Sling Review: Free Scheduling, Time Tracking, and Labor Cost Management for Restaurants
Sling is the scheduling and time tracking platform built by Toast specifically for restaurants, hospitality, and shift-based businesses. It does not try to be an HR platform or a payroll system: it focuses on getting the right people scheduled at the right times, tracking labor costs in real time, and keeping front-of-house and back-of-house teams communicating without email chains. The platform works for single-location restaurants up to multi-unit hospitality groups with 200 or more employees.
The free tier is the reason Sling belongs in a 2026 scheduling shortlist. Most scheduling tools for restaurants charge a monthly rate per employee, which adds up fast in an industry where margins are tight and turnover is constant. Sling gives you scheduling and messaging for up to 30 users at no cost, and the paid tiers top out at $4 per user per month, less per user than Deputy or When I Work. The question is whether cheap means compromises that cost you more in scheduling mistakes and labor overruns.
The verdict
Sling is the best value scheduling tool for independent restaurants and small hospitality groups that need scheduling, a time clock, and team messaging without paying enterprise prices.
The free plan is legitimately useful, not a bait-and-switch demo. The paid plans are cheap enough that even a single-location restaurant can afford the Business tier for its entire hourly staff.
But Sling is not a workforce management platform. It does not have tip pooling, demand forecasting, or the deep POS analytics that 7shifts offers. If you run a multi-location restaurant group and labor optimization is a strategic priority, you will outgrow Sling. For everyone else, it is the scheduling tool that does not drain your already thin margins.
The Toast acquisition in 2022 means Sling now integrates natively with Toast POS, which is a meaningful advantage for the large number of restaurants already running Toast. If you are a Toast shop, Sling is the obvious scheduling choice.
Where Sling fits
Who it suits
Sling is best for restaurant owners, hospitality managers, and shift-based businesses with 5 to 200 employees who need affordable scheduling and team communication.
It fits single-location independent restaurants that need to move off paper schedules, small chains that want standardized scheduling across 2–10 locations, and any food service or retail business where labor cost is the primary controllable expense.
Operators who just need scheduling that does not cost a fortune will find Sling belongs on the list. Operators chasing demand forecasting or tip pooling should look at 7shifts instead.
What it does differently
Sling stands out because it gives restaurants the scheduling basics at a price point that no competitor matches.
The free tier is not a gimmick: it includes real scheduling and messaging for up to 30 users. The paid tiers at $2 and $4 per user per month cost less per user than Deputy ($5 to $10) and When I Work ($2.50 to $8).
The Toast POS integration gives Sling a distribution advantage: Toast serves over 100,000 restaurants, and Sling is now the scheduling tool that shows up natively in the Toast ecosystem.
For restaurants where every dollar matters, Sling's value proposition is straightforward: you get 80% of what the expensive scheduling tools offer at 40% of the price.
How it gets bought
Commercially, Sling positions itself as the scheduling tool that restaurants can actually afford. That positioning is accurate for single-location and small multi-unit operators.
Where it gets complicated is at scale. Sling lacks the labor demand forecasting, sales-to-labor analytics, and compliance automation that enterprise hospitality groups need. For operators managing 10+ locations with complex labor regulations, 7shifts or Deputy are better investments despite the higher cost.
The Toast acquisition anchors Sling's commercial future in the Toast ecosystem. If you are already on Toast POS, Sling is the path of least resistance for scheduling. If you are on Square, Clover, or another POS, the integration advantage disappears and the decision becomes purely about price versus features.
Sling pricing: what the Free, Premium, and Business plans cost and include
Few scheduling tools publish their pricing and back it with a permanently free plan the way Sling does. The Free plan covers up to 30 users with basic scheduling, shift swapping, time-off requests, and team messaging. When I Work charges for these features (from $2.50 per user per month), and 7shifts pairs a limited free Comp plan with paid plans priced per location, starting at $39.99 per location per month billed annually.
The Premium plan at $2 per user per month adds labor cost management, overtime tracking, budget alerts, and long-range calendar views. The Business plan at $4 per user per month adds kiosk time tracking, POS integrations, auto-assign shifts, task management, and reporting. For a 30-person restaurant, the Business plan costs $120 per month, or $102 billed annually. 7shifts prices per location instead ($44.99 per month for Essentials or $89.99 for Pro on monthly billing), so Sling's per-user pricing is cheapest for smaller teams and less of a bargain as headcount per location grows.
| Plan | Published price | Annual |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | Not stated |
| Premium | $2/user/month ($1.70 billed annually) | Not stated |
| Business | $4/user/month ($3.40 billed annually) | Not stated |
Pricing last checked September 25, 2026. View source
What the Free plan actually covers and where it falls short
The Free plan is not a trial: it is a permanent tier that includes shift creation, drag-and-drop scheduling, shift swapping, time-off requests, available shift posting, team messaging, and a news feed. For a single-location restaurant with 10-20 employees that just needs a digital schedule, this replaces the whiteboard or group text entirely at no cost.
Labor cost visibility is where the Free plan falls short. You cannot see what a schedule costs until you have already built it, which means managers are guessing at labor budgets. There is no overtime tracking, no time clock, and no task management. Controlling labor costs always matters in restaurants, and that is why the Premium plan's $2 per user per month is worth the upgrade.
When the Premium-to-Business upgrade is worth the extra cost
The jump from Premium ($2/user/month) to Business ($4/user/month) doubles the per-user cost but adds three features that matter for restaurants: kiosk-based time tracking, POS integration, and task management. Kiosk mode turns a shared tablet into a punch clock, replacing dedicated hardware. POS integration, particularly with Toast, lets you see labor cost percentage against actual revenue in real time.
Task management is the sleeper feature. Assigning opening and closing duties, prep lists, and cleaning checklists to specific shifts means managers spend less time verbally delegating and more time verifying completion. For multi-unit operators, this alone can justify the upgrade because it standardizes operations across locations without adding management overhead.
Sling features: scheduling, time clock, task management, and POS integration
Sling employee scheduling and shift management
Sling's scheduling interface uses a drag-and-drop calendar where managers create shifts, assign employees, and publish schedules that push notifications to workers' phones. The schedule view supports daily, weekly, and monthly views, and managers can copy previous weeks to speed up repetitive scheduling patterns.
Shift swapping and open shift posting are available on all plans, including the free tier. Employees can request swaps through the app, and managers approve or deny with one tap. Open shifts are posted to all eligible employees, and the first to claim gets the shift, which reduces the back-and-forth texting that bogs down schedule changes.
Shift templates and recurring schedules. Managers can save shift templates and apply them to future weeks, which is essential for restaurants with predictable patterns. Templates include role assignments, break rules, and shift notes. Recurring schedule support means a manager can set a standard weekly template and only adjust for exceptions.
Availability and time-off management. Employees set recurring availability preferences and submit time-off requests through the app. The scheduling engine respects availability constraints when managers build or auto-assign shifts, preventing conflicts before they happen.
Sling time clock and attendance tracking
The time clock feature on the Business plan supports clock-in and clock-out via mobile app, web browser, or a shared kiosk device. Each clock event captures a timestamp, and managers can review timesheets, edit entries, and approve hours before exporting to payroll.
GPS tracking on the mobile app verifies that employees are clocking in from an approved location, which is useful for catering staff, food truck operators, or multi-location employees who move between sites. The kiosk mode uses photo capture to prevent buddy punching.
Overtime alerts and break tracking. The system flags employees approaching overtime thresholds and notifies managers before overtime is incurred. Break tracking ensures compliance with state-mandated break rules, logging break start and end times automatically when configured.
Timesheet export and payroll integration. Approved timesheets export as CSV files compatible with most payroll providers. Direct connections are available with Toast payroll and select third-party payroll systems. The export includes regular hours, overtime, and break deductions.
Sling labor cost management and budget controls
Labor cost management is Sling's strongest differentiator on the Premium plan. As managers build a schedule, the system calculates total labor cost using each employee's hourly wage, projected hours, and overtime rules. The running total updates in real time as shifts are added or moved.
Budget alerts let managers set a target labor cost or labor cost percentage for each day or week. When the schedule exceeds the target, an alert fires before the schedule is published, giving managers the chance to adjust staffing before committing to an expensive lineup.
Wage-based scheduling decisions. Because Sling knows each employee's pay rate, managers can see the cost difference between assigning a $15/hour server versus an $18/hour server to a slow Tuesday shift. This granularity helps operators make informed staffing choices that directly impact the bottom line.
Labor cost reporting by location and role. The Business plan breaks down labor costs by location, department, and role. Managers can compare labor cost percentages across locations or track how scheduling pattern changes affect total labor spend week over week.
Sling team messaging and internal communication
Sling includes a built-in messaging system available on all plans, including the free tier. The messaging supports direct messages between two employees, group conversations for teams or departments, and a company-wide news feed for announcements.
Shift-specific messaging is particularly useful for restaurants: managers can send a message to everyone working the Friday dinner shift without creating a separate group. Read receipts confirm that messages were seen, and push notifications ensure time-sensitive updates reach employees promptly.
News feed for company announcements. The news feed functions like a bulletin board where managers post announcements, policy updates, menu changes, or event information. Posts can include text, images, and file attachments. All employees see the feed, which replaces printed notices and email blasts that hourly workers rarely check.
Messaging privacy and admin controls. Administrators can control who can create group conversations and post to the news feed. Message history is retained and searchable by management, which provides an audit trail for communication about schedule changes, policy updates, or workplace issues.
Sling task management and operational checklists
Task management on the Business plan lets managers create task lists, assign them to shifts or individual employees, and track completion in real time. Common use cases include opening and closing checklists, prep lists, cleaning duty assignments, and event preparation workflows.
Tasks can be recurring (assigned automatically to every Monday opening shift, for example) or one-time for special events. Completion status is visible to managers on a dashboard, and incomplete tasks trigger notifications so nothing falls through the cracks.
Shift-linked task assignments. Tasks are tied to specific shifts, so the opening crew sees their prep checklist when they clock in, and the closing crew sees their shutdown procedures at shift end. This eliminates the need for printed checklists or verbal handoffs between shifts.
Multi-location task standardization. For multi-unit operators, task templates can be applied across all locations to ensure consistent operational standards. A new cleaning protocol or food safety procedure can be deployed to every location simultaneously through the task management system.
Sling POS integrations and third-party connections
Sling integrates with Toast POS natively, a direct benefit of the Toast acquisition. The integration syncs sales data with scheduling, enabling real-time labor cost percentage calculations and historical sales data for scheduling decisions. This is Sling's most useful integration for its core restaurant audience.
Beyond Toast, Sling connects with Square, Shopify, and select payroll providers. The integration library is smaller than what 7shifts or Deputy offer, but it covers the core needs of most restaurant and retail operations.
Toast POS native integration. The Toast integration provides bidirectional data flow: sales data from Toast informs scheduling decisions in Sling, and labor cost data from Sling appears in Toast's business reporting. For Toast customers, this eliminates the need for manual data reconciliation between scheduling and POS systems.
Payroll and accounting exports. Sling exports timesheet data to CSV format compatible with most payroll processors. A direct connection with Toast Payroll shortens the hours-to-paycheck pipeline for restaurants using the full Toast stack.
Sling pros and cons: scheduling, labor costs, messaging, and time tracking
Strengths
Sling free plan offers real scheduling for up to 30 users at no cost
The free tier is not a stripped-down demo. It includes shift creation, drag-and-drop scheduling, shift swapping, time-off requests, available shift posting, and team messaging for up to 30 users. No credit card required, no 14-day expiration.
For independent restaurants that have been managing schedules via text messages or a whiteboard, the free plan immediately eliminates the chaos of last-minute schedule changes and no-shows.
7shifts also offers a limited free Comp plan, and When I Work has no free tier at all. Sling's free offering stands out as the strongest option for budget-conscious operators.
Sling labor cost management shows schedule cost before you publish it
The Premium plan's labor cost management feature calculates the total cost of a schedule in real time as you build it. You see hourly wages, overtime projections, and total labor spend before a single shift is posted.
Budget alerts notify managers when a schedule exceeds a target labor cost percentage, which prevents the common restaurant problem of overstaffing slow shifts and discovering the damage on the next P&L.
Labor cost as a share of revenue is the number that separates profit from loss in food service, so for operators who track it closely, this feature alone justifies the $2 per user per month upgrade from Free to Premium.
Sling team messaging eliminates the need for separate group chat apps
Built-in messaging supports one-on-one chats, group conversations, and company-wide announcements through a news feed. Shift-specific messages let managers communicate directly with everyone working a particular shift without creating a separate group.
This replaces the WhatsApp or GroupMe threads that most restaurant teams rely on, threads that mix personal messages with work communication and are impossible to audit.
The messaging is available on the free plan, which means even the smallest restaurant gets a dedicated work communication channel at no cost.
Sling Toast POS integration connects scheduling data to real sales numbers
The native Toast integration on the Business plan syncs scheduling data with actual POS sales, letting managers see labor cost percentage against revenue in real time. This is the metric that restaurant operators live and die by.
The integration also pulls historical sales data to help inform scheduling decisions: if Tuesday lunches consistently underperform, you can staff accordingly rather than guessing.
For the 100,000+ restaurants already running Toast POS, this integration eliminates the need for manual data reconciliation between scheduling and sales reporting systems.
Sling kiosk time clock turns any tablet into a punch station
The Business plan includes kiosk mode, which converts a shared iPad or Android tablet into a time clock station. Employees clock in and out with a PIN or photo verification, and the data flows directly into labor cost reports.
A dedicated time clock typically costs $300 to $1,500 per device, and the kiosk skips that purchase entirely while replacing manual time tracking that is prone to buddy punching and rounding errors.
For small restaurants that cannot justify a hardware investment, the tablet kiosk is a practical solution that costs nothing beyond the Business plan subscription.
Sling task management assigns prep lists and closing duties to specific shifts
The Business plan's task management feature lets managers create task lists (opening duties, prep checklists, cleaning procedures) and assign them to specific shifts or employees. Completion is tracked in real time.
This standardizes operations across shifts and locations without requiring a separate task management tool. Managers can verify that closing duties were completed without being physically present.
For multi-location operators, task management is the feature that scales operational consistency. Instead of relying on verbal instructions that vary by manager, every location follows the same documented procedures.
Limitations
Sling lacks demand forecasting, which means managers are still guessing on staffing levels
Sling does not offer AI-powered demand forecasting based on historical sales data, weather, or local events. Managers build schedules based on intuition and past experience rather than data-driven predictions.
7shifts and Legion both offer demand forecasting that recommends optimal staffing levels per shift, which can reduce labor costs by 2–5% according to vendor claims. For high-volume restaurants where a single overstaffed shift costs hundreds of dollars, the absence of forecasting is a meaningful gap.
Sling's labor cost management shows you what a schedule will cost, but it does not tell you what the schedule should look like.
Sling has no tip pooling or tip management features
Tip pooling, tip distribution, and tip reporting are not part of Sling's feature set. Restaurants that need to manage tip pools across front-of-house staff, calculate tip-outs for support roles, or generate tip reports for payroll must use a separate tool.
7shifts includes tip pooling in its paid plans, and many POS systems handle basic tip distribution. For restaurants where tip management is a significant administrative burden, particularly in states with complex tip credit regulations, Sling's omission here means maintaining a parallel process.
This is the single feature gap that most frequently pushes restaurant buyers toward 7shifts over Sling.
Sling reporting is basic compared to dedicated workforce management tools
The reporting module on the Business plan covers labor costs, hours worked, and attendance summaries, but it lacks the depth that multi-location operators need. There are no custom report builders, no cross-location benchmarking dashboards, and no trend analysis beyond basic period-over-period comparisons.
Operators who want to understand labor efficiency metrics like revenue per labor hour, compare scheduling patterns across locations, or correlate staffing levels with customer satisfaction scores will need to export data and analyze it externally.
For single-location restaurants, the basic reports are adequate. For growing groups, the reporting gap becomes a bottleneck.
Sling compliance features are limited for states with complex scheduling laws
Sling does not include built-in compliance automation for predictive scheduling laws, which now apply in cities like San Francisco, Seattle, New York, Chicago, and Philadelphia. These laws require advance schedule posting, premium pay for last-minute changes, and right-to-rest protections between shifts.
7shifts and Deputy both include scheduling compliance features that flag violations before a schedule is published. Sling leaves compliance responsibility entirely with the manager, which creates legal risk in regulated markets.
For restaurants operating in jurisdictions with fair workweek laws, this gap goes past inconvenience into potential liability.
Sling mobile app performance receives mixed reviews from hourly workers
While the Sling mobile app is functional, reviews on the App Store and Google Play note occasional slow loading, notification delays, and crashes on older devices. For hourly workers who rely on the app to check their schedule and swap shifts, reliability matters.
7shifts and When I Work both receive higher mobile app ratings on both platforms. Given that most restaurant employees interact with scheduling software exclusively through their phones, app quality directly impacts adoption.
Sling has improved the app steadily since the Toast acquisition, but it still trails competitors on mobile experience polish.
Sling has a free plan with scheduling and messaging for up to 30 users; Premium costs $2 and Business $4 per user per month on monthly billing, or $1.70 and $3.40 billed annually, and only active users count. Every plan supports unlimited locations. It has no tip pooling and no demand forecasting.
Sling demo checklist, pricing comparison, and buying motion for restaurant teams
Evaluating Sling is simpler than most vendors: start on the free plan and upgrade only when you hit a specific limitation. Here is what to check before committing to a paid tier.
- Start with the free plan and run it for at least two full scheduling cycles before evaluating paid tiers. The free plan covers scheduling, shift swapping, and messaging, which may be all a single-location restaurant needs. Only upgrade to Premium when you need labor cost visibility, and only upgrade to Business when you need time tracking or POS integration. This bottom-up approach ensures you only pay for features you actually use.
- If you are a Toast POS customer, test the Toast-Sling integration on the Business plan before evaluating alternatives. The native integration provides labor cost percentage against sales in real time, which is the single most useful scheduling metric for restaurant operators. If the integration works well with your Toast setup, it eliminates the primary reason to consider 7shifts or Deputy.
- Compare Sling's Business plan at $4 per user per month against 7shifts Essentials at $44.99 per location per month ($39.99 billed annually). For a 30-person restaurant, Sling Business costs $120 per month versus $44.99 for 7shifts Essentials, which is priced per location. 7shifts' higher tiers add tip pooling, demand forecasting, and compliance automation that Sling lacks. The question is whether those features are worth the price for your specific operation.
- Ask about volume discounts for multi-location deployments. Sling's published pricing is per-user, but multi-unit operators with 100+ employees should negotiate directly for volume pricing. The Toast sales team handles Sling enterprise inquiries and may offer bundled pricing with other Toast products.
How we evaluated Sling
Rajat worked through Sling directly. Every figure below was checked against Sling's published pricing on September 25, 2026. Follow the link and check it yourself — if the vendor has moved since, that date tells you how stale this page is.
Plans as published
| Plan | List price |
|---|---|
| Free | $0 |
| Premium | $2/user/month ($1.70 billed annually) |
| Business | $4/user/month ($3.40 billed annually) |
Trial: Free plan for up to 30 users; 15-day free trial of paid plans
What the list price doesn't cover
Per-user pricing and high-turnover cost dynamics in restaurants
Restaurant industry turnover averages 60 to 80 percent annually. In a 30-person restaurant, that means onboarding 18 to 24 new employees per year. On per-user pricing models, you are paying for each user while they are active. The actual annual cost may be higher than 30 times the monthly rate because the total unique users who touch the system throughout the year exceeds your steady-state headcount. Monitor your active user count to ensure you are not paying for former employees.
No demand forecasting means continued reliance on manager intuition
Sling does not offer AI-powered demand forecasting. Managers still guess at staffing levels based on experience rather than data-driven predictions based on historical sales, weather, and events. 7shifts and Legion provide forecasting that can reduce labor costs by 2 to 5 percent. For a restaurant with $1 million in annual labor, that is $20,000 to $50,000 in potential savings that Sling's lower subscription price does not capture. The 'hidden cost' of Sling is the labor optimization opportunity you miss.
What we'd confirm on a demo
Start on the free plan before evaluating paid tiers
The free plan is usable for teams of up to 30. Run at least two full scheduling cycles on it before paying for Premium or Business. You may find that basic scheduling and messaging are all your restaurant needs, in which case the free plan saves a 30-person restaurant $612 to $1,224 a year compared with Premium or Business billed annually.
If you are a Toast POS customer, test the Toast integration first
Sling is owned by Toast and integrates with Toast POS. Before evaluating 7shifts or Deputy, confirm which Sling plan includes the Toast integration and test whether it delivers the labor cost visibility your operation needs. If it does, Sling at $2 to $4 per user per month may be significantly cheaper than alternatives.
Calculate whether 7shifts' demand forecasting would save more than the subscription difference
7shifts' demand forecasting claims 2 to 5 percent labor cost reduction. For a restaurant with $500,000 in annual labor, that is $10,000 to $25,000 in savings. If the forecasting savings exceed the extra subscription cost of 7shifts Pro, 7shifts has better total ROI. If your restaurant does not have enough data or volume for forecasting to matter, Sling's lower price is the smarter choice.
Frequently asked questions about Sling scheduling and restaurant workforce features
Is Sling really free for employee scheduling?
Yes, Sling offers a permanently free plan that includes shift scheduling, shift swapping, time-off requests, available shift posting, and team messaging for up to 30 users. There is no credit card required and no trial expiration. The free plan lacks labor cost management, time tracking, and POS integration; those features require the Premium ($2/user/month) or Business ($4/user/month) plans. For single-location restaurants that just need to replace a whiteboard schedule, the free plan holds up as a permanent tool rather than a short-term trial.
How does Sling compare to 7shifts for restaurant scheduling?
Sling and 7shifts price differently: Sling's Business plan costs $4 per user per month, while 7shifts charges per location, from $39.99 to $134.99 per location per month billed annually depending on plan. For small teams Sling is usually cheaper; for a location with a large staff, 7shifts' per-location price can come out lower. However, 7shifts offers tip pooling, demand forecasting, hiring tools, and compliance automation that Sling does not have. Sling is the better choice for cost-conscious single-location restaurants that need basic scheduling and communication. 7shifts is the better choice for multi-location restaurant groups that need labor optimization and regulatory compliance features.
Does Sling integrate with POS systems other than Toast?
Sling integrates natively with Toast POS and also connects with Square and Shopify. The Toast integration is the deepest, offering bidirectional sales and labor cost data sync. Square and Shopify integrations are more limited in scope. If you use a POS system other than Toast, Square, or Shopify, you will need to export data manually or use a third-party connector. The integration library is smaller than what 7shifts or Deputy offer.
Can Sling handle scheduling for multiple restaurant locations?
Yes, Sling supports multi-location scheduling on all plans, including the free tier. Each location has its own schedule, and managers can oversee multiple locations from a single dashboard. The Business plan adds cross-location reporting and task standardization features that help multi-unit operators maintain consistency. However, Sling does not offer multi-location demand forecasting or cross-location labor optimization, features that 7shifts provides for restaurant groups managing five or more locations.
Does Sling offer compliance features for predictive scheduling laws?
Sling does not include built-in compliance automation for predictive scheduling laws such as those in San Francisco, Seattle, New York, or Chicago. These laws require advance schedule posting, premium pay for last-minute changes, and rest period enforcement. Managers using Sling in jurisdictions with fair workweek laws must track compliance manually. 7shifts and Deputy both offer automated compliance features that flag violations before schedules are published, which makes them safer choices for restaurants in regulated markets.
What is the difference between Sling Premium and Sling Business?
Sling Premium at $2 per user per month adds labor cost management, overtime tracking, budget alerts, and long-range calendar views on top of the free plan's scheduling and messaging features. Sling Business at $4 per user per month adds kiosk-based time tracking, POS integrations (including Toast), task management, auto-assign shifts, and advanced reporting. The key decision point is whether you need time clock functionality and POS data integration: if yes, you need Business. If you just need to see what your schedule costs before publishing, Premium is sufficient.
Is Sling suitable for businesses outside the restaurant industry?
Sling works for any shift-based business: retail stores, healthcare facilities, fitness centers, event venues, and warehouses all use it for scheduling and time tracking. However, the product is optimized for food service and hospitality. The Toast POS integration, labor cost percentage tracking, and task management features are designed around restaurant workflows. Businesses outside food service will find the scheduling and messaging features useful but may miss industry-specific features that competitors like Deputy (for field services) or Homebase (for retail) provide.
Alternatives worth comparing
Sling is the most affordable scheduling tool for restaurants, but price is not the only factor to weigh. Here are three alternatives that cover the gaps Sling leaves open.
| Product | Pricing model | Free trial | Why buyers shortlist it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Infor WFM | Custom quote | Not stated | Infor WFM handles time and attendance, demand-based scheduling and absence for large manufacturing, healthcare and retail employers. |
| EmpMonitor | Per user per month | Yes | EmpMonitor is commercial employee monitoring software that records screenshots, keystrokes, URLs, app use and idle time on Windows, macOS and Ubuntu computers. |
| Open Time Clock | Freemium, flat rate per company | Not stated | Open Time Clock is a proprietary hosted time clock, in business since 1997, with PIN kiosk, face, QR, RFID and GPS-geofenced clock-ins, WiFi-restricted punching, PTO accruals and 80+ reports. |
| Dayforce | Custom quote | Not stated | Dayforce is a single-database HCM suite covering payroll, HR, workforce management and talent for mid-market and enterprise employers. |
| Connecteam | Tiered pricing | Yes | Connecteam is the all-in-one employee management platform built specifically for deskless and frontline workers, the teams that spend their shifts away from desks, computers, and office environments. |
Head-to-head comparisons
- Sling vs When I Work
Sling wins on price, with a free plan for up to 30 users that covers basic scheduling and team messaging. When I Work wins on scheduling workflow efficiency, with more polished auto-scheduling, shift-swap approvals, and payroll integrations. This comparison covers pricing, scheduling UX, and which team profile should default to which tool.
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