Top 9 Scheduling Programs In December, 2021 (Free Plans Included)

So you’re losing your mind scheduling your team the “old school” way? Me too.

I’m also tired of going back and forth with my employees about availability and manually scheduling their shifts. It leads to so many errors.

This explains why you’re here – you’re looking for a scheduling program for your company. “But which one is best for my business needs?” We hear you loud and clear.

These days, many scheduling programs do so much more than just, well, scheduling! They assist managers with time management, communication, task management and many other benefits.

Thankfully, you’re in the right place. We’ve put together some solutions that will digitize your scheduling game – and improve it forever! 

In a Hurry? The Best Scheduling Program for December, 2021

We understand that you don’t want to waste any more time on cluttered, error-filled schedules. So after much research, we believe that the best employee scheduling app on the market right now is Connecteam . 

Here are some reasons to use Connecteam:

• Your employees will never miss a shift again, as managers can set auto reminders and notifications. 
• Prepare job schedules quickly and easily, and in a variety of ways – and save time and effort while doing so. 
• You can do all of this from the comfort of your phone. 

Sure, we have also found other online scheduling programs that have some useful features. However, they just don’t compare when you consider Connecteam’s all-round functions. 

If you’re in a hurry, jump to our comparison table to compare the scheduling programs we’ve hand-picked for you.

What Every Scheduling Program Should Offer

You’re probably looking for a dynamic scheduling program that performs multiple purposes. But it’s important to make sure that your chosen solution includes the bare minimum features expected from this kind of app.

Here are some features you need when choosing an online scheduling program:

• Alerts/notifications for certain actions
• Automatic overtime and conflicts alerts
• Shift swapping/claiming
• Reporting/analytics
• Syncs with a time clock

Our detailed research has resulted in the following list, including some of the best online scheduling programs available today. These apps will save you time, money and help you get the best out of your team. 

And if you want to take a deep dive into scheduling programs, in general, check out our guide on how to create the perfect work schedule for your team.

Top 9 Scheduling Programs For December 2021

Connecteam is an all-in-one online scheduling program that ensures both you and your employees alike are always aware of when and where they are working, saving you time, stress and money in the process.

• You’ll have 100% shift coverage with easy planning, allocating and monitoring of your employees’ work schedules in just a few clicks. You’ll even be able to send automatic and push notification alerts and reminders to keep employees in the loop, especially if things change. 
• With just a couple of clicks, you’ll save so much time and effort. Create various types of shifts – including ongoing shifts, recurring shifts, and even templates.
• The app’s online time clock automatically syncs with your schedule, allowing your employees to easily clock in and out directly from their shift at just the click of a button!
• Enjoy much more efficient and seamless team communication, especially when it comes to shift scheduling. Employees can chat directly with you from their shift schedule, in order to ask questions and clear up anything shift-related. 
• Employees have easy access to all of their required shift information, including dates, times, locations, important documents, read-and-sign forms, and even attachments like images and videos. 
• Employees can accept, reject and claim shifts depending on availability. That massively cuts down your time on chasing people and reorganizing the entire schedule whenever something changes! 

Gone are the days of creating shifts with pen and paper (and then having to redo these every time edits are needed!). No longer do you need to chase your employees via call, text and email. And your employees can access their schedule information and updates wherever they are, at any time. It’s the holistic, connected solution your business has been searching for. 

For Whom?

Connecteam is the ultimate online scheduling program for businesses (small, medium and large), deskless workers and remote teams, to name a few. Businesses from over 90 industries benefit from this all-in-online app – including security, cleaning, construction, hospitality, retail, and homecare.

Key Features

Pros and Cons

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Wrike is an online scheduling program that allows managers to easily customize schedules and for employees to quickly access. This app makes it simple for employees to request vacations, sick leave and PTO. It’s easy to see when and where workers are supposed to clock in and out and they can easily set their availability. It integrates well with apps such as MediaValet and Gmail, making this all sound like a top choice… but if you’re looking for a cheap or even a free scheduling program, this is not the solution for you. 

For Whom?

Wrike is an ideal scheduling program solution for businesses of all sizes, and especially teams with 20 employees or more. Remote teams will also benefit from its features.

Key Features

Pros and Cons

Based on customer reviews

Pricing

Humanity is a scheduling program that makes it easy for managers to check their employee’s availability (reducing absenteeism in the workplace) and to manage their schedules. They can also manage overtime and employees can trade shifts, directly from their phone, and even chat about it due to the team communication feature. Humanity integrates with many apps, including Quickbooks and Oracle.

For Whom?

Humanity is an ideal healthcare staff scheduling software solution. It is also used by companies of various sizes, from other industries such as hospitality and transportation.

Key Features

Pros and Cons

Based on customer reviews

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An employee scheduling program that improves multiple areas of shift-making, 7shifts helps managers with employee availability and time tracking, amongst other things. Edit and monitor shift schedules on the go and easily access schedules from the safety of a mobile device.

For Whom?

7shifts is an effective employee scheduling program for businesses that involve shift-based work. It is specifically designed for restaurant owners to make shift scheduling more efficient (especially important when it comes to preventing expensive payroll mistakes).  

Key Features

Pros and Cons

Based on customer reviews

Pricing

Paycor scheduling is a useful employee scheduling program business tool that helps owners save money and increase workplace productivity. They can accept sick leave, vacation and PTO from workers, create shift templates and get useful shift hour insights from the app’s reporting feature. 

For Whom?

Paycor is a useful scheduling program from SMBs and large enterprises. It is also an ideal for scheduling retail staff, manufacturers and healthcare workers.

Key Features

Pros and Cons

Based on customer reviews

Pricing

A useful online scheduling program, When I Work helps managers create shifts, duplicate them and even create templates. Despite its limited scheduling time frame, the app has many helpful features. Not only is it a great mobile internal communication tool, but managers can also use it to track time across multiple sites.

For Whom?

When I Work is a useful online scheduling program for NGOs, SMBs and especially businesses where teams are on the move (fire departments, for example).

Key Features

Pros and Cons

Based on customer reviews

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While other schedule maker apps on this list are specifically designed to help managers schedule shifts more efficiently, Google Calendar still qualifies as an effective online scheduling program. Managers can easily create employee shift calendars, add events and reminders and share with their team. Users can also view their schedules in various formats (daily, weekly, monthly and yearly).

For Whom?

Google Calendar is a useful scheduling program for remote employees, freelancers, companies and even households. It works especially well for businesses where scheduling meetings is a big part of daily operations. 

Key Features

Pros and Cons

Based on customer reviews

Pricing

Skedulo makes scheduling more efficient, and helps employees get to the right location at the right times. Managers can dispatch shifts with SMS and push notifications and manage their teams’ availability and various kinds of leave (sick, vacation, paid time off, etc). Skedulo also allows managers to collaborate with members of all departments in real-time.

For Whom?

Skedulo is used by security guards, healthcare companies, real estate agents, nonprofit organizations and large enterprises. It is also a popular scheduling option for deskless workers and frontline workers.

Key Features

Pros and Cons

Based on customer reviews

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Homebase has a range of useful staff scheduling features, allowing managers to stay organized from all devices, stay on top of employee availability and track time off. Some of the most relevant features include its drag & drop tool, shift trading, and automated scheduling. Homebase can be integrated with various solutions such as Toast, Clover, Square and Upserve, to name a few. 

For Whom?

Homebase is an ideal small business app, especially for those companies in the retail and hospitality industries.

Key Features

Pros and Cons

Based on customer reviews

Pricing

Quick Comparison Table Of The Top Scheduling Programs 

Frequently Asked Questions On Scheduling Programs

1. Will an online scheduling program take up storage space on my employees’ phones?

Many online scheduling programs use cloud-based technology to use up minimal storage space on users’ devices. Unlike other apps that save information, using up tons of memory and wasting huge amounts of data in the process, Connecteam continues to run quickly and barely affects storage on phones and desktops.

2. Are there free schedling programs?

As you can see from many of the listed examples, there are plenty of free business tools available to schedule your team. Connecteam happens to be the most effective free option on the market. And here’s why. After the 14-day free trial is over, users have the option to either use Connecteam’s free plan or subscribe to one of the premium plans. The free plan doesn’t include all of the features experienced in the free trial, but it’s still an option worth considering.

3. What does an employee scheduling program do?

An employee scheduling program allows business owners and managers to easily create schedules, manage them and add multiple employees to them depending on their needs. Connecteam is an ideal employee scheduling program that saves business owners time and money, while also giving employees all of the information they need in one place.

The Bottom Line on the Best Scheduling Programs of December 2021

We are confident that at least one of these online scheduling programs is going to tick the boxes that meet your company’s needs. Whether you already use a scheduling program (but it’s too expensive), or you have been manually creating schedules and are considering going digital, one of these scheduling programs is bound to solve your problems either way.

As previously mentioned, we believe that Connecteam is the very best option on this list, and for a variety of reasons. This all-in-one scheduling program is the logical alternative to pen and paper planning, eradicating needless scheduling problems and errors in the process. Going back and forth with employees about availability will be a long distant memory.

Also, Connecteam boasts many other essential features for your business, improving time management, task management and internal communication in the process.

Before you make your choice, we recommend that you play around with some of these scheduling programs. If they have a free trial, try them out. This will help you narrow down the very best candidates for your business.