When I Work is a cloud-based employee scheduling and time tracking software that helps businesses of all sizes manage their workforce more efficiently and effectively. It has desktop and mobile apps that make shift management and time tracking easier. With its cloud-based and scalable platform, you can start with a single location subscription and easily scale up as your business expands to multiple locations.
For this When I Work review article, I compared the software with the best employee scheduling software for small businesses, where it earned an overall score of 4.32 out of 5. Its plans with scheduling only features cost anywhere from $1.50–$5 per user monthly. If you add time tracking tools, the price goes up to $3–$7 per user monthly.
When I Work Overview
Top When I Work Alternatives
| Best for | Free Plan | Paid Plans Start at | Learn More | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Budget-conscious businesses | ✕ | $1.50 per employee monthly | |
| Visit When I Work | ||||
 | Companies with hourly employees in multiple locations | For one location with up to 20 employees | $24.95 per location monthly | Read our Homebase review |
| Visit Homebase | ||||
 | Employers needing free scheduling tools | ✓Deputy's free plan comes with 100 shifts and 100 timesheets per month. | $4.50 per employee monthly | Read our Deputy review |
| Visit Deputy | ||||
 | Businesses with complex scheduling | For one location with up to 30 employees | $34.99 per location monthlyThis covers up to 30 employees. If you have more than 30 workers, then you need to upgrade to 7Shift's higher tiers. | |
| Visit 7Shifts | ||||
When I Work Pricing
4.38 / 5
When I Work nearly received perfect marks in this criterion because of its transparent pricing, affordability, and plans that let you choose whether to only get scheduling tools or add time tracking features. What hurt its score for pricing is the lack of a free plan—although it has a 14-day free trial for new clients.
It offers three plans: Essentials, Pro, and Premium. When I Work pricing for its scheduling-only tiers start at $1.50 per employee monthly. The starter fee goes up to $3 per employee monthly if you add its time and attendance module. All plans come with unlimited employees, automatic shift scheduling, shift bidding, in-app messaging, integration options, and labor forecasting tools.
| Essentials | Pro | Premium | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly Pricing (Scheduling Tools only) | $1.50 per employee | $3 per employee | $5 per employee |
| Monthly Pricing (Scheduling + Time Tracking) | $3 per employee | $5 per employee | $7 per employee |
| Scheduling Rules | ✕ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Reports | Basic | Customizable | Customizable |
| Role permissions | ✕ | ✓ | ✓ |
| API Key Access | ✕ | ✕ | ✓ |
Apart from scheduling and time tracking tools, When I Work also offers a payroll module. For a monthly fee of $39 + $6 per employee, you get a full-service payroll tool that processes payments for employees and contractors, supports multi-state pay runs, and automatically generates tax forms, such as W2s.
When I Work Pricing Calculator
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When I Work Scheduling Features
5 / 5
When I Work got a perfect score in this criterion because it can efficiently handle employee time tracking and scheduling with its features. It supports multiple pay rates, labor reports, and clock-in/out reminders. It can also be implemented on web browsers and mobile devices, which makes it easy for employees to clock in/out and check their work shifts.
For shift planning, its platform can handle multi-location scheduling with shift replacements and swapping options. After you create a shift through its drag-and-drop scheduler, you can save it as a template and reuse it for future shifts. When I Work also has shift eligibility and smart auto-scheduling tools that quickly match shifts with employee availability and work qualifications, which saves you time and reduces potential issues, such as overlapping shifts or mistakenly scheduling a worker without the required certifications for a job.
With When I Work’s online schedule builder, you can easily save shifts and assign schedules to employees given its drag-and-drop functionality. (Source: When I Work)
Employees can also identify and share their shift preferences online, providing you instant visibility into your staff’s preferred schedules. In addition, When I Work lets you list the expected shift and team tasks on employee schedules. This helps you manage employees more efficiently by allowing you to monitor the completion rates of listed tasks on a per-day and per-activity basis (such as opening tasks and closing shift activities).
Aside from scheduling, When I Work offers time tracking features to capture and monitor employee attendance. You even get communication tools for messaging employees or creating group chats to share important announcements. Below are some of its additional functionalities.
When I Work also has break management features, such as break schedule planning and notifications that inform employees of upcoming rest periods and the end of break times.
It also comes with paid time off (PTO) management, digital time sheets with edit histories, and early clock-in prevention tools. You can even set up different pay rates for each position that employees are qualified to work in, allowing you to efficiently track and control labor costs.
With When I Work mobile apps, system administrators and authorized managers can review, edit, and approve time sheets even while on the go. (Source: When I Work)
If it fits your process, you can enable employee time sheet editing, allowing staff to manually add details for missing time entries online. Employees can then forward the edited time sheets to their managers for approval and payroll processing.
When I Work offers time tracking apps that work on computers, tablets, and mobile devices (with iOS and Android systems). Your remote workers can record their time entries via their smartphones. You can also set up geofencing and geolocation tracking to restrict and monitor where offsite employees clock in/out. However, you have to purchase the time and attendance add-on to gain access to its mobile GPS enforcement functionalities.
Like Deputy, it has a “photo clock-in” feature that captures snapshots of your employees when clocking in and out, which prevents buddy punching. System administrators and authorized managers can access, review, and delete the employee pictures taken for each time transaction. Note that this functionality works only on iOS devices.
With the mobile app, employees can clock in, access schedules, and communicate with managers and co-workers. On the manager’s side, however, the mobile app is fully featured, allowing them to create schedules, manage time off, and communicate with employees.
With its in-app messaging tool, you can start group chats or send messages to one employee at a time. It’s great for sharing company updates and important information to one or all of your business locations. You can even enable SMS and push notifications to ensure that the messages are seen by your employees.
When I Work’s mobile app allows users to create groups for easier communicating with team members. (Source: When I Work)
When I Work Reporting Tools
5 / 5
When I Work earned a perfect score for reporting given its wide range of pre-built reports. You can even create a custom report with the data fields you want. These features allow you to build and find the reports you need to track your workforce management operations.
These are some types of reports it offers:
- Shift reports: Shift reports provide information about employee schedules, including start and end times, breaks, and overtime.
- Time reports: Time reports provide information about employee hours worked, including regular hours, overtime hours, and vacation hours.
- Attendance reports: Attendance reports provide information about employee attendance, including tardiness and absenteeism.
- Labor cost reports: Labor cost reports provide information about employee labor costs, including wages and benefits.
These reports can be viewed in a variety of formats, including tables, charts, and graphs. You can also export reports to PDF, CSV, or Excel formats for further analysis.
When I Work Ease of Use
3.63 / 5
- Easy to set up and use
- In-app help tools
- Library of how-to guides
- Instant notifications and alerts
When I Work only earned a 3.63 out of 5 in this criterion because of its limited integration and customer support options. When I Work doesn’t provide live phone assistance, but you can submit online tickets and contact its support team through live chat and email. If you prefer a do-it-yourself (DIY) approach to getting answers to your system queries, you can check its library of how-to guides, training resources, and webinars.
Its cloud-based platform is generally user-friendly, but some of the features take time to get used to. You also need to have a good understanding of how scheduling and timekeeping work to maximize all of its online tools.
While it can integrate with third-party software, the options are extensive. As of this writing, When I Work can connect with the following systems:
- POS: Square, Clover, and Lightspeed
- Payroll: Gusto, ADP Run, ADP Workforce Now, Square Payroll, Paychex, OnPay, QuickBooks Workforce, and SimplePay
- HR and Business Operations: Workday, Rippling, Mindbody, GoCo, ResaleAI, and Zapier
When I Work Reviews: What Users Think
3.5 / 5
When I Work received a 3.5 out of 5 in this criterion because its average number of user reviews on G2 and Capterra didn’t exceed 1,000. There are also some user complaints about its apps glitching from time to time.
| Users Like | Users Don’t Like |
|---|---|
| Affordably priced | Some tools aren’t intuitive (like making mass schedule changes and deleting messages without removing the whole thread) |
| Efficient time tracking and scheduling tools | Occasional lags and glitches |
| Easy to set up and convenient to use | Slow customer service |
Many users who left positive When I Work reviews on popular review sites like G2, Capterra, and TrustRadius highlighted its ease of setup, affordability, and efficient scheduling tools as its best features. They added that it helps them easily create schedules for multiple employees and work locations. However, some reviewers said that its mobile app can be glitchy at times. They explained that they sometimes get logged out of the system and that its GPS tool takes a while to detect their location when clocking in.
Methodology: How I Evaluated When I Work
For this When I Work review article, I used our rubric to evaluate employee scheduling software and compared it to 19 staff scheduling systems. I looked at the shift planning features on offer and whether these are sufficient to meet the needs of SMBs. I also considered pricing, ease of use, integration options, customer support, and feedback from actual users. Click through the tabs below for the full evaluation criteria.
Aside from looking at whether the provider has a free plan and transparent pricing for its paid plans, I checked if its scheduling solution can be accessed or purchased separately from the provider’s other software products.
I looked for shift swapping, overtime, break, and paid time off planning tools. Plus, having access to team messaging, multi-location scheduling, mobile apps, and a self-service portal is also ideal.
Having an employee scheduling platform that’s intuitive and easy to learn is a must. I checked whether the provider offers live phone support, new client training, an in-house time tracking module that syncs directly to the scheduling tool, and integration options with payroll, point-of-sale (POS), and timekeeping systems.
In addition to having access to standard and pre-built reports, users should be able to customize reports.
I checked reviews that actual users left on third-party sites like G2 and Capterra. Providers that received more than a 4-star rating and had fewer complaints got a higher score.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) About When I Work
No, you can’t use When I Work for free. However, it does offer a 14-day free trial, which allows you to explore its various functions. This helps you make an informed purchasing decision and assess if it has the tools that your business needs.
Yes, it is. The When I Work team regularly monitors its system to keep your data safe and secure. It also utilizes two-factor authentication for added security.
Yes, it can. The geolocation feature of the When I Work app allows it to track your employees’ locations but only for time tracking purposes.
