Sling

Overview

Sling is a staff scheduling and workforce-management service for small and midsize businesses. It suits teams coordinating recurring shifts and employee coverage; the free plan handles core scheduling, while labor tracking and cost controls require a paid tier.

Reusable templates, availability collection, time-off requests, open shifts, offers, and swaps address both schedule planning and last-minute coverage changes. Auto-scheduling is also supported. For managers, the practical distinction is that those scheduling tools extend into labor costs and time tracking only on paid plans.

Key features

Scheduling and communication

Employees can share availability, request time off, take available shifts, offer shifts, or swap them. That gives teams a way to distribute schedule changes rather than leaving all coverage adjustments to managers. Private and group messages, a Newsfeed, Announcements, and notifications by email, push, browser, and in some cases SMS provide several channels for staff updates.

Labor tools and integrations

Premium adds mobile time tracking, labor-cost management, and overtime tracking. Business adds kiosk time tracking on a shared device and reports of hours worked and wages earned. These upgrades make Sling more useful to managers watching labor, but organizations that need those controls must pay per user.

Sling lists integrations with Toast, Square, Harbortouch, Restaurant Manager, and POSiTouch. Its Toast integration syncs employee data, compares Toast POS sales with Sling labor costs, and exports timesheets to Toast Payroll, a meaningful connection for restaurants using Toast.

Security and support

Sling says customer data is stored in Amazon cloud infrastructure and communication channels are encrypted. Its security FAQ says most data at rest is not encrypted; passwords are hashed, and social security numbers are encrypted if provided. Sling also says it has verified GDPR-compliant data deletion and retention functionality and processes customer data according to customer instructions. Support includes a help center and contact by email at [email protected].

Pricing

Sling has a free plan, paid plans, and a 15-day trial. Free supports up to 30 users and includes shift scheduling, time-off requests, available shifts, news sharing, long-term scheduling, and private messaging. That cap makes it a strong fit for smaller teams that need scheduling and basic communication, but it excludes time and labor management.

Premium costs $2 a month, billed per user per month; the page also displays $1.70 with annual billing selected. It adds mobile time tracking, labor-cost and overtime tracking, private and group messaging, calendar synchronization, and everything in Free. It suits teams that need to connect schedules to labor oversight, though the per-user charge makes headcount a direct cost factor.

Business costs $4 a month, billed per user per month; the page also displays $3.40 with annual billing selected. It includes everything in Premium plus kiosk time tracking, reports, no-shows, sick call-outs, and PTO management. This is the better fit where managers need shared-device clocking and broader reporting, but teams that only need mobile tracking may not need the higher tier.

Platforms

Sling runs on Android, iOS, and the web, with mobile apps for phones. The mobile app requires iOS 11 or later or Android 5 (API 21) or later, and some actions require a desktop browser. Teams relying on older phones or expecting every workflow to be completed on mobile should account for those constraints.

Who it's for

Sling is aimed at SMBs and says it serves businesses across more than 30 industries. Its free scheduling tier can work for teams of up to 30 users that need shift planning, availability, time-off handling, and staff messages. Restaurants may particularly value its Toast connection. Teams needing paid labor controls should compare per-user costs and decide whether mobile tracking or shared-device kiosk tracking better fits their operation.

Pros and cons

• Pros: The free plan covers scheduling for up to 30 users and includes time-off requests, available shifts, and private messaging, making it usable beyond a bare calendar.
• Pros: Shift offers, swaps, availability collection, and auto-scheduling support both schedule creation and coverage changes.
• Pros: Paid tiers connect scheduling with mobile or kiosk time tracking, labor costs, overtime, and reports.
• Cons: Mobile operating-system minimums exclude older devices, and some actions require a desktop browser.
• Cons: Labor-management features sit behind paid per-user tiers, so teams needing these tools cannot stay on the free plan.
• Cons: Sling says most data at rest is not encrypted, a consideration for organizations evaluating data-security practices.

Alternatives

• 7shifts is worth comparing for restaurant teams: its free Comp plan limits use to 15 employees at one location, while Essentials supports 30 employees and unlimited locations.
• Rosnet Scheduling & Forecasting is a paid option for teams willing to request a demo rather than choose from a published plan price.
• Lineup.ai is a paid alternative for teams seeking automated AI-generated forecasts and a custom labor allowance budget; Forecasts Only costs $79 a month, billed $79/loc/month, with unlimited users and employees.
• SynergySuite Labor & Scheduling is another paid alternative.
• TimeForge is a paid alternative.
• Workforce.com is a paid alternative.
• Altametrics Workforce Scheduling is a paid option with an Essential plan at $75 a month during a 50% off for 3 months offer, billed $150 as the original price; taxes are not included.
• Deputy is a paid alternative with a Lite plan at $5 a month, billed per user per month, upfront or in monthly installments, excluding applicable taxes.

For broader comparisons, see Restaurant Labor Management Software, Restaurant Scheduling Software, Employee Scheduling Software, and Gym Staff Scheduling Software.

Verdict

Sling is a sensible choice for SMBs that need flexible shift scheduling and staff communication, especially if the free plan’s 30-user limit covers the team or a paid tier’s labor tools fit its workflow. Its main drawback is the combination of paid labor controls and mobile limitations: teams that need those features should budget per user and confirm desktop-dependent actions work for their staff.