Looking for alternatives to When I Work? Many users crave user-friendly and feature-rich solutions for tasks like Schedule Management, Mobile Capabilities, and Shift Management. Leveraging crowdsourced data from over 1,000 real Employee Scheduling Software selection projects based on 400+ capabilities, we present a comparison of When I Work to leading industry alternatives like 7shifts, Jolt, Deputy, and honeybeeBase.
Analyst Rating
User Sentiment
When I Work is a cloud-based platform that helps design, communicate and track work schedules for hourly workers. It replaces the hassle of spreadsheets and paper schedules with a user-friendly interface for creating and publishing schedules in minutes. You get features like drag-and-drop tools, schedule and timesheet templates, customizable automation, and reporting.
It offers built-in time tracking, communication tools and payroll integrations. Employees can clock in and out directly through the native app. They can also swap shifts and submit time-off requests from their profiles. It lets you access timesheets, identify labor cost trends and control overtime expenses.
Team messaging helps you coordinate staff members and avoid over or understaffing during peak seasons. While pricing varies based on company size and required features, the platform offers a free trial and multiple subscription tiers. This allows you to choose a plan that fits your budget and specific needs.
7shifts is a web-based platform that helps restaurants create, edit and publish staff schedules. The intuitive drag-and-drop interface allows managers to assign shifts quickly while factoring in employee availability, time-off requests and overtime limitations. To avoid scheduling conflicts, it automatically highlights potential issues such as missed breaks and unbudgeted labor hours during the creation process.
It integrates with existing point-of-sale (POS) systems, eliminating the need for manual data entry. It pulls sales data to help managers create labor schedules that align with sales forecasts. Additionally, clock-in/out data can be incorporated, providing a complete picture of labor costs.
The platform offers a mobile app for both managers and employees. The manager app allows for on-the-go schedule changes, communication with staff, and real-time sales and labor cost monitoring. The employee app allows staff to view their schedules, request time off, and swap shifts with colleagues directly from their smartphones.
Deputy is a one-stop shop for hiring, training, scheduling, paying and managing time sheets of frontline and hourly workers. It offers an intuitive interface and various features to help manage employees, streamline scheduling operations and simplify internal communications.
You can easily create, edit and manage schedules while ensuring optimal staffing levels. The platform's drag-and-drop functionality allows quick adjustments to accommodate changes in staffing or workload. Time clock features enable employees to clock in and out accurately, minimizing the risk of time theft and simplifying payroll processing.
Also, Deputy provides a comprehensive suite of HR tools, including features for managing time off. Employees can easily request and track vacation, sick leave and other absences. A built-in messaging portal facilitates internal communication and records interactions to promote accountability.
You can also post job openings on popular online channels and create a branded portal to accept applications. The system lets you design a new hire’s onboarding workflow with embedded training materials and tips. Additionally, customizable automation helps businesses comply with fair workweek regulations, break rules, maximum work hours, consecutive workdays and other labor regulations.
One of the platform’s standout features is its pre-built integrations and extensibility with other third-party solutions. The vendor lets you add extra features such as payroll processing, business intelligence, demand forecasting, point of sale system and more.
among all Employee Scheduling Software
When I Work has a 'excellent' User Satisfaction Rating of 90% when considering 1454 user reviews from 4 recognized software review sites.
7shifts has a 'excellent' User Satisfaction Rating of 94% when considering 1305 user reviews from 4 recognized software review sites.
Jolt has a 'excellent' User Satisfaction Rating of 93% when considering 371 user reviews from 4 recognized software review sites.
Deputy has a 'excellent' User Satisfaction Rating of 90% when considering 1504 user reviews from 4 recognized software review sites.
honeybeeBase has a 'great' User Satisfaction Rating of 82% when considering 219 user reviews from 3 recognized software review sites.
According to the reviews, users praise When I Work’s user-friendly design and all-in-one features for scheduling and time tracking. The customer support team is another win — responsive and helpful via chat and email. However, the pricing structure is a point of contention for some users, with complaints about hidden fees and a lack of transparency before signing up.What truly set it apart was its affordability for small and medium businesses. The starter plan, costing just $1.50 per location per month, offers unlimited employee scheduling and auto-scheduling — features usually reserved for top-tier plans in competitors like 7Shift and Homebase.However, communication features are restricted. During testing, I could send individual and group messages, but there's no bulletin board or newsfeed functionality, and message read receipts are absent.Security is another concern. The platform lacks biometric clock-in options, opening the door to potential time theft through buddy punching. Additionally, it doesn’t support geofencing or GPS tracking. I couldn’t remotely track staff shifts to ensure they were following established procedures.Overall, When I Work offers a compelling solution for small and medium businesses with a user-friendly interface, robust features and a budget-friendly starter plan. However, be mindful of the pricing concerns and other limitations, which can be a problem for growing teams and businesses.
My overall experience with 7shifts has been positive. The onboarding process was a breeze, taking just five minutes to set up my shop and begin scheduling. I particularly liked the option to have 7shifts automatically set up my business by uploading an existing Excel schedule. The platform then created departments and employee profiles for me, saving a significant amount of time.Another feature I found valuable was the customizable manager logbook. It allowed me to take detailed notes, set up alerts and create reminders for upcoming maintenance activities. Additionally, the mobile app stood out with its unique selfie-based employee punch-in feature, ensuring that the right person was clocking in for their shift.While 7shifts offers a comprehensive suite of features, there are some drawbacks to consider. One major concern is the cost. Compared to competitors like Homebase, WhenIWork and Sling, 7shifts is more expensive for smaller companies. Another point to note is that payroll management is not included in the paid plans, requiring an additional charge to unlock this feature.Despite these limitations, 7shifts offers a user-friendly platform with various features designed to streamline employee scheduling, time tracking, communication and employee engagement. Responsive customer support and a focus on employee experience are additional strengths.Ultimately, whether 7shifts is the right fit depends on your specific needs and budget. For small business owners on a tight budget, the cost may be prohibitive. However, for those seeking a comprehensive, user-centric solution, 7shifts could be a valuable asset.
Jolt helps its users keep up with daily tasks and track who completes what with a time stamp. It is an easy-to-use solution that satisfies food safety guidelines with automated temperature checks, temperature logs and food labeling by date. Reviewers mentioned that its initial set-up takes time, and printer issues are difficult to solve. The application does not allow users to send messages to a single employee, but they can send a message to a large group of people at once. Overall, it is a cost-effective software solution with seamless training and support.
Deputy is a valuable asset for businesses looking to streamline their scheduling operations and enhance employee productivity. During my research, I found it to be a highly effective and centralized tool for hiring, training and scheduling employees. Users consistently praise its performance, with many giving it a 4.5-star rating.One of Deputy's standout features is its AI-powered automation, which can significantly improve scheduling and shift break compliance. However, it may require some initial setup and learning to function optimally. The touchless facial recognition clock-in feature is particularly valuable in today's post-pandemic world.I appreciate Deputy's commitment to employee empowerment. Its accountability measures, such as GPS tracking and facial recognition, effectively prevent time theft without compromising employee autonomy. The Shift Pulse feature is another valuable tool that fosters open communication between employees and management.While Deputy is a powerful solution, it's not without its flaws. I encountered bugs and glitches that occasionally disrupted the user experience. Slow performance, particularly for mobile app users and non-desk staff, can be frustrating. Additionally, GPS challenges can be problematic for businesses with multiple locations as the platform doesn’t support multiple time zones.The HR functionality is also limited, but I believe it has the potential to expand over time. Adding more languages to the interface would also make it more inclusive. Overall, I recommend Deputy to small to mid-sized organizations seeking a reliable and feature-rich scheduling solution that also offers basic HR functionalities.
honeybeeBase organizes processes, streamlines scheduling and strengthens team communications. It manages tasks, tracks employee work hours, accurately calculates total hours to compute payroll while eliminating manual calculations. It provides easy access to information anytime, anywhere, and employees can log in and out of their workplaces using mobile phones. The system is affordable and is backed by helpful technical support and an extensive knowledge base. However, the system is riddled with glitches and freezes while clocking in and out, is slow to load, encounters errors while generating reports and doesn’t have an appealing design. Its homepage is cluttered with unnecessary information, and the system comes with some unresponsive functionalities.
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