7shifts vs ShiftForce (ShiftNote) (2026): which should you pick?

Pick 7shifts if

• Fits if you run a restaurant, cafe or bar and plan labor against sales
• Works for a single restaurant with 15 staff or fewer, on the free Comp plan

Look elsewhere if

• Not for you if you don't run a restaurant, as most of it is built around one
• Pricey if you add tips, log book and tasks, at $49.99, $14.99 and $12.99 per location a month
• Tight if a location has more than 30 staff on Essentials or 60 on Pro, as each plan caps headcount per site
• Watch out: 7shifts Payroll is US-only at $39.99 per location plus $6 per employee paid; Premium drops the base fee, not the $6
• Watch out: the free Comp plan has no time clock, and every extra location pays its own plan price

Pick ShiftForce (ShiftNote) if

• Fits if you run a restaurant or hotel and want a manager logbook beside the rota
• Works for a business with one or two sites, as the price is per location

Look elsewhere if

• Pricey if you have many sites, as every location is paid for
• Skip it if you want scheduling on the $50 plan, as that plan is the logbook only
• Watch out: POS integration is listed under the $150 Enterprise plan, and setup fees may apply
• Watch out: it was renamed ShiftForce, and the pricing page still uses the ShiftNote plan names

7shifts

• Plans are priced per location and capped by headcount: Essentials covers up to 30 employees and Pro up to 60 at each location.
• 7shifts Payroll is US-only at $39.99 per location a month plus $6 per employee paid; Premium includes the base fee but not the per-employee charge.
• Add-ons cost extra per location a month: Tip Management $49.99, Manager Log Book $14.99 and Task Management $12.99. Onboarding packages are $2.99 each.
• Integrations center on restaurant POS systems such as Toast, Square, Clover and Lightspeed, and payroll services such as ADP, Gusto and Paychex.

ShiftForce (ShiftNote)

• Pricing is per location, so a business with many sites pays for each one; multi-location discounts are by request.
• Scheduling starts at the $100 plan; the $50 plan is the logbook without a scheduler.
• POS integration is listed under the $150 Enterprise plan, and setup fees may apply.
• ShiftNote was renamed ShiftForce, and the pricing page still uses the ShiftNote plan names.

7shifts

Schedules built on sales forecasts

Labor targets are set against projected sales pulled from the POS and the weather forecast, and higher plans add hourly forecasts, labor recommendations and auto-built schedules.

Shift trades in the free app

Staff see schedules, hours and wages in the mobile app, and can offer up, trade or claim open shifts and send availability and time-off requests.

Time clock on POS and tablets

Time clocks run on tablets, computers, phones and POS devices, staff are prompted to declare tips, and Pro blocks clock-ins away from the restaurant.

Labor-law compliance

Pro adds break tracking, overtime notices, compliance warnings and state-based labor law tools with custom attestations.

Tips and payroll

Tip Management calculates and splits tip pools from POS sales and time punches, and 7shifts Payroll runs US pay with tax filings and new-hire paperwork.

Hiring and training

Jobs post to online job boards with candidate tracking and interview scheduling, and courses can be built from existing documents with AI.

ShiftForce (ShiftNote)

Employee scheduler

Managers build schedules from templates with drag and drop, and employees can view shifts, request time off and swap shifts within rules the business sets.

Manager logbook

A daily log where managers leave notes for the next shift and track stats such as sales and labor, kept as a searchable record.

Task management

Tasks can be assigned and tracked per company, location, role or person.

Labor cost tracking

The Scheduler plan tracks labor cost against schedules; the Enterprise plan adds labor management and a custom reporting dashboard.

POS data

ShiftForce lists integrations with Toast, Square, Squirrel and NCR Aloha (through the Olo Omnivore API) to bring sales data next to labor.

Daily recap emails

Recap emails keep owners and staff informed about each day at a location without logging in.

7shifts

• Comp$0

  One location and up to 15 employees: basic scheduling, availability and time-off requests, one-way announcements.

• Essentials$39.99

  per location / month, billed annually ($44.99 billed monthly)

  Up to 30 employees. Adds schedule templates and breaks, team messaging with SMS reminders, a basic time clock and custom permissions.

• Pro$79.99

  per location / month, billed annually ($89.99 billed monthly)

  Up to 60 employees. Adds PTO accruals, labor compliance and cost tools, clock-in limits by location and the Manager Log Book. Marked best value.

• Premium$134.99

  per location / month, billed annually ($149.99 billed monthly)

  Unlimited employees. Adds tip and task management, training, labor forecasts and 7shifts Payroll, which still costs $6 per employee paid.

ShiftForce (ShiftNote)

• ShiftNote$50

  per location / month, billed monthly

  Daily logbook, task list, cash management, document storage, shift reports and a stats tracker. $540 a year if paid yearly.

• ShiftNote +Scheduler$100

  per location / month, billed monthly

  Adds employee scheduling, templates, labor cost tracking, shift swaps, time-off requests and a mobile app. $1,080 a year if paid yearly.

• Enterprise$150

  per location / month, billed monthly

  Adds POS integration (Toast, Aloha, Square, Squirrel), labor management and custom reporting. $1,620 a year if paid yearly.

7shifts

• Annual discount

  Save about 10% with annual billing

  Annual billing brings Essentials, Pro and Premium to $39.99, $79.99 and $134.99 per location a month, against $44.99, $89.99 and $149.99 billed monthly.

• Other savings

  First 3 months of 7shifts Payroll free

  First-time payroll buyers get three months of payroll fees waived after their first pay run, which must happen by January 30, 2027; some self-serve purchases are excluded.

ShiftForce (ShiftNote)

• Annual discount

  Yearly billing is cheaper than monthly

  The pricing page lists $540, $1,080 and $1,620 a year per location against $50, $100 and $150 a month.