WhenToWork vs Planday

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Our analysts compared WhenToWork vs Planday 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.

WhenToWork Software Tool

Product Basics

WhenToWork is a cloud-based solution that helps businesses create and manage schedules for hourly workers. It offers a free mobile app that supports time tracking, allowing employees to punch in and out of work remotely.

The platform’s standout feature is its one-click scheduling that uses a proprietary algorithm to generate optimal shift schedules, minimizing conflicts and reducing human error. With just a few clicks, you can create efficient work plans that ensure your team is adequately staffed at all times.

Employees can easily input their preferred, disliked and unavailable work times, allowing managers to make informed decisions when creating schedules. This feature enhances employee satisfaction and minimizes scheduling conflicts by ensuring that employees are working shifts that align with their availability and preferences.

This platform lets you prioritize clear communication and accountability within your team. It automatically sends notifications to employees when their shifts are created or updated, ensuring everyone stays informed. This enhances employee engagement and reduces the risk of missed shifts.

WhenToWork offers a 30-day trial period, allowing you to test the platform’s suitability for your scheduling needs. Its paid plans start from $38 per month, with pricing based on the number of employees and the subscription duration. Unlike other platforms, it doesn’t offer tiered plans based on features — every plan includes the full toolkit.

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Planday provides tools to businesses of all sizes across all industries. It automates administrative tasks like workforce schedule building and report generation for growing businesses.

Organizations can make use of built-in messaging features to improve team communication. It helps manage hourly workers, track employee activity and builds reports that provide a comprehensive overview of the business.
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$40 Monthly
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$2.49/User, Monthly
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Tailored to your specific needs
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Windows
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Android
Chromebook
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On-Premise
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Mobile

Product Assistance

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Knowledge Base
24/7 Live Support
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24/7 Live Support

Product Insights

  • Effortless Schedule Management: WhenToWork’s scheduling toolkit is its highest-rated module, with an 89 rating from our analysts. From ad-hoc adjustments to automated scheduling, the platform provides a flexible, efficient solution. It also offers features like break scheduling, color-coded schedules and configurable options that improve the overall scheduling process.
  • Efficient Reporting: Rated 81 by our analysts, the platform’s reporting toolkit is its second highest-rated module. It offers customizable dashboards and pre-built reports to meet your unique reporting requirements. With the ability to create custom reports, apply filters and generate visualizations, you can easily drill down into data, identify trends and make data-driven decisions. Additionally, WhenToWork's report scheduling and sharing capabilities streamline communication and collaboration.
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  • Ensure Organizational Compliance: Set up compliance warnings based on organizational policies to avoid employee overscheduling and putting them in shifts too close together. 
  • Unique Templates: Save schedules as templates for future use, plan upcoming shifts and streamline the process. 
  • Decrease Scheduling Conflicts: Avoid potential scheduling conflicts by allowing employees to indicate preferred shifts. Employees can also find shift coverage outside of the app. 
  • Streamlined Workflows: Export employee work hours data directly to a payroll provider using the integrated time clock. Get an overview of payroll costs for budget planning and forecasting future schedules. 
  • Mobile Capability: Access it anytime, anywhere using iOS and Android devices. 
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  • Flexible Scheduling: You get multiple scheduling views, task templates and drag-and-drop tools to create different types of recurring schedules for multiple locations.
  • Import/Export: It lets you import shifts via Excel and .CSV files or export schedules in Excel format.
  • Automated Assignments: You can define rules to automatically assign shifts based on employee preferences and availability.
  • Employee Self-Service: Design unique portals for each team member based on their seniority, job roles and access requirements. Employees can log in via desktops or the mobile app to view and swap schedules, receive messages, and submit time off requests.
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  • Staff Management: Let employees submit time-off requests and set availability. Get updated employee availability information and avoid scheduling unavailable staff. 
  • Scheduling: Create, edit and publish schedules directly. Schedule qualified employees for skill-specific shifts. 
  • Communication: Send shift change alerts to team members. Employees can message coworkers directly to swap shifts or find a replacement. 
  • Time Clock: Let employees clock-in and out using mobile apps. Set location-specific rules to ensure employees clock-in for shifts. 
  • Reports: Track labor data like employee sick leaves, hours worked and shifts assigned Create reports using this data for insights into schedule standards. 
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Product Ranking

#5

among all
Employee Scheduling Software

#18

among all
Employee Scheduling Software

Find out who the leaders are

Analyst Rating Summary

61
81
52
78
62
79
79
65
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Schedule Management
Schedule Management
Integrations and Extensibility
Security and Compliance

Analyst Ratings for Functional Requirements Customize This Data Customize This Data

WhenToWork
Planday
+ 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 52 62 79 55 67 81 89 37 82 27 78 79 65 83 73 83 98 89 75 72 0 25 50 75 100
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75%
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12%
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80%
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78%
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22%
83%
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83%
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89%
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79%
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74%
68%
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32%

Analyst Ratings for Technical Requirements Customize This Data Customize This Data

30%
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70%
90%
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User Sentiment Summary

Great User Sentiment 226 reviews
Great User Sentiment 154 reviews
89%
of users recommend this product

WhenToWork has a 'great' User Satisfaction Rating of 89% when considering 226 user reviews from 4 recognized software review sites.

87%
of users recommend this product

Planday has a 'great' User Satisfaction Rating of 87% when considering 154 user reviews from 4 recognized software review sites.

4.7 (15)
n/a
4.3 (93)
4.4 (51)
n/a
4.31 (52)
4.5 (114)
4.4 (49)
4.5 (4)
4.4 (2)

Awards

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SelectHub research analysts have evaluated Planday and concluded it earns best-in-class honors for Integrations and Extensibility.

Integrations and Extensibility Award

Synopsis of User Ratings and Reviews

Ease of Use: Users praised the platform’s user-friendly interface and ease of use across all user types. Its intuitive navigation simplifies shift management, schedule swaps and coworker communication. The platform also provides useful "how-to" videos, making it easier for users to understand the system without needing live support.
Better Customization and Flexibility: Users appreciated the ability to customize schedules, permissions and worker roles. It’s easy to switch shifts and see assigned shifts in one place.
Easy Reporting: The one-click report generation feature helps users manage budgets and track employee hours. This is especially helpful for administrators manually comparing scheduling costs with budgetary constraints.
Improved Remote Workability: Reviews highlight the benefit of accessing the software from any mobile device, making it convenient for teams to check schedules, receive notifications and streamline internal communications.
Simple Implementation Process: Users from small and medium businesses appreciated the software’s lightweight nature. It requires minimal IT involvement and can be deployed quickly across multiple departments.
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Easy-to-Use: The system offers a user-friendly and intuitive interface that helps group employees according to their skills for skill-specific shifts. It simplifies scheduling, payroll and break allocation, saves man hours by automating tasks, improves access to schedules and provides an overview of all projects in progress, noted 83% of users who talked about the product’s usability.
Customization: The system offers customizable fields for employee information, which makes scheduling easily. It can also personalize reports to reveal data according to user requirements, as reported by nearly 81% of the users who mentioned customizations.
Communication: Nearly 81% of the reviewers said that the product fosters team communication through its built-in messenger and sends notifications for important project milestones and deadlines.
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Lack of Live Support: Live representatives are unavailable, especially during troubleshooting. Instead, the platform relies on video tutorials, which may not be sufficient in urgent situations.
Complicated Staff Availability Settings: Some reviewers found the "date specific" availability options frustrating, as it often caused confusion when scheduling in advance. Also, the inability to fully turn off certain options, like the "dislike" function, can complicate determining worker availability.
Limited Enterprise Features: Users from larger businesses noted that the platform lacks advanced enterprise-level security settings and integration support, making it less ideal for organizations with complex needs.
Cluttered Interface: The schedule display can sometimes be confusing or cluttered, particularly when many shifts are on the board. This makes it harder to quickly view and understand schedules at times.
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Integrations: The system offers limited integrations with popular third-party applications and cannot be integrated with special features, noted nearly 72% of reviewers who mentioned integrations.
Glitches: Nearly 79% of reviewers said that the system is prone to glitches and doesn’t offer smooth cross-platform use between the desktop version and the mobile app.
Support: Support for technical or other issues related to the product is sluggish, with many users receiving a response only after a week or more, said nearly 75% of the reviewers who talked about support.
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WhenToWork is a user-friendly online scheduling solution for small and medium-sized businesses. Its intuitive interface and straightforward features make it a viable option for businesses looking to ditch paper trails and digitize their scheduling operations.My experience with WhenToWork began with a simple sign-up process that required minimal information. The platform guided me through a brief onboarding process, where I provided details about my business and team members. While the onboarding process was straightforward, I noticed the business category list didn’t offer many options for construction-related industries.Upon accessing the web platform, I was greeted by a somewhat outdated design that felt reminiscent of an earlier era. While the layout was clean and easy to navigate, a modern update could benefit its overall aesthetic. The main menu has sections for schedules, employees, trades, time off, messaging, reports and current on-duty employees.The mobile app, however, offers a more streamlined experience with a user-friendly interface. It provides quick access to schedules, shift trades, time off, messaging, staff information and a link to the full web version. The app's dashboard offers a clear overview of assignments, time off, shift trades and messages.The messaging features are designed for efficient team communication. You can send and receive messages, create urgent alerts, and post on a bulletin board. The “Reports” section offers customizable reporting options, allowing you to generate reports based on various criteria and export them for further analysis.Overall, WhenToWork is a suitable option for businesses with basic scheduling needs. Its user-friendly interface, straightforward features and robust reporting capabilities make it a viable choice for organizations that prioritize simplicity and ease of use. However, businesses seeking a more modern and feature-rich platform may need to explore other options.

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Planday simplifies scheduling by segregating employees according to their skills and automates recurring tasks. It offers an easy-to-use, intuitive interface that prevents double booking employees, gives a clear picture of costs against revenue and stores all employee information in one place. Businesses can use the in-built messenger to foster team communication, get budget control assistance and manage remote teams transparently. However, the system offers limited third-party integrations, encounters glitches and isn’t backed by prompt customer support.

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