Employee Scheduling Software Comparison: 12 Tools (2026)
This page is the data behind the scheduling and attendance reviews in this series: twelve tools on fourteen criteria, with the pricing model spelled out, because in this category a per-user figure hides per-location plans (Homebase, 7shifts), headcount tiers, base fees (Buddy Punch, QuickBooks Time) and minimums (Deputy). A filter removes anything that lacks a feature you need or costs more than you will pay. It does not rank; the scheduling, shift scheduling and attendance reviews rank for their situations.
Filter the field
Set the platform, the most you will pay per user at entry, and which features are required or unwanted. Per-location and quote-priced tools show as high entry prices.
Entry price is the cheapest published per-user plan in October 2026; Homebase and 7shifts are per location and Humanity is quoted, so they are shown at $29 to $30 and 999 respectively. The pricing model column in the matrix explains each.
The 12 tools, alphabetically
One line each; the matrix carries the detail.
- 7shifts: schedules against POS sales forecasts.
- Buddy Punch: gPS, geofencing and photo punches, simply.
- Clockify: attendance, overtime and time off at $5.49.
- Connecteam: gPS clock inside an all-in-one app, free for ten.
- Deputy: attendance with compliance rules built in.
- Homebase: time clock on the POS, free for one shop.
- Humanity (TCP Software): enterprise demand-driven scheduling.
- Jibble: free for unlimited users with kiosk, GPS and overtime rules.
- QuickBooks Time: attendance that lands in payroll directly.
- Sling: mobile clock-in from $1.70.
- Time Champ: attendance recorded automatically, no clock-in.
- When I Work: attendance as a $1.50 to $2 add-on to cheap scheduling.
Comparison at a glance
Fourteen criteria. Yes means the capability exists on some plan; the cards say which.
| Tool | Entry price | Pricing model | Free plan | Platforms | Auto-scheduling | Demand forecasting | Swaps and open shifts | Time clock | GPS or geofence | Break compliance | Labour cost | Payroll | Kiosk | Hardware clocks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 7shifts | $29.99 | Per location | Free for one location up to 30 employees | Web, iOS, Android, POS integrations | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
 Buddy Punch | $4.99 | Per user plus $19 base | 14-day trial | Web, iOS, Android, kiosk | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No |
 Clockify | $5.49 | Per seat | Free for up to 5 users | Web, Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, kiosk | No | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No |
 Connecteam | $29 | Per hub, first 30 users then per user | Free for up to 10 users | Web, iOS, Android, kiosk | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
 Deputy | $5 | Per user; $30 monthly minimum | Trial only | Web, iOS, Android, kiosk | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
 Homebase | $30 | Per location | Free for one location up to 10 employees | Web, iOS, Android, POS kiosk | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
 Humanity (TCP Software) | Quote | Quote only | Demo | Web, iOS, Android | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
 Jibble | $4.49 | Per user; free tier | Free with unlimited users | Web, Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, kiosk, Slack, Teams | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No |
 QuickBooks Time | $10 | Per user plus base fee | 30-day trial | Web, iOS, Android, kiosk | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
 Sling | $1.7 | Per user | Free for up to 30 users | Web, iOS, Android, kiosk | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | No |
 Time Champ | $3.9 | Per user | Trial without a card | Windows, macOS, Linux; iOS and Android for GPS | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No |
 When I Work | $2.5 | Per user; time clock add-on | 14-day trial | Web, iOS, Android | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
The tools in detail
7shifts
Schedules against POS sales forecastsWhat it is
Restaurant scheduling against POS sales forecasts with tip pooling and compliance; free for one location.
In one line
7shifts: the restaurant column; per location, POS forecasts, tips, free for one location.
Where it falls short
- Restaurant-specific; little use elsewhere
- Per-location pricing
- Payroll only in some states
Buddy Punch
GPS, geofencing and photo punches, simplyWhat it is
A straightforward time clock with GPS, geofencing, photos and PTO, plus a $19 base fee.
In one line
Buddy Punch: the plain-clock column; GPS and geofencing, scheduling on Pro, $19 base fee.
Where it falls short
- $19 base fee on every plan
- No forecasting or auto-scheduling
- Scheduling only from Pro
Clockify
Attendance, overtime and time off at $5.49What it is
Attendance and overtime at $5.49, scheduling and GPS at $7.99, on a free-for-five time tracker.
In one line
Clockify: the project-plus-shifts column; scheduling on Pro at $7.99, free for five.
Where it falls short
- Scheduling only on Pro
- No payroll
- Dense interface
Connecteam
GPS clock inside an all-in-one app, free for tenWhat it is
An all-in-one deskless app with scheduling, GPS clock, forms, chat and training; free for ten users.
In one line
Connecteam: the deskless column; everything in one app, free for ten, priced for 30.
Where it falls short
- Hubs are priced separately; buying all three adds up
- Per-user charges above 30 users on each hub
- Breadth over depth in scheduling
Deputy
Attendance with compliance rules built inWhat it is
Demand-driven auto-scheduling with a compliant time clock, labour law rules by jurisdiction, and payroll and HR add-ons; $30 monthly minimum.
In one line
Deputy: the compliance column; auto-scheduling, forecasting, rules by jurisdiction, $30 minimum.
Where it falls short
- $30 monthly minimum hurts very small teams
- Payroll and HR are paid add-ons
- More than a simple shop needs
Homebase
Time clock on the POS, free for one shopWhat it is
Scheduling, time clock, hiring and payroll for small hourly businesses, priced per location, free for one shop.
In one line
Homebase: the single-site column; per location, clock on the POS, payroll add-on.
Where it falls short
- Per-location pricing gets expensive with many sites
- Payroll is $49 plus $6 a head
- Not for salaried or office teams
Humanity (TCP Software)
Enterprise demand-driven schedulingWhat it is
Enterprise demand-driven scheduling from TCP Software for healthcare and large hourly operations; quote only.
In one line
Humanity: the enterprise column; demand- and credential-driven, quote only.
Where it falls short
- Quote only; enterprise sales cycle
- Overkill below a few hundred staff
- Implementation effort
Jibble
Free for unlimited users with kiosk, GPS and overtime rulesWhat it is
Free attendance for unlimited users with a face-recognition kiosk, GPS and overtime rules.
In one line
Jibble: the free attendance column; unlimited users, kiosk and GPS, light scheduling.
Where it falls short
- Paid prices unpublished
- Biometric kiosk triggers Illinois and Texas rules
- Scheduling is lighter than the specialists'
QuickBooks Time
Attendance that lands in payroll directlyWhat it is
A time clock with GPS, kiosk and schedules whose hours feed QuickBooks payroll; base fee plus per user.
In one line
QuickBooks Time: the payroll column; schedules and swaps into QuickBooks, base fee plus per user.
Where it falls short
- Base fee plus per user
- Tied to QuickBooks
- Not for project teams
Sling
Mobile clock-in from $1.70What it is
The simplest and cheapest scheduler: free for 30 users, time clock and labour cost from $1.70.
In one line
Sling: the free rota column; 30 users free, no auto-scheduling.
Where it falls short
- No auto-scheduling or forecasting
- No payroll
- Reporting is basic
Time Champ
Attendance recorded automatically, no clock-inWhat it is
Automatic desktop attendance with shifts, time zones and late reports, plus productivity, from $3.90.
In one line
Time Champ: the desk column; shift patterns with automatic attendance, no swaps or kiosk.
Where it falls short
- No kiosk or shift-swap workflow
- Office and remote teams only
- Short history below Enterprise
When I Work
Attendance as a $1.50 to $2 add-on to cheap schedulingWhat it is
Unlimited-user scheduling from $2.50 with swaps, open shifts and forecasting; time clock as an add-on.
In one line
When I Work: the cheap unlimited column; auto-scheduling and swaps from $2.50, clock as an add-on.
Where it falls short
- Time clock is an add-on, so the real price is $4 to $10
- Compliance rules thinner than Deputy's
- No free plan
Pricing models explained
| Model | Tools | Cheapest when | Expensive when |
|---|---|---|---|
| Per user | When I Work, Sling, Deputy, Clockify, Time Champ, Jibble paid tiers | Few people, many locations | Large headcount |
| Per location | Homebase, 7shifts | Many people, one or two locations | Many small locations |
| First 30 users then per user | Connecteam | 10 to 30 people | Buying all three hubs |
| Base fee plus per user | Buddy Punch ($19), QuickBooks Time ($20 or $40) | 20-plus people | Under ten people |
| Headcount tiers | uAttend (on the attendance pages) | Near the top of a tier | Just over a tier boundary |
| Minimum spend | Deputy ($30 a month) | Six or more people | Under six |
| Quote | Humanity | Hundreds of staff | Anything smaller |
Monthly cost at 10, 30 and 100 people, one location
| Tool and plan | 10 people | 30 people | 100 people |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sling Free / Premium ($1.70) | $0 | $0 | $170 |
| Jibble Free | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Connecteam Free / Operations Basic | $0 | $29 | $85 |
| 7shifts Comp / Entrée ($29.99 per location) | $0 | $0 | $29.99 |
| Homebase Basic / Essentials ($30 per location) | $0 | $30 | $30 |
| When I Work Essentials plus clock ($4) | $40 | $120 | $400 |
| Time Champ Starter ($3.90) | $39 | $117 | $390 |
| Deputy Lite ($5, $30 minimum) | $50 | $150 | $500 |
| Clockify Pro ($7.99) | $79.90 | $239.70 | $799 |
| Buddy Punch Pro ($6.99 plus $19) | $88.90 | $228.70 | $718 |
| QuickBooks Time Premium ($10 plus $20) | $120 | $320 | $1,020 |
| Humanity | Quote | Quote | Quote |
October 2026 prices on annual billing where offered. The per-location tools are the outliers: almost free for a busy single site, and a multiple of everything else for a chain of small ones.
How these tools were evaluated
I evaluated each tool against the same checklist: what it captures and how configurable that is, which platforms it runs on, how it treats the employee (visible or silent agent, access to their own data, screenshot blurring and private time), what the published pricing is and what the minimum commitment really costs, how long data is kept, where it can be deployed, and what the vendor's own documentation and verified user reviews say about reliability and support. Pricing was taken from each vendor's pricing page in October 2026; where a vendor publishes no price, the page says so rather than guessing. Free plans and trials were used where they exist. I did not run a formal benchmark, and the page does not claim one.
Disclosure. I have done work for Time Champ. It appears here because it belongs in this category, it is held to the same criteria as every other product, its drawbacks are listed like everyone else's, and it bought no placement. There are no affiliate or vendor links on this page.
Key takeaways
- Twelve tools, fourteen criteria, no ranking; read the pricing model before the price.
- Per-location tools (Homebase, 7shifts) are cheapest for one busy site and most expensive for many small ones; base-fee tools are expensive under ten people.
- Free plans are real: Sling for 30, Jibble unlimited, Connecteam for ten, Homebase and 7shifts for one location.
- Filter by the features you need absent as well as present.
Frequently asked questions
How do I compare employee scheduling software?
Start with the pricing model, because per-user, per-location, base-fee, tiered and minimum-spend models change the order at every headcount; then rule out tools missing a feature you need (swaps, clock, GPS, compliance, payroll); then compare what is left for your sector. The matrix and filter on this page follow that order.
Which scheduling software is free?
Sling for up to 30 users (scheduling, availability, swaps, messaging), Jibble for unlimited users (attendance with light scheduling), Connecteam for ten users (its whole app), Homebase for one location with ten employees, and 7shifts for one location with 30. Free tiers generally lack forecasting and auto-scheduling.
Which scheduling tools include a time clock?
Deputy, Homebase, 7shifts, Connecteam, Clockify (Pro), QuickBooks Time, Sling (Premium), Buddy Punch, Jibble and Humanity include one. When I Work sells it as a $1.50 to $2 add-on. Time Champ records attendance automatically instead of a clock-in.
Which scheduling software handles break and overtime compliance?
Deputy encodes break, overtime and predictive-scheduling rules by jurisdiction; Homebase, 7shifts, Connecteam, Buddy Punch, Clockify, QuickBooks Time and Humanity apply break and overtime rules you configure; Sling and When I Work track overtime but not break rules. Check daily overtime for California and fair workweek rules for covered cities.
Which scheduling tools work with payroll?
QuickBooks Time feeds QuickBooks payroll natively; Deputy and Homebase sell payroll add-ons; 7shifts offers payroll in some states; When I Work, Connecteam, Buddy Punch, Jibble and Humanity integrate or export to payroll providers; Sling, Clockify and Time Champ export hours.
What does the entry price leave out?
Per-location pricing (Homebase, 7shifts), base fees (Buddy Punch $19, QuickBooks Time $20 or $40), Deputy's $30 minimum, When I Work's clock add-on, Connecteam's per-user charges above 30 and separate hubs, and the plan that actually carries the feature you need, which is often a tier up.