Top 7shifts Alternatives 

7shifts is a team management software for the restaurant industry. It’s designed to help managers handle the daily operations of a restaurant by providing a number of features such as employee scheduling, payroll, and time tracking. Since it’s designed for the restaurant industry, it also provides features geared towards restaurants, such as tip pooling and Point Of Sale (POS) integrations.

That being said, 7shifts is not without its flaws. Users have noted that its app has a buggy interface on Android, on top of providing basic time clocking features. There’s also the simple fact that 7shifts—despite being a very good platform for its niche—is not ideal for other industries because it’s explicitly designed for the restaurant industry.

This is where alternatives come in. If you’re someone who needs software similar to 7shifts, but for other types of businesses or other reasons, then you’ve come to the right place because we’ve compiled a list of alternatives. For each software, we’re going to cover:

  • Who the software’s ideal for
  • Pros and cons
  • Cost/Pricing

TL;DR: What’s the best alternative for 7shifts? While opinions are divided, it seems that many users prefer either Sling or Schedule Fly as they provide cheaper alternative solutions.

Our Top 7 7shifts Alternative Recommendations

1. Sling

Best for:  Employees who work on a shift schedule

Overall Rating:  4.5

Free Trial: Yes

Sling software is a popular employee scheduling platform that provides a host of features such as time tracking, shift planning, and payroll processing. Unlike 7shifts, it’s not just designed for restaurants—it caters to a wide variety of industries such as retail, hospitality, healthcare, banking, etc.

In addition, the software provides certain unique features that 7shifts does not, like a kiosk mode for time tracking. Its relative affordability is another feather in its cap, making it an attractive option for anyone who’s looking for an alternative to 7shifts.

What Are The Pros And Cons Of Sling?

Pros 

Cons 

Simplifies time-off management

Employees can easily communicate and share documents

Provides flexibility in terms of shift creation

Mobile app can be clunky and difficult to navigate, according to some users

Doesn’t keep a tally of PTO

How Much Does Sling Cost? 

Sling offers a tiered pricing model designed to accommodate businesses across various sectors. They are:

  • Free - $0 (for up to 30 users)
  • Premium - $2/user/month
  • Business - $4/user/month

The software also offers a 15-day free trial.

Disclaimer: The pricing is subject to change.

2. Schedulefly

Best for:  Restaurant employees

Overall Rating:  -

Free Trial: Yes

Schedulefly is a restaurant staff scheduling and communication software. Designed to be ‘fast, easy and fun’, it aims to reduce tedium and take the hassle out of administrative work. As such, it provides features such as staff scheduling, time-off requests, text message alerts, job posting, etc.

The rub here is that Schedulefly is very easy to use—it allows its users to automatically send schedules via text and provides a message board for uploading messages for the team. While it lacks the versatility of software such as Sling, it more than makes up for it with its easy, no-frills approach. As such, it’s a great alternative for 7shifts.

What Are The Pros And Cons Of Schedulefly?

Pros 

Cons 

Simple and user-friendly

Shift transfers and time-off requests take no time

Quick and thorough customer support

Currently offers a few integrations

Schedule can be difficult to read for larger teams

How Much Does Schedulefly Cost? 

Schedulefly offers four price tiers, each intended for a restaurant business with a certain number of employees. They are:

  • 19 or less staff - $30/month
  • 20-39 staff - $40/month
  • 40-59 staff - $50/month
  • 60-79 staff - $60/month

If a restaurant exceeds 80 staff members, it can try contacting the company directly for a customized price quote. In addition, the software also offers a free trial.

Disclaimer: The pricing is subject to change.

3. Homebase

Best for: Hourly teams

Overall Rating:  4.7

Free Trial: Yes

Homebase is a workforce management platform built for hourly work teams (restaurants, retail, caregiving, hospitality, etc.). It combines several tools into one app so small business owners don’t have to juggle separate systems for scheduling, time tracking, payroll, HR, and team communication.

Its employee scheduling module provides a variety of features such as notes, notifications, etc. It also utilizes templates and auto-scheduling to automate the entire process, while also allowing for any last-minute adjustments to be made. This enables many businesses to build smarter schedules on the fly.

What Are The Pros And Cons Of Homebase?

Pros 

Cons 

Centralizes payroll, scheduling and messaging in one system

Can message all employees at once

Ease in tracking employee time-off

Payroll is not integrated within the mobile app

Doesn’t allow clocking-in or out a few feet away from the company location

How Much Does Homebase Cost? 

Homebase offers four price tiers. They are:

  • Basic - $0/month
  • Essentials - $30/month
  • Plus - $70/month
  • All-In-One - $120/month

The software also offers a 14-day free trial for its All-In-One plan.

Disclaimer: The pricing is subject to change.

4. Connecteam

Best for: Deskless or field teams

Overall Rating:  4.8

Free Trial: Yes

Connecteam is an all-in-one employee management platform built for deskless teams. It consolidates tools for time tracking, scheduling, communication, and operations in a single mobile-first app so that companies don’t have to juggle multiple systems.

The software’s primarily used by workers in retail, construction, cleaning, field services, hospitality, etc. In addition, it also supports small businesses, allowing them to open a free account, as long as they only have 10 users.

What Are The Pros And Cons Of Connecteam?

Pros 

Cons 

Sleek and easy to read

Accessible from multiple devices

Employees can quickly request edits for clocking-in and out, proving greater flexibility

Some notifications don’t display properly

Forces phone numbers to be linked to accounts

How Much Does Connecteam Cost? 

Connecteam offers three pricing tiers, which include Operations, Communication, and HR & Skills. The plans include:

  • Basic - $35/month
  • Advanced - $59/month
  • Expert - $119/month
  • Enterprise – Custom pricing

In addition to all this, the software offers a 14-day free trial.

Disclaimer: The pricing is subject to change.

5. Deputy

Best for: Businesses of various sizes

Overall Rating:  4.2

Free Trial: Yes

Deputy software is a workforce management platform that provides tools for shift scheduling, compliance, and analytics. It focuses on helping businesses with hourly and shift-based employees streamline scheduling, time tracking, HR, and compliance.

The software provides a mobile app that allows managers and employees to manage their shifts. It doesn’t end there, however—Deputy also provides an auto-scheduling tool (powered by AI) and a built-in analytics tool that eliminates the need for spreadsheets. With these features, businesses can drive down costs, reduce fatigue, and simplify wage compliance.

What Are The Pros And Cons Of Deputy? 

Pros 

Cons 

Helps with the coordination of schedules, shifts and total hours worked

Allows for accurate time tracking

Its detailed functionality makes it ideal for managing staff

Integration with software such as Xero was limited

Limited functionality besides scheduling, according to users

How Much Does Deputy Cost?

Deputy offers three pricing tiers. They are:

  • Lite - $5.5/user/month
  • Core - $7.25/user/month
  • Pro - $10/user/month

The platform also offers a free trial.

Disclaimer: The pricing is subject to change.

6. When I Work

Best for: Small to medium-sized businesses

Overall Rating:  4.3

Free Trial: Yes

When I Work is a time tracking and scheduling platform that’s designed to simplify employee scheduling and team communication. Unlike other software, it's laser-focused on what it does best, and provides four core offerings: employee scheduling, time clock, team messaging, and integrations.

Due to its strong functionality and focused approach, When I Work is used primarily by teams in small to medium-sized businesses across industries such as hospitality, healthcare, education, etc.

What Are The Pros And Cons Of When I Work? 

Pros 

Cons 

Intuitive enough that even non-technical users can understand the software

Simplicity of layout

Calendar view helps people stay organized

Limited feature set can be detriment for other businesses

Cannot see provider’s schedule

How Much Does When I Work Cost? 

When I Work offers two pricing tiers, alongside a 14-day free trial. They are:

  • Single Location or Schedule - $2.5/user/month
  • Multiple Locations & Schedules - $5/user/month

Disclaimer: The pricing is subject to change.

7. Clockify

Best for: Hybrid teams and remote workforces

Overall Rating: 4.2

Free Trial: Yes

Clockify is a time-tracking and productivity platform designed to help teams and individuals monitor how they spend their working hours, manage projects, and ensure accurate billing. It offers tools for tracking time via timers or timesheets, generating reports, handling attendance and overtime, managing invoicing and expenses, and visualizing project progress.

It’s used by freelancers, agencies, consultants, accountants, construction teams, startups, and more. It scales from single users to large teams.

What Are The Pros And Cons Of Clockify?

Pros 

Cons 

Customizable reports make billing and productivity much easier

Employees can set timers when starting tasks

Provides a browser extension, making time tracking even more simple

Requires some training to use it, especially for older personnel

Sometimes the website and app keep tracking time even after you’ve stopped it

How Much Does Clockify Cost?

Clockify offers a number of pricing tiers. They are:

  • Free - $0
  • Basic - $4.99/month/seat
  • Standard - $6.99/month/seat
  • Pro - $9.99/month/seat
  • Enterprise - $14.99/month/seat
  • cake.com bundle - $15.99/month/seat

The software also offers a 7-day free trial.

Disclaimer: The pricing is subject to change.

How Did We Choose Our 7shifts Alternatives?

In selecting the best alternatives to 7Shifts, we evaluated each platform against a set of practical criteria that matter most to businesses managing hourly and shift-based teams. Our goal was to highlight solutions that not only rival 7Shifts but also provide added flexibility, scalability, or affordability, depending on business needs. The key factors we considered include:

  • Core workforce management features such as scheduling, time tracking, and payroll
  • Ease of use and mobile accessibility for both managers and employees
  • Whether the software could integrate with third-party software
  • Industry applicability for sectors like hospitality, retail, healthcare, and restaurants
  • Pricing transparency and value, including free tiers or flexible plans
  • Reviews and opinions from sites such as Reddit

Selecting The Best 7shifts Alternative

As you may have figured out by now, there is no one-size-fits-all solution here. Every alternative offers something different; it’s up to you to see which one fits best with your business needs.

Restaurants and hospitality teams may prioritize advanced scheduling, tip management, and labor compliance, while retail or healthcare organizations might look for robust time tracking, multi-location support, or strong integrations with payroll and POS systems. Budget also plays a significant role—some businesses prefer free or low-cost options for small teams, while others invest in feature-rich solutions that scale with growth.

Whatever choice you end up with, it ought to balance every consideration so that you end up with software that lasts for a long time.