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Stratum Shifts vs Sling
Sling, owned by Toast, is a scheduling and team app priced per user, with a free plan for up to 30 users. Stratum Shifts builds and shares the week from a chat with an AI assistant, for one flat price, and staff need no app or login.
Prices checked 29 October 2026 on Sling’s own pages, listed under Sources.
The short answer
For a team of up to 30 users, Sling’s free plan covers three times as many people as Stratum Shifts Free, and adds messages and shifts staff can post or offer to each other.
Its paid plans bill every user, managers included: US$2 a user a month on Premium (US$1.70 billed annually), so 31 users cost US$62 a month. Stratum Shifts Team is US$12 a month for up to 75 staff in each of 5 workplaces.
Pick Sling for a free app your whole team uses. Pick Stratum Shifts to have the week built in a chat and shared as one link, and to keep one price once the team passes 30.
Side by side
| Topic | Stratum Shifts | Sling |
|---|---|---|
| How it charges | One flat price for the account, not per user or per location. | Per user per month, counting every profile: admins, managers and employees. No base fee. |
| 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. | Up to 30 users (no cap on free accounts created through Toast): scheduling, time-off requests, available shifts and shift offers, news and private messages. |
| 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. | Premium US$2.00 and Business US$4.00 a user a month billed monthly; US$1.70 and US$3.40 billed annually. |
| Where the week is built | In a chat with Claude. The ChatGPT plugin is waiting for OpenAI’s review. | Sling’s web app and its phone apps. |
| What staff use | A team link in any phone browser and a calendar feed for each person. No account or app. | The Sling app or website, after an invitation: staff set a password or install the app. Sling’s help center calls the invitation the only way to see the schedule. |
| Time clock and timesheets | None. | Phone time clock on Premium, and a kiosk on Business. |
| Payroll | None. It estimates hours, overtime and pay before you publish. | Sends timesheets to your payroll processor, and pairs with Toast Payroll. |
| Team messaging | None. On Team, you can have each scheduled person with an email address on file emailed their shifts when you publish. | Private messages on Free, group messages from Premium, plus a newsfeed and announcements. |
| 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. | Staff post or offer shifts on Free and swap them from Premium; exchanges need a manager’s approval unless approvals are turned off. |
| AI | Runs inside Claude, with the ChatGPT plugin in review: you describe the team and ask for the week in plain words. | Its FAQ describes a built-in AI that alerts you when a shift breaks time-off or hours rules; auto-assign on Business. |
Who each one suits
Sling
Restaurants, coffee shops, hotels and shops, from a handful of staff to franchises with several locations, including restaurants on Toast, which owns Sling, that want scheduling, messaging and time tracking in an app every employee uses.
Stratum Shifts
A manager who wants the week built from a description, checked against every rule and shared as one link, with no staff accounts to set up, at a price that stays US$12 a month up to 75 staff in each workplace.
The real differences
Who counts toward the price
Sling’s paid plans bill every profile, admins and managers included, and its free plan stops at 30 users (free accounts created through Toast have no cap). Stratum Shifts Team is one price up to 75 active staff in each of 5 workplaces, and only the manager has an account.
What staff need
Sling staff join by invitation and sign in on the app or the web. Stratum Shifts staff open one link in any phone browser and can add a calendar feed, without signing in.
What the free plans cover
Sling Free has 30 users (no cap on free accounts created through Toast), messages and shift offers, but no swaps, calendar sync or time tracking. Stratum Shifts Free has 10 active staff with auto-fill, every check, cover lists, pay estimates, calendar feeds and time-off requests.
Where the AI sits
Sling’s AI flags scheduling mistakes inside its app, and auto-assign fills open shifts on Business. Stratum Shifts is used from the chat itself: you ask Claude for next week, and it fills, checks and publishes it.
When to pick Sling
Your team is 30 or fewer and you want it free
Sling’s free plan covers 30 users with scheduling, time-off requests and messages.
You run Toast
Sling syncs employees with Toast, compares Toast sales with labor costs and exports timesheets to Toast Payroll.
Staff clock in, swap and message in one app
Phone and kiosk time clocks, shift swaps and group messages come with the paid plans.
You manage labor against sales
Labor budgets per shift, alerts when a schedule goes over, and sales comparisons.
Sources
Read on 29 October 2026.
- Sling pricing
- Sling FAQ
- Sling help: how much does Sling cost
- Sling help: how do I join my company on Sling
- Sling integrations
- Sling labor costs
Sling is a trademark of its owner. Stratum Shifts is not affiliated with or endorsed by Sling.
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 7shifts
7shifts is built for restaurants and charges per location (Essentials $44.99 a month, $39.99 billed annually, for up to 30 employees); its free Comp plan covers one location and up to 15 employees.
- 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.