6 Best Schedule Making Apps for Small Businesses (In-Depth Look)

ByEric Czerwonka Last Updated
6 Best Schedule Making Apps for Small Businesses (In-Depth Look)

What factors should your business consider when choosing a schedule making app? In our experience, there are 4 key factors:

  • Factor #1: It should offer key scheduling features, such as a user-friendly drag-and-drop schedule maker, customizable employee availability, repeating shifts, and more.
  • Factor #2: It should expand beyond scheduling and offer time tracking features (such as tracking hours worked and managing time off requests and tracking PTO) and payroll-related features.
  • Factor #3: It should be easy for both employers and employees.
  • Factor #4: There should be an outstanding customer service experience.

In this post, we look at 6 different schedule making apps that you can use to simplify and improve your scheduling process.

Note: If you feel that Buddy Punch is the right choice for your company, sign up for a free trial or request a 1-on-1 demo.

Best Schedule Making Apps

  1. Buddy Punch
  2. When I Work
  3. Sling
  4. Connecteam
  5. Homebase
  6. Hubstaff

1. Buddy Punch

Wide Array of Scheduling Features

Buddy Punch offers a wide array of scheduling features. No matter what your needs are, we likely have you covered!

Creating a Schedule for Your Team Is Easy and Intuitive (via Drag and Drop Functionality)

When you create a schedule with Buddy Punch, you’ll see a detailed calendar view of your team.

1. Click on an empty area in the schedule to access a scheduling widget.

Example of drag and drop scheduling interface.

2. Enter the relevant shift details (i.e., Assign to Jim Iverson every weekday from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM).

Shift details include employee, date, time, breaks, location and more.

3. Use our easy and intuitive drag and drop functionality to move shifts around (until you’re satisfied with the schedule).

4. Click on “Publish”.

What Happens Once the Schedule Is Published?

Once an employee’s shift is published, they can automatically receive an email and/or mobile push notification (however, you also have the option of publishing without notifications).

This is what an email notification would look like:

Example of an email notification.

This is what a mobile push notification would look like:

Example of mobile alerts.

Set Repeating Shifts

With Buddy Punch, you can use automation to help make writing your team’s schedule easier. Specifically, you can set up repeating shifts (rather than re-creating schedules from scratch each time).

Choose if and when the shift or schedule repeats.

For example:

  • Linda’s shift will repeat every weekday from 9 AM to 3 PM.
  • Bob’s shift will repeat once a week on Monday from 10 AM to 2 PM.
  • Jordan’s shift will repeat on the first Tuesday of each month from 9 AM to 5 PM.  
  • And so on.

This means at the start of a new week, a good chunk of your schedule is already written for you.

Employees Can Set Their Scheduling Availability

Our schedule planner app makes it easy and intuitive for staff to enter their available working hours.

Per the below image, this comes in handy when employers are planning the schedule.  

Employees can enter their availability in an easy to use drag and drop format.

Shift Trade Requests

Employees can request shift trades right from the scheduling interface.

Schedules change as the days go on. People’s availability changes or something unexpected comes up, and an employee needs to get someone to cover their shift. You can make it easier to handling shift scheduling changes by letting your employees trade shifts with one another.

Buddy Punch makes it easy for employees to send shift trade requests to one another (and if accepted, it can optionally be sent to an administrator for review).

Scheduling Alerts & Reminders

Buddy Punch offers several scheduling alerts & reminders (click here to see the full list).

For example, team members who didn’t punch in within X minutes of their shift start could receive a mobile or email alert (which ensures greater accuracy come payroll time).

Example of how to add an alert.

Other Scheduling Features

This is just the tip of the iceberg — discover the full range of scheduling features here. Again, no matter what your needs are, we likely have you covered!  

Increase Employee Accountability & Make the Payroll Process More Efficient  

Buddy Punch expands beyond scheduling. We also offer accountability and payroll-related features.

In terms of employee accountability, here’s a small sampling of what Buddy Punch offers:

In terms of payroll, here’s a small sampling of what Buddy Punch offers: 

Customers Love Buddy Punch’s Ease-of-Use and Outstanding Customer Service

As of writing, Buddy Punch has received 4.8 out of 5 stars on Capterra (based on 823 reviews).

We’re thankful that a common theme is Buddy Punch’s ease-of-use and outstanding customer service. These are areas that we place a major emphasis on.

"Absolutely stellar customer support, works exactly as advertised."
"Simple and easy to use time tracking product"

Click here to see all of our Buddy Punch reviews on Capterra.

Sign Up for a Free Trial or Request a 1-on-1 Demo

If you feel that Buddy Punch is the right choice for your business, sign up for a free trial or request a 1-on-1 demo.

2. When I Work

As of writing, When I Work has received 4.5 out of 5 stars on Capterra (based on 1016 reviews).

They offer a wide array of features, including but not limited to:

Here’s a review showcasing why they offer a solid schedule making app:

"Scheduling made simple."

Click here to see all of When I Work’s Capterra reviews.

3. Sling

Sling is a scheduler maker app that you can access online. Sling has a free version, which lets you write and share schedules with your team.  On Sling’s paid plans, you get advanced features like mobile time tracking, overtime tracking, and calendar synchronization.

As of writing, Sling has received 4.6 out 5 stars on Capterra (based on 124 reviews).

They offer a wide array of functionality, including but not limited to:

Here’s a review showcasing why it’s one of the best schedule making apps:

"This app is a game changer."

Click here to see all of Sling’s Capterra reviews.

4. Connecteam

As of writing, Connecteam has received 4.8 out of 5 stars on Capterra (based on 131 reviews).

They offer a wide array of features, including but not limited to:

Here’s a review showcasing why it could be a great schedule making app for your business:

"Small business."

Click here to see all of Connecteam’s Capterra reviews.

5. Homebase

Homebase is another scheduling app with a free plan, where you can schedule your team with some basic features. They also have paid premium plans, where you get features like PTO and time off tracking.

As of writing, Homebase has received 4.6 out of 5 stars on Capterra (based on 921 reviews).

They offer a wide array of features, including but not limited to:

Here’s a review showcasing why it’s one of the best employee scheduling apps:

"Scheduling and labor costing."

Click here to see all of Homebase’s Capterra reviews.

6. Hubstaff

As of writing, Hubstaff has received 4.6 out of 5 stars on Capterra (based on 1192 reviews).

They offer a wide array of features, including but not limited to:

Here’s a review showing why it’s a great employee schedule making app:

"Simplicity and easy management - all you need."

Click here to see all of Hubstaff’s Capterra reviews.

Sign Up for a Free Trial of Buddy Punch or Request a 1-on-1 Demo

If you feel that Buddy Punch is the right choice for your business, sign up for a free trial or request a 1-on-1 demo.

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