Schedulefly vs 7shifts

7shifts is a bigger company than we are

They started in 2014, they're based in Saskatoon, and they've raised more than $120 million from investors. They serve far more restaurants than we do.

They've built a lot with that money. If you want one system that also clocks your staff in, runs your payroll, pools and distributes your tips, and handles hiring and onboarding paperwork, that's 7shifts.

If a single all-in-one platform is what you're after, go look at them. We mean that.

We took a different approach

We do the schedule, and we do it properly:

• Building and publishing schedules
• Text and email your whole team
• Shift trades
• Time off and availability
• Document storage
• Manager's logbook
• Labor forecast as a percentage of sales

For payroll, tip pooling, hiring and onboarding, we'll introduce you to partners who do those things for a living. That's deliberate. Some operators want everything under one roof. Others would rather not put every egg in one basket, and would rather have the best tool for each job than one tool that does seven things adequately.

If that's you, that's us.

We do integrate with some point-of-sale systems

We integrate with some POS systems. 7shifts integrates with a lot more — that's a real difference and we won't pretend otherwise.

But “does it integrate?” is usually the wrong question. The useful one is what you actually want an integration to do for you. Sometimes that's something we already handle. Sometimes it matters enough that 7shifts is the better call.

Tell us which POS you run and what you'd want it to do. Call or text Wil at 704-906-2031, or email support@schedulefly.com. If we can't help, we'll say so.

Here's who we are

We've been doing this since 2007. We are a small business, probably like you.

We serve a little over 5,000 restaurants, bars, breweries, distilleries, coffee shops, ice cream shops, boutique hotels and small hospitality businesses across the United States and Canada.

Our customers stay for three reasons: it's simple, it's affordable, and when something goes wrong a real person answers. Not a chatbot. Not an AI agent. Not a ticket number. One of us.

We run this business the way our customers run theirs — with care, with attention, and with the same hospitality they show the people who walk through their door. That isn't a marketing line. It's just a small company that answers the phone.

If you want the owner's cell phone number, you've got it: 704-906-2031. That's Wil. He'll pick up.

What it costs

$30 a month up to 19 staff. $40 for 20 to 39. $50 for 40 to 59. $60 for 60 to 79. Above that, call Wil and he'll quote you in about two minutes.

That's per restaurant, not per person. Every feature is included at every price. There's no upgrade path, because there's nothing to upgrade to.

7shifts prices per location, in tiers, with a cap on how many employees each tier allows, and several features sold as separate add-ons. Their pricing is published at 7shifts.com/pricing — go compare it against what you'd actually turn on.

From a restaurant that made the switch

“7shifts was so expensive and didn't really offer any features that you don't. Plus, customer service is just flat out night and day compared. Having a person that we can straight up call with questions is a game changer. And all of this for less than half the price of what we were paying? It's truly a no-brainer.”

Christian Williams, Sugo — Tuscaloosa, Alabama

Christian was our guest on episode 669 of Restaurant Owners Uncorked, our podcast for restaurant owners — nearly 700 episodes and counting. Listen here.

The short version

Pick 7shifts if you want one platform that handles scheduling, time clock, payroll, tips, hiring and onboarding together, and you'd rather have a big company with a big roadmap behind you.

Pick Schedulefly if you want the schedule handled simply and cheaply, you'd rather use specialists for payroll and hiring, and you want to be able to call a person who knows your name.

Plenty of good restaurants choose each one.