When I Work alternatives, matched to why you're switching
By Jean Luc Poitier, SEO and growth marketing strategist · Connecteam Reviews · Updated September 30, 2026 · Checked November 1, 2026 · Grounded in When I Work's pricing page and public reviews
Disclosure: this site reviews Connecteam and earns a commission if you sign up for it through our links. Connecteam is one option below, and we say where it isn't the right fix.
Why teams look past When I Work
When I Work has few recent public reviews to learn from: its Trustpilot profile had 5 in our pull, from 2022 to 2025. So this page leans on its pricing page, and on what those reviewers and one former customer wrote.
Cost is the clearest reason. When I Work charges per user, from $2.50 a month on Essentials, and time tracking is a paid add-on on every plan (+$1.50 to +$2 per user), although its own FAQ says every plan includes it. A 30-person team on Essentials with time tracking pays $120 a month at list price. There is no public free plan. Payroll has moved too: wheniwork.com/payroll now redirects to the homepage, and the pricing page promotes Rippling instead. The Trustpilot reviews add complaints about customer service after a plan change, repeated in-app prompts for feedback, and admin alerts that don't always arrive.
“We used When I Work for years for scheduling and the prices kept going up.”Connie R., G2 (reviewing Connecteam), Jul 2025
“It will ask you for a review or to create a service ticket multiple times per day with no way to stop these requests.”Bill, Trustpilot, Jul 2024
“Appalling customer service. They used to care about their customers, now they don't.”Jessie Hudson, Trustpilot, Aug 2024
When I Work's 5 Trustpilot reviews are all unprompted and average 3.2, too few to set against anyone. Connecteam's reviews collected through a link it shares average 4.67 (49 reviews, Sep 21 to 29, 2026), and it had only one unprompted review in that window, so there is no like-for-like Trustpilot comparison here.
Match the When I Work alternative to your reason for leaving
| Compared on | Best alternative | Check before switching |
|---|---|---|
| Per-user prices keep climbing | Connecteam | Flat only to 30 users per hub, then per user. Each hub is priced separately, and reviewers report upsell calls. |
| You pay extra for the time clock | Connecteam or Jibble | Connecteam's GPS clock-in is on Basic, but geofencing starts on Advanced ($49 a month billed yearly). Jibble has no team chat. |
| You need forms, onboarding, e-sign, or training | Connecteam | Onboarding and training sit in the HR & Skills hub, a separate subscription from scheduling. |
| You want payroll inside the app | Homebase (or 7shifts for restaurants) | Connecteam has no built-in payroll, only exports to Gusto, QuickBooks, ADP, and others. |
| You want the lowest per-user price | Sling | Its free plan has no time clock, and its Google Play reviews average 2.66 (100 newest). |
| Notifications and app prompts get in the way | No clear winner | Connecteam's own reviews also mention missed notifications and app bugs. Test on your team's phones during a trial. |
Figures checked against each company's published pages and review-platform listings as of 2026-09-30. “Not published” means the company does not publish that figure.
The 6 best When I Work alternatives
Connecteam
Flat price to 30 users, more than schedulingWhen I Work charges per user and adds $1.50 to $2 per user for time tracking. Connecteam is free for up to 10 users, and past that its Operations hub (scheduling and GPS time clock) costs $29 a month billed yearly for the first 30 users on Basic. It also covers forms, checklists, onboarding, documents with e-signature, and training courses. When I Work shares documents, but its own pages show no forms builder, onboarding, e-signature, or native training. Connecteam's Trustpilot reviews collected through a link it shares average 4.67 (49 reviews, Sep 21 to 29, 2026). When I Work has too few recent Trustpilot reviews to compare. The weak spots from Connecteam's own reviews: each hub is priced separately, features sit behind higher tiers, and reviewers report upsell calls, app bugs, no built-in payroll, and no phone support.
Full Connecteam vs When I Work comparison →Homebase
Per-location pricing and built-in payrollHomebase charges per location with unlimited employees, free for 1 location and up to 10 employees, then from $24 a month billed yearly on Essentials. It runs its own US payroll as an add-on ($49 a month plus $6 per employee paid, first 6 months free), where When I Work now points customers to Rippling. Caveats: its recent critical reviews cite time clock glitches and slow callbacks, and onboarding, e-sign, and HR tools are on the $96 to $120 All-in-One plan only.
Homebase vs When I Work →Sling
Lower per-user priceSling is free for scheduling up to 30 users. Its Premium plan, at $1.70 per user a month billed yearly ($2 monthly), includes the time clock, geofencing, and auto clock-out, which costs less than When I Work's Essentials plan with time tracking. Caveats: the free plan has no time clock, Sling is owned by Toast, and its 100 newest Google Play reviews average 2.66 (Jun 29 to Sep 27, 2026).
Connecteam vs Sling →Deputy
Demand-based scheduling for many sitesDeputy's Core plan ($6.50 per user a month billed yearly) adds demand forecasting and wage budgets for multi-site teams. Caveats: there is no free plan, monthly plans carry a $30 minimum, annual plans give no refunds on cancellation, and its unprompted Trustpilot reviews average 1.25 (20 reviews), mostly about support.
Deputy vs When I Work →Jibble
Free time clock, unlimited usersIf you mainly need the time clock that When I Work sells as an add-on, Jibble's free plan covers clock-in with GPS and facial recognition for unlimited users. Its invited Trustpilot reviews average 4.55 (49 reviews, Jun 24 to Sep 30, 2026). Caveats: it has no team chat, its scheduling covers shifts and rosters only, and it no longer publishes paid-plan prices.
Connecteam vs Jibble →7shifts
Restaurants onlyRestaurants that want tip management and payroll with the schedule can look at 7shifts, priced per location from $39.99 a month billed yearly (Essentials, up to 30 employees, prices marked subject to change). Caveats: it serves restaurants only, and its unprompted Trustpilot reviews average 1.16 (19 reviews), with complaints about payroll, tips, and billing.
Connecteam vs 7shifts →
When to stay with When I Work
Stay if you only need a schedule and messaging, and your team already likes the app. Essentials includes auto scheduling, shift trades, team messaging, and payroll integrations with Gusto and ADP. Stay too if you run many locations and use Pro's labor sharing across sites, or if you already use Rippling and want its payroll offer.
If you are leaving because the time clock costs extra, or because you need forms, onboarding, and training alongside the schedule, Connecteam covers those in one app. See the full Connecteam vs When I Work comparison, the pricing breakdown, or what its users say.
See Connecteam pricingHow we sourced this
On September 30, 2026 we pulled When I Work's Trustpilot reviews (5 in total, 2022 to 2025) and Connecteam's most recent Trustpilot reviews (Sep 21 to 29, 2026). Trustpilot labels how each review was collected. We counted reviews from a company's own review link as invited and the rest as unprompted; all 5 of When I Work's are unprompted. Connecteam's link-collected reviews carry Trustpilot's “Unprompted” label, so we count them as invited. Our G2 pull for When I Work returned reviews of WhenToWork, a different scheduling product, so we left it out. The first quote comes from a Connecteam review on G2 in which the reviewer describes leaving When I Work.
Prices come from each company's own pricing page as of 2026-09-30. Quotes are verbatim, credited to the reviewer who wrote them. See our methodology and the best employee scheduling apps.
When I Work alternatives FAQ
What are the best When I Work alternatives?+
Connecteam if you want the time clock included and tools beyond scheduling, for a flat price up to 30 users per hub. Homebase for per-location pricing and built-in payroll, Sling for a lower per-user price, Deputy for demand-based scheduling across many sites, Jibble for a free time clock, and 7shifts for restaurants.
What do When I Work reviews say?+
Recent public reviews are thin. When I Work's Trustpilot profile had 5 reviews in our pull (2022 to 2025), averaging 3.2: two positive, two one-star reviews about customer service and in-app feedback prompts, and one four-star review that likes the time clock but says admin alerts don't always arrive. A Connecteam reviewer on G2 said they left When I Work because prices kept going up.
Is Connecteam better than When I Work?+
For teams of 11 to 30 that need a time clock, Connecteam's flat hub price usually costs less than When I Work's per-user price plus the time tracking add-on, and it adds forms, onboarding, and training. If you only need a simple schedule for a small team, When I Work's Essentials plan may be enough.
Does When I Work publish pricing?+
Yes, per user per month: Essentials $2.50, Pro $5, and Premium $8, rising to $4, $7, and $10 with time tracking and attendance turned on. The page offers monthly or annual billing but does not say which rate it shows. There is a 14-day trial with no card and no public free plan.