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Clever Ops - AI Business Automation Australia
Deputy vs Loom

Deputy vs Loom: The Complete Buyer's Guide for 2026

Thinking of switching from Deputy to Loom (or vice versa)? This comparison covers features, costs, and migration considerations to help mid-market Australian businesses make an informed decision.

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

Feature Comparison

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

Invoicing

Deputy

Deputy provides invoicing functionality, popular with Hospitality & Tourism businesses

Loom

Loom provides invoicing functionality, popular with Professional Services businesses

Both Deputy and Loom 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

Loom

Loom provides expense tracking functionality, popular with Professional Services businesses

Deputy highlights expense tracking as a core strength. Loom offers the capability but does not position it as a primary differentiator.

Bank reconciliation

Deputy

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

Loom

Loom 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

Loom

Loom provides payroll functionality, popular with Professional Services businesses

Day-to-day payroll workflows feel different between Deputy and Loom - watch a recorded walkthrough of each before judging which fits your team.

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

Loom

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

Both Deputy and Loom address tax reporting and bas. The right choice depends on whether you prioritise depth of functionality or breadth of your overall platform.

Multi-currency support

Deputy

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

Loom

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

Deputy and Loom take different philosophical approaches to multi-currency support; the better fit is usually the one that matches how your team already thinks about the problem.

Messaging features

Deputy

Limitation: Advanced features like demand-based scheduling and auto-scheduling require Premium, doubling the per-user cost

Loom

Loom provides messaging features functionality, popular with Professional Services businesses

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

Video and audio quality

Deputy

Deputy provides video and audio quality functionality, popular with Hospitality & Tourism businesses

Loom

Automatic transcription with chapters makes video content searchable and skimmable, reducing the time viewers spend finding relevant sections

Loom highlights video and audio quality as a core strength. Deputy offers the capability but does not position it as a primary differentiator.

File sharing

Deputy

Deputy provides file sharing functionality, popular with Hospitality & Tourism businesses

Loom

Limitation: Video quality and file sizes can strain bandwidth for teams with limited internet connectivity, particularly in regional areas

file sharing support varies across Deputy and Loom's plan tiers. Check whether the capabilities you need are on the plan you can actually afford.

Team channels

Deputy

Deputy includes team collaboration features. Multi-user capabilities vary by plan tier

Loom

Limitation: Video quality and file sizes can strain bandwidth for teams with limited internet connectivity, particularly in regional areas

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

Search and history

Deputy

Deputy provides search and history functionality, popular with Hospitality & Tourism businesses

Loom

Automatic transcription with chapters makes video content searchable and skimmable, reducing the time viewers spend finding relevant sections

Loom highlights search and history as a core strength. Deputy offers the capability but does not position it as a primary differentiator.

Security and compliance

Deputy

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

Loom

Loom provides standard security controls. Contact the vendor for detailed compliance certifications

Deputy highlights security and compliance as a core strength. Loom 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.

Loom

Free plan: 25 videos, 5 min limit. Business from approximately $20/user/month, Enterprise custom pricing (AUD). Annual billing discounts available. Unlimited recording length and storage on paid plans.

Prices shown are approximate and may differ based on your plan, team size, and billing cycle. Verify directly with the vendor for current AUD 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

Loom

Pros

  • One-click screen and camera recording eliminates the scheduling overhead of synchronous meetings for status updates, walkthroughs, and feedback
  • Automatic transcription with chapters makes video content searchable and skimmable, reducing the time viewers spend finding relevant sections
  • Viewer insights show who watched, for how long, and which sections they replayed, giving senders data on engagement
  • Comments and reactions on timestamped moments turn videos into async conversation threads, keeping context attached to the content
  • Browser extension and desktop app make recording frictionless, with instant shareable links that do not require recipients to install anything

Cons

  • Free plan limits recordings to 25 videos and 5 minutes each, which is too restrictive for most professional use cases
  • Video quality and file sizes can strain bandwidth for teams with limited internet connectivity, particularly in regional areas
  • No built-in editing beyond basic trimming means polished presentations still require a separate video editing tool
  • Viewer analytics are useful but basic compared to dedicated video hosting platforms like Wistia or Vidyard for marketing use cases

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 Loom if you need

  • Team collaboration
  • Education organisations
  • Teams needing extensive third-party integrations
  • Moderate data needs (videos, folders)
  • Professional Services businesses

Expert Verdict

Our Harvard-educated consultants' take on this comparison.

Clever Ops Recommendation

Deputy and Loom solve different problems: Deputy handles accounting & finance, while Loom covers communication. 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. Loom fits when remote and hybrid teams that want to replace unnecessary meetings with async video updates, walkthroughs, and feedback, particularly in product, engineering, and customer success roles. 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 Loom.

Migrating Between Deputy and Loom

Clever Ops takes a low-risk approach to migrating between Deputy and Loom. We run both systems in parallel during the transition, transferring your core data 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 Loom FAQ

Deputy uses a REST + Webhook API (REST API with OAuth 2.0. Rate limited to 50 requests per 10-second window. Supports webhook notifications for shift changes and timesheet approvals. Pagination via start and max parameters.), while Loom uses a REST API (REST API with bearer token authentication. Limited public API, primarily for Enterprise customers. Developer SDK for embedding recording and playback. Webhook support for video events. JSON responses.). Deputy supports 7 core data objects; Loom supports 6. Deputy supports webhooks for real-time sync. With 12+ of integration experience, Clever Ops can tell you exactly how each API performs in production.

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.. Loom: Free plan: 25 videos, 5 min limit. Business from approximately $20/user/month, Enterprise custom pricing (AUD). Annual billing discounts available. Unlimited recording length and storage on paid plans.. When comparing costs, factor in per-user charges, add-on modules, and implementation costs, not just the headline price. Clever Ops can model the total cost of ownership for your team size during a free assessment.

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

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. Loom limitations: Free plan limits recordings to 25 videos and 5 minutes each, which is too restrictive for most professional use cases. Video quality and file sizes can strain bandwidth for teams with limited internet connectivity, particularly in regional areas. 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. Both platforms share several common data object types (including contacts and core records), 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.

Both Deputy and Loom serve Retail & E-commerce businesses. Deputy is also popular with Hospitality & Tourism organisations, while Loom is widely used in Professional Services. Clever Ops can advise based on what we have seen work for businesses like yours.

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 Loom manages 6. 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.

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. Loom may hit limits when businesses that need polished, edited video content for marketing purposes, or teams that prefer synchronous communication and find async video disruptive to their workflow. Both platforms are designed to grow with your business, but scaling experience varies. Deputy connects with 47+ tools, and Loom with 37+, so integration flexibility at scale is comparable. Clever Ops helps mid-market Australian businesses plan their tech stack for growth, not just for today.

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