Sling vs TimeForge

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Our analysts compared Sling vs TimeForge 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

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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Timeforge is an all-in-one labor management solution that helps manage employee hiring, training, scheduling, communications and payroll. You can manage all aspects of your labor operations seamlessly from a centralized software without any data silos.

Its employee scheduling module provides a visual calendar that allows you to easily drag and drop shifts, ensuring optimal staffing levels at all times. Additionally, the built-in time tracking feature enables employees to clock in and out of work, eliminating the need for manual timesheets and reducing the risk of errors.

To help you run your team like clockwork, Timeforge also incorporates nifty HR and compliance management tools. You can manage employee records, track sick leave and vacation time, and ensure compliance with labor regulations. The software's built-in compliance alerts keep you informed about any changes in labor laws and avoid costly penalties.

The built-in messaging feature lets you communicate with your team easily, so you won’t lose important conversations across different platforms, minimizing the risk of miscommunication. Moreover, a native payment processor ensures same-day pay, boosting employee satisfaction and reducing administrative overhead.

Finally, Timeforge empowers you to make data-driven decisions with its labor analytics, reporting and sales forecasting capabilities. You can analyze employee performance, track labor costs and forecast future staffing needs based on historical data. This insight enables you to optimize your workforce, improve operational efficiency and drive business growth.

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$1.70/User, Monthly, Freemium
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$2.50/User, Monthly
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Tailored to your specific needs
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Product Assistance

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Product Insights

  • 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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  • Streamline PTO Handling: Timeforge offers a robust leave and absence management module that scored a perfect 100 rating from our analysts. It allows you to configure custom leave policies, track balances and set blackout periods, helping you handle leave requests efficiently while staying compliant with your organization's policies. The platform also supports partial day-offs and simplifies time-off requests and approvals for both employees and managers.
  • Simplify Scheduling: According to our data, the platform excels in its scheduling capabilities, offering every key scheduling feature ready to use out of the box. With features like ad-hoc scheduling, auto-scheduling and a drag-and-drop interface, you can easily create, modify and manage schedules. The system also identifies scheduling conflicts, supports multi-location scheduling and provides various visualization options to help you better understand and communicate schedules.
  • Adopt a Data-Driven Decision-Making Approach: The platform’s reporting and analytics capabilities are another strong suit, receiving a perfect rating from our analysts. With customizable dashboards and report templates, you can easily track KPIs and identify areas for improvement. Additionally, its sales forecasting capabilities enable you to analyze historical sales data and predict future demand, helping you optimize workforce allocation.
  • Ensure Compliance With Labor Regulations: Lastly, the platform offers a robust security and compliance management toolkit that got a 100 analyst rating. The solution adheres to industry-standard regulations such as FLSA, OSHA and GDPR, ensuring that your organization complies with relevant labor and data protection laws. Additionally, its role-based permissions and single sign-on capabilities provide security and control over access to sensitive employee data.
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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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  • Employee Management: Track candidates before they even become employees, seamlessly transferring information over to HR files. It can monitor the progress and completion of forms, exams and training, as well as notify employees of forms they need to complete before they even clock in for a shift.
  • Employee Self-Service: Provide employees with access to the system as soon as they accept an offer, allowing the new employee to enter all of their information into the database and freeing up managers to focus on other essential onboarding tasks.
  • Communication Tools: Send texts and alerts to individual employees or groups of staff members. Managers can send communications as necessary or enable the system to automatically send notifications regarding things like schedule changes or open shifts.
  • Mobile Access: Log into the platform from any internet-connected device, allowing managers and employees alike to complete essential tasks, such as clocking in for work or requesting a shift change. Mobile apps are available for both Android and iOS, with specific apps for employees and managers.
  • HR Types: Create, customize, categorize and track various types of files, including employee information sheets and tax forms. Managers and employees can both upload relevant documents and files, allowing for centralized storage and organization.
  • Learning and Development: Develop HR Activities and send them to employees for completion. Activities can include everything from collecting employee information to assigning training courses to employees.
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Product Ranking

#30

among all
Employee Scheduling Software

#34

among all
Employee Scheduling Software

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Analyst Rating Summary

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91
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98
87
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Mobile Capabilities
Reporting and Analytics
Collaboration
Employee Management
Schedule Management
Leave and Absence Management
Reporting and Analytics
Schedule Management
Security and Compliance
Time and Attendance Management

Analyst Ratings for Functional Requirements Customize This Data Customize This Data

Sling
TimeForge
+ 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 91 87 78 98 75 95 86 56 86 83 98 88 100 59 71 100 100 100 94 100 0 25 50 75 100
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Analyst Ratings for Technical Requirements Customize This Data Customize This Data

60%
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78%
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22%

User Sentiment Summary

Excellent User Sentiment 234 reviews
Excellent User Sentiment 41 reviews
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.

94%
of users recommend this product

TimeForge has a 'excellent' User Satisfaction Rating of 94% when considering 41 user reviews from 3 recognized software review sites.

4.4 (82)
5.0 (1)
4.6 (152)
n/a
n/a
4.7 (37)
n/a
4.5 (3)

Awards

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

User Favorite Award

SelectHub research analysts have evaluated TimeForge and concluded it deserves the award for the Best Overall Employee Scheduling Software available today and earns best-in-class honors for Leave and Absence Management, Reporting and Analytics, Schedule Management, Security and Compliance, Shift Management and Time and Attendance Management. TimeForge stands above the rest by achieving an ‘Excellent’ rating as a User Favorite.

Analysts' Pick Award
User Favorite Award
Leave and Absence Management Award
Reporting and Analytics Award
Schedule Management Award
Security and Compliance Award
Shift Management Award
Time and Attendance Management Award

Synopsis of User Ratings and Reviews

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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Time-Saving: Reviews mentioned that TimeForge significantly reduces the time spent on scheduling, payroll and other HR tasks.
Comprehensive Functionality: The platform offers a wide range of key HR tools out of the box. You don’t need to spend resources on integrating with external solutions.
Customization: TimeForge allows for a high level of customization to meet specific business needs, particularly in reporting and scheduling.
Customer Support: Users frequently praise the responsiveness and helpfulness of the customer support team during implementation and ongoing use.
Real-Time Data: The ability to access and manage real-time data remotely through the web-based platform is a significant advantage.
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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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Limited Mobile Access: Many users complained about the mobile app lacking essential features such as geofencing, customizable push notifications and offline scheduling.
Integration Issues: The lack of integration with certain systems like QuickBooks or sales programs limits the platform’s scope.
User Interface Challenges: Some users experienced minor issues with the user interface, such as fields being too narrow to view all information or the system refreshing and pulling users away from the section they were working on.
Complexity of Reports: The platform has a clunky and outdated reporting and analytics interface, which involves a steep learning curve.
Cost Concerns: The platform cost was a concern for some users, especially those from smaller or rural businesses.
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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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TimeForge is a labor management platform offering various features to streamline hiring, scheduling, payroll and workforce tracking. Our experience with the software has been mixed, with both strengths and weaknesses.Setting up TimeForge was straightforward, with a user-friendly setup wizard guiding me through each step. The platform's intuitive interface made it easy to create schedules using the drag-and-drop editor. I appreciated the ability to customize intricate settings, such as pay rates, payment options, employee roles, permission groups and custom fields.While the user interface felt somewhat outdated compared to some competitors, it was still functional and easy to navigate. One of my favorite things was how organized the platform was, providing separate dashboards for tracking shift confirmations, swaps, templates, work periods and messages. You can also create custom dashboards to track key performance indicators specific to your business.TimeForge significantly improves the employee experience as well. Staff members can access their schedules, chat with colleagues and easily swap shifts. The platform's automatic prevention of early clock-ins and late punch-outs helps avoid time theft and ensure compliance. Additionally, the integration of staff surveys allows managers to gather feedback and improve the overall employee experience.However, there are some limitations to consider. The mobile app, while functional, is not as robust as those offered by competitors like Deputy, 7shifts and Sling. The lack of GPS tracking can make it challenging to verify employee locations during clock-ins and clock-outs. Additionally, the inability to create schedules offline and publish them later can be inconvenient.Also, TimeForge's integration capabilities are limited. It doesn’t integrate with popular sales and accounting solutions like QuickBooks and HubSpot. This requires you to manually enter sales, payroll and employee data, opening the door for errors and mistakes.Overall, TimeForge is a solid option for businesses of all sizes, but it’s important to weigh its strengths and weaknesses to see if it meets your specific needs. If mobile scheduling and extensive integrations are a priority, you may want to explore other options. However, if you’re looking for a user-friendly platform that can streamline processes and provide valuable insights, TimeForge is worth considering.

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Screenshots

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