The gastromatic alternative without an annual commitment
gastromatic ties you in for one or two years, with three to six months' notice. MetronHR is terminable monthly, and the number of licences can be adjusted in both directions, which makes the difference in seasonal businesses.
No credit card required · Cancel monthly
All information about gastromatic comes from the official provider pages. As at: 4 September 2026.
Lena H.
Tobias K.
Aylin D.
Mehmet Y.
Sophie B.
Mara W.Leave, 3 daysAylin Demir · 28–30 OctTraining, 1 dayTobias Krüger · 22 Oct
Leave, 3 daysNadia Schulz · 22–24 DecReview
Month endSeptember · Krämer payroll officeDone- Made in GermanyDeveloped and hosted in Germany
- Certified data centreISO 27001, located in Germany
- Web, app and terminalBrowser, iPhone, Android, Mac, Windows
- GDPR compliantServers in Nuremberg and Falkenstein
Features in detail
| Feature | MetronHR | gastromatic |
|---|---|---|
| Overtime (automatic calculation) | ~1 | |
| Traffic-light account (warning levels with an automatic alert) | 2 | |
| Working-time models (part-time, flexitime, trust-based working time) | ~3 | |
| Project time tracking / budgets | 4 | |
| Allowances / hour packages | 5 | |
| Onboarding and offboarding workflows | ~6 | |
| Payroll handover to the accountant (DATEV payroll export) | 7 | ~8 |
| Compliance (Working Time Act, Federal Labour Court ruling) | ~9 | |
| Hosting operator without a US parent company | 10 | 11 |
| API | 12 | ~13 |
Sources and notes (13)
- gastromatic, Overtime (automatic calculation): Hour reporting and the automatic calculation of premiums are named, the latter from Professional. An overtime account with a balance, payout and time off in lieu is not listed as a separate feature.
- gastromatic, Traffic-light account (warning levels with an automatic alert): The product page mentions time tracking, hour reporting, absence management and compliance monitoring. Warning levels on the working-time account with an automatic alert are not stated there (gastromatic.com, retrieved 14 September 2026).
- gastromatic, Working-time models (part-time, flexitime, trust-based working time): "Individual rules" are part of the Professional package. Models for flexitime, trust-based working time or changing weekly patterns are not named as features of their own.
- gastromatic, Project time tracking / budgets: gastromatic plans shifts and records working time. Projects, clients, activities, budgets and hourly rates are not part of the feature set named.
- gastromatic, Allowances / hour packages: Client-bound hour packages with renewal and carry-over are not provided for.
- gastromatic, Onboarding and offboarding workflows: A digital personnel file, document management, a document creator and document requests are named. A joining process with tasks, owners and deadlines per person is not listed.
- MetronHR, Payroll handover to the accountant (DATEV payroll export): Export file for DATEV LODAS and DATEV Lohn und Gehalt in the Team and Professional plans, at no extra cost. Hours, premiums, vacation and sickness per person and month, with your own accountant's wage types.
- gastromatic, Payroll handover to the accountant (DATEV payroll export): Payroll preparation is part of the Starter package, payroll interfaces of the Professional package. A DATEV payroll export is not named on the pricing page (gastromatic.com/preise, retrieved 24 Oct 2026).
- gastromatic, Compliance (Working Time Act, Federal Labour Court ruling): Individual rules and the calculation of premiums are included from the Professional package. A check against the limits of the Working Time Act, that is maximum working time, rest periods and the duty to take breaks, is not named as a separate feature.
- MetronHR, Hosting operator without a US parent company: The operator is Hetzner Online GmbH, a German company with no US parent. This marketing website is hosted with Vercel, Inc. (USA) in the Frankfurt region, where no employee data is processed.
- gastromatic, Hosting operator without a US parent company: The servers are in Frankfurt am Main and, according to the privacy policy, are operated by Amazon Web Services, with Google LLC in addition for certain functions. As US groups both fall under the CLOUD Act, regardless of where the data centres stand.
- MetronHR, API: The open REST API v1 is part of the Professional plan: readable are employees, departments, clients, services, projects, time entries, absences and published shifts, while clients, services, projects, time entries and absences can be changed, each secured by keys with permissions per resource. Outgoing webhooks and the MCP server for AI assistants also belong to Professional. Sign-in via Microsoft Entra ID comes with every plan. Further integrations are agreed individually in the Enterprise offer.
- gastromatic, API: A marketplace is named, without listing individual connections. A public API with its own documentation appears neither on the home page nor in the feature navigation.
~ = available with limits, the notes are below the table. – = no verified information is available for this provider on this feature. That is not a no: we only record a negative where we can cite a source.
An overview of which features exist at all, regardless of plan. The price-performance comparison is on the pricing page, the individual features in detail under Features.
Feature comparison as at September 2026. Information about competitors comes from publicly available sources, in each case the official provider pages with the date retrieved, and can change. gastromatic is a trademark of its respective owner.
MetronHR is also available as a native app for iOS and Android:
Where the data sits
Server location and operator are two different questions. A data centre in Germany does not remove the data from US law: providers with a US parent company fall under the CLOUD Act and the surveillance powers of FISA 702, regardless of where the servers stand. Microsoft's chief legal officer in France testified under oath before the French Senate's committee of inquiry on 10 June 2025 that he could not guarantee that data from European data centres would not go to US authorities (record of the Sénat). That is why both are shown side by side here, each with the source it comes from.
What is compared is what the provider documents for its own application, not the infrastructure of its marketing website. More about our own hosting is in the Trust Center.
MetronHR
- Server location of the application
- Hetzner Online GmbH, Nuremberg and Falkenstein. All servers stand exclusively in Germany.
- Operator and legal jurisdiction
- Hetzner Online GmbH, a German company with no US parent and therefore beyond the reach of the CLOUD Act and FISA 702. No US provider sits in the data path for the application.
- Processors outside Germany
- None for the application. Payment is handled by Stripe Payments Europe (Ireland). This marketing website is hosted with Vercel, Inc. (USA, Frankfurt region), and analytics run through PostHog Cloud EU and the reverse proxy cdn.metronhr.de with a Cloudflare edge. No employee data is processed there.
- Source
- MetronHR privacy policyAs at 08/2026
gastromatic
- Server location of the application
- According to the privacy policy user data is stored „on servers of Amazon Web Service (AWS) in Frankfurt am Main (Germany)“. For certain functions additionally „on servers of Google LLC in Frankfurt (primary storage option)“. The location is therefore Germany.
- Operator and legal jurisdiction
- The controller is vertical cloud solution GmbH, Landwehrstraße 58, 64293 Darmstadt, HRB 92563. The servers are operated by Amazon Web Services and Google LLC, both US groups.
- Processors outside Germany
- HubSpot Inc. (Cambridge, USA), Rocket Science Group LLC for MailChimp (Atlanta, USA), Google Ireland Limited (Dublin), Zoom Video Communications Inc. (San Jose, USA), Facebook Inc. and Facebook Ireland Ltd., LinkedIn Corporation and LinkedIn Ireland.
- Source
- gastromatic privacy policy abgerufen 04.09.2026
All information comes from the providers' publicly available privacy policies and security pages, and the date retrieved is on every card. Providers can change their infrastructure and their processors at any time. The adequacy decision on the EU-US Data Privacy Framework still applies, but is under legal challenge.
What MetronHR does better
- MetronHR advantage
The plan checks the limits, not just the cost
gastromatic plans cost-optimised and puts key figures into the duty roster, plus individual rules in the Professional package. A check against maximum working time, rest periods and the duty to take breaks is not named as a separate feature. MetronHR checks as you plan: the eleven hours of rest between two working days, the daily and the weekly maximum, plus the tighter limits of the Youth Employment Protection Act for underage trainees and of the Maternity Protection Act. Staffing rules tie activities to qualifications, including several at once, and if someone drops out the request goes to the pool rather than to management.
The week as a grid
Early, late, night and leave per person, with the weekend on wide screens.
Publish
One click and the team sees the plan in the app. Count along who has been told.
RosterWeek 45 · draftMonTueWedThuFriSatSunSophie B.FFSSSTobias K.FFSSFMara W.NNSS
Jonas K.FNNNSLena H.FFUUStatuspublishedNotified0 of 5 - MetronHR advantage
Cancellable monthly instead of tied in for one or two years
gastromatic contracts run for one or two years, with three or six months' notice respectively. Anyone who decides in January and realises in the summer that it does not fit still keeps paying. At MetronHR there is no minimum term, and you cancel at the end of the month. The licence count can also be adjusted monthly in both directions, not just upwards. For hospitality and hotels, where fewer people work in winter than in summer, that is the difference between twelve seats booked and six used.
- MetronHR advantage
Recording via the app belongs in the base price
gastromatic's Starter package includes stationary time tracking, with mobile only in the Professional package from 99.50 euros a month. But anyone with staff on several floors, in the field or at changing sites needs it from day one. At MetronHR the app, the browser and the terminal with an NFC card are three routes on the same plan, from 5 euros per person.
Time trackingWeek 43 · Sophie Braunday Start End Break Working time Mon, 19 Oct 07:30 16:00 0:30h 8:00h Tue, 20 Oct 07:45 16:30 0:45h 8:00h Wed, 21 Oct 08:00 15:15 0:30h 6:45h Thu, 22 Oct 07:30 17:00 0:45h 8:45h Fri, 23 Oct 07:30 13:30 0:00h 6:00h Week 37:30h More than 6 hours on Friday: MetronHR deducts the break under § 4 ArbZG because none was clocked.
- MetronHR advantage
A German location and a German operator
According to its own privacy policy gastromatic stores user data at Amazon Web Services in Frankfurt am Main, and for certain functions additionally at Google LLC in Frankfurt. The location is therefore Germany, but the operator is not: as US groups AWS and Google fall under the CLOUD Act, regardless of where the data centres stand. MetronHR runs at Hetzner Online GmbH, a German company with no US parent, in Nuremberg and Falkenstein.
Price comparison
gastromatic quotes package prices without a reference unit and ties you in for one or two years. MetronHR bills per person and is cancellable monthly.
| Service | MetronHR | gastromatic |
|---|---|---|
| Entry price | Team 5 euros per person per month, so 40 euros for eight people | Starter from 69.50 euros a month, with no statement of what that refers to |
| Minimum term | none, terminable monthly | 1 or 2 years |
| Notice period | to the end of the month | 3 months on a one-year term, 6 months on a two-year term |
| Reducing the licence count during the contract | adjust it yourself each month, up and down | not stated |
| Mobile time tracking | App for iOS and Android on the Team plan | only in the Professional package from 99.50 euros a month |
| Trial period | 14 days, no credit card, no sales call | not named on the pricing page; the home page offers "book a demo" |
| Server operator | Hetzner Online GmbH, Nuremberg and Falkenstein | Amazon Web Services and Google LLC, location Frankfurt |
| Payroll inside the system | not included, payroll stays with the tax adviser | a section of its own alongside the roster and time tracking |
Entry price
- MetronHR
- Team 5 euros per person per month, so 40 euros for eight people
- gastromatic
- Starter from 69.50 euros a month, with no statement of what that refers to
Minimum term
- MetronHR
- none, terminable monthly
- gastromatic
- 1 or 2 years
Notice period
- MetronHR
- to the end of the month
- gastromatic
- 3 months on a one-year term, 6 months on a two-year term
Reducing the licence count during the contract
- MetronHR
- adjust it yourself each month, up and down
- gastromatic
- not stated
Mobile time tracking
- MetronHR
- App for iOS and Android on the Team plan
- gastromatic
- only in the Professional package from 99.50 euros a month
Trial period
- MetronHR
- 14 days, no credit card, no sales call
- gastromatic
- not named on the pricing page; the home page offers "book a demo"
Server operator
- MetronHR
- Hetzner Online GmbH, Nuremberg and Falkenstein
- gastromatic
- Amazon Web Services and Google LLC, location Frankfurt
Payroll inside the system
- MetronHR
- not included, payroll stays with the tax adviser
- gastromatic
- a section of its own alongside the roster and time tracking
Prices, terms and notice periods per gastromatic.com/preise, retrieved on 4 September 2026. The reference unit of the package prices is not stated there; whether 69.50 euros applies per site, per business or for a number of employees is not given. Anyone wanting to run payroll in the same system will find it at gastromatic and not at MetronHR.
No credit card needed · cancellable monthly
Frequently asked questions
What you need to know about switching from gastromatic to MetronHR.
Question not answered here? Every step is explained in the help centre.
Send us a messageWhat does gastromatic cost compared with MetronHR?
gastromatic quotes Starter from 69.50 euros and Professional from 99.50 euros a month, with Enterprise on request. What those figures refer to is not on the pricing page: whether per site, per business or for a particular number of employees. MetronHR costs 5 euros per person per month on Team and 10 euros on Professional; eight people are therefore 40 euros a month. As at 4 September 2026.
How long am I tied in at gastromatic?
The pricing page quotes a minimum term of one or two years, with three months' notice on a one-year term and six months on two years. Payment is monthly or annually by SEPA direct debit. At MetronHR there is no minimum term, you cancel at the end of the month, and the number of licences can be adjusted monthly up and down.
Where does the data sit at gastromatic?
According to the privacy policy on servers of Amazon Web Services in Frankfurt am Main, and for certain functions additionally at Google LLC in Frankfurt. The location is Germany, the operators are US groups and therefore fall under the CLOUD Act. MetronHR runs at Hetzner Online GmbH in Nuremberg and Falkenstein, a German company with no US parent.
Which features does MetronHR have that gastromatic does not name?
An overtime account with a balance, payout and time off in lieu, working-time models for flexitime and trust-based working time, project time tracking with clients, projects and budgets, client-bound hour packages with renewal and carry-over, and onboarding workflows with tasks, owners and deadlines. None of those appear on gastromatic's home page or in its feature navigation, retrieved on 4 September 2026.
When do you need more than MetronHR covers?
If payroll is to run in the same system. gastromatic keeps it as its own area alongside the duty roster and time tracking, plus a document creator and electronic sick notes. MetronHR prepares the month end and hands it over; the calculation happens at the tax firm. The price of the all-round solution here is a one to two year commitment and mobile time tracking that starts only with the second package.
Can I bring my data from gastromatic to MetronHR?
The Professional package mentions exports through which master data, planned and recorded times and absences can be extracted. A public API is not documented. More important than the technology here is the timing: because of the one to two year term with three to six months' notice, the cancellation should come before the switch.
Ready to switch?
Start for free and see for yourself, no credit card.
- No credit card required
- Ready quickly
- Cancel monthly
- Full access to every feature