Deputy vs Sling by Toast
We give Deputy a 2.6 GPA and Sling by Toast a 2.8, out of 4.0. Deputy grades higher on ease of use. Sling by Toast grades higher on value for money and the free plan. They get the same grade on features and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Deputy
Shift scheduling, time clock and labor-law tools for hourly teams
Sling by Toast
Free shift scheduling for up to 30 users, with paid time clock tiers
How we grade them
| 2.6GPADeputyGood | 2.8GPASling by ToastGood | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | DLite is $5 a person a month billed yearly, so 15 staff come to $75 a month, and managers count as users too. For a team that size that's in the dearest tenth of this category. Auto-scheduling and face-unlock kiosks wait on Core at $6.50 a head. | 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 | CNo free plan, but a trial of up to 31 days with no credit card needed. That's a long, fair look, though after it you pay for every user. | 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 from templates with breaks, shift swaps, clock-ins from phones, browsers, watches or a kiosk, labor-law checks as you build, and timesheets that flow to payroll. That's the whole job, with auto-scheduling and demand forecasts on Core. | 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 | A4.79 from 5,849 App Store ratings. Staff get their shifts, swaps and clock-ins on the phone, which is where most of the use happens. | 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, plus payroll and till links such as Gusto, ADP, Paychex, QuickBooks, Xero and Square, and a public API. No desktop app, so it stops at a B. | 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 | shift teams that must follow labor laws | 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: Deputy and Sling by Toast. How we grade
Price against what you get
Deputy starts at $5 a month for each person 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.
Deputy scores higher, and starts $3.30 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 Deputy 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
- Deputy starts at $5 per user / month, billed annually (Lite). Sling by Toast starts at $1.70 per user / month, billed annually (Premium).
- Sling by Toast has a free plan. Deputy does not, though it has a free trial.
- Deputy also covers payroll.
- Sling by Toast also covers tasks and team chat.
At a glance
| Deputy | Sling by Toast | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free plan |
| Starts at | $5 per user / month, billed annually (Lite) | $1.70 per user / month, billed annually (Premium) |
| Free plan | None | 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 | Free trial of up to 31 days, no credit card required | 15-day free trial of the paid plans |
| Web | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Deputy | Sling, Inc. (Toast) |
| Price read from | deputy.com | getsling.com |
| Checked | Oct 18, 2026 | Oct 18, 2026 |
Who each one suits
Deputy
- Hospitality, retail and healthcare employers scheduling hourly staff
- Businesses that must follow break rules and Fair Workweek laws
- Multi-location operators that want demand forecasts and wage budgets
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
Deputy
- Monthly plans carry a minimum spend of $30 a month, and every admin, manager and supervisor counts as a paid user.
- US payroll by Paycor is an add-on for annual Core and Pro plans: $8 per user a month plus a $49 monthly base fee. HR is $2 per user a month.
- Annual plans cannot be moved to a lower plan or fewer users during the term, and cancelling early brings no refund.
- Text messages sent through Deputy, such as published schedules, cost 1 cent per 160 characters in the US.
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
Deputy
- Shift planning and swaps
- Schedules are built from templates with paid and unpaid breaks. Staff can confirm shifts, pick up open ones, swap or offer shifts and find a replacement.
- Auto-scheduling and forecasting
- From the Core plan, Deputy builds and fills shifts from demand and staff availability, and compares forecast sales and wages against actuals.
- Clock-in apps and geofencing
- Staff clock in from the mobile apps, a browser, a watch or a shared tablet kiosk. Geofences block clock-ins away from the site, and Core adds face-unlock kiosks.
- Timesheets to payroll
- Clock-ins become timesheets that managers approve, or that Core approves automatically, and then go to payroll systems such as Gusto, ADP, Paychex or Xero.
- Labor-law compliance
- Rules for breaks, overtime, Fair Workweek scheduling and custom pay rates are checked as shifts are built and worked.
- Team messaging and Shift Pulse
- A news feed and messaging reach staff in the app, and Shift Pulse asks each worker for feedback when a shift ends.
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
Deputy
Lite$5
per user / month, billed annually ($5.50 billed monthly)
Basic scheduling, timesheets and time clock, shift swaps, leave and availability, labor-law checks, basic reports and team messaging.
Core$6.50
per user / month, billed annually ($7.25 billed monthly)
Adds auto-scheduling, demand forecasting, wage budgets, face-unlock kiosk clock-ins and timesheet auto-approval. Marked most popular.
Pro$9
per user / month, billed annually ($10 billed monthly)
Adds custom access levels, location hierarchies, pay centers, SSO, a sandbox and 24/7 live chat, with Analytics+ and Messaging+ included.
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
Deputy
- Annual discount
About 10% off with annual billing
Annual plans cost $5, $6.50 and $9 per user a month against $5.50, $7.25 and $10 billed monthly; the page labels the saving 10%.
- Nonprofit
Special pricing for charities on request
Charities, not-for-profits and community organizations can ask Deputy about special pricing; no figure is published.
- Other savings
6 months free on Pro and Payroll until November 30, 2026
New US businesses that sign up by November 30, 2026 and buy both Pro and Deputy Payroll on a 12-month term get six billing months free.
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.
