10+ Best Restaurant Scheduling Software & Apps in 2025

• Deputy effectively combines scheduling, time management, and leave management under one platform.
• The user interface is intuitive.
• The auto-scheduling feature works well and saves the company significant time.
• The pricing structure is flexible and reasonable.

Deputy was used for attendance, time, and leave management. We had been using separate tools for timesheets and holiday management, which proved inefficient. We wanted to combine these into one platform. We tried another tool before Deputy, but while it handled leave management well, it didn’t manage timesheets as effectively. We chose Deputy because it excelled at both timesheets and leave management. I used it for about a year with one of my clients.

• I found the mobile app a bit glitchy, though this isn’t unique to Deputy.
• The clock-in and clock-out functionality can be laggy and slow, which staff often mentioned.
• The task management tools could be more sophisticated, especially in terms of task reporting.

Deputy is a jack of all trades tool, combining the "golden triangle" of timesheets, leave management, and scheduling, and does all three well. Few other tools combine these related functions as effectively. Competitors tend to excel in one or two areas, but Deputy excels in all three.

The functionality and speed of the mobile app are key, especially if you have field or remote staff who rely on it. Automation is important these days, so auto-scheduling is a must—make sure to test how well it works. Additionally, look at the levels of automation and sophistication in clocking in and time tracking, as this can make or break the tool.

I'd also check what levels of automation and sophistication there is around clocking in and tracking time as this can be a gamechanger or dealbreaker.

I’ve noticed an improvement in customer service, and they have added more communication and collaboration features, particularly through the newsfeed. There’s a growing need for a social element in workflow tools, and they’ve responded well to that.

Deputy is ideal for customer-facing organizations or manufacturing operations that run with a structured, formal shift format.

I really like how easy it is to use, and how easy it is for the end user - it's very intuitive. When I Work also has out of the box integrations with some payroll tools, like Gusto. In addition, I really enjoy how many features it provides to encompass a broad range of types of hourly workers.

The decision to purchase When I Work pre-dated my time, but the intention was for our business to be able to track time for all types of workers. I've personally used it for approximately 4 years now, and have come to grow very accustomed to it. It provides a very robust platform to track time, holidays, and more.

I really dislike how buggy and slow When I Work is - although this is something that can be fixed. I also dislike its lack of reporting features. Also, and this is quite specific, but I dislike that end users can edit their names - it makes it difficult to use data if an end user can edit their personal information without an admin's access. Also, the security permission features within the tool aren't quite as robust as I would've hoped for.

I haven't used other time-tracking tools, but I know When I Work is one of the most sought after scheduling and time tracking tools. I've explored and researched Workday Time Tracking, which would integrate better with our systems, but it's not as robust as When I Work. Our company enjoys When I Work due to its open API and the ability to build on top of the tool.

If you prefer intuitive use and ease of building on top of the tool, then it's worth it. If you like clean data, and a tool that isn't as buggy, then this might not be for you.

In my time using the tool, it's gotten less buggy, but not much has changed overall. However, I can say I never have issues with the tool being "down" like other tools.

Certainly a startup who needs to manage fewer than 1000 hourly employees. This system starts to see flaws and limitations after this threshold. This should be considered in the purchasing discussion, since it's very hard to migrate off of a time tracking and scheduling tool.

Labor costs were lowered. Hiring became a much smoother and easier process. Shift changes were documented. Schedules were not having to be posted and texted which has caused issues with staffing in the past. Holidays were able to be blacked out for time off requests.

Our restaurant purchased this with hopes of having a smoother way to communicate with scheduling. 7shifts enabled an easier way to share the shifts versus posting on a board and texting them to employees (who of course could say they never received the text). It also was a great way to request time off which we had by hanging a post it note which could easily be lost or removed by other employees wanting the same day off. It was also a great way to cut labor costs as each shift is entered in. Prior to this, employees could clock in and out as they pleased. The new hire paperwork being able to be stored online was also very beneficial and cut down on filing with the risk of misplacing the files. The hiring tool was beneficial as I was able to flag candidates to contact when the season began again.

It did take a few attempts to learn the program in the beginning. I would like to see an easier tutorial section.

7shifts is user friendly once learned and the ability to integrate hiring, managing applicants, payroll & scheduling was a smoother transition than other programs such as Pinnacle or Aloha.

They should consider putting effort into learning the application. It also should be taken into consideration having all employees onboard on one application so as to not have paperwork and e-files.

I feel it became quicker and has kept up with the changing times of technology by including the POS integration for example.

Restaurants would definitely benefit as well as retail locations.

The platform is straightforward and user friendly. It allows me to keep track of any employee requests. Its tracker for employee disciplinary issues is easy to follow. The system is great for payroll management.

I have used Buddy Punch to manage employees for clients since 2021. The service is a platform that allows employees to have hands-on access to necessary information like time off and payroll. My clients were looking for an option that enabled them to track expenses, manage employees, and maintain disciplinary information for each member of the team i.e. late arrivals. It has been an affordable alternative to other products for my clients (particularly small team startups). Buddy Punch simple interface allows the HR team to keep track of important changes when I need legal guidelines or employee related team management.

I don’t have any major complaints about the product outside of it being difficult to contact support. The software can be slow to update but it is more than worth the price. It can take extra time to manually upload data.

Buddy Punch is pretty great in comparison to some of its competitors. The service is affordable and user friendly. For about $60 per year, you know what you are getting and your expectations are often exceeded.

Do you need a product that is more AI focused? Are you rapidly expanding and will you have time to manually update information?

I have used Buddy Punch since 2021 and it has been a consistent service. They have improved the loading time.

Buddy Punch is good for small-medium sized organizations that are easing their way into effective HR. At a $60 annual price point, it is easy to manage and offers simple functionality but a great experience.

I like the waiting room of ZOOM as it gives me full control management to managing the meetings and provides enough security because can determine who joins the meetings and what time they join the meeting which gives me a lot of security to prevent unauthorized users from access our confidential meetings, I also like the software stability, Zoom is stable and have not detected any downtime in the tool

We bought ZOOM to make online meetings with remote teams possible and to do webinars about marketing and launching new products and services within our organization, as well as to guide our clients on how to use our products and services. Zoom has helped us achieve clients who cannot access the physical events to have our pre-recorded events that they can watch on demand. I have used the software for five years

At times during the meeting, the software would disconnect even when you are connected to a strong internet connection which interferes with our meetings. The support team takes a lot of time to respond to calls and inquiries when you contact them even during business hours. The mobile application interface needs a lot of improvement because it becomes hard to recognize participants in the meeting when you are using the mobile application

They have fair pricing plans compared to other tools and their web application is fast and intuitively designed to meet our expectation

Good for the marketing team, sales team, and product team

• The simple layout that shows the schedule clearly
• The ability to make quick adjustments to the schedule
• The overall user experience is intuitive

It's difficult to maintain all of the scheduling between our internal team. It's also difficult to track the productivity of other team members in a globally diverse team when some team members don't operate on set schedules. Planday tackles both of those problems with one product. We use it to track the timeshare of the team members as well as coordinate with select team members..

• The site has some longer load times when signing in after a long time
• The color scheme of the website could be better (Personal opinion not that there's anything wrong with it)

It provides a very intuitive experience to manage the entire shift process, from scheduling, tracking time and executing payroll

You should think about the number of members on your team that need to be on the shift and also the type of shift system that you have.

The product is constantly adding new features.

It's good for all organizations that have a shift system.

1. It is free! The free version of the app provides everything we need to solve our scheduling challenges.
2. It is user-friendly. The web app is great for monthly scheduling, and the mobile app works for our team to view their shifts, etc.
3. It was great that I could begin using it right away. There was no complicated onboarding process or steep learning curve.

I stumbled upon Homebase after a Google search looking for a scheduling tool. It has proven to be invaluable for coordinating the cleanings for my LLC's short-term rentals. Prior to using Homebase, we experienced significant challenges in efficiently managing and organizing the cleaning schedule for multiple properties with multiple members of our cleaning team. It was a time-consuming and error-prone process, resulting in delays and dissatisfaction among the team. We have used it for over three months now and have thoroughly enjoyed using the tool.

1. The system sends a lot of automated notifications (app alerts, emails, text messages).
2. There is a lot more functionality than we use it for, which is frustrating. We don't handle payroll, etc., through the app, but get notifications about these features all the time.
3. Limited customization; I don't need an alert every time there is a scheduling "conflict" because oftentimes one employee will handle the turnover for multiple properties in a given day. I wish I could customize my views, alerts, etc., to better meet our needs.

I have never used other scheduling tools so I'm unsure how it compares.

One thing to think about is how you will handle communication and collaboration. Homebase's communication tools work adequately but aren't very robust. I sometimes get better responses from our team by just texting them, so consider how the tool facilitates communication and collaboration among team members. Look for features such as real-time notifications, messaging capabilities, and the ability to easily share schedule updates and changes.

No changes that I'm aware of.

It's hard to answer this, but it's worked great for us - a small team of people managing short-term rental properties with a small team of people handling the scheduled cleanings for these properties.