Sling by Toast vs Zip Schedules (2026): which should you pick?

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

Pick Zip Schedules if

• Fits if you run a restaurant with 20 or fewer staff and want a low flat price
• Works for owners with several locations and one per-location bill

Look elsewhere if

• Skip it if you want a trial first, as none is mentioned
• Not for you if you need integrations, since none are listed
• Watch out: the site footer reads 2023 and its 404 page carries the Altametrics name
• Watch out: over 50 employees per location is custom

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.

Zip Schedules

• Price depends on headcount per location: $19 up to 20 employees, $39 for 21 to 50, and custom above 50.
• The pricing page does not mention a free trial.
• The site's footer reads 2023, and its 404 page carries the name Altametrics, so check that the product is actively maintained.
• No integrations are listed on the pages we read.

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.

Zip Schedules

Schedule building

Managers check staff availability and build schedules from templates, with alerts for schedule changes and reminders.

Employee requests

Shift swaps, time-off requests and availability changes are handled in one request queue.

Labor budgeting

Forecasting tools and budget alerts help schedule the right number of staff, and overtime is flagged automatically.

Labor law settings

The vendor says it tracks timesheet data, certifications and schedule-change records and offers settings for minimum wage rules.

Free mobile app

Managers and employees use iPhone and Android apps to view schedules, send broadcast messages and approve requests.

Multiple locations

Every plan lists multi-location support, with the price counted per location.

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.

Zip Schedules

• 1-20 employees$19

  per location / month for 1-20 employees

  Scheduling, communication tools, templates, shift swap, time-off and availability requests, multi-location support, labor budgeting and the iPhone and Android apps.

• 21-50 employees$39

  per location / month for 21-50 employees

  The same feature list as the smaller tier, for locations with 21 to 50 employees.

• EnterpriseCustom

  For locations with more than 50 employees; the page offers a demo instead of a price.

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.

Zip Schedules

No public discounts listed.