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Stratum Shifts vs 7shifts
7shifts is a platform for restaurants: hiring, training, scheduling, tips and US payroll, priced per location. Stratum Shifts builds and shares the week for any kind of hourly team, from a chat with an AI assistant, for one flat price.
Prices checked 29 October 2026 on 7shifts’ own pages, listed under Sources.
The short answer
7shifts is built only for restaurants. Its free Comp plan covers one location with up to 15 employees, five more than Stratum Shifts Free, with availability, time-off requests and shift trades, but it has had no time clock or team chat since January 2026.
Its paid plans are priced per location, and the two cheaper ones cap employees: Essentials is $44.99 a month ($39.99 billed annually) for up to 30. Stratum Shifts Team is US$12 a month for up to 5 workplaces with 75 staff in each.
Pick 7shifts if you run a restaurant and want the time clock, tips, US payroll and labor targets from your POS. Pick Stratum Shifts for any shift team that wants the week built in a chat and shared as one link.
Side by side
| Topic | Stratum Shifts | 7shifts |
|---|---|---|
| How it charges | One flat price for the account, not per user or per location. | Per location, per month. Comp, Essentials and Pro cap employees at 15, 30 and 60 per location; Premium has no cap. Prices are shown in dollars with no currency code. |
| Free plan | One workplace with up to 10 active staff: auto-fill, every check, cover lists, pay estimates, the team link and time-off requests. | Comp: one location and up to 15 employees, with basic scheduling, availability and time-off requests; no time clock or team chat. |
| Paid plans | Team: US$12 a month or US$120 a year, for up to 5 workplaces with up to 75 active staff in each. | Essentials $44.99 (up to 30 employees), Pro $89.99 (up to 60) and Premium $149.99 (unlimited) a location a month billed monthly; $39.99, $79.99 and $134.99 billed annually. |
| Where the week is built | In a chat with Claude. The ChatGPT plugin is waiting for OpenAI’s review. | 7shifts’ web app and phone apps. |
| What staff use | A team link in any phone browser and a calendar feed for each person. No account or app. | The 7shifts web or phone app, after accepting an invitation sent to their email address; there are no phone-only invites. |
| Time clock and timesheets | None. | From Essentials: time clocks on tablets, computers, phones and POS devices, and the 7punches clock-in app. |
| Payroll | None. It estimates hours, overtime and pay before you publish. | Built-in US payroll for restaurants: $39.99 a location a month plus $6 per employee paid, with the base fee waived on Premium. |
| Team messaging | None. On Team, you can have each scheduled person with an email address on file emailed their shifts when you publish. | From Essentials: messages to one person or a group chat. |
| Shift swaps and open shifts | No swaps. Staff ask for time off from their own page, and you reassign shifts in the chat from a list of who can cover. | On every plan, Comp included: staff offer up, trade and claim open shifts. |
| AI | Runs inside Claude, with the ChatGPT plugin in review: you describe the team and ask for the week in plain words. | A read-only MCP server that coding assistants and Claude (added as a custom connector) can use to read its API and, with an admin token, live data; it cannot change schedules. An auto-scheduler in beta on Premium. |
Who each one suits
7shifts
Restaurants only, by its own description: quick service, full service, cafes, bars, bakeries, catering and franchises, mostly in North America, that want hiring, scheduling, the time clock, tips and payroll in one system.
Stratum Shifts
Any hourly team, restaurant or not, whose manager wants the week built from a description, checked and shared as one link, at one price for up to 75 staff in each of 5 workplaces.
The real differences
How the price grows
7shifts charges per location and caps employees on every plan below Premium: 30 on Essentials, 60 on Pro. Stratum Shifts Team is US$12 a month for up to 5 workplaces with up to 75 active staff in each.
What staff need
7shifts staff accept an email invitation and log in to see the schedule. Stratum Shifts staff open one link in any phone browser and can add a calendar feed, without logging in.
Who it is built for
7shifts is built only for restaurants, with tips, POS-driven labor targets and US payroll. Stratum Shifts is for any team that works in shifts: cafes and restaurants, and also shops, salons, clinics and cleaning crews.
Where the AI sits
7shifts’ MCP server lets Claude read its API and, with an admin token, your data, through read-only requests, so it cannot build or change a schedule. Stratum Shifts is used from the chat itself: you ask Claude for next week, and it fills, checks and publishes it.
When to pick 7shifts
You run a restaurant in North America
7shifts is built for restaurants, links to POS systems such as Toast, Square, Clover and Lightspeed, and sets labor targets from projected sales.
Staff clock in and declare tips
Time clocks from Essentials, tip declaration at clock-out, and tip calculation and payout on Premium or as an add-on.
You pay staff in the US
Payroll is built in for US restaurants.
Your team is up to 15 at one location and you want it free
Comp covers 15 employees with availability, time-off requests and shift trades.
Sources
Read on 29 October 2026.
- 7shifts pricing
- 7shifts: changes to the Comp plan in 2026
- 7shifts help: sending invites to employees
- 7shifts help: payroll eligibility
- 7shifts developer docs: MCP server
- 7shifts’ own summary for AI assistants
7shifts is a trademark of its owner. Stratum Shifts is not affiliated with or endorsed by 7shifts.
Other comparisons
- Stratum Shifts vs Homebase
Homebase charges per location (Essentials US$30 a month, US$24 billed annually) and is free for one location with up to 10 employees; it adds a time clock, messaging, hiring and a paid US payroll add-on.
- Stratum Shifts vs Sling
Sling (owned by Toast) charges per user (Premium US$2 a user a month, US$1.70 billed annually) and is free for up to 30 users with messaging; paid plans add time clocks and shift swaps.
- Stratum Shifts vs When I Work
When I Work charges per user, managers included (US$2.50 per user per month for one location and US$5 for several, as shown on its pricing page) and has no free plan; every plan has a time clock, messaging and shift swaps.
- Stratum Shifts vs Connecteam
Connecteam sells hubs at a flat price for the first 30 users (Operations Basic US$35 a month, US$29 billed yearly) and is free for up to 10 users; it adds a time clock, chat, forms, training and HR.
See the plans, or how it works inside ChatGPT and Claude.