Best Employee Scheduling Software in 2026: Ranked by Job, Price, and Whether $2.50 Is a Seat or a Location
When I Work, Deputy, Homebase, and Sling solve different jobs. We ranked 4 shift platforms by per-user vs per-location vs free-tier cliff, and what a $0–$9 seat or a $24–$96 location actually keeps after the 11th employee, the $30 floor, and the $100 clopening.
Employee scheduling software is not appointment scheduling. It is not a time tracker. It is a rota, a swap, a clock that may or may not sit on the same invoice, and a bill that grows when you add a head — or a door. The Google query treats When I Work, Deputy, Homebase, and Sling as rivals. They are not. One meters users. One meters users, then a $30 floor, and it bills the manager. One meters locations and gives you 10 people free until the 11th employee or the second address. One gives you 30 users free and sells the clock on Premium. Mix those jobs and you pay twice — once for the plan, and again when the city charges $10–$75 for a schedule you changed inside 14 days, or $100 for a clopening the tool was happy to publish.
Key Takeaways
- There is no overall best. Rank by job: cheap per-head rota, compliance-and-forecast seat, per-location unlimited heads, or a $0 schedule that stops at the clock.
- The market splits in four. When I Work, Deputy, Homebase, Sling.
- The sticker is a billing unit, not a category. When I Work from $2.50/user. Deputy from $5, $30 floor. Homebase $0 to 10 people / one address, then $24–$96 yearly. Sling Free to 30 users; Premium from $1.70 yearly.
- A late change is a wage. The DOL requires time and one-half after 40 hours in a workweek. NYC Fair Workweek requires 14 days' notice, $10–$75 change premiums, and a $100 clopening.
What employee scheduling software is (and what it is not)
The product is a closed loop: availability → published rota → swap or callout → clock (optional) → timesheet → payroll file. That is not appointment scheduling (a client picks a slot). It is not time tracking sold as billable hours or screenshots. Two jobs share the label: a shift publisher and a labor-compliance engine (break rules, clopenings, demand forecast, the 14-day notice). When I Work and Sling Free are built for the first. Deputy Core is built for the second. Homebase is a location SKU that becomes HR only on All-in-One. Buy the first for a 30-store forecast and you rebuild the rules. Buy the second for a 10-person cafe and you pay a seat floor before the first swap.
How we ranked
Five checks, not a composite score: job, whether a price is published, what the meter is (user vs location), what the free floor keeps, and real annual cost. Prices checked against official pages on 21 August 2026. Annual billed rates first where published.
Quick picks by job
A published per-head rota under $3. When I Work Essentials at $2.50 per user per month. 14-day trial. No lasting free plan.
Labor rules, auto-scheduling, and a forecast. Deputy Core at $6.50. Lite at $5 is the clock-and-swap SKU. Budget the $30 floor and every admin seat.
One shop, unlimited heads, a location bill. Homebase. Free until 10 employees on one address. Essentials at $24 a month billed yearly the minute you hire the 11th or open a second door.
A $0 schedule for up to 30 people. Sling Free: shifts, swaps, time-off. The clock is Premium at $1.70 billed yearly. Sling is now Sling by Toast.
Comparison: 4 platforms
| Tool | Type | Starting price | Best for | Main trap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| When I Work | Per-user scheduling | Essentials $2.50/user/mo; Pro $5; Premium $8; 14-day trial | Cheapest published seat | Pricing page shows a Time Tracking & Attendance toggle; the FAQ says every plan includes the clock. Confirm before you model $2.50 as punch-in |
| Deputy | Per-user WFM | Lite $5; Core $6.50; Pro $9; $30/mo minimum | Break rules and auto-scheduling | Admins count. New, archived, and unarchived users bill the full month. SMS is 1¢ (US) / 160 characters |
| Homebase | Per-location | Free (1 location, 10 employees); Essentials $30 / $24 yearly; Plus $70 / $56; All-in-One $120 / $96 | One shop that grows heads, not doors | The 11th employee or the second address ends Free. Payroll is $39 + $6 per paid employee |
| Sling (by Toast) | Per-user, free schedule | Free (30 users); Premium $2 / $1.70 yearly; Business $4 / $3.40 | Teams that will live on a $0 rota | Free is scheduling, not the clock. The 31st user is Premium |
Cheap per-head rota: When I Work
Right buy when the job is a published week, swaps, and a number you can defend at $2.50 a head. Wrong buy as the Fair Workweek rules engine, and wrong buy if you assumed the clock was in the sticker.
Essentials is $2.50 per user per month: auto-scheduling, multi-week templates, OpenShifts and swaps, messaging. Pro is $5: scheduling rules, role permissions, custom reporting. Premium is $8: API, SAML/SSO. 14-day trial, no card. No printed annual rate.
Trap: The big number is scheduling. Each plan shows a Time Tracking & Attendance toggle; the FAQ says the clock is included. Those two sentences cannot both be the invoice. Confirm the toggle before you model $2.50 as punch-in.
Compliance seat, $30 floor: Deputy
Right buy when the job is breaks, auto-scheduling, demand, and a timesheet you will defend. Wrong buy for a six-person shop that will hit the floor before it hits five seats.
Lite is $5 per user per month (USD, excl. tax): scheduling, timesheets, clock, labor-law compliance, swaps. Core is $6.50: auto-scheduling, demand forecasting, wage budgets. Pro is $9: SSO, Analytics+ and Messaging+. Add-ons: HR $2, Payroll $8 per user plus $49/mo on annual Core/Pro in the US.
Trap: A $30 monthly minimum applies from 1 September 2025. Four people on Lite is $30, not $20. Admins count. Add, archive, or unarchive mid-month and you still owe the full month. Annual plans cannot drop seats. SMS is 1¢ USD per 160 characters.
Per-location, free-tier cliff: Homebase
Right buy when one address will add heads, not doors, and you want the clock on the same SKU as the rota. Wrong buy as a five-location franchise on All-in-One.
Basic is $0 for one location and up to 10 employees: basic scheduling, basic time tracking, POS. Essentials is $30, or $24 billed yearly: unlimited employees, advanced scheduling and time tracking. Plus is $70 / $56 yearly: AI scheduling, PTO. All-in-One is $120 / $96 yearly: onboarding, labor-cost, HR. Payroll add-on: $39/mo + $6 per paid employee.
Trap: The free plan dies on the 11th badge or the second lock. Two cafes with six people each are two location bills. PTO is Plus. Hiring is not an ATS.
Free schedule, paid clock: Sling
Right buy when 30 names on a rota is the product and nobody is punching in yet. Wrong buy as the kiosk and the payroll export.
Free is $0 for up to 30 users: shifts, time-off, swaps. Premium is $2 per user, or $1.70 billed yearly: mobile time tracking, overtime. Business is $4, or $3.40 yearly: kiosk clock, payroll reports, PTO. Deactivated users prorate. Branded Sling by Toast.
Trap: Free's 30-user cap is not a clock. Punch-in is Premium. The $0 rota will still publish a close-then-open that NYC prices at $100. A Toast shop should confirm the SKU is not already on the restaurant invoice.
Worked annual cost at published floors
Assumptions: U.S. shop, annual billing where published. When I Work at the Essentials sticker (no printed annual). Deputy Lite, including the $30 floor. Homebase yearly. Sling yearly.
| Situation | When I Work | Deputy | Homebase | Sling |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 people, 1 location, schedule only | $240 ($2.50 × 8 × 12) | $360 ($30 floor × 12) | $0 (Basic) | $0 (Free) |
| 11 people, 1 location, schedule + clock | $330 sticker; confirm T&A toggle | $660 ($5 × 11 × 12) | $288 (Essentials $24 × 12) | $224 (Premium $1.70 × 11 × 12) |
| 25 people, 1 location | $750 | $1,500 | $288 | $0 schedule / $510 clock |
| 3 locations, 15 people each (45) | $2,700 at the FAQ's $5 multi-location seat | $2,700 Lite, plus every manager seat | $864 (Essentials $24 × 3 × 12) | $918 (Premium; Free dies at 31) |
At 25 hourly names in one shop, Homebase Essentials is $288 a year and When I Work Essentials is $750 before the clock toggle. That is a meter gap, not a quality gap. At eight people, Deputy's $30 floor is a $120/year tax versus $5 × 8. At three doors, the location SKU wins until you need Deputy's auto-scheduler.
When it breaks
The billing unit is not the job. When I Work and Deputy sell seats. Homebase sells locations. Sling sells seats with a 30-user free cap. A SaaS spend review that compares “$2.50 vs $24” without naming the unit is a fiction.
A free plan is a cliff. Homebase: 10 people, one address. Sling: 30 users, no clock. When I Work: no free plan, 14 days. Deputy: no free plan, $30 floor. The 11th hire is an Essentials event.
The manager is a seat. Deputy bills administrators. Homebase does not bill heads on paid tiers. Count the people who build the rota, not just the people on it.
A clock is a different SKU. When I Work's toggle vs FAQ. Sling Free vs Premium. Homebase and Deputy put a clock on the floor SKU. Buying Toggl to replace a missing punch-in gives you billable hours, not a shift swap.
7shifts does not print a lasting dollar. If the RFP needs a published rate, stay in the table above.
FLSA does not care which app published the week. The DOL: unless exempt, covered employees get at least time and one-half for hours over 40 in a workweek. The workweek is 168 hours. Averaging across two weeks is not permitted.
Fair Workweek is why the 14-day publish exists. NYC DCWP (fast food, chain of 30+ nationally): 14 days' notice, premiums for changes and clopenings, current staff first on new hours. The official FAQ (15 September 2023) prices employer-made changes at $10 / $15 / $15 for added hours and $20 / $45 / $75 for reduced hours at <14 days / <7 days / <24 hours. A clopening (<11 hours between close and open) needs written consent and a $100 premium. Unpaid premium: the premium plus $300. Consent does not waive it. An employee-requested swap does.
A 15-minute way to choose
- Write the job: publish a week, enforce breaks and 14-day notice, or keep one shop under a location bill.
- Under 10 people, one address, clock included: Homebase Basic at $0. Leave at 11 or at the second door.
- Under 30 people, schedule only: Sling Free. Premium at $1.70 the minute someone punches in.
- Cheapest published seat, and you will confirm the clock toggle: When I Work Essentials at $2.50.
- Multi-site rules and auto-scheduling: Deputy Core at $6.50. Model Lite at $5 plus the $30 floor and every manager.
- Restaurant POS labor: open 7shifts and read the live quote. Covered fast food in NYC: publish 14 days out and price clopenings at $100. Fail the meter, change lanes.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best employee scheduling software in 2026?
There is not one. When I Work Essentials at $2.50 a user for a cheap published rota (confirm the clock toggle). Deputy Lite at $5 — or Core at $6.50 — when rules are the job, after the $30 floor. Homebase Basic at $0 for one location and 10 people; Essentials at $24 yearly after that. Sling Free up to 30 users if you do not need a clock.
When I Work vs Deputy: which one?
When I Work if the object is a $2.50 seat and a swap. Deputy if the object is break compliance, auto-scheduling, and a forecast. Deputy bills managers and enforces a $30 minimum. When I Work's clock is a toggle the FAQ contradicts. Neither is Calendly.
Is there a good free employee scheduling plan?
Homebase Basic: one location, 10 employees, basic clock. Sling Free: 30 users, schedule only. When I Work and Deputy: trials only. A shared Google Sheet is not employee scheduling software.
Methodology
We compared 4 platforms on job, published price, billing unit (user vs location), free-tier floor, and annual cost. Official pages checked on 21 August 2026: When I Work $2.50 / $5 / $8; 14-day trial; T&A toggle vs FAQ. Deputy $5 / $6.50 / $9; $30 minimum from 1 September 2025; admins count; full-month add/archive; SMS 1¢ / 160 characters; Payroll $8 + $49. Homebase $0 (1 location, 10 employees) / $24 / $56 / $96 yearly; Payroll $39 + $6. Sling Free (30 users) / $1.70 / $3.40 yearly. 7shifts public page interactive — no lasting printed dollar. Primary sources: U.S. DOL, Overtime Pay; NYC DCWP Fair Workweek employer page and FAQ (15 September 2023) — $10–$75 premiums, $100 clopening, $300 for unpaid premium. No bake-off. Not legal advice.
