Sling by Toast vs ZoomShift
We give Sling by Toast a 2.8 GPA and ZoomShift a 2.4, out of 4.0. Sling by Toast grades higher on value for money and features. They get the same grade on the free plan, ease of use 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
ZoomShift
Employee scheduling and time clock, free for up to 20 users
How we grade them
| 2.8GPASling by ToastGood | 2.4GPAZoomShiftFair | |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | CStarter is $2 per active user a month billed yearly, so 15 staff pay $30 a month with the time clock and timesheets included. For a team that size that's just past the cheapest quarter of this category. |
| 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. | BEssentials is free for up to 20 users at one location, with schedules up to 2 weeks ahead, messaging, reminders and shift confirmations. No time clock, but a small single-site team can live on it. |
| 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. | CTemplates, availability, swaps and covers, a web and phone time clock, timesheets and a payroll report, with auto-scheduling on Premium. The gap the listing names is payroll: no payroll connections, so hours are exported. |
| 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. | CWe have no App Store rating on record for it. Schedules need staff, positions and templates set up before the first week goes out. |
| 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. No integrations are named at all, so this B rests on the devices alone. |
| Best for | free scheduling for teams up to 30 | cheap scheduling with a time clock |
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 ZoomShift. 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. ZoomShift starts at $2 a month for each person and scores 2.3.
Sling by Toast scores higher and starts $0.30 a month lower. Of the other shift scheduling apps on the chart, none scores higher than Sling by Toast for less, and 1 scores higher than ZoomShift 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). ZoomShift starts at $2 per active user / month, billed annually (Starter).
- Sling by Toast also covers tasks and team chat.
- ZoomShift also covers applicant tracking.
At a glance
| Sling by Toast | ZoomShift | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $1.70 per user / month, billed annually (Premium) | $2 per active user / month, billed annually (Starter) |
| 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. | Essentials plan, free for up to 20 users at one location: schedules up to 2 weeks ahead, team messaging, reminders, shift notes and shift confirmations. No time clock. |
| 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) | ZoomShift |
| Price read from | getsling.com | zoomshift.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
ZoomShift
- Single-location teams of up to 20 that only need a shared schedule
- Small businesses that want a low per-user price for scheduling and time clock
- Seasonal businesses, since a subscription can be paused for quiet months
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.
ZoomShift
- The free Essentials plan has no time clock or timesheets, schedules only 2 weeks ahead and covers one location and 20 users.
- Auto-scheduling, overtime warnings and the geofenced time clock need Premium.
- No payroll integrations are named on the site; timesheets are exported and sent to your payroll provider.
- There is no set non-profit or education discount; the vendor says it will discuss a price on request.
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.
ZoomShift
- Schedules from templates
- Shift and schedule templates, availability and time-off requests, and multi-shift assignment for groups; Premium adds auto-scheduling.
- Shift swaps and covers
- Staff request covers and swap shifts in the app, and changes reach the team by email, text and push notifications.
- Web and mobile time clock
- Employees clock in for assigned shifts from a browser or the iPhone and Android apps, with break and meal tracking, GPS checks and IP address whitelisting.
- Timesheets and payroll reports
- Each finished shift creates a timesheet that managers edit and approve, then a payroll report breaks down hours and gross pay by location, position or person.
- Overtime and attendance controls
- Premium warns about overtime, blocks overlapping shifts and clock-ins that are too early or late, and compares scheduled with worked hours.
- AI applicant screening
- An applicant tracking tool filters candidates by your criteria and runs AI-led first interviews that score each answer.
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.
ZoomShift
Essentials$0
Up to 20 users and 1 location, scheduling up to 2 weeks ahead, team communication, reminders and shift confirmation.
Starter$2
per active user / month, billed annually ($2.50 billed monthly)
Unlimited users and locations. Adds templates, availability and time off, swaps and covers, time clock, timesheets, PTO and break tracking, payroll report.
Premium$4
per active user / month, billed annually ($5 billed monthly)
Adds auto-scheduling, overtime warnings, conflict prevention, early and late clock-in limits, a geofenced time clock and custom role permissions.
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.
ZoomShift
- Annual discount
About 20% off with annual billing
Annual billing brings Starter to $2 and Premium to $4 per active user a month, against $2.50 and $5 billed monthly.
