Clockie vs RosterMates: two NZ-built rosters compared honestly
RosterMates and Clockie are both built in New Zealand and both price in NZ dollars. RosterMates charges per employee and leans on an AI roster generator. Clockie charges a flat base, drafts the roster from verified clock-ins with a reason on every shift, and signs in your visitors on the same tablet.
$59
Monthly, 20 staff (NZD)
$29
Base, 5 staff included
3-in-1
Roster, time clock, visitor sign-in
Direct
Xero & Crystal payroll
Why teams pick Clockie
Both products roster, clock and export to NZ payroll. The differences are how you pay, how the roster gets drafted, and what else the tablet at the door can do.
A flat base, not $8 a head
RosterMates lists $8 NZD per employee per month on its pricing page (read 19 September 2026), so 20 staff is $160 a month. Clockie is $29 including 5 staff plus $2 per extra staff member: $59 for the same team, excluding GST, with the roster included.
- $29 NZD base includes 5 staff
- +$2 a month per extra staff member
- $10 a month per extra location
A draft you can check, shift by shift
RosterMates describes an AI roster generator that fills every open shift using your rules and history. Clockie’s draft is deliberately plainer: it proposes only the shifts people have actually been working, shows the reason for each one, and leaves the week as a draft for you to accept or change.
- Drafted from the last eight weeks of clock-ins
- A plain reason on every proposed shift
- Nothing is sent until you publish
Visitors and contractors on the same tablet
Clockie’s kiosk also signs in visitors and contractors, with inductions, host notifications and an evacuation roll-call of everyone on site. RosterMates’ site does not mention visitor sign-in.
- Visitor and contractor sign-in included
- Evacuation muster roll-call
- First location included, then $10 a month each
Works when the Wi-Fi does not
Clock-ins save on the device and sync when the connection returns, on the kiosk and on a phone. RosterMates’ site does not say how its kiosk behaves offline.
- Local queue is the source of truth
- Auto-retry on reconnect
- Installs from the browser, no app store
Side-by-side feature comparison
How Clockie and RosterMates line up, feature by feature, so you can decide on the facts.
| Feature | ClockieNZ-built, payroll-first | RosterMatesRostering and payroll (NZ) |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | ||
| Monthly cost, 10 staff | $39 NZD | $80 NZD |
| Monthly cost, 20 staff | $59 NZD | $160 NZD |
| Monthly cost, 30 staff | $79 NZD | $240 NZD |
| Pricing model | Flat base + per staff | Per employee |
| Currency | NZD | NZD |
| Free trial | 14-day trial | 30-day trial |
| Time clock & on-site | ||
| Kiosk mode (shared tablet) | ||
| PIN and face check at clock-in | ||
| Location at clock-in | GPS stamp | Geofenced mobile clock-in |
| Offline clock-in (full sync) | Kiosk + mobile | Not described |
| Visitor & contractor sign-in | Not described | |
| Evacuation muster roll-call | Not described | |
| Scheduling & rostering | ||
| Weekly roster grid, copy last week, templates | ||
| Draft the week from clock-in history, with a reason per shift | AI generator; reasons not described | |
| Import a pasted roster or whiteboard photo | Not described | |
| How staff are told | Email, text message or WhatsApp | App push and SMS alerts |
| Rostered vs actual hours | Not described | |
| Automatic filling of empty shifts | ||
| Shift swaps between staff | ||
| Shift reminders | ||
| NZ payroll & integrations | ||
| Xero Payroll | Direct API push | Export |
| Crystal Payroll | Direct API | Export |
| PayHero, iPayroll, Smartly | Formatted CSV | Export |
| Built-in payroll | ||
| Support | ||
| NZ-based support | ||
RosterMates details are based on publicly available information and may change. Check RosterMates’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
RosterMates
- Monthly (20 staff)
- $160 NZD
- 5-year cost
- $9,600 NZD
20 staff, one location, monthly billing, excluding GST. Clockie: $29 base (5 staff) + 15 x $2, roster and visitor sign-in included. RosterMates: 20 x $8, read from rostermates.com/nz/pricing on 19 September 2026. Check their site for current pricing.
What RosterMates does better
An honest look at where RosterMates is the stronger fit.
It fills the roster for you
RosterMates’ generator fills every open shift from your rules and history, and staff can swap shifts and get shift reminders. Clockie proposes only the shifts people have already been working and does none of the rest. If you want the software to build the whole roster, RosterMates goes further.
Payroll in the same product
RosterMates offers its own IRD-approved payroll as well as exports. Clockie has no payroll: it sends approved hours to the payroll you already use.
A longer trial
RosterMates gives 30 days free with no credit card. Clockie’s trial is 14 days.
Choose RosterMates if…
- You want the software to fill the whole roster automatically
- You want staff to swap shifts and get shift reminders in an app
- You want payroll and rostering from one vendor
- You want a 30-day trial
Choose Clockie if…
- You want a lower bill: $59 rather than $160 a month for 20 staff
- You want every proposed shift to say why it is there
- You need visitor and contractor sign-in on the same tablet
- You need clock-ins that survive a dropped connection
Switching from RosterMates in 3 steps
Done in 15 minutes. No data loss.
Bring your roster across
Inside Clockie, paste this week’s roster as text, or upload a photo or screenshot of it, into Import your roster and check the proposed shifts.
Import your staff
Bulk-import your staff list into Clockie in one upload.
Set up the kiosk
Open Clockie on any tablet, pair it, and switch on visitor sign-in if you want it.
Need a hand? We’ll walk you through it.
Common questions
Is Clockie cheaper than RosterMates?
At every team size we checked, yes. RosterMates listed $8 NZD per employee per month when we read its pricing page on 19 September 2026: $80 for 10 staff, $160 for 20, $240 for 30. Clockie is $29 including 5 staff plus $2 per extra staff member: $39, $59 and $79, excluding GST, with the roster and visitor sign-in included.
Both say they use AI for rosters. What is the difference?
RosterMates describes an AI roster generator that fills every open shift from your rules and history. In Clockie, the draft from history uses no model at all: it counts how often each person worked each weekday over the last eight weeks and shows that count as the reason. An AI model is used in one place only, to read a roster you paste or photograph into proposed shifts for you to check.
Does RosterMates have visitor sign-in?
Its site does not mention one. Visitor and contractor sign-in, with inductions, host notifications and an evacuation muster, is built into Clockie at no extra cost for your first location, then $10 a month per additional location.
Which NZ payroll systems do they connect to?
RosterMates names exports to Xero, PayHero, Crystal, iPayroll and Smartly, plus its own payroll (read 19 September 2026). Clockie pushes approved hours directly to Xero Payroll and Crystal Payroll through their APIs and exports a formatted CSV for nine more NZ payroll systems.
Do staff have to be rostered to clock in with Clockie?
No. Clocking in never depends on the roster. Someone without a shift can always clock in, online or offline, and the entry is badged unrostered for you to review.
How do staff clock in on Clockie?
On a shared kiosk with a PIN, a photo or an on-device face match, or from a personal clock page on their own phone. Turn the optional Tap to Clock setting on and they can also tap an NFC badge or fob on an Android kiosk, or show a printed QR card or the rotating QR code from their phone to any kiosk with a camera, iPads included. Tap to Clock is off by default and works offline, and a tap or scan replaces the PIN and face check rather than adding to it, so it trades verification for speed. Clockie sells no hardware: fobs and card stock are bought separately, and printed QR cards come off the staff page.
Roster, clock and front door on one NZD plan
Try Clockie free for 14 days. No credit card. A roster drafted from real clock-ins, with hours straight to Xero & Crystal.
No credit card • Cancel anytime • NZ-based support