Scheduling in a spreadsheet works until it does not. That usually happens right around the point where two people show up for the same shift, nobody remembers who approved the time off, and you spend 20 minutes hunting through email threads to figure out how the whole thing fell apart.
An employee schedule maker fixes this by putting everyone on the same page, literally. The better ones also track time off, handle swap requests, and catch coverage gaps before they become somebody’s Monday morning problem.
Here are five tools that take different approaches to the job. We start with the one we know best.
What to look for in an employee schedule maker
The biggest issue is not building the schedule. It is making sure everyone sees the same version of it. Look for a shared calendar that updates when shifts change, when leave gets approved, or when someone picks up an open slot. If only the manager can see the full picture, adoption will stall.
Scheduling without knowing who has PTO next week is like planning a road trip without checking the gas gauge. Tools that combine schedule building with leave tracking save you from working out of two separate systems every time you assign a shift.
Mobile access matters more than it seems at first. Most frontline employees are not at a desk. If they cannot check their schedule, request a swap, or put in a time off request from their phone, you become the go-between, and that gets old fast.
At some point, HR or finance will want attendance data, absence breakdowns, or location reports. A schedule maker that exports to CSV or plugs into payroll will save you from copying numbers between systems by hand.
And watch how pricing scales. Per-user fees look reasonable at 10 people, but the bill can surprise you at 50. Per-location models cap costs for big single-site teams but hurt if you run multiple locations. Check what happens to your total when the team doubles.
Quick comparison
| Tool | Best for | Starting price | Free plan |
|---|---|---|---|
| actiPLANS | Leave management with work scheduling | $1.50/user/month | Yes (up to 3 users) |
| Connecteam | Deskless and field teams | $29/month for 30 users | Yes |
| Deputy | Shift-heavy businesses with compliance needs | $5/user/month | No (30-day trial) |
| Homebase | Single-location small businesses | $24/month per location | Yes (1 location) |
| Sling | Budget-conscious teams needing free scheduling | $2/user/month (Premium) | Yes |
5 best employee schedule makers
1. actiPLANS
Most scheduling tools start with the shift and bolt leave tracking on later. actiPLANS works the other way around. The starting point is a visual timeline of the entire team’s absences, approved leave, and work locations. By the time you build the schedule, you already know who is actually available and where they are working from.
The system handles unlimited custom leave types with separate accrual rules and automated PTO calculations. Employees submit their own time off requests through a self-service portal. Managers approve or decline with one click, and the shared timeline updates immediately, so coverage gaps show up before they cause problems rather than after.
Work scheduling lets managers assign people to locations (office, remote, custom sites) directly on the same timeline. For hybrid teams, this is where actiPLANS pulls ahead of most competitors: the question is not just “who is working” but “where are they working from,” and the location reports break that down by team and site with CSV export for payroll or HR.
actiPLANS integrates with actiTIME for teams that need absence tracking and time tracking in one stack. The mobile app handles requests and schedule checks from anywhere.
Pricing: Free for up to 3 users with limited features. Standard is $1.50 per user per month billed annually ($1.90 monthly). Growth for 41 to 200 users is $1.20 per user per month. Enterprise covers unlimited users at a flat $270 per month billed annually. Every paid plan comes with a 30-day free trial.
Best for: Teams that need combined leave management and work scheduling, hybrid teams tracking who is in the office when, and organizations tired of managing PTO accrual in spreadsheets.
2. Connecteam
Connecteam is a workforce management platform aimed at companies with mobile and deskless employees. The scheduling piece uses drag-and-drop shift assignment, templates, recurring schedules, and open shifts that staff can claim. Beyond scheduling, it bundles time tracking, task management, chat, and training into the same app.
The platform is organized into three hubs: Operations (scheduling and time tracking), Communications (chat and announcements), and HR (documents and onboarding). Each hub is priced separately, which is worth understanding before you commit, because using all three can add up.
Connecteam handles shift swaps, availability preferences, and overtime alerts. GPS clock-in confirms employees are at the right location when they start. The mobile app is the primary interface for most users, and the admin dashboard gives managers a cross-location view.
The hub-based pricing is the main complication. You pay separately for scheduling, communication, and HR features, and the stacking is not always obvious from the pricing page. The free plan works for very small teams, but it caps quickly.
Pricing: Free plan for small businesses. Operations hub is $29 per month for the first 30 users billed annually ($35 monthly), plus $0.80 per additional user. Advanced is $49 per month for 30 users, Expert is $99.
Best for: Companies with large deskless or field teams that want scheduling, communication, and task management in a single mobile app.
3. Deputy
Deputy is built for businesses that run on hourly shifts: retail stores, restaurants, hospitals, and warehouses. It uses demand forecasting to suggest staffing levels based on historical data, sales projections, or foot traffic, which most smaller schedule makers do not offer.
The auto-scheduling engine factors in employee availability, qualifications, and labor law compliance. That compliance piece matters in cities and states with predictive scheduling laws, because Deputy tracks overtime rules, break requirements, and advance notice mandates automatically.
Deputy plugs into most major payroll providers (ADP, Gusto, QuickBooks, Xero) and POS systems. The mobile app handles shift swaps, availability updates, and clock-in with GPS or facial recognition.
There is no free tier. The 30-day trial covers everything, but if you are a small team looking to test something low-commitment, the $5 per user starting price plus a $30 monthly minimum is a barrier.
Pricing: Lite (scheduling only) is $5 per user per month. Core at $6.50 adds time tracking. Pro at $9 adds demand forecasting and advanced reporting. Minimum monthly spend of $30.
Best for: Shift-based retail, hospitality, or healthcare businesses that need demand forecasting and built-in labor law compliance.
4. Homebase
The key difference with Homebase is the pricing model: it charges per location, not per user. A restaurant with 30 hourly workers pays the same monthly fee as one with 10 at the same site. That math is very favorable for large single-site teams.
The free plan covers scheduling, time tracking, and team messaging for one location with unlimited employees, which is unusually generous. Paid tiers add labor cost management, early wage access, and HR features. The scheduling interface is a weekly grid where you drag and drop shifts and publish them to the team.
Homebase also integrates with common POS systems (Square, Toast, Clover) and payroll tools. The hiring module lets you post jobs, track applicants, and send offer letters without leaving the platform, which pushes it past being a pure scheduling tool into small-business HR territory.
The per-location model breaks down for multi-site businesses. Running five locations means paying five times the monthly fee, and at that point, per-user pricing usually wins.
Pricing: Free for one location with unlimited employees. Essentials is $24 per month per location billed annually ($30 monthly). Higher tiers (Plus, All-in-One) add more HR features.
Best for: Single-site restaurants, shops, and cafes with big hourly teams where paying per location is cheaper than paying per person.
5. Sling
Sling’s free plan is the standout feature: no cap on users, no cap on locations. It covers shift scheduling, time off management, and team messaging, and that is more than most competitors include in their paid tiers, let alone free ones.
The scheduling interface is simple. Build on a weekly grid, set recurring shifts, and employees get notified of changes automatically. The Premium plan adds labor cost tracking so you can see projected costs as you build the schedule, which is useful if you are watching a budget.
Sling works best for teams that need a schedule and not much else. If you want demand forecasting, payroll integrations, or compliance tracking, you will need a different tool. That is the trade-off for the price.
Pricing: Free plan with unlimited users and locations. Premium is $2 per user per month ($1.70 annually). Business is $4 per user per month ($3.40 annually) and adds labor cost management and reporting.
Best for: Small and mid-size teams that want free scheduling for everyone and will trade advanced features for simplicity.
Build your team schedule with actiPLANS
Scheduling without knowing who is available is guesswork. actiPLANS puts leave data, work locations, and team availability on one visual timeline so managers can see the full picture before they assign a single shift.
When an employee submits a time off request, it goes through the approval workflow you configured. Once approved, their absence shows up on the shared timeline right away. Managers can see who is off, who is working from home, and who is at which office, without checking a separate system or sending a message to ask.
The PTO accrual engine runs balances automatically based on rules you set (weekly, biweekly, monthly, or custom). Employees check their balance before requesting leave, which cuts down on requests for time they have not earned.
Reports cover absence patterns by team, department, and leave type, with CSV export for payroll. For hybrid teams, the location data answers “who is in the office on Thursday” without a group chat.
Start a free trial to see the full system, or use the permanent free version for teams of three or fewer.
FAQ
What is an employee schedule maker?
It is software that helps managers create, share, and update work schedules with their team. It replaces spreadsheets and paper with a shared digital calendar that updates in real time. Most also handle shift swaps, availability tracking, and automatic notifications when the schedule changes.
How much does employee scheduling software cost?
Anywhere from free to over $10 per user per month. Per-user pricing ($1.50 to $9 per user per month is the typical range) is the most common model. Some tools charge per location instead. Free plans are available from actiPLANS, Connecteam, Homebase, and Sling, though what you get for free varies a lot.
Can I make a work schedule for free?
Yes. Sling offers free scheduling for unlimited users. actiPLANS has a free version for up to 3 users. Homebase covers one location for free. The trade-off is usually fewer features, limited support, or caps on team size.
What is the best schedule maker for small teams?
For teams under 10, actiPLANS and Homebase both offer free plans. actiPLANS is the better pick if you need leave management and PTO tracking built in. Homebase works better for a single retail or food service location where you also want hiring tools.
How do I handle shift swaps in scheduling software?
An employee requests a swap through the app. Someone available accepts. A manager approves the change. The schedule updates and both employees get notified. Deputy, Connecteam, and Sling all support this workflow directly.
What is the difference between per-user and per-location pricing?
Per-user pricing charges for each person on the schedule. Add 10 people, add 10 fees. Per-location pricing charges per site regardless of headcount. A single-site restaurant with 40 employees benefits from per-location. A company with five small offices usually pays less with per-user.
Do I need scheduling software if I already have a time tracking tool?
It depends on whether your time tracking tool covers scheduling too. actiTIME paired with actiPLANS handles both time tracking and leave management. A standalone timesheet app only records hours after the fact. If you are building schedules in spreadsheets and logging time somewhere else, combining them saves duplicate work.
How much notice should I give employees for schedule changes?
In most US states without a predictive scheduling law, there is no legal minimum. But some jurisdictions require advance notice of 7 to 14 days. Oregon and Chicago require 14 days, New York City requires 72 hours, and several California cities require 10 to 14 days. Even where it is not required by law, giving at least a week of notice reduces no-shows and keeps your team from resenting the schedule.
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