“Schedulefly has saved us tens of thousands of labor dollars, countless scheduling hours, and has increased employee retention over the last 18 years as a happy customer.”Scott Maitland · Top of the Hill Restaurant & Brewery · Chapel Hill, NC
Hospitality Software with Soul
Stop scheduling headaches. Cut labor waste. Keep your team connected.
We're not trying to be the biggest scheduling platform out there. We're trying to be the most useful, most trusted, and most human one.
I'm Wil Brawley, proprietor of Schedulefly. My personal cell phone number is in this video. Hit me up any time
Serving restaurants like yours since 2007. We’re not trying to be the biggest scheduling platform out there. We’re trying to be the most useful, most trusted, and most human one. We have everything you need — and none of the bells and whistles you don’t.
If you're still scheduling on paper or Excel, you're paying a chaos tax every week.
After nearly two decades working with independent restaurant operators, the pattern is clear. The ones still on paper or spreadsheets watch the same thing happen — manager time bleeds out, labor mistakes add up, and good employees get frustrated and leave.
Schedulefly fixes that. No bloat. No complicated onboarding. No system your managers have to be talked into using. Just a simple, clean tool that removes the chaos and gives everyone a better weekly rhythm.
Restaurant wages have risen 35% since 2020. Every scheduling mistake, every overstaffed shift, every hour of unnecessary overtime costs more than it ever has.
The median labor cost as a percent of sales for full-service operators in 2024. Profitable operators fight to keep it at 34% or below. Poor scheduling is the fastest way to blow past that number.
What it costs every time you lose an employee — recruiting, training, and all the attention you'd rather be spending on your guests.
What the average manager burns building the schedule and managing the fallout — call-ins, swaps, phone tag, and shift juggling. That’s 260 hours a year spent on chaos that shouldn’t exist.
Here’s what manual scheduling actually costs you - and what you get back.
Most operators are shocked when they see it laid out this way. The chaos tax is real, it’s recurring, and it’s probably bigger than you think. These numbers are based on a typical independent restaurant with 35 staff and a $150K annual labor budget.
| Category | Manual / Paper / Excel | With Schedulefly | Net Benefit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Manager time |
$6,500/yr ~5 hrs/wk @ $25/hr. About 3 hrs building the schedule, plus 2 hrs of post-publish chaos: call-ins, last-minute swaps, phone tag, and shift juggling that pulls managers off the floor. |
$650/yr ~30 min/wk. Schedule built in minutes. Staff handle their own swaps. Managers get back on the floor — training staff, engaging guests, checking food quality. |
$5,850 * |
| Labor leakage |
$7,500/yr 5% of a $150K labor budget lost to overtime, overstaffing slow shifts, and last-minute coverage gaps — not fraud, just honest scheduling mistakes that quietly add up every week. |
$3,750/yr Reduces waste ~50%. Visual scheduling flags OT before it posts. Coverage matches actual need. Shift trades happen without the manager in the middle. |
$3,750 ** |
| Employee turnover |
$15,000/yr ~3 preventable quits/yr @ $5,000 each. Managers burn out from after-hours scheduling chaos. Staff leave because they can’t see their schedule on their phone, can’t trade shifts easily, and feel disorganized. The best employees have options — and they use them. |
$10,000/yr Saves ~1 employee/yr. Staff get their schedule in their pocket, instant notifications, and easy shift swaps. Managers stop staying late in an empty restaurant. Both stay longer. |
$5,000 *** |
| Tool cost | $0 Plus the chaos tax you’re already paying. | $480/yr About $1.33/day. No contracts. No hidden fees. |
−$480 |
| TOTAL | $5,850 + $3,750 + $5,000 − $480 | $14,120 |
* TimeForge industry survey · Shiftbase scheduling research
** 2023 Restaurant Operations Report: restaurants are improperly staffed — over or under — for 38% of any given week
*** Toast: 56% of restaurant employees say schedule flexibility was the #1 reason they took their job — ahead of pay · Black Box Intelligence: replacing one hourly employee costs $2,000–$5,000 · Harvard Business Review: lack of schedule flexibility drives turnover
The verdict
For about $1.33 a day, you could save roughly $14,120 a year.
No contracts. No hidden fees. All features included. Cancel anytime.
What could you save?
Enter your staff count and see your estimated annual upside. Calculated dynamically based on staff count using industry averages.
Recommended plan: $40/mo · Approx. $1.33/day
Based on industry averages for manager time, labor leakage, and employee turnover.The ROI you can’t put in a table.
Think about the manager who waits until the shift ends, then stays two or three hours late to work on the schedule in an empty restaurant. Week after week. No work-life balance. No separation from the job. That manager burns out and quits — and the cost of replacing them dwarfs an entire year of Schedulefly. At $1.33 a day, this isn’t a cost. It’s the price of a consistently healthier, calmer, more profitable operation.
Proof, not hype
WHAT OPERATORS AND STAFF ARE SAYING
“Schedulefly saved my life. It saved me many hours every week on creating the schedule in Excel and dealing with all of the changes. That’s time I now spend with my family. I’ve used it at two restaurants and love it.”Adriana · Manager · Mary O’Neill’s · Waxhaw, NC
“The Toyota of scheduling apps. Always reliable. They make you feel like their only client. No over-the top bells and whistles, fair price, and amazing customer service.”Nicole Westerman · The Culinary Creative · Denver, CO
See how it works in 5 minutes.
We built it for the restaurant industry and designed it to be fast, easy, engaging and fun! Quickly post schedules online and text/email them to staff, easily manage shift changes, broadcast important messages via text, organize time off requests, keep an eye on labor costs and much more...
The tools restaurant teams actually use
Simple scheduling software built to save managers time, reduce chaos, and keep staff connected — without the complexity.
Build schedules in minutes
Create, copy, and publish schedules fast without wrestling with spreadsheets, screenshots, or paper calendars.
Handle shift trades without the drama
Employees can swap, pick up, and give away shifts with manager approval built in — no endless group texts required.
Keep time-off requests organized
Track requests before the schedule is made so managers avoid conflicts, surprises, and last-minute scrambling.
Send updates to your whole staff instantly
Schedule changes, announcements, and reminders reach employees by text and email automatically.
Works anywhere your team does
Managers and staff can check schedules, message teammates, and stay updated from phone, tablet, or desktop.
Customer support that actually helps
When you contact Schedulefly, a real person picks up. Fast responses, personal service, and no outsourced support maze.
Managers chase coverage through buried texts
Group messages get messy. Handwritten edits appear after the schedule is posted. People miss updates and labor drifts for reasons nobody sees fast enough.
One place for schedules, alerts, swaps, and requests
A cleaner weekly rhythm for managers and staff. Less confusion, better accountability, and fewer labor surprises.
Proof, not hype
DON’T JUST TAKE OUR WORD FOR IT.
“Learning to use Schedulefly is like learning to drive a golf cart.”Don Nicol · Owner · TacoLu
“A simple but great tool that is one of the most important tools for success in the restaurant business.”Chad Biel · Owner · Bohemian Bull
“Schedulefly is incredibly efficient and easy-to-use. We have 9 locations on Schedulefly and it’s just what we need.”Steve Seitz · COO · Table 301 Restaurant Group
“Schedulefly is the only thing we use that has never given us a headache.”Woody Lockwood · Owner · Trophy Brewing
“Schedulefly provides a level of hospitality some restaurants don’t even match.”Chick Evans · Owner · Great Coast Commons and Maxie’s Supper Club
“Human connection can unlock competitive advantage.”Simon Harris · Founder of SJH Hospitality Consultancy
Simple pricing. No contracts. No surprises.
Everything included. No surprises. Cancel anytime.
Up to 19 staff
$1.00/day
20–39 staff
$1.33/day
Most common
40–59 staff
$1.67/day
60–79 staff
$2.00/day
Stories About Amazing Restaurant People
In addition to our podcast and two Restaurant Owners Uncorked books (available on Amazon), we’ve made several short films over the years about some of the incredible people we are so lucky to serve.
We built Schedulefly for independent restaurants. We kept it that way.
We’re not trying to be the biggest scheduling platform out there. We’re trying to be the most useful, most trusted, and most human one. We have everything you need to schedule and communicate with your team — and none of the bells and whistles you don’t.
If you want something your managers will actually use and your staff will actually check, you are in the right place.
Ready to stop the chaos?
No credit card required. No contracts. Cancel anytime. All features included from day one.