7shifts Reviews

Pros

You can work from the website or from the app which is convenient if you're bouncing between locations. On the website, I can preset shift times for faster scheduling. You can set multiple roles which is beneficial for staff that do multiple things. You can assign an hourly to each role as well, so you can see an approximation of your labor for the week.

Cons

Unfortunately, the preset shift times do not translate over to the app so you do have to manually do it which takes a little more time. Although I have my preference set to get push notifications for almost all the app features, they don't always come through.

Alternatives Considered

HotSchedules

Reasons for Switching to 7shifts

7shifts was less expensive and much easier to use plus it integrated with our point of sale system.

Pros

We're interested in this app for the optimal labor scheduling feature. Unfortunately, we haven't yet used it long enough for this feature to work for us. Being able to manually add projected sales to the schedule to see the estimated labor % as you prepare the schedule is helpful. The reports seem easy to read. The helpdesk has been responsive so far.

Cons

The cost of the second highest tier plan is the same as the highest tier plan on our previous software. I don't know if this is a good value yet since we haven't been using it long enough to access all the features we need. I'm hoping the longer we use it, the better it will get. So far, myself and my team are still struggling to understand and find everything we need.

Alternatives Considered

Deputy

Reasons for Choosing 7shifts

We want to access the optimal labor feature in 7shifts. 7shifts seems more geared towards QSR than Homebase.

Switched From

Homebase

Reasons for Switching to 7shifts

Deputy charges per employee.

Pros

I liked the messaging platform it had for teams. I enjoyed the ease of seeing team member roles. I liked the ease of seeing the daily line up of teams in different departments. I enjoyed being able to flag attendance within the app and reports generated from that.

Cons

I did not like third party app integrations that users would be automatically opted into. Forecasting was a bit clunky also unfortunately.

Alternatives Considered

HotSchedules

Reasons for Switching to 7shifts

We didnt. We went with HotSchedules.

Pros

Slows of writing an accurate schedule and the fact that it integrates with toast POS

Cons

No negatives at this time, if I could see front of the house labor broken out from the back of the house labor so I can monitor the numbers individually would be most important

Alternatives Considered

Sling

Reasons for Choosing 7shifts

Ease and pricing

Reasons for Switching to 7shifts

Functions

Pros

EVERYTHING! I like the fact that I can communicate through the application, rather than add or share personal contact info. Other features I use daily are: Scheduling, Labor costs, Tip Pooling, Incident reporting, Task Management and even the weather feature is handy.

Cons

The only problem I am having is with data merge into payroll software. It's a formatting issue which I am confident can be solved. The data transfers, but not to the correct columns in my payroll - I know it will be fixed soon - because my tech support team is working on it with me!

Alternatives Considered

Sling

Reasons for Switching to 7shifts

It interfaces best with our POS - which is TOAST.

Pros

team responsiveness if there is ever a question or problem, upgrades, ease of use, GUI

Cons

Some of the features are a little hidden

Alternatives Considered

Microsoft Excel

Reasons for Switching to 7shifts

Great features, ease of use, GUI, team, ability to grow my company seamlessly

Pros

Quick and easy to create, copy, and adjust schedules.

Cons

Nothing really. To nit pick 7shifts.com should have the login screen on the home page rather than just be about signing up.

Pros

Ease of use, customer service, speed, responsiveness, price, does exactly what we were looking for.

Cons

Can't think of a con...just a great program

Alternatives Considered

Deputy, ScheduleFlex, When I Work and HotSchedules

Reasons for Switching to 7shifts

It just seemed like the best product for the price...and again the customer service was great too.

Pros

I love everything 7shifts has to offer. Especially the ability to add tips into the system. The system we used prior to 7shifts didn't allow tip ands isn't connect to our payroll server. This has been a great help!

Cons

I do wish I could see an entire month of shifts instead of just a week at a time. We are a smaller organization so we have less employees than most.

Pros

Easy to use, if I have questions the response is quick

Cons

I don’t feel like there’s anything I dislike at the moment

Pros

Ease of use, lay out, certain reports. Ease for staff to communicate and input their availability and time off requests. It is user friendly on the front end.

Cons

Better labor forecasting, actual v forecasted, Day part labor separation ( lunch v dinner) and real-time labor v forecasted v last week ( or last quarter or last year). Being able to break down the sales by day part along with labor would be fantastic. Also the "optimal labor" tool is pretty weak and the graph used is not helpful.
Tip pooling or tip reporting enhancements. I have three cashiers on, having them the program able to split up the group tips by hours worked on that shift.

Alternatives Considered

ADP Workforce Now, When I Work and HotSchedules

Reasons for Switching to 7shifts

I liked the way it looked, the ease of learning it and the great support staff when we first started!!! Their patience and understanding was just awesome!!!

Pros

Very easy to use. Lots of integration options and they are continually adding more. Easy for staff to use!

Cons

Not everything you need to do is on the mobile app or sometimes hard to find.

Alternatives Considered

HotSchedules

Reasons for Switching to 7shifts

7shifts was very easy to use and they got back to me very quickly with any questions. They features they offered also interested us and it looked ( and is) very easy to use.

Pros

Very simple integration into the overall day to day operation of the company. Easy to setup new hires and have continued communication as they are on boarded. Simple communication with the entire complex and all staff about changes and important information. Overall a great application that does actually what is says.

Cons

I think some of the available options to the staff are a bit too much. Such as everyone's email and phone number and the freedom to use that as they wish can be a bit of a headache.

Alternatives Considered

TimeCamp and Timely

Reasons for Switching to 7shifts

Price and overall appearance of the application seemed to be top notch.

Pros

Incredibly simple to set up and begin using.
Team loves the autonomous features that give them control off requesting shifts and time off.
Management loves how easy it to publish weekly schedules.
My favorite features are the reporting and labor budgeting tools.

Cons

I wished I would have deployed it sooner

Alternatives Considered

HotSchedules

Reasons for Choosing 7shifts

The old software didn't integrate with our new POS system.

Reasons for Switching to 7shifts

7shifts was the easiest to use and had a more friendly UX,UI

Pros

7shifts has a great entry level price point for small organizations and companies. It is accessible, durable and transparent. It instills team confidence with employees when they can track their timesheets in real time and communicate quickly with management and colleagues through the application negating the need to maintain posted call sheets or add contacts to personal mobile devices.

Cons

7shifts cannot lock or protect a current schedule once its posted. You must use great caution when editing schedules online or on a mobile device that you are actually editing the correct day and date. If your scheduling manager is distracted during the edit process for a future week it is possible to mistakenly edit (and publish) a current week. Additionally, it would be helpful for the software to utilize a biometric reader in 7punches thereby eliminated the 4 digit code requirement.

Alternatives Considered

QuickBooks Time, WhenToWork and Homebase

Reasons for Choosing 7shifts

We are a seasonal tourist destination and it made sense to switch to a provider that didn't require 12 month commitments.

Reasons for Switching to 7shifts

Low cost fast start.

Pros

Easy to use
Great tutorials
Fast and friendly support staff
Efficiency for reviewing labor
Incredibly communication tool between staff and management
Consider suggestions for functions and features and notify you if they become implemented
Fair price for the power of the product

Pros

It is very user friendly. Schedules are easily created and notifications are sent to employees if any changes are made. This eliminates me having to individually reach out to employees. I also love the announcement board for when I need to inform my crew of changes to the menu or any other operational changes.

Cons

When inputting events into the calendar it would be nice to have more formating options. Ex. Type of event, time frame (if it extends past 12am making it so it doesn't show on the calendar for the next day)

Also when employees try to book time off outside of the allotted time frame it would be nice if the admin still got notified since most employees just text you about it anyways. Perhaps the message could say "your time off request has been submitted but it is outside of the scheduling time frame therefore it cannot be guaranteed" or something like that.

Pros

As a worker, I've found 7shifts fairly easy to work with. It easily allows me to see my upcoming shifts and if necessary offer them up for others to take. I have not personally used other software, but my friends have told me that they are either unable to trade shifts easily or at all! The messaging features are also quite adequate as they are simple to understand and use. They make it a breeze to contact my coworkers or employer if necessary. Finally, I believe it is a fairly recent development, but 7shifts has a logbook feature that allows for commentary about that day of work. The logbook is exceptional at sharing information with my employer and coworkers, and helps us maintain inventory and smooth daily operations.

Cons

Its recording of my expected pay is not always 100% accurate although that's probably due to taxes. However it might be nice to implement a feature that determines what you'll make after tax. Additonally, I've had some issues trying to input my availability, where the dates will switch before I post my availability. This isn't a deal breaker but just a bit annoying to switch them back.

Pros

I manage a restaurant that uses Toast as our POS system. The integration was easy and I love the real time information shared between both platforms. The scheduling portion of 7shifts is my favorite and the mobile access. Business needs change on a dime in food and beverage and I need all my staff members to be on the same page at all times. The messaging feature is also very crucial, we live on an island and recently Mauna Loa volcano erupted. Some of our team members live on the other side of the island. We wanted to get work out quickly and efficiently to share information and to go over safety protocols and possible plans. 7shifts allowed for us to reach all of our employees in a timely manner.

Cons

One thing I would ask 7shifts to consider is allowing for a business to customize "flags" for the schedule. For example, if I call someone off of work I would rather leave their original schedule posted for the record and indicate that I called them off.

Pros

I find it to be very user friendly for our GM's that build their schedules. I also appreciate the fact that it puts our staff in charge of their schedules. If they play by the rules of 7shifts, they can really make their schedules work for them.

Cons

Customer service; chatting is not efficient & even if the tech is the one that isn't responding, you still get kicked out when the time is up.

Pros

I have enough experience to compare this system to others and I love this one. It’s always easy to read and understand. The colors and how it’s laid out always helps me remember my schedules. It also helps remind me what position I’ll be filling in or what time I may be able to leave work or just what the week is going to look like business-wise.

Cons

At times, I don’t get all the notifications that coworkers post in different groups. They’re not typically super important posts but I like to be up-to-date.

Pros

It is pretty easy to use. I like that it has staff ph.#'s and you can call or text through app without having to create a contact in personal account. as long as a staff member is in our employ, we have the important info in an easy to find format. It is easy to request time off and switch shifts through the app as well.

Cons

If someone wants to trade shifts, we have to scroll through all their shifts to see if they are going to go into overtime. It does give you a general hour count, but it is hardly ever accurate as sometimes staff get sent home early, and of course the app wouldn't know that. For me it would be great if you could tap someones name and it would show all their shifts in one place, and you wouldn't have to check every day to know whether or not to approve a change, like you wouldn't want to approve a 3rd double shift in a row, but without double checking every day, you don't know exactly what shifts a staff member has or will work.

Pros

I like that I can use it on my phone or computer!

Cons

Sometimes the publishing gets confusing and I can’t find workers when I need them

Alternatives Considered

Toast POS

Reasons for Choosing 7shifts

More user friendly

Switched From

HotSchedules

Reasons for Switching to 7shifts

We got both

Pros

I love that my employees are able to communicate with each other and work to fill their shifts if they're ill or issues arise. This frees up my limited time. The templates and metrics that the employees and myself are able to fill in re: how much they'd like to work and when are intuitive and allow me to reduce the time cross referencing. The software is incredibly intuitive and easy to use or find the things you're looking for. Finally, the service and support I've received from the team has been outstanding. They believe in their product and want it to work for your needs.

Cons

My business does a lot of outside events. While there is a section for events, I'd like for it to highlight the entire staff field for the day so I can more easily cross reference that there are major staffing changes that will need to occur.

Pros

It's a really nice layout, it has thought of just about everything you could possibly need to use the software for. I have personally found it very useful for looking up the contact information of my coworkers and keeping track of request off time. For people like servers who constantly drop/add/trade shifts with other people, there is a useful feature to do that as well.

Cons

It logged me out when I changed phones, don't think that's necessary to protect information on this kind of app, but was easy to recover password. Overall a very minor con.