Sling

getsling.com
HR & Payroll
Weekend Project

Free Employee Scheduling And Shift Planning Made Easy

How to Replace Sling

Overview

Sling is an employee scheduling and workforce management platform that helps businesses organize employee schedules, track time and attendance, communicate with teams, and optimize labor costs. It serves as an all-in-one solution for shift scheduling, team communication, time tracking, and payroll processing with a free tier for up to 30 users.

Features

59 features across 10 categories

Communication(8)

Announcements

Send important information to team

BCC Messages

Send direct messages to multiple people at once

Group Messaging

Communicate with multiple employees in group conversations

News Sharing

Share news with team through targeted pages

Newsfeed

Share news efficiently and save paper - distribute information to specific groups and post updates, files, pictures and videos

Newsfeed Restrictions

Restrict who can create Newsfeed pages

Private Messaging

Communicate with employees one-on-one

Team Communication

Streamline internal communication and create a collaborative environment

Also in: Jobber, Jira, Insightly

Compliance(1)

Employee DocumentsPremium

Save important documents and set expiration alerts

Also in: Insider CDP, Airtable, 1Password

Labor Management(8)

BudgetingPremium

Stay on budget when setting employee schedules

ClopeningPremium

Comply with local rules and mandated rest times between shifts

Holiday PayPremium

Assign extra pay to shifts on holidays

Labor Cost ManagementPremium

Keep track of labor costs and compare against sales

Labor Cost Optimization

Set weekly labor budgets, track preferred hours and overtime thresholds, and get alerted of any excess

Overtime TrackingPremium

Track, analyze and prevent excessive overtime

Premium PayPremium

Allocate a premium pay rate for missed breaks

Salary SupportPremium

Track and manage salaried and hourly employee time

Management(2)

Access Control

Three levels of access - Admin, Manager, and Employee - for different responsibilities

Multi-location Management

Manage teams across multiple locations

Platform(1)

Mobile Apps

Available on Web, iOS and Android platforms

Also in: KnowBe4, Jira, Asana

Reporting(4)

Labor ReportsPremium

View reports of total hours worked and wages earned

Payroll ReportsPremium

Aggregate and sync reports for payroll processing

Reports

Analyze and understand labor data by pulling reports for custom periods

Sales ReportsPremium

Import projected sales data and compare with actual sales

Also in: monday.com, Smartsheet, 1Password

Scheduling(16)

Auto-assigning

Save time and let Sling assign shifts automatically

Available Shifts

Easily see which shifts still need to be filled

Calendar Synchronization

Keep track of scheduled shifts on any calendar app

Day Parts

Organize schedules by morning, afternoon or night shift

Long-term Scheduling

Build employee schedules months in advance

Mandatory Breaks

Automate meal and rest breaks to be automatically applied to applicable shifts

Schedule Templates

Save time by re-using weekly schedule templates

Shift Alarms

Automatically remind employees of upcoming shifts via SMS

Shift Offers

Allow employees to offer their shifts to coworkers

Shift Scheduling

Build employee schedules in minutes, manage time off, availability and shift trade requests, avoid overtime and double-booking

Shift Swaps

Stay in the loop and manage employee shift swaps

Shift Templates

Save time scheduling with easy-to-use shift templates and reuse weekly schedule templates

Slots on Available Shifts

Assign multiple positions to work during the same shift

Tags

Group and organize shifts with custom tags

Time-Off Requests

Approve or deny employee requests for time off

Unavailability

Accurately schedule using employee availability information

Also in: Acuity Scheduling, Calendly, Chili Piper

Task Management(3)

Shift Tasks

Attach tasks and checklists to a shift for clarity

Task Management

Distribute tasks across team and clarify what needs to be done during each shift

Task Templates

Save time assigning recurring work with templates

Also in: Klenty, Asana, Obsidian

Time & Attendance(14)

Attendance ReportsPremium

Report on total hours worked, sick call-outs, late arrivals and more

Auto Clock-outPremium

Automatically end a shift if employees forget to clock out

Break AttestationPremium

Require employees to acknowledge whether they took or missed a break before they clock out

Early Clock-in PreventionPremium

Prevent employees from starting their shifts too early

GeofencingPremium

Ensure employees are on-site when clocking in and out, and automatically stop tracking time if outside boundaries

Kiosk Time TrackingPremium

Use a shared device for employees to clock in and out

Late ArrivalsPremium

Track and manage tardiness

Mobile Time TrackingPremium

Accurately clock in and out of shifts from a mobile device

No-showsPremium

Track and manage shifts employees miss

Sick Call-outsPremium

Track and manage employee sick call-outs

Time Tracking

Easily track employee hours from a designated device or mobile apps, and export timesheets for seamless payroll processing

Timesheet ApprovalsPremium

Approve or edit team's time on the clock

Timesheet HistoryPremium

Keep track of any timesheet edits

TimesheetsPremium

Track hours worked in one simple report

Time Off(2)

PTO ManagementPremium

Cap paid time off by leave types and approve incoming requests based on remaining allowances

PTO Tracking

Track employees' paid time off

Pricing

Free

Free
  • Shift scheduling
  • Time-off requests
  • Available shifts
  • News sharing
  • Long-term scheduling
  • Private messaging
  • Up to 30 users

Premium

$2.00/mo ($1.70/mo billed annually)
  • Everything in Free
  • Mobile time tracking
  • Labor cost management
  • Overtime tracking
  • Private and group messaging
  • Calendar synchronization
  • Per user per month billing

Business

Popular
$4.00/mo ($3.40/mo billed annually)
  • Everything in Premium
  • Kiosk time tracking
  • Reports
  • No-shows
  • Sick call-outs
  • PTO management
  • Per user per month billing

Cost Calculator

Keep Paying Sling

Monthly$2/mo
Yearly$24/yr
5-Year Total$120

Build It Yourself

Est. Build Time~4 hrs
Hosting$20/mo
DifficultyVery Easy

Total Cost Comparison

1 Year
SaaS
$24
DIY
$240
3 Years
SaaS
$72
DIY
$720
5 Years
SaaS
$120
DIY
$1.2k

DIY hosting estimate based on Vercel + Supabase free/pro tiers (~$20/mo). Build time estimated from 59 features at very easy complexity.

Build vs Buy

Should you build a Sling alternative or buy the subscription? Estimate based on 59 features.

Buy Sling

Better Value
Monthly cost$20/mo
3-year total$720
Time to deployDays

Build Your Own

Development cost$36,000
Maintenance$540/mo
3-year total$55,440
Dev time~3 months

Buying Sling saves ~$54,720 over 3 years vs building.

Estimates based on 59 features and a BuildScore of 5/5. Actual costs vary.

Integrations

7 known integrations

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