We started the process by exploring the possibilities of HotSchedules, paying attention to everything that the app has to offer. We used it as a benchmark, a golden standard, if you will, by which we judged all other platforms.

The number of options, ease of use, and overall functionality were on the top of our list. How well does the software work? Is it glitchy? Does it run smoothly? Is the interface intuitive enough? We inspected every nook and cranny to find out.

Of course, the cost was another priority. For anyone just starting, it is important to remain frugal until the big cash starts rolling in. This is why only the free version was worth considering - with no added or hidden costs involved.

Managing a team - whether small or large - is always a challenge. No matter how skilled you are with people, how well you understand their minds, you will still need every little bit of help you can get when dealing with some purely technical bits. Shifts, schedules, time off - all off that needs to be written down and filed in the correct order. So far, most experienced managers have relied on HotSchedules, but things are about to change. Humanity is very much the name on everybody's lips.

Dealing with it is easy enough. You start by creating an account for your company and adding all the employees to your team. The app will then send them invites via email and allow them to join this online hub. Then you'll be ready to rock.

You can create and edit shifts and schedules - doing this on the go. In fact, there is absolutely no need to bother with the desktop version - which is something we always greatly appreciate. You can stick to using the app at all times without ever wondering whether there are any features you are missing out on. Don't worry. They're all here.

Humanity makes it easy to stay in the loop, know when anyone is taking time off, view and confirm staff clock rotations, and have full insight into your team's workings. You will know who's doing what - when and how - and be able to compare performance based on perfectly objective numbers. Is John on time, or has Kevin done double the work today? Who is on sick leave, and who will be taking time off for a holiday next month? The answers will be at your fingertips.

In addition, the app will allow you to consider any employee working in a remote location. You will also be able to add notes, view everyone's contact info, and get in touch when needed. In fact, it is this part of the app that really stood out to us. Everything about it is as efficient as it can be. You can use the message wall to make announcements or individually ping any staff member via the inbox feature. Employees can also chat between themselves, making this an excellent alternative to Slack or Asana.

Humanity is also a great tool for supervising the training of new staff. With the ability to control which widgets you see on your dashboard, you can adapt every bit of the process to suit your needs and the needs of your team - whether it's still adapting to new conditions or already has plenty of experience under its collective belt.

And, yes, this app is completely free for everyone to use, which is something that will always put a smile on our faces. We at AppGrooves do always love a good deal or a bargain. It hardly gets any better than this.

Yes, we love to complain, but this particular app leaves us almost no room for it. Such a robust and well-crafted system is likely to withstand the scrutiny of reviewers more experienced than us. The flaws in Humanity are not numerous at all and, in fact, we have only managed to find one single downside.

The idea of including a segment devoted to new staff training may have been a stroke of genius, but it remains obvious that the feature was added at a later date - without all that much thought put into it. Don't get us wrong; it's a fantastic thing, but it seems somewhat incomplete as of March 2021.

Comparing it to other parts of the app doesn't do it many favors but, on the other hand, it gives us great hope that this little gem will be polished to perfection in no time. For now, the rest of the software is so impressive that we may as well forgive this little flaw.

Good and thorough planning is of paramount importance for the success of any company. No matter how large or small, the enterprise will depend on your ability to deal with projects, goals, and scheduling. When it comes to all three items on this list, My Shift Planner presents itself as a robust solution to all problems that you may encounter along the way.

The process starts the usual way - by creating an account. Right after you're done with this, you will encounter the first of a series of (pleasant) surprises. Unlike most other platforms in this niche, My Shift Planner offers a detailed tutorial on how it should be used. No rock is left unturned and the videos posted on the developer's YouTube channel will be more than enough for any user. Even if you don't have much experience with this sort of software, you will still be able to get the most out of it.

Another surprise is the number of options present. You can follow the usual course of action or adapt the mechanism to fit your team's requirements. The app takes into account that some people's shifts won't repeat but are instead completely random. It enables you to enter the info manually and tweak the itinerary to suit your needs.

You can easily edit your profile, add employees, fiddle with the settings, and take full advantage of the color-coded calendar to make plans clearly visible and intelligible to everyone. Everything is about as simple as it gets, so none of your employees will ever be confused about their position in the group.

Payday settings are also taken into account and the entire segment is thought to perfection. It looks equally good both on the manager and the employee side. This is important for the app claims it can serve firefighters and nurses, workers in retail, and security guards and bartenders. Does it succeed in this? We think it definitely does.

The only complaint we could aim at My Shift Planner is that it does not have a clearly defined chat function, which definitely puts it behind our top contender. Still, everything else is so impressive that we simply couldn't help but include it in our list.

Finally, we should also mention that safety and security seem to be priorities for the developers. With backup tools, you will be able to store all your vital data on a cloud, being sure that none of it gets lost. All of the above is free of charge, and only a couple of the more advanced features - like work time reports and annual leave tracking - would require you to opt for the premium version. Still, this is by no means necessary and you can save quite a bit by sticking to the free plan.

Different business owners will have different priorities. For some, that will be efficiently managing large numbers of people. Others will put stress on quick and easy communications. Others still will insist upon privacy and security. For the third group, When I Work could be the best solution.

Much like with the other two in our top three, the process starts by creating an account - or signing up with Google. You can use the digital map to locate and claim an existing business or create your company's virtual headquarters from scratch. The level of "intrusion" you allow is fully up to you - with total control along every step of the way.

The number of options is well thought out, and most small businesses will benefit greatly from including this app in their digital kit. It may somewhat lag behind Humanity, but the general majority of managers won't have much to complain about.

The employee scheduler is as good as it gets and it will allow you to manage every bit of the process - from viewing and editing the calendar on the go, giving your staff a chance to pick extra hours or request time off, to creating new shifts in a matter of seconds. Your team will be able to clock in and out - and be altered of changes (through push notifications, email, or text messages). You can also chat with them 1-on-1. In fact, you can even use the app's email platform to directly message anyone - not just those on your team, but anyone you may need to reach out at the time.

Another thing we simply must not ignore is the impressive help center the app possesses. Any question you may have, any inquiry, any complaint will be dealt with in less than an hour. The staff is remarkably prompt and more than eager to help. A definite plus!

In conclusion, the slightly lower number of options present should not deter most managers from taking full advantage of this app. The privacy element is a definite standout. Overall, the platform remains a strong contender to HotSchedules (and Humanity!) - with its free service being a definite plus for those looking to minimize their expenses.

The namesake of this article and the main reason we embarked on this journey. HotSchedules is an amazing solution that, unfortunately, will cost each and every one of your employees no less than $2.99 to download. Depending on the size of your workforce and your budget, this could pose a problem. This is why we include this app in the honorable mentions but have decided to focus on free alternatives as contenders for the top spot.

A pretty good platform for communicating in real-time. This is a neat feature that many other apps in this category lack. Well thought out and fully functional, it sets this release by Homebase apart from lesser pieces of software. Unfortunately, this option also comes with a substantial downside. For some reason, the app suffers from very pronounced lag. We are not talking about slightly lower performance standards but, sadly, a very distinct impression that every task is taking three times longer to perform than it ought to. Literally. Every. Task. If only this problem was remedied soon enough, we wouldn't hesitate one bit in including this app in our top 3.

As a manager, you have an excellent overview of your team's achievements and availability. As a team member, you can view your shifts, clock in and out, request time off, and fully manage your tasks. The app also boasts a GPS feature which, for some reason, doesn't work quite as well as it ought to. In fact, it can be awfully imprecise, leaving us to think that the idea wasn't thought out quite as thoroughly as one would expect it to. Other minor issues such as the need to manually log in every time you try to use the app are really putting us off this decent but somehow incomplete solution.

If you've been using Calendly on your desktop or laptop, you may have come to expect a lot from this amazing service. Unfortunately, the smartphone version simply does not contain all features present on the web. Instead, the program feels a bit basic and doesn't compare well enough with HotSchedules - nor indeed any of our top contenders. Neither the manager nor the employee will be satisfied with this scenario so we can only recommend that you skip it and opt for something better equipped instead.

With a simple yet powerful interface, Doodle promises to be one of the easiest apps to use. It is perhaps the software with the shortest learning curve. Still, much like Shiftboard, the advanced features it attempts to implement somehow fall flat. Anything more complicated than simple scheduling can get glitchy and, despite a wonderful interface, you will need to make more than a few attempts before you get the app to do what you want it to. Certain menus are not as responsive as they should be, leaving this one at the bottom rather than at the top, where it initially aims to be.