The Best Online Employee Scheduling Software List
Here’s a shortlist of the best employee scheduling software:
- Sage HR
Best for small and medium businesses
- Wrike
Best for companies looking resource scheduling with powerful project management features
- Homebase
Best if you need a complete online HR platform
- monday.com
Best custom workflows for team scheduling
- Hub Planner
Best for resource allocation and availability mapping
- Buddy Punch
Best online time clock with scheduling
- ClockShark
Best for field service or construction business
- When I Work
Best for employee shift scheduling and time tracking
- Shiftboard
Best for highly regulated industries where you need to comply with diverse safety standards and labor laws
- Shiftbase
Best for easy shift scheduling
Managers have saved hours of work by ditching the classic paper records or spreadsheets to record their employees’ attendance and leave days. Automating your employee scheduling tasks lets you focus on other aspects like maintaining a solid team culture or ensuring your staff is happy.
For this article, I’ve tested 10 employee scheduling tools that reunite the core features you need to manage your team’s work hours, time off, payroll, and sometimes even more.
Note that each one of these platforms comes with extra features that will be helpful for a specific industry or need. I’ll take you through the benefits of the core capabilities that help you maintain error-free schedules and stay compliant—regardless of your team’s size or location.
Keep reading for the list of 10 online employee scheduling software options HR, business owners, or team managers need to consider.
What Is Employee Scheduling Software?
Employee scheduling software solutions are used to plan, track, and report on your worker’s tasks and timesheets. This includes managing shifts, tracking vacation and sick time, and making wage payments based on fair data—no matter how many locations and teams you’re in charge of.
Their automated versions enable smooth schedule management even when work hours are extended unexpectedly or employees start trading their shifts. The scheduling module on these tools is almost always paired with time tracking and reporting capabilities for complete staff activity organization and analysis.
Note: Most of the tools you can get today are available online via a web application but employees can access them through desktop or mobile apps instead. You can use all of the solutions on this list directly from your web browser as employees can log their time online either from their computers or mobile phones.
Why Choose Employee Scheduling Software?
The complexity of these apps makes for a lengthy list of benefits you can get from a single HR hub. Here’s a few of them:
- Lowered labor costs and unexpected expenses
- Less time spent on scheduling and rescheduling
- No shift delays or overlaps
- More clarity regarding employee availability and shift exchanges
- Improved employee satisfaction and retention rates
- Direct payroll based on clear work hours stats
- Full labor law compliance
- Real-time view of your team’s activity and work risks
Most tools also provide flexible pricing levels so any kind of business can gain from them. You can access many free employee scheduling software alternatives with limited core features or for smaller teams.
Online Employee Scheduling Software Comparison Criteria
What do I look for when I select the best online employee scheduling apps? Here’s a summary of the evaluation criteria that should inspire your decision-making process:
- User Interface (UI): Attractive UI is particularly helpful when you’re looking to implement a new tool quickly. An intuitive interface makes it easier for your employees to use the tool without requiring extra training. For a non-boring experience, opt for a bright and clean design.
- Usability: Reduce labor costs by looking for sellers that offer timely tech support and training even prior to making the purchase. A comprehensive help center complete with tutorials or a community to answer your inquiries in real-time is an added plus. Without these, you’d have to spend extra time and resources on training instead of using that time to do your work.
- Integrations: How easy is it for you to integrate the new tool with your current apps? Employee scheduling software is likely just one of the solutions you need to run your business. Choose platforms that seamlessly integrate with apps you’re already using, such as HRMS, thanks to pre-built integrations or add-ons. Another option is to request a specific integration and see if the seller’s dev team can prioritize this and allow customization.
- Value for $: Pick two or three apps from this list to compare their pricing. You want the cost to be appropriate for the capabilities you get. Keep in mind that unclear pricing or a lack of transparency are huge red flags.
Online Employee Scheduling Software Key Features
- Employee scheduling: Allocate employee schedules, tasks, and PTO or sick days.
- Automated scheduling: Save time by scheduling and adjusting work distribution based on predefined rules or patterns.
- Payroll management: Pay your employees on time directly from your employee scheduling solution.
- Shift management: Communicate required or open shifts and allow employees to swap shifts with one another.
- Time tracking: Allow employees to punch in and out online without the paperwork while managers maintain an overall look at their timesheets.
- Reporting and analytics: Create smart and clear reports to keep track of your team’s performance and reduce no-shows.
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Overviews Of The 10 Best Online Employee Scheduling Software
Next is a brief run-through of each online employee scheduling software on my list showing what it does best, plus screenshots to showcase their features in action.
Sage HR
Best for small and medium businesses
While Sage HR is an ideal tool for SMBs, big names like Deloitte or airBaltic also use it for recruitment, onboarding, shift scheduling, time and expense tracking, and leave management. The performance module stands out as it helps managers keep track of goals, schedule one-on-one meetings, and collect employee feedback.
Sage HR comes with a couple of handy extra features like support for eSignatures, detailed reporting, and a workflow builder. Additionally, you can integrate it with other Sage online products like Sage CRM, Sage HRMS, or Sage Accountants network.
With Sage HR, the pricing starts at $5.5/user for the fundamental human resources and leave management features after 14 days of trial.
Wrike
Best for companies looking resource scheduling with powerful project management features
Wrike is an all-in-one project management solution that allows you to easily manage projects, people, and tasks in one unified platform. The software lets you create detailed schedules for your employees that can be edited in real time. This feature is especially helpful when dealing with last-minute changes or unexpected absences.
With Wrike’s employee scheduling features, you can create and manage employee schedules easily and set up alerts to notify you when some changes or tasks need attention. It allows you to create custom work shifts for each employee and assign tasks accordingly. You can also view who is scheduled for which shift at any given time, track changes in work hours, and approve or deny requests for shift adjustments or overtime hours. Additionally, employees can use the self-service portal to pick up shifts, request time off, and swap shifts with coworkers.
Wrike’s time-tracking feature lets you track how long each employee spends on a task or project. You can use this data to accurately measure productivity levels and identify areas where improvements are needed. Employees, on the other hand, can view their schedules from any device with a web browser, giving them more flexibility when managing their workloads. Finally, Wrike allows you to analyze workloads based on detailed reports that provide insight into overtime pay rates or staffing levels over extended periods.
Wrike integrates with over 400 applications, including ADP, Bamboo HR, Workday, Namely, Evernote, Dropbox, and Slack.
Homebase
Best if you need a complete online HR platform
The Homebase team scheduling software is mainly used by small businesses such as small stores, beauty salons or fitness facilities, and other service providers. The platform provides an exhaustive set of features that let you run your HR tasks from start to finish, including hiring and onboarding, scheduling, time tracking, team communication, and more.
Its simplicity and vast array of functionalities have brought numerous distinctions such as “Top Rated Time Clock Software” by The Blueprint and a 5-star rating on QuickBooks Apps.
Homebase has a free plan you can use with an unlimited number of employees but fewer advanced features. This replaces a free trial.
monday.com
Best custom workflows for team scheduling
monday.com is an online employee scheduling software that allows managers to build custom workflows for their team. The tool includes dozens of integrations, widgets, third-party apps, and editable columns.
monday.com includes a time tracker for users to keep track of time spent on tasks. Users can also add the tracker to the team’s high-level overview so managers can see how much time employees spend on each individual task. Managers can also assign individual or multiple team members to tasks.
The tool has a workload widget, which enables managers to pull data from tasks and view individual team member capacity and overall workload. Users can also create custom dashboards that update automatically, so managers can track overall team performance and efficiency.
monday.com costs from $8/user/month. A 14-day free trial is also available.
Hub Planner
Best for resource allocation and availability mapping
Hub Planner provides a complete list of features like core resource scheduling and time tracking along with project planning and real-time reporting. Users from all kinds of professions can use the tool thanks to its availability on various devices—including on the go as long as you’re connected to the Internet.
The tool’s complex resource scheduling functionalities allow managers to find available team members by skills, location, department, workload, and/or custom tags.
Hub Planner plans are available from $7/resource/month with a generous 60-day free trial.
Buddy Punch
Best online time clock with scheduling
Buddy Punch is a web-based time clock and scheduling software. Your employees can view their current time card, request time off, submit a claim to correct a punch-in error, or even submit their time card for approval — all without ever leaving the Buddy Punch app. The interface has been built to ensure easy navigation and ease of use, with drag-and-drop schedule creation and the ability to create repeating/recurring shifts.
Buddy Punch’s key features work to keep your team accountable and honest. Through GPS tracking, you can stay on top of your staff’s location whenever they clock in/out of work. Some additional features include facial recognition and photos on punch, which run a biometric scan of your employees’ faces to verify who is attempting to punch in/out. In addition, Buddy Punch integrates with QuickBooks, ADP, Gusto, Paychex, Paylocity, PayPlus, SurePayroll, and Workday. With a Zapier account, you’ll have access to thousands of other apps and tools.
Buddy Punch costs from $3.49/user/month plus a $19/month base fee for their Standard time and attendance package. For enterprise organizations with over 200 employees, you can request a free quote. They also offer a 14-day free trial too.
ClockShark
Best for field service or construction business
ClockShark is an online employee scheduling software with timesheets and time tracking for field services and construction businesses. Employees can clock in and clock out from their smartphones and all job costing data is recorded within the app so you can access it for simple payroll and invoice processing. You have multiple options for employees to access ClockShark: by web browser, mobile app, or even a ClockShark 'kiosk' using a tablet device. You can leverage facial recognition tools and individual PINs to ensure the utmost security no matter how you choose to access the software.
Crew management is simple with ClockShark's work scheduling calendar. You can create and assign shifts, color-code entries, and drag-and-drop items to make changes quickly. Notifications will prompt affected parties in real-time if their shift is altered in any way (canceled, shortened, swapped, etc.). ClockShark also has GPS and geofencing capabilities baked in so you can see where and when people are checking in.
Overall, ClockShark is a must-have online employee scheduling software for field service or construction businesses to streamline their timesheet-to-payroll workflows.
ClockShark integrates with QuickBooks, Sage 100 Contractor, Xero, ADP, Paychex, and other apps.
ClockShark costs from $20/month base fee + $3/user/month and comes with a 14-day free trial.
When I Work
Best for employee shift scheduling and time tracking
When I Work is an employee scheduling software with an integrated time tracking tool for shift and task tracking. This allows you to manage your employees and track their hours without ever leaving the app. Your employees can manage their availability, submit time-off requests, and collaborate on shift trades.
For repetitive scheduling, When I Work lets you design shift templates or use easy copy-paste mechanisms to duplicate submitted information. The app makes it super easy to add and remove employees. It also facilitates fast communication with an in-app messaging system. If something about your schedule is amiss or needs to change, you will have feedback right away.
When I Work integrates with Acuity Scheduling, Calendly, TSheets, and more. Support is available via email and chat.
When I Work costs from $2/user/month and offers a 14-day free trial.
Shiftboard
Best for highly regulated industries where you need to comply with diverse safety standards and labor laws
Need a highly-compliant tool to keep problems at bay? Shiftboard comes with two separate products: ScheduleFlex (used in distribution, staffing agencies, call centers) and the high-compliance SchedulePro (used for oil and gas, manufacturing, petrochemical industries). Both versions allow for general labor law compliance, employee self-service, and time tracking.
ScheduleFlex is better suited for organizations that require constant schedule changes. Flexible team schedule creation, shift blocking and credential verification, or labor demand forecasting help with maintaining day-to-day compliance.
Meanwhile, SchedulePro provides complex compliance with labor laws and safety standards along with labor demand forecasting, exception tracking, and other features to help you manage diverse risks.
The cost for both the ScheduleFlex and SchedulePro plans is custom as you’ll need to request a demo beforehand to see if one of them is right for your organization. Note that additional implementation fees apply in all cases.
Shiftbase
Best for easy shift scheduling
Shiftbase is a straightforward online tool used in industries where shift management is a priority like production, transportation, or retail. Its mix of employee scheduling, time tracking, and human resources management (HCM) allows managers to plan and monitor workflows from anywhere.
Their physical punch clock boxes let staff members mark the start and end of their shifts directly on the work site. Alternatively, time tracking can be done online via the mobile app or web browser. An ISO 27001:2017 certification ensures personal data is secured and up to par with global standards.
Shiftbase paid plans start at €2.75/active employee/month and you can test the tool with a free 14-day trial.
Need Expert Help Selecting The Right Calendar & Scheduling Software?
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It only takes a minute to submit your requirements and they will give you a quick call at no cost or commitment. Based on your needs you’ll receive customized software shortlists listing the best-fitting solutions from their team of software advisors (via phone or email). They can even connect you with your selected vendor choices along with community negotiated discounts. To get started, please complete the form below:
Best Online Employee Scheduling Software Summary
Tool | Free Option | Price | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Sage HR Best for small and medium businesses | 30-day free trial | From $7 USD/employee/month | Visit Website |
2 | Wrike Best for companies looking resource scheduling with powerful project management features | 14-day free trial | From $9.80/user/month | Visit Website |
3 | Homebase Best if you need a complete online HR platform | Freemium version available (unlimited employees) | From $20/month (payroll add-on is $6/user/month + $39/month) | Visit Website |
4 | monday.com Best custom workflows for team scheduling | 14-day free trial + freemium plan available | From $10/user/month | Visit Website |
5 | Hub Planner Best for resource allocation and availability mapping | 30-day free trial | From $7/resource/month (billed annually) | Visit Website |
6 | Buddy Punch Best online time clock with scheduling | 14-day free trial | From $3.49 - $4.49/user/month + $19/month base fee | Visit Website |
7 | ClockShark Best for field service or construction business | 14-day free trial | From $20/month base fee + $3/user/month | Visit Website |
8 | When I Work Best for employee shift scheduling and time tracking | 14-day free trial | From $2/user/month | Visit Website |
9 | Shiftboard Best for highly regulated industries where you need to comply with diverse safety standards and labor laws | Not available | Offers customized pricing upon request. | Visit Website |
10 | Shiftbase Best for easy shift scheduling | Not available | From $3.50/user/month | Visit Website |
Other Online Employee Scheduling Platform Options
Here are more apps that didn’t make the top list of best online employee scheduling software but are worth checking out:
- Schedule360
Best for healthcare providers
- BambooHR
Best for managing employees throughout the whole life cycle
- 7shifts
Best for restaurants
- Connecteam
Best for browser-based time tracking
- Aladtec
Best for rescue and law enforcement organizations
- Skedulo
Best for remote teams
- Planday
Best for revenue forecasting
- WhenToWork
Best for a one-click smart scheduling process
- TimeForge
Best POS integration option
- Aplano
Best for German speakers
What Do You Think About These Online Employee Scheduling Tools?
Is there any similar app or workforce management software you’re already using? Looking for employee scheduling software specifically for Small Businesses?
Are you looking to switch to a new online employee management software for the extra features, or taking the leap and implementing an ERP Software?? Let me know in the comments! Don’t forget to bookmark this list if you haven’t decided on a new tool yet.
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