Scheduling can be a challenging task, especially for large companies without a work schedule maker tool or app.
Advancements in technology have made it easier for managers and employees to organize their schedules through the use of apps. These schedule maker tools and apps not only make scheduling easier, but they help ensure staff is scheduled fairly and efficiently.
In this post, we’ll look at the top scheduling tools and apps for 2023, which can help businesses of all sizes optimize their scheduling processes and boost overall productivity. Whether you’re a manager or an employee, these tools and apps will make your work schedule management a breeze.
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Best Work Schedule Maker Tools & Apps
1
Best work scheduling app for contractors and field services
44 reviews
80 reviews
Workyard makes it easy for you to schedule employees, assign work, and track labor costs from one place.
Its easy-to-use mobile app lets you adjust schedules on the fly, reducing downtime and improving productivity as a result.
With its simple calendar-based dashboard, you can organize schedules by employee and/or job type using cost codes or labels, plus view all upcoming tasks for any given day or week.
From the same place, you can communicate exactly what needs to be done with notes, checklists, and attachments that your employees can access from the field. As a result, your boots on the ground have all the information they need to get the job done right the first time.
Furthermore, Workyard integrates with well-known payroll systems including QuickBooks, Gusto, and ADP. This means you can sync employee time and attendance data from Workyard to your payroll system, removing the need for manual data entry and processes prone to errors.
Key Features
- Easy office-to-field scheduling
- Calendar-based dashboard
- Task alerts and notifications
- Sortable schedules
- Task management with checklists and notes
- GPS-powered time clock
Best Suited For
- Construction & Specialty Contractors
- Field Services
- Property Management
- Manufacturing
- Employee scheduling
- Time clock
- Reporting and payroll
- Reminders and notifications
Pricing
- Time Tracking – $6 per month per user + $50 per month company base fee
- Workforce Management – $13 per month per user + $50 per month company base fee
- Large Workforces – Custom pricing
Explore & try out Workyard for 14 days.
No credit card required.
2
Easy-to-use work schedule maker software
25 reviews
405 reviews
Findmyshift is an online employee work schedule maker tool designed to simplify the process of creating and managing employee schedules.
Findmyshift is intended to assist businesses of every kind in streamlining their workforce management operations by automating many of the time-consuming procedures connected with workforce management. Users can quickly create and publish schedules, track employee availability and time off requests, and interact with their team members using Findmyshift. Managers can easily establish and maintain an effective schedule thanks to the software’s user-friendly interface, flexible templates, and comprehensive reporting features. Findmyshift is suitable for companies in a variety of industries, such as retail, hospitality, and healthcare, who need to manage employee schedules easily and effectively.
Key Features
- Schedule creation
- Availability management
- Time off management
- Shift swapping
- Automatic notifications
- Time tracking
- Reporting
- Payroll and accounting integrations with Xero and QuickBooks
Best Suited For
- Creative Industries
- Retail
- Technology & IT
- Employee scheduling
- Time clock
- Reporting and payroll
- Reminders and notifications
- Shift swapping and planning
Pricing
- Free – for 5 employees or less
- 20 employees – $25 per month
- 100 employees – $40 per month
- 300 employees – $70 per month
3
The best work schedule maker for hourly employees
52 reviews
205 reviews
ZoomShift is a robust scheduling tool for companies of all sizes, from small startups to large corporations. ZoomShift’s user-friendly design and robust feature set make it simple for managers to establish and manage work schedules, track employee hours, and communicate with their team.
One of ZoomShift’s most notable features is its drag-and-drop scheduling tool, which allows managers to swiftly create and change schedules by dragging shifts onto a calendar. This allows schedules to be easily adjusted as needed, whether due to unexpected absences or changing company demands. In addition to scheduling functions, ZoomShift offers excellent time-tracking solutions, allowing employees to clock in and out straight from the app. This can assist businesses in precisely tracking employee hours, preventing time theft, and reducing payroll processing mistakes. Additional features worth noting include the ability to specify staff scheduling preferences, send automatic shift reminders and alerts, and manage time off requests. The software also includes detailed reporting features that enable managers to quickly track important performance parameters such as labor expenditures and staff productivity.
Key Features
- Employee schedule
- Shift & scheduling templates
- Availability & time offs
- Shift cover requests & swaps
- Timesheets & time clock
- Payroll report
- Shifts & timesheets notes
- Shift confirmation
Best Suited For
- Field Services
- Leisure & Hospitality
- Retail
- Healthcare
- Employee scheduling
- Time clock
- Reporting and payroll
- Reminders and notifications
- Shift swapping and planning
- Time off tracking
Pricing
- Starter – $2 per active team member/month
- Premium – $4 per active team member/month
- Enterprise – Custom
4
Free work schedule maker tool
879K reviews
3.8M reviews
An Excel schedule template is a popular tool for establishing employee schedules across many industries. Users can create a personalized schedule by entering staff information such as name, role, and availability into the software. The user can then enter the appropriate shift plan for each employee, and the software will calculate the total hours worked and indicate any scheduling conflicts or concerns.
One of the biggest benefits of using an Excel schedule template is that it is commonly available and well-known by the majority of professionals. This makes it suitable for enterprises of any size, as no specialist software or training is required. Users can also develop and alter their templates to meet their individual scheduling needs, such as adjusting for holidays, time off, and overtime.
However, using Excel schedule templates can be time-consuming and prone to human error. Creating and changing plans for a large number of employees can be challenging for larger businesses, and the software lacks the automated and collaboration capabilities of specialized scheduling applications.
Key Features
- Customizable solutions
- Automatic fill-in
- Integrations with other Microsoft Office tools
- Attendance tracking
- Hours worked tracking
- Custom fields and metrics tracking
- Pre-created templates
Best Suited For
- Creative Industries
- Retail
- Technology & IT
- Employee scheduling
- Time off tracking
Pricing
- Free
5
Work schedule maker for every industry
23.5K reviews
5.7K reviews
Sling’s affordable, user-friendly, and extensive features make it a one-of-a-kind and useful scheduling software for businesses of all kinds.
Managers can quickly create schedules for one or more sites, allocate shifts, and handle time off requests using Sling software. Sling also has a time clock that allows employees to clock in and out of shifts, log breaks, and calculate hours worked. Furthermore, Sling features private and group messaging tools, enabling staff to coordinate shift changes and/or unplanned absences.
Key Features
- Shift scheduling
- Time-off requests
- Available shifts
- News sharing
- PTO management
- Long-term scheduling
- Private and group messaging
- Labor cost management
- Reports
Best Suited For
- Construction & Specialty Contractors
- Creative Industries
- Field Services
- Leisure & Hospitality
- Property Management
- Manufacturing
- Retail
- Technology & IT
- Healthcare
- Employee scheduling
- Time clock
- Reminders and notifications
- Shift swapping and planning
- Time off tracking
Pricing
- Free
- Premium – $1.70 per user per month
- Business – $3.40 per user per month
6
Free online schedule maker
40.3K reviews
17K reviews
Homebase is a free employee scheduling software that assists businesses in optimizing their schedules, adapting on the go, and ensuring that their workforce is on the same page.
It allows businesses to post a schedule and quickly notify their workforce by text, email, or in-app message. Managers can use Homebase to create efficient team schedules by using templates or auto-scheduling. Furthermore they can track availability and time off, eliminating scheduling conflicts, recording overtime, developing plans based on sales predictions and labor objectives, and publishing available shifts for employees to claim. By automatically notifying employees of future shifts through SMS, adding personal comments to shifts with instructions or reminders, and allowing employees to cover and swap shifts, the app helps companies decrease no-shows, questions, and misunderstandings.
Homebase also guarantees that time-off requests are handled smoothly and that availability and time off are reflected in the schedule and upcoming shifts. Furthermore, the app can track and optimize labor costs in real-time, alter schedules on the fly, notify management when employees are late for shifts or nearing overtime, and message available staff if emergency coverage is required.
Key Features
- Employee scheduling
- Schedule sharing
- Instant notifications (text, email, and app)
- Schedule templates and auto-scheduling
- Availability tracking
- Open shifts and shift swapping
- Automatic reminders for employees
- Labor cost tracking and optimizing
Best Suited For
- Field Services
- Leisure & Hospitality
- Retail
- Healthcare
- Employee scheduling
- Time clock
- Reporting and payroll
- Reminders and notifications
- Shift swapping and planning
- Time off tracking
Pricing
- Basic – Free for one location
- Essentials – $20 per month per location
- Plus – $48 per month per location
- All in one – $80 per month per location
7
The best schedule maker for shift-based workplaces
23K reviews
56K reviews
When I Work is shift-based workplace scheduling and time-tracking software. It aims to eliminate misunderstanding, promote transparency, and reduce turnover in high-stress workplaces.
It enables managers to generate work schedules in minutes for multiple locations and quickly share them with their teams. Moreover, the program has a time clock integration for easier time tracking and team messaging tools for improved collaboration between shifts and departments. When I Work offers a desktop and mobile app with one-click scheduling, labor predictions, shift confirmations, and labor distribution reports.
Key Features
- Auto scheduling
- Schedule builder
- Schedule templates
- Multiple schedule views
- Multiple time frame views
- Labor planning
- Multiple schedules or locations
- Job sites
- Tags
- Task lists
Best Suited For
- Construction & Specialty Contractors
- Field Services
- Leisure & Hospitality
- Retail
- Technology & IT
- Healthcare
- Employee scheduling
- Time clock
- Reporting and payroll
- Reminders and notifications
- Shift swapping and planning
- Time off tracking
Pricing
- Standard – $2.50 per user
- Advanced – $6 per user
8
Free work schedule maker
64K reviews
11K reviews
Smartsheet is a cloud-based project management and collaboration tool that offers a variety of templates, including work schedule templates for Word and Excel. These templates are designed to help businesses and individuals create and manage employee work schedules more efficiently.
The work schedule templates offered by Smartsheet are customizable, allowing users to adjust them according to their specific needs. They include features such as shift scheduling, multiple shifts, time tracking, and employee communication tools. The templates can be accessed for free via the Smartsheet website and can be downloaded in both Word and Excel formats. Users can easily edit and customize the templates to suit their specific needs and then save and share them with team members. There are many templates including classic schedule, bi-weekly schedule, employee shift schedule, work rotation, and more templates to choose from.
Key Features
- Customizable solutions
- Pre-built templates
- Excel and Word compatibility
- Free and accessible options
- Flexible scheduling templates
- Real-time updates
- Sharing and collaboration tools
Best Suited For
- Creative Industries
- Retail
- Technology & IT
- Employee scheduling
- Time off tracking
Pricing
- Free
9
Basic work schedule maker
23K reviews
7.3K reviews
Calendly is a meeting and appointment scheduling application that allows users to quickly schedule and manage meetings and appointments with others.
Its primary features include the ability to share your availability with others, arrange meetings on your website, screen individuals before booking with you, automatically move a deal forward with useful information, and more. Calendly is intended for teams who hold large-scale meetings, such as sales, marketing, customer success, recruiting, information technology, and education. It integrates with a range of different productivity tools and applications, as well as enterprise-grade security capabilities, to help businesses stay in compliance with their security standards and decrease risk throughout the company. Calendly also offers a variety of solutions for other sectors and use cases, such as customer success, sales, and recruiting.
Key Features
- Calendar connection
- Active event type
- Unlimited meeting scheduling
- Automated event notifications
- Automated workflows
- Site integrations
- Integrations with Google Calendar, Microsoft Teams, Zoom, Slack
- Analytics and insights
Best Suited For
- Creative Industries
- Technology & IT
- Employee scheduling
- Reminders and notifications
Pricing
- Basic – Free
- Essentials – $8 per user per month
- Professional – $12 per user per month
- Teams – $16 per user per month
- Enterprise – Custom
Top questions to ask when looking for a work schedule maker
Creating your own work schedule depends on your line of work, availability, and industry. In general, there are a few steps you need to follow to create the optimal schedule:
- Determine your work requirements – This includes the number of hours you need to work, the days you need to work, and the kind of activities you must do
- Create a list of tasks – Make a list of all the activities you need to perform throughout the workweek. Sort them according to their urgency and relevance
- Choose the right scheduling template – Make a decision on the format you wish to employ for your work schedule. It might be a spreadsheet, a pen-and-paper calendar, or an online scheduling tool for creating work schedules
- Fill in your work schedule – Add your tasks to the timetable, keeping in mind the time required to perform them and the hours available
Review and adjust your work schedule – Evaluate your schedule and make any necessary changes. Be adaptable and ready to make changes in response to unexpected events or new priorities
There are various free employee scheduling apps and templates for creating a work schedule.
Here are two options:
- Google Sheets
- Excel
Keep in mind that your business and team might need different scheduling tools, and try out a couple of free options before choosing the best one. It’s important to keep in mind that your employees need to use the same schedule with ease, communicate and get real-time updates for the best workflow and optimal productivity.
Yes, there are various online schedule generators that can assist you in creating a work schedule for your staff.
Among the most popular schedule generators are:
- Workyard
- When I Work
- Homebase
Some schedule generators have free and limited versions with the option to upgrade for additional features. Depending on the team size and other variables the free version can be a great way to try the product before upgrading.
The best schedule maker for you will be determined by your unique requirements, budget, and preferences. Before making a choice, carefully consider the features and cost of each option.
A good schedule maker needs to be user-friendly so you can start the scheduling process right away and be sure your team can start using it as soon as possible. The right schedule maker also needs to be customizable and allow you to use and adjust the features to best suit your needs, and have some basic features such as scheduling, time off management, communication tools, and notifications. Furthermore, you should consider all the available integrations with tools, apps, and services you are already using to make the implementation easier and faster.
Some popular options include:
- Workyard
- When I Work
- Homebase
- ZoomShift
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