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Clever Ops - AI Business Automation Australia
Deputy vs Insightly

Deputy vs Insightly: Side-by-Side Feature & Pricing Comparison

Our Harvard-educated consultants have implemented both Deputy and Insightly for Australian businesses. Here is what 12+ of experience has taught us about choosing between them.

12
Features compared
50+
Clients advised
98%
Client retention
12+
Years experience

Feature Comparison

Side-by-side feature analysis for Deputy and Insightly.

Invoicing

Deputy

Deputy provides invoicing functionality, popular with Hospitality & Tourism businesses

Insightly

Insightly provides invoicing functionality, popular with Professional Services businesses

Both Deputy and Insightly address invoicing. The right choice depends on whether you prioritise depth of functionality or breadth of your overall platform.

Expense tracking

Deputy

Fair Work compliance tools including break enforcement, maximum hour alerts, and award rate tracking reduce accidental non-compliance

Insightly

Email tracking with open and click notifications gives sales reps real-time insight into prospect engagement

Both platforms are strong here. Deputy emphasises this as a core strength, and Insightly also invests heavily in expense tracking. Review each platform's approach to see which aligns with your team's workflow.

Bank reconciliation

Deputy

Deputy provides bank reconciliation functionality, popular with Hospitality & Tourism businesses

Insightly

Insightly provides bank reconciliation functionality, popular with Professional Services businesses

For bank reconciliation, evaluate both platforms against your specific workflow requirements rather than feature lists alone. A free trial or vendor demo will clarify the differences.

Payroll

Deputy

Deputy provides payroll functionality, popular with Hospitality & Tourism businesses

Insightly

Insightly provides payroll functionality, popular with Professional Services businesses

Both platforms cover the payroll basics. The edges - automations, reporting depth, mobile parity - are where their opinions show.

Tax reporting and BAS

Deputy

Limitation: Reporting is functional for scheduling and attendance, but lacks deeper workforce analytics without exporting data to a separate tool

Insightly

Insightly includes tax reporting and bas capabilities. Feature depth varies by plan tier

Deputy and Insightly take different philosophical approaches to tax reporting and bas; the better fit is usually the one that matches how your team already thinks about the problem.

Multi-currency support

Deputy

Deputy offers multi-currency support capabilities. Support depth and SLA commitments vary by plan

Insightly

Insightly offers multi-currency support capabilities. Support depth and SLA commitments vary by plan

multi-currency support capabilities vary by plan tier on both platforms. Confirm the specific features you need are available at your target price point before committing.

Contact management

Deputy

Tasking module assigns and tracks tasks across locations, adding basic operational management beyond just scheduling

Insightly

Built-in project management converts won opportunities into active projects with tasks and milestones, bridging the gap between sales and delivery

Both platforms are strong here. Deputy emphasises this as a core strength, and Insightly also invests heavily in contact management. Review each platform's approach to see which aligns with your team's workflow.

Pipeline management

Deputy

Tasking module assigns and tracks tasks across locations, adding basic operational management beyond just scheduling

Insightly

Built-in project management converts won opportunities into active projects with tasks and milestones, bridging the gap between sales and delivery

Both platforms are strong here. Deputy emphasises this as a core strength, and Insightly also invests heavily in pipeline management. Review each platform's approach to see which aligns with your team's workflow.

Email automation

Deputy

Deputy supports email automation. Advanced automation features may require higher-tier plans

Insightly

Email tracking with open and click notifications gives sales reps real-time insight into prospect engagement

Insightly highlights email automation as a core strength. Deputy offers the capability but does not position it as a primary differentiator.

Reporting and analytics

Deputy

Limitation: Reporting is functional for scheduling and attendance, but lacks deeper workforce analytics without exporting data to a separate tool

Insightly

Insightly includes reporting and analytics capabilities. Feature depth varies by plan tier

On paper reporting and analytics looks similar across Deputy and Insightly, but the admin experience, reporting, and permission model tend to be the real differentiators.

Integration ecosystem

Deputy

Limitation: Integration with accounting platforms like Xero and MYOB works well, but real-time sync can occasionally lag behind by several hours

Insightly

Limitation: Third-party integration ecosystem is smaller than HubSpot or Salesforce, often requiring Zapier for connections that other CRMs handle natively

Both platforms have similar integration breadth (47 and 54 native connectors respectively). Either will connect to the major tools in a mid-market stack.

Mobile app

Deputy

Employee mobile app allows staff to clock in and out with GPS verification, swap shifts, and request leave without manager involvement

Insightly

Insightly connects with 54+ tools natively, offering one of the broadest integration ecosystems in its category

Deputy highlights mobile app as a core strength. Insightly offers the capability but does not position it as a primary differentiator.

Pricing Comparison

General pricing information for each platform.

Deputy

Scheduling from approximately $4.50/user/month, Time & Attendance from approximately $4.50/user/month, Premium from approximately $6/user/month (AUD). Bundles available. Minimum spend may apply.

Pricing is indicative only and subject to change. We recommend contacting the vendor for a tailored quote based on your Australian business needs.

Insightly

Plus from approximately $44/user/month, Professional from approximately $69/user/month, Enterprise from approximately $139/user/month (AUD). All plans billed annually. Free plan discontinued.

These figures are estimates based on publicly available pricing. Actual costs depend on your usage, team size, and any negotiated rates.

Pros & Cons

An honest look at the strengths and limitations of each platform.

Deputy

Pros

  • Drag-and-drop shift scheduling with templates and auto-scheduling saves hours of roster creation for multi-location businesses
  • Employee mobile app allows staff to clock in and out with GPS verification, swap shifts, and request leave without manager involvement
  • Fair Work compliance tools including break enforcement, maximum hour alerts, and award rate tracking reduce accidental non-compliance
  • Real-time labour cost tracking against budgets gives managers visibility into wage costs before the pay run, not after
  • Tasking module assigns and tracks tasks across locations, adding basic operational management beyond just scheduling

Cons

  • Per-user pricing adds up quickly for businesses with large casual workforces where many staff only work a few shifts per month
  • Advanced features like demand-based scheduling and auto-scheduling require Premium, doubling the per-user cost
  • Integration with accounting platforms like Xero and MYOB works well, but real-time sync can occasionally lag behind by several hours
  • Reporting is functional for scheduling and attendance, but lacks deeper workforce analytics without exporting data to a separate tool

Insightly

Pros

  • Built-in project management converts won opportunities into active projects with tasks and milestones, bridging the gap between sales and delivery
  • Relationship linking maps connections between contacts, organisations, and opportunities, showing how deals relate to each other
  • Email tracking with open and click notifications gives sales reps real-time insight into prospect engagement
  • Products, price books, and quotes are included natively, so service businesses can generate proposals directly from the CRM
  • Insightly Marketing (AppConnect) provides visual workflow builder for automating lead nurturing alongside the CRM at no extra platform cost

Cons

  • The interface feels cluttered compared to modern CRMs like Pipedrive or Copper, which can slow down daily usage for sales teams
  • Two-user minimum on paid plans and relatively high per-user pricing means it is not cost-effective for solo operators
  • Customisation options, while available, require navigating a settings system that is less intuitive than competitors like Salesforce or Zoho
  • Third-party integration ecosystem is smaller than HubSpot or Salesforce, often requiring Zapier for connections that other CRMs handle natively

Best For

Which tool suits which use case.

Choose Deputy if you need

  • Teams needing extensive third-party integrations
  • Real-time data sync across platforms
  • Financial reporting
  • Hospitality & Tourism businesses
  • Moderate data needs (employees, shifts)

Choose Insightly if you need

  • Teams needing extensive third-party integrations
  • Professional Services businesses
  • Managing customer relationships
  • Complex data models (contacts, organisations, opportunities and more)
  • Manufacturing organisations

Expert Verdict

Our Harvard-educated consultants' take on this comparison.

Clever Ops Recommendation

Deputy and Insightly solve different problems: Deputy handles accounting & finance, while Insightly covers crm & sales. Most mid-market Australian businesses benefit from running both with a proper integration layer. Deputy is the right pick when shift-based businesses in hospitality, retail, and healthcare that need compliant scheduling, time tracking, and leave management with mobile accessibility for staff. Insightly fits when professional services firms that need CRM and project management together, particularly consultancies and agencies that want to track client relationships through from lead to project delivery. Clever Ops can design the integration architecture and implement both, typically within 4-8 weeks.

Migration Notes

What to know about switching between Deputy and Insightly.

Migrating Between Deputy and Insightly

Clever Ops takes a low-risk approach to migrating between Deputy and Insightly. We run both systems in parallel during the transition, transferring tasks in stages and verifying data at each step. Your team continues working in the existing system until the new one is fully validated. The process typically takes 4-8 weeks, followed by 3 months of hands-on support.

Deputy vs Insightly FAQ

Deputy limitations: Per-user pricing adds up quickly for businesses with large casual workforces where many staff only work a few shifts per month. Advanced features like demand-based scheduling and auto-scheduling require Premium, doubling the per-user cost. Insightly limitations: The interface feels cluttered compared to modern CRMs like Pipedrive or Copper, which can slow down daily usage for sales teams. Two-user minimum on paid plans and relatively high per-user pricing means it is not cost-effective for solo operators. Understanding these trade-offs in the context of your specific workflows is critical. Clever Ops can help you weigh which limitations matter most for your business during a free assessment.

Yes. Deputy provides a REST + Webhook API and Insightly provides a REST API, so we can build reliable integrations between them. Common sync patterns include tasks. Our integrations include error handling, retry logic, and monitoring. Clients typically save 8+ hours/week once the integration is live.

Deputy may hit limits when salaried office-based teams where shift scheduling is irrelevant, or businesses with very large casual pools where per-user pricing becomes disproportionate to hours worked. Insightly may hit limits when businesses that want a modern, streamlined CRM interface, solo operators looking for affordable options, or teams that need an extensive third-party app marketplace. Both platforms are designed to grow with your business, but scaling experience varies. Deputy connects with 47+ tools, and Insightly with 54+, so integration flexibility at scale is comparable. Clever Ops helps mid-market Australian businesses plan their tech stack for growth, not just for today.

For Hospitality & Tourism, the answer depends on your operational model. Deputy is best for shift-based businesses in hospitality, retail, and healthcare that need compliant scheduling, time tracking, and leave management with mobile accessibility for staff. Insightly is best for professional services firms that need CRM and project management together, particularly consultancies and agencies that want to track client relationships through from lead to project delivery. Clever Ops has helped businesses across Hospitality & Tourism choose the right stack. Book a free assessment for advice specific to your situation.

Yes. Both platforms share 1 common data object types (including tasks), which simplifies field mapping. Clever Ops runs a structured migration process: discovery, data mapping, test migration, verification, and cutover. Most migrations complete within 4-8 weeks, with 3 months of post-migration support included.

Full onboarding for either Deputy or Insightly, including configuration, data import, and team training, typically takes 4-8 weeks with Clever Ops support. Self-service onboarding can take longer and often results in suboptimal configurations that limit the platform's value.

Free trials are useful for testing the user interface, but they rarely reveal how a platform performs at scale, with your specific data model, or alongside your existing integrations. Deputy manages 7 data object types and Insightly manages 8. Evaluating that complexity in a trial period is difficult. A more efficient approach is to combine a short trial with expert advice from our Harvard-educated consultants, who can identify the right fit based on 12+ of implementation experience.

Both Deputy and Insightly provide standard security measures including encryption, access controls, and compliance certifications. Deputy uses a REST + Webhook API and Insightly uses REST, both supporting secure data transfer. For Australian businesses handling sensitive data under the Privacy Act, data residency and local support are worth verifying with each vendor. Clever Ops, based in Gippsland, Victoria, can review each platform's security posture against your compliance requirements during a free assessment.

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