Our picks · 4 tools reviewed

Best Employee scheduling software for 2026

Tools that build and publish shift schedules for hourly and shift-based teams. Below: the names buyers expect to see, the newer tools gaining ground, and how their key features and prices compare. How we pick; nobody pays for a place here.

Feature	7shifts Category leader	Planday Category leader	Sling Category leader	When I Work Category leader
Pricing	Free plan	Paid	Free plan	$2.50/user/mo
Best for	Independent and multi-unit restaurants of 10 to 200 staff that want scheduling tied to POS sales and labor compliance.	Multi-location hospitality and retail businesses with 20+ staff that need working-time compliance warnings in the rota.	Restaurants and retail teams under 50 hourly staff that want free scheduling and messaging in one app.	Small hourly teams in retail, restaurants and services that want low per-user scheduling pricing.
Team size	2–500 people	2–500+ people	2–500 people	2–500 people
Drag-and-drop schedule builder	Not listed	Not listed	Not listed	Not listed
Shift swap and cover requests	Yes	Not listed	Yes	Yes
Availability and time-off requests	Yes	Not listed	Yes	Not listed
Labour cost forecasting	Yes	Not listed	Yes	Not listed
Auto-scheduling	Not listed	Yes	Not listed	Yes
Schedule notifications	Not listed	Not listed	Yes	Not listed
Visit	Visit	Visit	Visit	Visit