ShiftForce (ShiftNote) vs Sling by Toast (2026): which should you pick?

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

Pick Sling by Toast if

• Fits if you have up to 30 staff and want scheduling for nothing
• Works for restaurants already on Toast or Square that build schedules weeks ahead

Look elsewhere if

• Tight if you need a time clock on the free plan, as clocking in starts on Premium
• Skip it if your payroll isn't Toast, since that's the only payroll link it names
• Pricey if you want the shared kiosk clock, PTO or wage reports, which need Business at $3.40 a user
• Too light for teams past 30 on the free plan, which stops at 30 users
• Watch out: Sling is owned by Toast, and Toast customers buy it through the Toast Shop, not Sling's pricing page

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.