Shiftboard vs Sling

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Our analysts compared Shiftboard vs Sling based on data from our 400+ point analysis of Employee Scheduling Software, user reviews and our own crowdsourced data from our free software selection platform.

Product Basics

Shiftboard is a cloud-based employee scheduling software designed to help businesses efficiently manage their workforce. It caters to businesses of all sizes, but it particularly shines when handling complex scheduling needs or a large number of employees. Shiftboard offers a variety of features including schedule creation and management, employee hour tracking, and communication tools. The software integrates with other business systems like payroll and HR software, streamlining operations.

Benefits of using Shiftboard include improved employee productivity, reduced labor costs, increased employee satisfaction, and better compliance with labor laws. Users appreciate its ease of use, comprehensive features, and positive impact on workforce management. Shiftboard's pricing structure is not publicly available, so interested businesses should contact Shiftboard directly for detailed pricing information. Keep in mind that pricing for software like this can vary based on factors such as the number of users and desired features.

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Sling is a cloud-native tool for streamlining employee scheduling for businesses of all sizes. It offers a user-friendly drag-and-drop interface, allowing managers to build and modify schedules with ease. Pre-built templates for recurring shifts further save time, eliminating the need for repetitive manual assignments.

The platform offers employees self-service options to view schedules, request time off, and swap shifts with colleagues. This collaborative approach reduces management overhead and fosters a sense of autonomy among staff. Automated overtime tracking and labor cost analysis allow you to make data-driven decisions and identify areas for staffing optimization.

Additionally, it integrates with time clock functionality, enabling employees to clock in and out via their mobile devices. It also connects with existing calendar apps, ensuring everyone maintains a synced view of upcoming work commitments.

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Product Assistance

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Product Insights

  • Efficiency: Helps HR managers build better schedules in less time. On average, implementing the system results in a 53% increase in schedule creation efficiency and a 55% increase in shift change management efficiency. 
  • Optimized Workforce: Save on business costs by reducing the number of unnecessary shifts. The average user can reduce scheduled hours by more than 7% and overtime costs by more than 50%. 
  • Employee Performance:: Managers can build better schedules that benefit employees as well as the business. As a result, the average user reports a more than 6% increase in employee productivity and a 40% decrease in turnover. 
  • Accuracy: It helps optimize scheduling processes, reducing the average number of scheduling errors by more than 50%. 
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  • Adopt a Data-Driven Approach: In our analysis, Sling scored an impressive 95 for its reporting and dashboard tools. You can generate reports and visualizations on time and attendance, scheduling history, employee performance and more. The platform supports automated weekly or monthly reporting based on your rules and offers filtering options to find and audit reports.
  • Simplify Task Management: According to our research, Sling is one of the top-ranked products for managing shifts and tasks. It supports 87% of key task management requirements out of the box, including custom task creation, rotating and recurring shifts, open shift bidding, auto-assigning vacancies, shift feedback, task notes and shift swapping.
  • Manage Schedules From Anywhere: Sling offers one of the highest-rated mobile apps, with 4.7 and 4.6 ratings on the Play Store and Apple Store, respectively. It supports employee punch-ins, push notifications, time tracking, geofencing/GPS tracking, calendar integrations and team messaging options.
  • Manage Employees Efficiently: Based on our data, Sling’s employee management tools are its second highest-rated module, with a rating of 87. This is on par with scheduling stalwarts like Deputy. It offers budgeting, employee self-service options, labor forecasting, shift bidding, multiple pay rates and more. The only limitation is that it cannot send update reminders and alerts for expiring employee documents.
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  • Profiles: Collect and store employee information such as contact information, credentials, skills and work history. This information can then be used to assign roles based on scheduling needs. 
  • Communication: View schedules online and notify staff on schedule changes. It sends messages and notifications automatically so that all team members have access to the most up-to-date information. 
  • Demand Planner: Forecast scheduling needs using historical data and patterns. Managers can build schedules and fill shifts based on predicted business needs. 
  • Tradeboard: Employees can utilize Tradeboard to switch shifts, while the system ensures that no shifts are double-booked. Managers can oversee shift-swapping and set rules to ensure compliance and that employees don’t pick up shifts that will put them into overtime. 
  • Reports and Analytics: The system can collect data on shifts, employees, budgets, forecasts, labor costs and more. Generate reports and analyze them at any time to help track spending. 
  • Mobile: Access the schedule at any time through any internet-connected device. Employees can view the schedule, update their availability, request time off and trade shifts, all through the mobile app. 
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  • Shift Scheduling: Build schedules within minutes while managing time-offs, shift swaps and employee availability. Schedule across geographical locations and time zones while saving templates for future use. Get notifications for double-booking or overlapping shifts, reduce absenteeism and late arrivals, and avoid scheduling overtime. Let employees pick shifts they like while granting approvals.
  • Task Management: Keep employees accountable by adding tasks to shifts. Clarify everyone’s job during shifts while ensuring employees stick to set timelines while finishing assigned tasks. Improve productivity and efficiency by allowing employees to access task lists via mobiles.
  • Time Clock: Track employee clock-ins and outs from a designated terminal, on-site time clock or both. Set early clock-in limits while automatically clocking out employees in case of forgotten log-outs. Review, edit, approve and export timesheets to process payroll seamlessly.
  • Location Management: Create location-specific news feed pages to share important information and messages. Monitor progress while creating to-do lists per location. Authorize multiple display directions and workspaces for every location.
  • Mobile App: Manage schedules on the go while letting employees clock in and out using any Android or iOS device. Use geofencing tools to ensure employees log in and out from designated locations while tracking attendance from anywhere. Send automated alerts or message latecomers in the app.
  • Labor Cost Management: Receive budget insights and suggestions while scheduling to ensure cost-effectiveness. The platform calculates labor costs based on employee wages, allowing real-time margin monitoring per shift. Sling also sends alerts if projected labor costs exceed your budget for a particular shift, prompting you to adjust staffing assignments before finalizing the schedule.
  • Compliance Management: Store licenses, contracts, certifications, and other files within employee profiles with unlimited storage. To ensure timely renewals, Sling alerts you when critical documents are nearing expiry. Set granular permission levels for document access to safeguard staff details. Managers can define and assign custom break durations per labor regulations, automate break scheduling, and send break reminders to employees.
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Product Ranking

#10

among all
Employee Scheduling Software

#30

among all
Employee Scheduling Software

Find out who the leaders are

Analyst Rating Summary

80
84
39
91
94
87
65
78
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Platform Capabilities
Employee Management
Mobile Capabilities
Shift Management
Mobile Capabilities
Reporting and Analytics
Collaboration
Employee Management
Schedule Management

Analyst Ratings for Functional Requirements Customize This Data Customize This Data

Shiftboard
Sling
+ Add Product + Add Product
Collaboration Employee Management Leave And Absence Management Mobile Capabilities Platform Capabilities Reporting And Analytics Schedule Management Security And Compliance Shift Management Time And Attendance Management 39 94 65 90 100 67 84 78 89 79 91 87 78 98 75 95 86 56 86 83 0 25 50 75 100
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88%
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12%
92%
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83%
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17%
63%
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37%
75%
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25%
87%
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13%
93%
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7%
100%
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78%
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22%
67%
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33%
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80%
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84%
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16%
79%
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84%
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16%

Analyst Ratings for Technical Requirements Customize This Data Customize This Data

70%
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30%
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User Sentiment Summary

Great User Sentiment 519 reviews
Excellent User Sentiment 234 reviews
88%
of users recommend this product

Shiftboard has a 'great' User Satisfaction Rating of 88% when considering 519 user reviews from 4 recognized software review sites.

91%
of users recommend this product

Sling has a 'excellent' User Satisfaction Rating of 91% when considering 234 user reviews from 2 recognized software review sites.

4.6 (48)
4.4 (82)
4.39 (236)
4.6 (152)
4.4 (230)
n/a
3.3 (5)
n/a

Awards

SelectHub research analysts have evaluated Shiftboard and concluded it earns best-in-class honors for Platform Capabilities.

Platform Capabilities Award

Sling stands above the rest by achieving an ‘Excellent’ rating as a User Favorite.

User Favorite Award

Synopsis of User Ratings and Reviews

Shift Management: Nearly 94% of reviewers liked the built-in Tradeboard for employees to exchange or transfer shifts, boosting accountability and efficiency.
Schedules: Around 90% of users who referred to schedules liked that it reduces time spent creating and managing schedules. It notifies of any errors and provides easy access for employees.
Tracking: It helps monitor the login / logout of individual workers, their interest in additional shifts and overtime status, as noted by 91% of users who specified tracking.
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User-Friendly and Intuitive: Many users appreciate Sling's easy-to-use interface, which makes scheduling and other tasks straightforward and accessible without extensive training.
Comprehensive Features in the Free Version: Users find the free version of Sling highly functional and often better than some paid alternatives.
Optimized Shift Management: The ability to create repeating shifts and use shift templates saves time and effort in planning.
Improved Efficiency and Organization: Sling helps organize schedules and increase efficiency by reducing scheduling errors.
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Reports: About 56% of reviewers who referred to reports said that custom reports require a great deal of trial and error, and some fields are not reportable.
Layout: The page layout style is quite clunky and difficult to navigate, especially when there are more teams and time slots, as mentioned by 80% of users who referred to layout.
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Notification Overload: There can be too many notifications, especially for chats that users are not actively involved in. Sling doesn’t offer the privacy tools required to customize notifications for managers and employees.
Occasional Glitches and Loading Issues: Some users experience occasional bugs, app crashes or slow loading times after a system update.
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Shiftboard provides robust scheduling tools that help reduce scheduling errors. Its online and mobile availability allows employees to access it from anywhere and stay updated on schedules and shifts. Staff in certain roles can trade shifts within Shiftboard without going through management. It helps to keep track of employee shift times and their clock in and out locations. Some reviewers said that creating custom reports requires a great deal of trial and error, while some fields are not reportable. Users have mentioned that they would like to see more viewer-friendly pages.

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My research into employee scheduling solutions revealed that Sling is a frontrunner, particularly for its user-friendliness. The intuitive interface simplifies schedule creation and management, even for those with limited technical expertise. The platform offers highly customizable templates and automation features, making it easy to generate regular reports.What truly impressed me was the feature set offered in the free plan. Beyond basic scheduling, it provides time tracking, communication tools like news sharing, private messaging and long-term scheduling. This exceeds what many of its competitors offer in their free plans. Also, the ability to schedule up to 50 employees at no cost is a huge advantage for growing small businesses.However, for larger enterprises with complex staffing needs, Sling might not be the perfect fit. While it excels in core scheduling functions, it lacks advanced features like a built-in AI, hiring and onboarding tools, and employee engagement trackers. It doesn't let you automate scheduling or analyze sales forecasts to optimize workforce allocation.Additionally, scheduling conflict alerts are limited to employee availability and don't consider skill sets or preferences. For businesses seeking a more comprehensive workforce management solution with AI-powered assistance, Sling may require further exploration alongside other options in the market.

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Screenshots

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