Discover the top alternatives to Flip to boost communication and employee engagement for deskless workers.
Managing a deskless workforce poses unique challenges—especially when it comes to keeping employees connected and informed. Luckily, there are many tools supporting communication, task management, and more for on-the-go employees.
Flip is a popular solution, but it’s not the only option on the market.
In this guide, I explore top Flip alternatives, comparing their features, benefits, and more to help you make the best decision for your business.
If you don’t have the time to read through our research, jump down to our quick comparison table.
Our Top Picks
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The best alternative to Flip
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Good for large enterprises with internal communications teams
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Good for small to mid-sized businesses
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What Is Flip?
Flip is a mobile-first platform specifically designed for deskless workers.
It offers a suite of tools that streamline communication, including a newsfeed, chats and groups, task management, and surveys and forms. This makes it easier for teams to stay connected no matter where they are.
Flip is especially popular in industries like retail, hospitality, and healthcare—where employees are often on the move and need quick access to information and updates.
But Flip isn’t the perfect fit for every business. Let’s dive into its limitations and the market alternatives that you might want to consider.
Why Are People Moving Away From Flip?
Flip is a great tool in the deskless worker industry, which is why it has a 4.6 on Capterra and a 4.8 on G2. But it’s not one-size-fits-all. Reviews on GetApp, Capterra and G2 highlight some areas of concern.
Flip has received some feedback regarding its limitations, particularly the need for additional integrations to fill in the gaps. One user mentioned, “Unfortunately, Flip demands a lot of integration since it lacks some features such as A/V/W (audio/video/web) conferencing,” while another noted that its functions are essentially limited to communication.
There have also been concerns about the app’s functionality. For instance, a user reported that the app has problems on Android devices, claiming that new notifications aren’t displayed correctly.
What’s more, one user mentioned Flip could be a little more customizable in some areas.
With all this in mind, it’s clear that there’s space for alternative solutions with more comprehensive feature sets, reliable functionality, and improved customization options.
The Best Flip Alternatives for Deskless Worker Management
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Connecteam — The best alternative to Flip
Connecteam is a comprehensive workforce management solution that’s particularly well-suited for deskless workers. It’s reliable and designed to simplify communication and operations, making it a top choice for industries like retail, construction, and logistics.
Why I chose Connecteam: Connecteam is an all-in-one platform that offers more than just basic communication. Its features include task management, surveys, digital forms, and more.
The platform is built with mobility in mind, ensuring that your team can access everything they need from their smartphones. Its advanced features make it an appealing alternative for those frustrated with Flip’s limitations.
Let’s take a look at some of Connecteam’s unique features.
Comprehensive communications and notification tools
Connecteam is a great app for team communication with a user-friendly, social-media-style feel.
The software streamlines communication across your organization with features like an in-app chat, an engaging newsfeed, and an employee directory.
I love that the chat supports both individual and group messages—and that messages can include emojis, attachments, and more. You can also create channels for 1-way communications with specific groups of employees. These are great for sending out important messages that don’t require responses.
The newsfeed is great for posting updates and news, and I like how easy it is to see statistics on employee comments, reactions, and views. This helps you understand engagement rates so you can continuously improve your internal communications.
I also appreciate that Connecteam goes above and beyond with custom notifications and alerts. For instance, you can notify staff about urgent posts or require them to acknowledge when they’ve seen important company updates.
Task management
The Connecteam employee task management app makes it easy to keep your team organized and on track—no matter where they are.
You can create and assign tasks in seconds, ensuring everyone knows what needs to be done and when. I like that all tasks can include detailed instructions, checklists, and even files—so your employees have everything they need in one place.
Plus, with real-time updates and notifications, you’ll always be in the loop on task progress, making it simple to manage workloads and ensure nothing falls through the cracks.
Employee engagement
Connecteam really stands out when it comes to engaging your workforce.
You can easily create and share custom surveys, polls, and feedback forms to gather employee insights and boost satisfaction. The digital forms you create can even adapt based on each employee’s feedback—for instance, if one question demands a “yes” or “no” response, the next question can be based on the chosen response.
Plus, the recognition tools allow you to celebrate achievements, highlight milestones, and send shout-outs—and you can customize these to fit your company’s culture. You can even post digital recognitions (including 1-year anniversary badges) directly on the feed. You can also give your employees digital tokens they can exchange for gift cards of their choice.
Whether you’re celebrating wins or simply checking in, Connecteam makes sure employees feel heard, connected, and appreciated.
Time tracking, scheduling, and so much more
What really sets apart Connecteam from Flip are its comprehensive operation management features, which position it as an all-in-on platform for communicating with, engaging, and managing your employees.
Among these features are its user-friendly employee scheduling and advanced time tracking, which Flip offers only through limited integrations.
I particularly love the drag-and-drop scheduling feature, which makes it easy for managers to create, edit, and publish schedules with minimal effort. I also find Connecteam’s advanced time tracking with built-in GPS to be a game-changer.
These features—and more—make Connecteam a great fit for so many businesses.
Key Features
In-app chat and newsfeed
Employee directory
Task management features
Surveys and forms
Recognition and rewards
Time tracking and scheduling
Pros
Comprehensive feature set
Reliable functionality
User-friendly interface
Flexible pricing plans
Cons
More integrations in development
Pricing
Free-for-life plan availablePremium plans start at $29/month for 30 users
14-day free trial, no credit card required
Start your free trial -
Staffbase — Good for large enterprises with internal communications teams
Staffbase is an internal communications platform that’s perfect for large organizations with complex communication needs.
It’s particularly popular in industries with deskless workers like healthcare and manufacturing, where clear and consistent communication is critical.
Why I chose Staffbase: I really like Staffbase’s unified communication approach, allowing you to share content with your employees through news stories, social posts, landing pages, a comprehensive intranet, and more. It’s very employee-centric and fun to use, so it’s easy to get staff to engage meaningfully with the platform.
Customizable intranet
Staffbase’s customizable intranet serves as a central hub where team members can access important updates, documents, and resources right from their phones.
The intranet is super user-friendly, and you can tailor it to reflect your company’s brand and culture so it feels unique to your workforce.
Surveys
Staffbase emphasizes the importance of reaching employees, gathering feedback, improving processes and checking changes through its survey features.
I like that you create regularly scheduled surveys to ensure you’re engaging with employees on an ongoing basis.
Unlike Flip, Staffbase enables admins to send out private surveys. The quick pulse survey option allows you a simple 1-question check-in with a 5-star rating format. This is super handy for various situations—for example, if you want to get a speedy snapshot of employee wellbeing.
For more of a deep dive, you have a multiple-question option, with real-time results broken down by each question.
Content management
I like that Staffbase makes creating and distributing company-wide communications so effortless.
AI-powered content creation, ghostwriting, allowing editors to publish under leader’s names, and automated journeys—where you can build content timelines for employee groups—all help streamline messaging. This use of AI gives Staffbase a leg up on Flip, which appears to use AI only for live translation.
The platform’s multichannel analytics is also pretty impressive—you can use dashboards that allow data slicing and filtering to uncover valuable insights on user engagement and more.
Drawbacks
Though it’s impressive, I found that the extensive functionality of the platform can feel overwhelming at first, and the implementation process can be time-consuming.
There are also a couple of limitations in customization. For instance, template constraints make it challenging to create highly tailored and on-brand designs—for example, for news pages.
I was also disappointed by the lack of transparent pricing on Staffbase’s website, as the quote-only approach may deter some budget-conscious businesses. Staffbase told my colleague that plans start at $30,000/year—which might be too much for businesses on tight budgets.
Key Features
- Customizable intranet
- Surveys and feedback features
- Content management
- Multi-channel analytics
Pros
- Comprehensive content management features
- Intuitive interface
Cons
- Long implementation process
- Limitations with customization
Pricing
Contact vendor for price Trial: No Free Plan: No
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Workvivo — Good for small to mid-sized businesses
Workvivo is an employee experience platform designed to boost employee engagement. Through its clever social media-style interface, it makes internal communication more interactive and engaging—while bringing company culture to life.
Why I chose Workvivo: Workvivo really stands out to me as a platform that will bolster your company culture and unite teams. The platform is designed to build a sense of community across the organization.
Internal communication
Using Workvivo feels like having a social media platform designed just for your company. Using the personalized activity feed, employees can post updates, share ideas, and celebrate wins—all while liking and commenting on each other’s posts. They can do this right from their smartphones.
The spaces feature allows you to divide employees based on categories—from location to project team to interests. Within these spaces, you can have your own dedicated newsfeeds, events, and chats.
What I’m really impressed with is the Workvivo TV add-on, allowing you to display key updates, employee messages or videos on monitors and Smart TVs across your office. Though this costs extra, it’s a brilliant way to further strengthen your internal communications.
Recognition tools
One of my favorite things about Workvivo is the built-in recognition tools—something Flip doesn’t offer. For instance, you can recognize employees’ achievements with visible badges that appear on their profiles for milestones like years of service or key accomplishments.
I also thought the points-based system was a really unique idea. Employees can earn points for various achievements, and these can later be redeemed for rewards.
Reporting & analytics
Workvivo’s analytics are comprehensive, offering deep insights into how your team is engaging with the platform. You can view the percentage of employees actively using Workvivo to gauge overall adoption.
The data segmentation feature lets you break down engagement by department, location, or other criteria so you can understand how different groups are interacting.
I like the at-a-glance view the dashboard offers. You can quickly see key metrics and even dive into engagement by content type—whether you’re looking at posts, comments or likes.
Drawbacks
While I really enjoy using Workvivo, I realize the social media-style interface might not be everyone’s cup of tea. This kind of informal interaction won’t be right for all teams or work cultures.
Additionally, some users have noticed occasional performance issues, like slower load times or glitches (see here and here), which can be a bit frustrating.
Key Features
- Social intranet
- Community spaces
- Recognition tools
- Mobile accessibility
Pros
- Familiar social-media design
- Comprehensive analytics
Cons
- Has occasional performance issues
- Isn’t culturally suitable for all businesses
Pricing
Contact vendor for price Trial: No Free Plan: No
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Beekeeper — Good for frontline workforces
Beekeeper is a mobile-first platform designed to connect frontline workers with the rest of the organization. It’s particularly strong in industries like hospitality, retail, and manufacturing—where employees need quick and easy access to information.
Why I chose Beekeeper: Beekeeper is built with frontline workers in mind, with an easy-to-use interface that’s accessible for employees at all levels. Its customizable features are far-ranging—from performance management to real time chat to surveys.
Let’s check them out.
Mobile-first communication
Beekeeper’s mobile-first design is a unique offer for deskless workers. The mobile app is optimized for quick, on-the-go communication.
The platform includes a newsfeed, allowing employees to easily access company news, participate in discussions, and receive instant updates from their smartphones. I was impressed with the chat feature, which includes group or direct 1:1 messaging. There’s also file sharing and search-within-chat functionality, in case you need to quickly find past conversations or information.
With features like push notifications and offline access, I found it to be well designed for workers who aren’t tied to a desk but still need to stay connected throughout their day.
Customizable workflows
One of the standout features of Beekeeper is its customizable workflows. Workflow automation means you can set up processes for various tasks (like onboarding) to save time and manual effort.
What’s more, the platform’s AI bots can handle repetitive tasks like answering common questions or routing them to the right departments. You can use automation to streamline communication by ensuring consistent, timely delivery of messages and personalizing content for different employee groups.
Employee engagement tools
Beekeeper allows for real-time pulse checks using short surveys and polls, where you can gauge employee sentiment on the go.
I really like the personalized recognition features it offers too, where employees can give each other shout-outs and show appreciation on the newsfeed.
You can integrate these tools directly into daily workflows, meaning engagement isn’t just an add-on—it’s a core part of the work experience.
Drawbacks
Unfortunately, I found the web version less intuitive than the mobile app. And while Beekeeper is generally customizable, the survey feature limits you to predefined answer formats when creating forms.
I also expect that the learning curve of using Beekeeper could be steep if your employees are a little less tech-savvy. The mobile-first design seems to assume users are accustomed to digital communication tools.
Finally, managing user permissions and adding users can be time-consuming.
Key Features
- Mobile-first communication
- Newsfeed
- Customizable workflows
- Employee engagement tools
Pros
- Time-saving workflow automation
- Great mobile-first design for on-the-go communication
Cons
- Occasionally slow features
- Limited survey design options
Pricing
Contact vendor for price Trial: Yes — 14-day Free Plan: Yes — No Data
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Blink — Good for frontline workers and on-the-go staff
Why I chose Blink: Blink is a super-app for deskless workers, bringing together all departments and levels through a handy, user-friendly app.
From employee engagement to internal communication and company knowledge, Blink helps break down barriers across your organization and offers a fun solution for staying connected.
Here are more on Blink’s features.
Unified feed
Blink’s unified newsfeed is a game-changer for keeping everyone on the same page. It centralizes all communications into one easy-to-navigate feed, combining company announcements, updates, and team chats in a single place.
It filters content based on relevance, ensuring that each employee sees only what’s most important to them.
Blink Assist
Blink’s AI feature, Blink Assist, stood out to me as being unique and valuable for peak communication times in your business. It sets Blink apart from competitors like Flip.
The feature uses AI to help you create better, more engaging, and clearer posts. It even allows you to choose the tone. When you’re overwhelmed with a busy newsfeed, Blink Assist also lets you choose the specific posts you want to stay updated on and automatically generates a summary of these posts, breaking down the content into digestible excerpts.
Instant messaging
Blink’s instant messaging isn’t your typical chat function. It’s tailored for fast, secure communication across teams, with the ability to send voice notes, images, and videos—making it incredibly versatile.
What’s special about Blink’s messaging is its offline mode. Employees can send messages even without a connection, and they’ll be delivered once they’re back online—a big plus for deskless workers.
Drawbacks
While Blink is a strong alternative to Flip, there are a few downsides. I found that the app can feel a bit cluttered, especially with all the information being posted in the feed. It can take some time to get used to the interface, particularly for those who aren’t as tech-savvy.
There’s also a lack of moderation when it comes to posting on the feed, which might put off businesses with strict policies, as employees can freely post updates, ideas, or comments without approval.
Key Features
- Unified feed
- Blink Assist
- Task management
- Instant messaging
Pros
- Ease of use
- Strong communications features
Cons
- Slightly confusing interface
- Lack of moderation
Pricing
Starts at $3.40/user/month Trial: Yes Free Plan: No
Compare the Best Flip alternatives
Topic | Start for free | ||||
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Reviews |
4.8
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4.8
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4.7
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4.6
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4.7
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Pricing |
Starts at just $29/month for the first 30 users
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Contact vendor for price
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Contact vendor for price
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Contact vendor for price
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Starts at $3.40/user/month
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Free Trial |
yes
14-day
|
no
|
no
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yes
14-day
|
yes
|
Free Plan |
yes
Free Up to 10 users
|
no
|
no
|
yes
No Data
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no
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Use cases |
The best alternative to Flip
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Good for large enterprises with internal communications teams
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Good for small to mid-sized businesses
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Good for frontline workforces
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Good for frontline workers and on-the-go staff
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Available on |
Final Thoughts on the Best Alternatives to Flip
While Flip is a popular go-to for businesses seeking to connect their workforces, businesses are seeking options with more and better features, better functionality, and improved customization. Popular alternatives include Staffbase, Workvivo, Unily, Beekeeper, TrackingTime, busybusy and Blink.
In my opinion, Connecteam stands out as the best alternative to Flip. It offers a comprehensive suite of features for connecting your deskless workers, including advanced communication and task management features and customizable surveys and forms. Plus, it offers tons of other features for managing your workforce.