7shifts vs Sling by Toast
We give 7shifts a 3.0 GPA and Sling by Toast a 2.8, out of 4.0. 7shifts grades higher on ease of use. Sling by Toast grades higher on value for money. They get the same grade on the free plan, features and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
7shifts
Restaurant scheduling, time clock, tips and payroll, per location
Sling by Toast
Free shift scheduling for up to 30 users, with paid time clock tiers
How we grade them
| 3.0GPA7shiftsVery good | 2.8GPASling by ToastGood | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CEssentials is $39.99 per location a month billed yearly, for up to 30 employees, so 15 staff at one site pay $39.99. That's a little above the middle of this category. The free Comp plan also covers one site of up to 15, without the time clock. | BPremium is $1.70 a user a month billed yearly, so 15 staff pay $25.50 for the time clock and labor costs. For a team that size that's in the cheapest quarter of this category, and scheduling alone is free. |
| Free plan and trial | BComp is free for one location and up to 15 employees, with scheduling, shift trades, open shifts, availability and time-off requests. No time clock, but a small restaurant can really run its rota on it. | BFree for up to 30 users with scheduling, time-off requests, open shifts, schedules built months ahead and messaging. The one big thing missing is the time clock, which starts on Premium. |
| Features | BSchedules set against POS sales forecasts, trades and open shifts, clock-ins on tablets, phones or the POS, labor-law compliance, tip pooling, payroll, hiring and training. For a restaurant that's the whole job and then some. | BTemplates, auto-assigned open shifts, breaks added for you, swaps and offers, a time clock with labor costs against sales, PTO and tasks across its plans. That covers the whole job, with the kiosk on Business. |
| Ease of use | A4.8 from 30,338 App Store ratings. Staff see shifts, hours and wages in the app and can trade or claim shifts there. | CWe have no App Store rating on record for it. A schedule needs staff, positions and templates set up first, so give it an afternoon. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb, iPhone and Android, with restaurant tills like Toast, Square, Clover, Lightspeed and TouchBistro, and payroll like ADP, Gusto and Paychex. No desktop app. | BWeb, iPhone and Android, with till links to Toast, Square, Harbortouch, Restaurant Manager and POSiTouch. The only payroll it names is Toast Payroll, and there's no desktop app. |
| Best for | restaurant scheduling tied to sales | free scheduling for teams up to 30 |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: 7shifts and Sling by Toast. How we grade
Price against what you get
7shifts starts at $39.99 a month and scores 3.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Sling by Toast starts at $1.70 a month for each person and scores 2.7.
7shifts scores higher, and starts $38.29 a month higher: the question is whether the extra is worth that to you. Of the other shift scheduling apps on the chart, none scores higher than 7shifts for less, and none scores higher than Sling by Toast for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- 7shifts starts at $39.99 per location / month, billed annually (Essentials). Sling by Toast starts at $1.70 per user / month, billed annually (Premium).
- 7shifts also covers payroll and applicant tracking.
- Sling by Toast also covers tasks and auto-scheduling.
At a glance
| 7shifts | Sling by Toast | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $39.99 per location / month, billed annually (Essentials) | $1.70 per user / month, billed annually (Premium) |
| Free plan | Comp plan, free for one location with up to 15 employees: basic scheduling, shift trades and open shifts, availability and time-off requests, and one-way announcements. | Free plan for up to 30 users: shift scheduling, time-off requests, open shifts, schedules built months ahead, a team newsfeed and one-to-one messaging. |
| Free trial | 14-day free trial of the Pro plan, no credit card needed | 15-day free trial of the paid plans |
| Web | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | 7shifts | Sling, Inc. (Toast) |
| Price read from | 7shifts.com | getsling.com |
| Checked | Oct 18, 2026 | Oct 18, 2026 |
Who each one suits
7shifts
- Restaurants, cafes and bars scheduling front- and back-of-house staff
- Operators who want labor targets tied to POS sales
- Single-location restaurants with up to 15 staff, on the free Comp plan
Sling by Toast
- Teams of up to 30 that want free scheduling and messaging
- Restaurants using Toast, Square or Harbortouch point of sale
- Managers who build schedules weeks or months in advance
Worth knowing
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.
Sling by Toast
- The Free plan stops at 30 users and has no time clock; time tracking, labor costs and overtime tracking start on Premium.
- The kiosk clock, PTO tracking and payroll-ready hours and wage reports need the Business plan.
- Integrations are mostly restaurant point-of-sale systems: Toast, Square, Harbortouch, Restaurant Manager and POSiTouch, with timesheet export to Toast Payroll.
- Sling is now owned by Toast, and Toast customers buy it through the Toast Shop rather than on Sling's pricing page.
Key features
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.
Sling by Toast
- Schedules and templates
- Managers build schedules months ahead from shift and weekly templates, around staff unavailability, with day parts, custom tags and several slots per shift.
- Auto-assigning shifts
- Sling can assign open shifts automatically, and mandatory meal and rest breaks are added to the shifts they apply to.
- Shift offers, swaps and alarms
- Employees offer shifts to coworkers, swap shifts and pick up available ones, and alarms remind them of upcoming shifts by push or SMS.
- Time clock and labor costs
- Paid plans add clock-in from phones, and Business adds a shared kiosk. Labor costs and overtime are tracked as the schedule is built and compared with sales.
- Messaging and newsfeed
- Private and group messages, announcements and newsfeed pages aimed at chosen groups of staff.
- Task management
- Tasks can be assigned to a shift or to an employee and tracked from the app.
Plans
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.
Sling by Toast
Free$0
Up to 30 users: shift scheduling, time-off requests, available shifts, long-term scheduling, news sharing and private messaging.
Premium$1.70
per user / month, billed annually ($2 billed monthly)
Adds mobile time tracking, labor costs compared against sales, overtime tracking, group messaging and calendar sync.
Business$3.40
per user / month, billed annually ($4 billed monthly)
Adds a shared-device kiosk time clock, hours and wage reports, no-show and sick call-out tracking, and PTO management. Recommended.
Ways to pay less
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.
Sling by Toast
- Annual discount
Save 15% with annual billing
Annual billing brings Premium to $1.70 and Business to $3.40 per user a month, against $2 and $4 billed monthly.
