Best Employee Scheduling for Restaurants 2026
Restaurant schedules change weekly, staff turn over fast, and labor is one of the biggest controllable costs. A scheduling app for a restaurant should publish shifts to phones, handle swaps and availability, and connect hours to sales and tips.
We checked each vendor's own pricing page in October 2026. The biggest differences are in the pricing model: some charge per location with an employee cap, some per user, and one per hub covering the first 30 users. Free plans also differ widely in how many employees and locations they cover, from 7shifts' Comp plan to Homebase's Basic plan.
The best Employee Scheduling tools in 2026 are 7shifts (free plan; paid $44.99–$149.99/mo), Homebase (free plan; paid $30–$120/mo), and Connecteam (free plan; paid $35–$119/mo). 7shifts is the best scheduling app for most restaurants: it is built for restaurants, has a free plan for one location with up to 15 employees, and paid plans start at $44.99 per location per month billed monthly ($39.99 billed annually). Homebase is the best value pick, with a free plan for up to 10 employees and paid plans from $30 per location per month.
7shifts is the best scheduling app for most restaurants: it is built for restaurants, has a free plan for one location with up to 15 employees, and paid plans start at $44.99 per location per month billed monthly ($39.99 billed annually). Homebase is the best value pick, with a free plan for up to 10 employees and paid plans from $30 per location per month.
Compare the top 3 side-by-side
Drag the seat slider, lock a tier per product, see Vendr median pricing and hidden costs for 7shifts, Homebase, Connecteam.
Our Rankings
7shifts
7shifts is built for restaurants: it prices per location rather than per employee, offers tip management and payroll (both included in Premium), and its free Comp plan covers a single location with up to 15 employees.- Cheapest paid
- Essentials: $44.99/location/month billed monthly ($39.99 billed annually), up to 30 employees
- Verified
- 2026-10-20 · vendor source
- Free Comp plan for one location with up to 15 employees
- Per-location pricing, so staff within a plan's employee cap cost nothing extra
- Premium includes tip management, task management and 7shifts Payroll
- Labor budgeting by department using sales data from your POS
- Plans below Premium cap employees per location (15, 30 or 60)
- Tip management is a paid add-on below Premium
- Multi-location groups pay for each location
Homebase
Homebase prices per location with unlimited employees on every paid plan, its free Basic plan covers one location with up to 10 employees and includes POS integration, and a Tip Manager add-on imports tips from your POS into timesheets.- Cheapest paid
- Essentials: $30/location/month billed monthly ($24 billed annually), unlimited employees
- Verified
- 2026-10-20 · vendor source
- Free Basic plan for one location with up to 10 employees, including POS integration
- Unlimited employees per location on all paid plans
- Tip Manager add-on imports POS tips into timesheets
- 14-day free trial of the All-in-One plan
- Free plan is limited to one location and 10 employees
- Tip Manager and payroll cost extra
- Each physical address is billed as a separate location
Connecteam
Connecteam's free Small Business Plan includes every hub and feature for up to 10 users, and each paid hub is a flat price covering the first 30 users, which keeps a mid-size crew on one predictable bill. It is a general deskless-workforce app rather than a restaurant-specific one.- Cheapest paid
- Operations Basic: $35/month billed monthly ($29 billed annually) for the first 30 users, then $1.00/user/month ($0.80 annually)
- Verified
- 2026-10-20 · vendor source
- Free Small Business Plan with all features for up to 10 users
- Each paid hub price covers the first 30 users
- Scheduling, GPS time clock, chat and HR tools in one app
- 14-day free trial with no credit card
- Operations, Communications and HR hubs are priced separately
- Per-user charges apply on each hub beyond 30 users
- General deskless-workforce app, not restaurant-specific
Sling
Sling suits restaurants that mainly need a schedule: its Free plan covers shift scheduling for up to 30 users, and the paid plans add mobile time tracking and labor cost management at a low per-user price.- Cheapest paid
- Premium: $2.00/user/month billed monthly ($1.70 billed annually)
- Verified
- 2026-10-20 · vendor source
- Free plan covers shift scheduling for up to 30 users
- Premium adds mobile time tracking and labor cost management
- Business adds kiosk time tracking and advanced reporting
- 15-day free trial of the paid plans
- Per-user pricing grows with headcount
- Time tracking requires a paid plan
- Labor reporting is split across Premium and Business
Deputy
Deputy includes labor-law compliance, shift swaps and timesheets from its entry Lite plan, but it has no free plan and monthly plans carry a minimum monthly spend, so it fits restaurants that value compliance tooling over the lowest price.- Cheapest paid
- Lite: $5.50/user/month billed monthly ($5 on an annual plan); $30 minimum monthly spend on monthly plans
- Verified
- 2026-10-20 · vendor source
- Labor law compliance tools from the Lite plan up
- Shift swaps and replacement finding included in Lite
- Annual plans can be paid upfront or in monthly installments
- Free trial available before you buy
- No free plan
- Minimum monthly spend on monthly plans
- Admins and supervisors count as paid users
Shiftie
Shiftie is a UK-based scheduler with every feature on one plan, billed per active employee in British pounds only, plus a 28-day free trial. US restaurants can use it, but there is no published US-dollar price.- Cheapest paid
- £2.75 per active employee/month for the first 30 employees (GBP; no USD price published)
- Verified
- 2026-10-20 · vendor source
- All features on one plan, billed per active employee
- Only employees active in the previous month are billed
- 28-day free trial with no card required
- Lower rate for each employee beyond the 30th
- Priced and billed in GBP only
- No free plan after the trial
- Support is UK-based
Evaluation Criteria
- labor cost tracking
- shift planning
- tip management
- restaurant features
- mobile access
How We Picked These
We evaluated 6 products and ranked the top 6 (last researched 2026-10-20).
Tip management, POS connections and labor budgeting for hourly restaurant teams
How many employees and locations the free plan covers
Per location, per user or per hub, and billed monthly or annually
Time tracking, compliance and labor cost tools
Frequently Asked Questions
01 What's the best employee scheduling app for restaurants?
7shifts is our top pick because it is built for restaurants, with tip management, payroll and labor budgeting from POS sales data, and per-location pricing. Homebase is a close second for single locations thanks to its free plan and POS tip import add-on.
02 Which restaurant scheduling apps have a free plan?
7shifts Comp is free for one location with up to 15 employees. Homebase Basic is free for one location with up to 10 employees. Connecteam is free for up to 10 users with all features. Sling is free for scheduling up to 30 users. Deputy and Shiftie offer free trials only.
03 Is per-location or per-user pricing cheaper for a restaurant?
Per-location plans (7shifts, Homebase) cost the same whether you schedule 12 or 25 people, up to each plan's employee cap, so they favor larger crews at one site. Per-user plans (Sling, Deputy, Shiftie) favor small crews. Connecteam charges per hub with the first 30 users included.
04 Can restaurant scheduling software track tips?
Yes. 7shifts offers tip management as an add-on and includes it in its Premium plan. Homebase sells a Tip Manager add-on that imports tips from your POS and adds them to timesheets.
05 Do these apps charge extra for payroll?
7shifts Payroll is an add-on that is included in Premium, with a per-employee fee for each employee paid. Homebase payroll is an add-on with a base fee plus a per-employee fee. Deputy offers payroll for US customers on annual Core and Pro plans.
06 Are there minimum spends or currency issues to know about?
Deputy has a minimum monthly spend on its monthly plans. Shiftie publishes prices and bills only in British pounds, so US restaurants pay in GBP.
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