Shiftie vs When I Work
We give Shiftie a 2.0 GPA and When I Work a 2.8, out of 4.0. When I Work grades higher on features, ease of use and platforms. They get the same grade on value for money and the free plan.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Shiftie
UK rota and time clock web app with one per-employee plan
When I Work
Staff scheduling with auto-fill, shift trades and an add-on time clock
How we grade them
| 2.0GPAShiftieFair | 2.8GPAWhen I WorkGood | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | C£2.75 an employee a month, billed monthly with no yearly plan, so 15 staff cost £41.25 a month. Prices are in pounds only. That's above the middle of this category for a team that size, though it buys every feature. | CEssentials is $2.50 a user a month, so 15 staff pay $37.50 for scheduling, the middle of this category for a team that size. Add the time clock and it's $4 a user, or $60. The page doesn't say whether these are monthly or yearly rates. |
| Free plan and trial | CNo free plan, but a 28-day trial with no card details needed. Enough to run a month of real rotas before you pay. | CNo free plan. There's a 14-day trial with every feature and no credit card needed, which covers a couple of schedule cycles. |
| Features | CRota templates, open shifts, swaps with conflict checks, GPS-limited clock-ins, timesheets, leave and documents, all on one plan. The gap the listing names is payroll: there's no payroll connection, only a timesheet export. | BAuto-scheduling from availability, templates, multi-week and multi-location schedules, forecasting, shift trades, messaging and payroll exports, with a time clock as an add-on. That's the whole job. |
| Ease of use | CNo App Store rating to go on, since there's no store app. Staff save the web app to their home screen, and a rota still needs teams, roles and templates set up first. | A4.79 from 57,666 App Store ratings. Swapping or picking up a shift is a couple of taps for staff. |
| Platforms and integrations | CWeb only, as a progressive web app, with no native phone or desktop app. Its connections are UK ticketing, till and vetting tools such as DigiTickets and ICRTouch, and API access is by request. | BWeb, iPhone and Android, with payroll partners such as Rippling, Gusto, Square Payroll, Paychex, QuickBooks Online and OnPay, plus Zapier. API keys need Premium, and there's no desktop app. |
| Best for | UK venues that staff to bookings | auto-filled schedules for hourly teams |
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: Shiftie and When I Work. How we grade
Price against what you get
Shiftie starts at about $3.64 a month for each person and scores 2.0 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. When I Work starts at $2.50 a month for each person and scores 3.3.
When I Work scores higher and starts $1.14 a month lower. Of the other shift scheduling apps on the chart, 4 score higher than Shiftie for less, and none scores higher than When I Work 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
- Shiftie starts at £2.75 per employee / month. When I Work starts at $2.50 per user / month (Essentials, without time tracking).
- Only When I Work lists iOS and Android apps.
- Shiftie also covers reports and employee records.
- When I Work also covers auto-scheduling and team chat.
At a glance
| Shiftie | When I Work | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free trial |
| Starts at | £2.75 per employee / month | $2.50 per user / month (Essentials, without time tracking) |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | 28-day free trial, no card details required | 14-day free trial with every feature, no credit card required |
| Web | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Shiftie | When I Work, Inc. |
| Price read from | shiftie.co | wheniwork.com |
| Checked | Oct 18, 2026 | Oct 18, 2026 |
Who each one suits
Shiftie
- UK visitor attractions and hospitality venues that staff to bookings
- Small teams that want every feature on one per-employee price
- Employers tracking holiday allowances and absence patterns
When I Work
- Restaurants, retail stores and call centers scheduling hourly staff
- Managers who want shifts filled automatically from availability
- Multi-location businesses sharing staff between sites
Worth knowing
Shiftie
- Prices are shown in pounds sterling only; the site gives no dollar price.
- There is no native mobile app: Shiftie is a progressive web app that staff save to their phone's home screen.
- Listed integrations are UK ticketing, till and vetting tools; there is no named payroll integration, only a timesheet export, and API access is arranged on request.
- Billing is monthly for each user active in the previous month, with no annual plan, and teams of 200 or more need a quote.
When I Work
- The time clock, breaks and attendance are an add-on that raises each plan by $1.50 to $2 per user a month, though the page's FAQ says every plan includes them.
- The pricing page offers monthly or annual billing but does not say which basis the listed prices use.
- API keys, webhooks and SAML single sign-on need the Premium plan.
- Payroll runs through partners; Rippling, the preferred partner, offers When I Work customers six months free.
Key features
Shiftie
- Rota building
- Shifts are added by drag and drop or from shift and schedule templates, with open shifts staff can volunteer for and suggestions for who to assign.
- Swaps and conflict checks
- Staff can swap shifts and acknowledge new ones, and conflict detection flags clashes in the rota, which can be split by team, role or location.
- Clock-in with GPS limits
- Staff clock in on their phones or at a shared on-site portal, with optional GPS restrictions, and managers see who is on site at any moment.
- Timesheets for payroll
- Clock-ins create timesheet entries automatically, with auto-approval and auto clock-out settings, and approved timesheets export for payroll.
- Leave, absence and documents
- Holiday requests and allowances, absence tracking, an employee directory and stored documents such as policies and personal records.
- Booking-led scheduling
- Integrations with DigiTickets, TrekkSoft and ICRTouch bring pre-booked visitor numbers or till sales into the rota so staffing can follow demand.
When I Work
- Auto-scheduling
- Managers enter the coverage they need and the app assigns shifts from employee availability and qualifications in one click.
- Templates and multi-week schedules
- Saved templates such as a weekend rush or holiday plan are reused to build schedules weeks ahead, across several locations.
- Shift trades and OpenShifts
- Employees swap or pick up open shifts from the app, and managers approve or decline each request before the schedule updates.
- Time clock on any device
- With the time tracking add-on, staff clock in from phones, tablets or terminals, with GPS or geofencing, break tracking and overtime tracking tied to the schedule.
- Team messaging
- Managers and staff message individuals or the whole team in the app without sharing phone numbers.
- Payroll exports
- Approved hours go to payroll services including Rippling, Gusto, Square Payroll, Paychex, QuickBooks Online and OnPay.
Plans
Shiftie
Monthly Plan£2.75
per employee / month, £1.50 for each employee past 30
Every feature: scheduling, availability, leave, documents, time clock and timesheets, multiple venues, team messaging, reports and 7-day support.
EnterpriseCustom
For teams of 200 or more employees, priced by quote.
When I Work
Essentials$2.50
per user / month ($4 with time tracking and attendance)
Unlimited users. Auto-scheduling, multi-week and multi-location schedules, templates, forecasting, messaging, OpenShifts and swaps.
Pro$5
per user / month ($7 with time tracking and attendance)
Adds scheduling rules, role permissions, labor sharing, custom forecasting units, custom reports and callout reporting.
Premium$8
per user / month ($10 with time tracking and attendance)
Adds API keys, webhooks and SAML single sign-on.
