Sling by Toast vs When I Work
We give Sling by Toast and When I Work the same GPA: 2.8 out of 4.0. Sling by Toast grades higher on value for money and the free plan. When I Work grades higher on ease of use. 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.
Sling by Toast
Free shift scheduling for up to 30 users, with paid time clock tiers
When I Work
Staff scheduling with auto-fill, shift trades and an add-on time clock
How we grade them
| 2.8GPASling by ToastGood | 2.8GPAWhen I WorkGood | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | 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. | 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 | 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. | 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 | 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. | 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 | 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. | A4.79 from 57,666 App Store ratings. Swapping or picking up a shift is a couple of taps for staff. |
| Platforms and integrations | 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. | 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 | free scheduling for teams up to 30 | 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: Sling by Toast and When I Work. How we grade
Price against what you get
Sling by Toast starts at $1.70 a month for each person and scores 2.7 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 $0.80 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 Sling by Toast 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
- Sling by Toast starts at $1.70 per user / month, billed annually (Premium). When I Work starts at $2.50 per user / month (Essentials, without time tracking).
- Sling by Toast has a free plan. When I Work does not, though it has a free trial.
- Sling by Toast also covers tasks.
At a glance
| Sling by Toast | When I Work | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free trial |
| Starts at | $1.70 per user / month, billed annually (Premium) | $2.50 per user / month (Essentials, without time tracking) |
| Free plan | 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. | None |
| Free trial | 15-day free trial of the paid plans | 14-day free trial with every feature, no credit card required |
| Web | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Sling, Inc. (Toast) | When I Work, Inc. |
| Price read from | getsling.com | wheniwork.com |
| Checked | Oct 18, 2026 | Oct 18, 2026 |
Who each one suits
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
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
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.
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
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.
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
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.
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.
Ways to pay less
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.
When I Work
No public discounts listed.
