truth
- Auto-retry on reconnect
- Installs as a PWA — no app store
Direct NZ payroll, including Crystal
Approved timesheets push straight into Xero (all Clockie plans) and Crystal Payroll via API, with NZ statutory breaks applied automatically and formatted CSV for the wider payroll ecosystem.
- Direct Xero API on every plan
- Direct Crystal Payroll API
- CSV for MYOB, iPayroll, Smartly…
Side-by-side feature comparison
How Clockie and Droppah line up, feature by feature, so you can decide on the facts.
| Feature | ClockieNZ-built, payroll-first | DroppahHospitality rostering (NZ) |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | ||
| Pricing model | Flat base + per staff | Per active employee |
| Monthly cost (20 staff, Xero) | ~$59 NZD | ~$80 NZD (The Works, $4/emp) |
| Free plan | Up to 10 employees | |
| Free trial | 14-day trial | 14-day trial |
| Currency | NZD | NZD |
| Time clock & on-site | ||
| Kiosk mode (shared tablet) | ||
| Photo capture at clock-in | ||
| PIN & face-match verification | ||
| Personal-phone clock-in | ||
| Offline clock-in (full sync) | Kiosk + mobile | Not stated |
| Visitor & contractor sign-in | ||
| Evacuation muster roll-call | ||
| Scheduling & rostering | ||
| Weekly roster grid, copy last week, templates | The Works plan ($4/employee) | |
| Draft the week from clock-in history, with a reason per shift | Not described | |
| Import a pasted roster or whiteboard photo | Not described | |
| How staff are told | Email, text message or WhatsApp | Email and app notification |
| Auto-rostering & shift costing | ||
| Cover requests (staff swapping shifts) | ||
| Revenue / wage-% budgeting | Partial | |
| NZ payroll & integrations | ||
| Xero | Direct API (all plans) | The Works plan |
| Crystal Payroll | Direct API | |
| POS integrations (Square, Lightspeed…) | ||
| Visitor management included | ||
| Support | ||
| NZ-based support | ||
| Priority support | All plans | Paid plans |
Droppah details are based on publicly available information and may change. Check Droppah’s own site for their latest pricing and features.
5-year total cost
Real numbers for a 20-person team.
Clockie
- Monthly (20 staff)
- ~$59 NZD
- 5-year cost
- ~$3,540 NZD
Droppah “The Works”
- Monthly (20 staff)
- ~$80 NZD
- 5-year cost
- ~$4,800 NZD
Both NZD, excl GST. 20 staff on Xero: Clockie $29 base (5 staff) + $2/extra staff, roster included; Droppah “The Works” $4/active employee (Xero and rostering need this tier). Droppah figures read from droppah.com/nz/pricing on 19 September 2026.
What Droppah does better
An honest look at where Droppah is the stronger fit.
Auto-rostering & shift costing depth
Droppah is genuinely strong at hospitality rostering: it fills empty shifts automatically, costs every shift, tracks overtime and budgets against revenue, and staff can ask each other to cover a shift. Clockie’s roster shows hours only and does none of that; it is a weekly grid that can draft itself from your clock-in history. If costing the roster is your core need, Droppah is the better fit.
A free plan for very small teams
Droppah offers a free plan for up to 10 employees (photo time clock + timesheets). Clockie has a 14-day trial but no permanently free tier, so for a tiny team that only needs a basic clock, Droppah’s free plan is worth considering.
POS & FlexiTime ecosystem
Droppah integrates with POS systems (Square, Clover, Lightspeed) and connects tightly to PayHero payroll (same company). If you’re already in that ecosystem, that native link is tighter than Clockie’s formatted CSV export for PayHero.
Choose Droppah if…
- Auto-rostering and shift costing are your main need
- You run a hospitality venue tied to a POS
- You want a free plan for under 10 staff
- You already run PayHero payroll
Choose Clockie if…
- You want a time clock AND visitor sign-in in one
- You need PIN/face verification to stop buddy punching
- You need offline reliability on flaky Wi-Fi
- You’re on Xero or Crystal and want hours pushed directly
Switching from Droppah in 3 steps
Done in 15 minutes. No data loss.
Export from Droppah
Download your employee list (CSV) from Droppah.
Import to Clockie
Bulk-import staff into Clockie in one upload.
Set up the kiosk
Open Clockie on any iPad or tablet — 5-minute setup, then flip on visitor sign-in.
Need a hand? We’ll walk you through it.
Common questions
Is Clockie cheaper than Droppah?
It depends on your team and plan. Droppah has a free plan for up to 10 employees, but Xero export needs its “The Works” tier at $4 per active employee. Clockie is a flat $29 NZD base (5 staff included) plus $2 per extra staff, with visitor sign-in included — around $59/month for 20 staff. For a small team that only needs a basic clock, Droppah’s free plan may be cheaper; for staff plus visitors on Xero, Clockie is usually less.
Does Droppah have visitor sign-in?
No. Visitor and contractor sign-in — with inductions, host notifications and an evacuation muster — is built into Clockie at no extra cost (your plan covers your first location, then $10/month per additional location).
Does Clockie do rostering like Droppah?
Partly. Clockie has a weekly roster per location with copy last week, templates, approved leave shaded on the grid and publishing by email, text message or WhatsApp, and it can draft a week from the last eight weeks of clock-ins with a reason on each shift. Droppah goes further on automation and money: auto-rostering, shift costing, revenue budgets and cover requests between staff. Clockie’s roster shows hours only.
How is Clockie’s verification different from Droppah’s photo clock?
Droppah captures a photo at clock-in. Clockie adds PIN entry and on-device face matching against an enrolled photo, which makes it much harder for one person to clock in for another.
Does Clockie work offline?
Yes — full offline sync on both kiosk and mobile. Clock-ins and visitor sign-ins are queued locally and sync automatically when connectivity returns.
Staff and visitors, sorted on one tablet
Try Clockie free for 14 days. No credit card. PIN/face verification, offline reliability, and hours straight to Xero & Crystal.
No credit card • Cancel anytime • NZ-based support