Overview

Sling combines recurring schedule planning with tools for handling coverage changes, staff communication, and labor costs. Reusable templates, availability collection, time-off requests, open shifts, offers, and swaps cover much of the scheduling cycle. Auto-scheduling is supported, though Sling’s paid plans are where time tracking and labor management become part of the package.

For restaurants, the Toast integration is a particularly concrete connection: it syncs employee data, compares Toast POS sales with Sling labor costs, and exports timesheets to Toast Payroll. Sling also lists integrations with Square, Harbortouch, Restaurant Manager, and POSiTouch.

Key features

Scheduling and communication

Staff can submit availability and time-off requests, take available shifts, offer shifts, and swap shifts. That participation can help teams manage coverage changes without limiting scheduling to managers. Private and group messages, a Newsfeed, Announcements, and email, push, browser, and sometimes SMS notifications give managers several routes for sharing updates.

Time and labor

Premium adds mobile time tracking, labor-cost management, and overtime tracking, making it the more relevant tier for managers who need to monitor staffing costs as well as build schedules. Business adds kiosk time tracking on a shared device and reports of hours worked and wages earned. It also includes no-show and sick-call-out features and PTO management, which may suit teams that need more structured attendance and leave oversight.

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 states that it has verified GDPR-compliant data deletion and retention functionality and processes customer data according to customer instructions. Support is available through its help center and contact@getsling.com.

Pricing

The Free plan costs 0.00 USD per free and supports up to 30 users. It includes shift scheduling, time-off requests, available shifts, news sharing, long-term scheduling, and private messaging. The cap makes it a sensible starting point for a small team with straightforward scheduling needs, but it excludes the time and labor tools offered on paid plans.

Premium costs 2.00 USD per user per month, billed per user per month; the page also displays $1.70 with annual billing selected. It includes everything in Free plus mobile time tracking, labor-cost management, overtime tracking, private and group messaging, and calendar synchronization. This is the strongest fit for teams that need cost and overtime visibility without shared-device clock-in or Business reporting.

Business costs 4.00 USD per user per 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. Choose it when those attendance and reporting features justify the per-user increase. Sling offers a 15-day trial of paid plans.

Platforms

Sling runs on Android, iOS, and the web. The mobile app requires iOS 11 or later or Android 5 (API 21) or later, and some actions require a desktop browser. Teams expecting every scheduling task to be manageable on a phone should account for that limitation.

Who it's for

Sling describes itself as an employee scheduling platform for small and midsize businesses and serves organizations across more than 30 industries. Its shift coverage tools suit teams with recurring schedules and employee-led shift changes; the Toast connection also gives restaurant operators a direct link between sales, labor costs, and payroll timesheets.

Pros and cons

Useful free scheduling tier: up to 30 users get scheduling, time-off requests, available shifts, long-term planning, news sharing, and private messaging at no cost.
Coverage changes are built in: availability, open shifts, offers, and swaps support employee participation in filling schedules.
Paid tiers add meaningful labor controls: Premium covers mobile tracking, labor costs, and overtime; Business adds kiosk tracking and reports.
Mobile use has constraints: the app has minimum OS requirements, and some actions need a desktop browser.
Data-at-rest protection has a caveat: Sling says most data at rest is not encrypted, although passwords are hashed and provided social security numbers are encrypted.

Alternatives

For restaurant teams comparing scheduling and labor tools, browse Restaurant Labor Management Software and Restaurant Scheduling Software. Gym operators can compare options in Gym Staff Scheduling Software, while broader comparisons are in Employee Scheduling Software.

7shifts is another freemium option with a free plan capped at 15 employees and one location; consider it if that smaller stated limit fits your operation. Homebase has paid task-management and tip-management add-ons, so it may be worth comparing if those are priorities.

Deputy has no free plan and starts with a paid Lite plan at 5.00 USD per month per user, billed upfront or in monthly installments; it is an option for teams prepared to pay for scheduling. Lineup.ai has a Forecasts Only plan at 79.00 USD per month per location, with unlimited users and employees and automated AI-generated forecasts; consider it when forecasting is the priority.

Planday has a Starter plan at 2.99 GBP per user per month with a five-user minimum. TimeForge offers retail labor plans, including an Enterprise Retail tier for 50 or more stores. When I Work starts at 2.50 USD per user per month for Essentials, with unlimited users and auto-scheduling. HotSchedules offers a Scheduling & Team Management plan with a one-year offer on us.

Verdict

Sling is a strong choice for small and midsize teams that want a useful free scheduling foundation and a clear path to paid time and labor controls. Its breadth of shift-coverage tools and Toast connection make it especially relevant to restaurants. Look elsewhere if your team needs mobile-only workflows without desktop-required actions, or if the stated data-at-rest approach does not meet your security requirements.

	ClockRota	Sling
Free plan	No	Yes
Free trial	Yes	Yes
Paid from	£9/mo	$1.70/mo
Open source	No	No
Platforms	Web	Android, iOS, Web
Free plan	No	Yes
Shift swaps	Yes	Yes
Mobile apps	No	Yes
Employee limit	5 employees	—
Auto-scheduling	—	Yes

ClockRota vs Sling

ClockRota

Sling