AI Workforce Scheduling Software Comparison 2026: Deputy, When I Work, Legion and 7 More (Pricing & Free Plans)

Choosing AI workforce scheduling software is harder than it looks. The tools range from free apps for ten-person teams to quote-only platforms for chains with tens of thousands of staff. Many describe automatic shift creation as "AI," but the scope differs. Some offer a conversational assistant or demand forecasting, while others offer only rule-based auto-assignment.

This article compares 10 tools: Deputy, When I Work, Legion, Quinyx, Homebase, Connecteam, UKG Pro Workforce Management, Workforce.com, Sling, and 7shifts. For each one, we look at pricing, free plans or trials, Japanese support, supported platforms, strengths, and weaknesses. We compared them using each vendor's official website, checked in November 2026.

After the tool-by-tool sections, you will find picks by goal and practical tips for choosing without regrets. Prices and features can change, so check the official website for the latest pricing and features before you decide.

What Is AI Workforce Scheduling Software? What It Does and What to Know Before Choosing

AI workforce scheduling software helps managers build and adjust shift schedules for hourly or frontline teams. It combines scheduling with time and attendance, messaging, and labor cost tracking. The "AI" part varies by product, from rule-based auto-assignment to forecasting models and conversational assistants.

Typical uses among the tools in this comparison include:

• Automatic shift creation: drafting a schedule from staff availability, skills, and rules, which a manager reviews before publishing.
• Demand forecasting: estimating staffing needs from data such as POS sales, as in Workforce.com and Quinyx.
• Labor cost control: comparing planned shifts against sales or hour budgets and flagging overruns.
• Shift swaps and open shifts: letting staff pick up or trade shifts, with manager approval.
• Time and attendance: clocking in and out from a phone, tablet, or kiosk, and approving timesheets.
• Conversational assistants: asking an AI agent in plain language to create, edit, or explain shifts, as offered by Deputy and Legion.

Before choosing, check what the free plan or trial actually covers. Homebase offers a free Basic plan for 1 location and up to 10 employees. Connecteam offers all features free for up to 10 people, but AI Agents are not available on that plan. Sling is free for up to 30 users, and 7shifts offers a free Comp plan. Several tools, such as Legion, Quinyx, UKG Pro Workforce Management, and Workforce.com, list no pricing and no free trial, so you start with a demo and a quote.

Language support matters if your team or administrators work in Japanese. Support is often partial: a mobile app may support Japanese while the admin screens do not, or the reverse. Labor law features usually follow the rules of regions such as the US, so check whether they fit where you operate. Confirm the final decision with a qualified professional.

Also compare company size and pricing model. Some tools suit small teams, while others target large multi-location organizations. Pricing may be per user, per location, or per hub, and the cost changes quickly as you add people or sites.

Comparison Table of Top 10 Tools (Pricing, Japanese Support, Platforms)

Tool	Main plans	Japanese support	Platforms
Deputy	Free trial available / Lite $5/user/month / Core $6.50/user/month / Pro $9/user/month	Partial	Web, iOS, Android, Kiosk (iPad)
When I Work	14-day free trial / Essentials $2.50/user/month / Pro $5/user/month / Premium $8/user/month	Not supported	Web, iOS, Android
Legion	Contact sales	Not stated	Web, iOS, Android
Quinyx	Contact sales	Partial	Web, iOS, Android
Homebase	Free plan (Basic) / Essentials $30/location/month / Plus $70/location/month	Not supported	Web, iOS, Android, Time clock (tablet device)
Connecteam	Free plan (up to 10 people) / Operations hub: Basic $29/month, Advanced $49/month, Expert $99/month (billed annually, up to 30 people)	Partial	Web, iOS, Android
UKG Pro Workforce Management	Contact sales	Not stated	Web, iOS, Android
Workforce.com	Contact sales	Not stated	Web, iOS, Android
Sling	Free plan / Premium $2/user/month / Business $4/user/month	Not stated	Web, iOS, Android
7shifts	Free plan (Comp) / Essentials $39.99/location/month / Pro $79.99/location/month	Not supported	Web, iOS, Android

AIpedia has not rated these tools, because they do not have their own pages on AIpedia yet. Pricing and plans change; we checked each vendor's official website in November 2026. Check the latest information on the official website before you sign up.

Features, Pricing, and Best For: 10 Tools

1. Deputy

Deputy is a shift scheduling and time and attendance platform that originated in Australia. It targets hourly teams in food service, retail, healthcare, security, cleaning, and call centers. Its conversational agent, Deputy AI, can create and bulk-edit shifts, assign staff, find replacements, and correct and approve timesheets through chat or voice.

Deputy AI always asks for human confirmation before publishing shifts or approving timesheets. It operates only within existing role permissions, and the official website states that company data is not used to train LLMs.

• Strengths: Deputy AI is included in every plan, starting with Lite. The plan is labeled "INTRODUCTORY FREE," and the official website notes that pricing and availability may change.
• Strengths: Core and above add Auto Scheduling, where AI selects suitable employees for each shift. They also add Demand Forecasting from POS and payroll data, plus labor cost optimization.
• Strengths: The mobile app supports Japanese, so frontline staff can use it in Japanese. It runs on Web, iOS, Android, and an iPad kiosk.
• Things to note: The web admin interface is English only, so administrators are expected to work in English. Labor law compliance covers regions such as the US, UK, and Australia, and support for Japanese law is not stated.
• Things to note: Monthly billing has a minimum charge of USD $30 per invoice. Annual plans cannot be downgraded, and there are no refunds for mid-term cancellation. Pro has no self-service free trial, and the Payroll add-on is US only.

Pricing: A free trial is available for up to 31 days with no credit card required. Billed annually, Lite is $5, Core is $6.50, and Pro is $9 (USD, per user/month). Billed monthly, Lite is $5.50, Core is $7.25, and Pro is $10, with a minimum charge of USD $30 per invoice. Administrators and supervisors count as users. Paid add-ons are Payroll ($8/user/month + $49/month base fee, US only), HR ($2/user/month), Messaging+ ($1.95/user/month), and Analytics+ ($1.50/user/month). Messaging+ and Analytics+ are included in Pro. Enterprise: contact sales.

Best for: Hourly teams that want an AI assistant from the entry plan and can accept English-language admin screens. Frontline staff can use the Japanese mobile app. Check the official website for the latest pricing and features.

2. When I Work

When I Work is a shift scheduling and time and attendance app headquartered in Minneapolis, US. It is aimed mainly at businesses with hourly shift staff, from small single-location teams to multi-location operations. According to the official website, it is used by over 1 million users in more than 50 countries.

Its main automation feature is Auto Scheduling. You enter the shifts you need, and they are assigned to available staff who meet the conditions. You can adjust them by hand before publishing.

• Strengths: Users are unlimited, and the per-user price starts at $2.50. There is no contract lock-in, so you can change plans or cancel.
• Strengths: Auto Scheduling and Forecast Tools are available from the entry plan, Essentials. Forecast Tools compare shift costs against sales budgets and hour budgets.
• Strengths: A 14-day full-featured trial is offered with no credit card required. Essentials also includes OpenShifts, shift swaps, messaging, and payroll and POS integration.
• Things to note: The web version is English only, and the mobile apps support English, Spanish, French, Italian, and German. Japanese is not supported, and customer support is English only.
• Things to note: The official website does not describe a conversational AI assistant or AI-based demand forecasting. It does not describe Auto Scheduling as AI either. An official FAQ line about "$2.50 for a single location, $5 for multiple locations" does not match the plan table, so confirm details before buying.

Pricing: A 14-day free trial is available with no credit card required. Essentials is $2.50, Pro is $5, and Premium is $8 (USD, per user/month), with no limit on users. Monthly or annual billing can be chosen, but annual prices are not listed. A Time Tracking & Attendance add-on option is shown, with no price listed. Pro adds scheduling rules, permission roles, and labor sharing between locations. Premium adds API, Webhook, and SAML SSO. Enterprise: contact sales.

Best for: English-speaking teams that want low per-user pricing, unlimited users, and basic auto-scheduling with budget-based forecasting. It is a weaker fit if you need Japanese screens or Japanese support. Check the official website for the latest pricing and features.

3. Legion

Legion is a workforce management (WFM) platform from Legion of Redwood City, California, US. It carries the slogan "workforce management for complex frontline organizations." The modules cover Labor Planning, Schedule Optimization, Time and Attendance, an Employee Engagement Suite, and agentic AI.

Its target industries include convenience stores, grocery, food service, retail, hospitality, healthcare, and fitness. The cases on the official website center on large organizations, such as 15,000 people across 700 locations.

• Strengths: Legion Agent Managed Scheduling adjusts shifts for mid-week absences, swaps, and demand changes. It shows the cost of each change before approval and logs every action. It does not act without manager approval or a company-configured policy, and shadow mode lets you check its behavior in advance.
• Strengths: The official FAQ describes AI Schedule and Communication Assistants on web and mobile. Customer data is not used to train third-party foundation models and is stored separately for each customer.
• Strengths: According to the official press release, it operates in 35 countries. It applies labor laws, collective agreements, and predictive scheduling ordinances of the customer's country or municipality.
• Things to note: A list of supported languages is not published, and the official website is in English (US and UK) only. Japanese support cannot be confirmed.
• Things to note: Pricing is not public, and the official cases center on chains with tens of thousands of employees, so it is likely excessive for small teams. Other assistants, such as those for payroll staff and administrators, are web only.

Pricing: Contact sales. No pricing is listed on the official website, and you get a quote through a demo request or inquiry. No free plan or free trial is stated. Whether AI features carry additional fees cannot be determined from public information.

Best for: Large frontline organizations and multinational operators that want agentic AI with approval controls. Because Japanese support is unconfirmed, ask the vendor directly before adoption.

4. Quinyx

Quinyx is an AI workforce management platform from Quinyx AB of Sweden. It brings shift creation, time and attendance, communication, and employee engagement into one product. It targets retail, warehousing and logistics, hospitality, facility management, and healthcare organizations that schedule shifts across multiple locations.

The AI optimization module, Quinyx Optimise, bundles Forecasting, Automation (Auto-Schedule and Auto-Assign), and Insights. Final schedule approval is made by the manager.

• Strengths: According to the official website, Forecasting selects the more accurate method for each location from more than 20 AI and statistical models. It forecasts demand up to 6 months ahead.
• Strengths: The conversational assistant Ava is built in and supports more than 20 languages on web and mobile. It is designed to include human review for recommendations.
• Strengths: The mobile app supports 23 languages including Japanese. Auto-Schedule and Auto-Assign take cost, coverage, skills, and fairness into account, and compliance rules are applied.
• Things to note: The official website and help are only in English and six European languages, with no Japanese pages. Whether Japanese legal templates exist cannot be confirmed from public information.
• Things to note: Pricing is not public, and no free plan or free trial is stated. The figures on the official website, such as up to 92% less shift creation time, are vendor-provided with no calculation method shown. Model counts also differ between official pages (more than 20 and more than 40).

Pricing: Contact sales. The official pricing page is quote-request based under "Let's tailor your Quinyx solution," with no plan names or prices listed. No free plan or free trial is stated, and adoption starts with a demo and a quote.

Best for: Multi-location retail, logistics, hospitality, and healthcare organizations that want forecasting and automation, with frontline staff who benefit from a Japanese-capable mobile app. Administrators should be comfortable with English.

5. Homebase

Homebase is a team management app for small US businesses with hourly staff. The official website calls it "the everything app for small businesses with hourly teams." It combines shifts, time clock, payroll, hiring, HR, and team chat, and it serves food service, retail, beauty and wellness, healthcare, and education and care.

According to the official website, more than 150,000 small and midsize businesses use it. The AI-powered Scheduling Assistant is included in Plus and above.

• Strengths: The Basic plan is free for 1 location and up to 10 employees. It needs no credit card and has no time limit.
• Strengths: Paid plans have unlimited employees at a flat price per location, which makes costs easy to estimate for a busy single store. All-in-One can be tried free for 14 days.
• Strengths: All-in-One adds shift creation based on forecasted sales and labor cost targets. Payroll, hiring, and HR are handled in the same app.
• Things to note: Japanese is not supported. Language settings are English, Spanish, and French, and payroll, tax forms, and labor law explanations assume US federal and state law.
• Things to note: Billing is per location, so costs add up with multiple sites. Homebase Assistant was at the waitlist stage as of November 2026 and is not generally available.

Pricing: Basic is free (1 location, up to 10 employees). Billed monthly, Essentials is $30, Plus is $70, and All-in-One is $120 (USD, per location/month). Billed annually, Essentials is $24, Plus is $56, and All-in-One is $96. The 14-day All-in-One free trial needs no credit card, and you move to Basic if you choose no plan. Payroll is an add-on at $49/month + $6/month per employee. A limited-time promotion gives Plus and payroll free for 6 months when you sign up for payroll at the same time.

Best for: Small US businesses with hourly staff, especially single-location stores starting on a free plan. It is a weaker fit if you need Japanese screens or Japanese labor rules. Check the official website for the latest pricing and features.

6. Connecteam

Connecteam is an all-in-one operations app for frontline staff who do not work at desks, such as in construction, cleaning, retail, hospitality, and home care. It is divided into three hubs: Operations (shifts, time clock, forms, tasks), Communications (chat, announcements, surveys), and HR & Skills (training, time off, e-signatures). You can subscribe to only the hubs you need.

According to the official website, more than 90,000 companies use it.

• Strengths: The Small Business Plan is "Free for life" for up to 10 people, with all hubs and all features. Paid plans include 30 people in the base price.
• Strengths: Auto Scheduling ("Scheduling Genius") creates a whole schedule in one click, considering availability, preferences, qualifications, shift requirements, and local regulations. AI Agents answer staff questions in chat. Both are on Expert and above.
• Strengths: The admin dashboard supports Japanese display. AI translation of chats and announcements helps multilingual teams.
• Things to note: Auto-scheduling and AI Agents require Expert and above, and AI Agents cannot be used on the free Small Business Plan. A POS-based demand forecasting feature is not stated on the official website.
• Things to note: Japanese is not in the help's list of mobile app languages, so Japanese display for frontline staff cannot be confirmed. Billing is per hub, so using shifts, training, and communications together needs multiple hubs.

Pricing: The Small Business Plan is free for up to 10 people. A 14-day free trial needs no credit card. For the Operations hub, the base price covers up to 30 people: Basic $29/month, Advanced $49/month, and Expert $99/month (billed annually; billed monthly: $35, $59, $119). From the 31st person, Basic adds $0.8, Advanced $2.5, and Expert $4.2 per person (billed annually). The Communications and HR & Skills hubs have the same base price, with additional per-user prices of Basic $0.5, Advanced $1.5, and Expert $3/month (billed annually). Enterprise: contact sales (USD).

Best for: Small teams of up to 10 people that want to try every feature free. It also suits mixed-language frontline teams that want shifts, chat, and training in one app, with Japanese admin screens.

7. UKG Pro Workforce Management

UKG Pro Workforce Management is a workforce management suite from UKG (Ultimate Kronos Group). It is the successor to the former UKG Dimensions (Workforce Dimensions). It handles time and attendance, shifts, demand forecasting, leave management, and analytics on one platform, and it is designed for organizations with employees in multiple countries and locations.

The AI foundation, UKG Bryte AI, is common to the UKG product family. It provides shift optimization and recommendations, statistics-based forecasting, prediction of turnover risk and fatigue, and compliance auditing.

• Strengths: Time and attendance, shifts, demand forecasting, and analytics are handled in one suite. It can be combined with the HR and payroll products under the same UKG Pro brand.
• Strengths: Forecasting uses machine learning on volume trends, special events, and seasonality. The official page also presents agentic AI for demand simulation, labor cost forecasting, and scenario-based staffing.
• Strengths: The UKG Pro Mobile App (iOS 13 and above, Android 8 and above) lets employees clock in and out, check shifts, request time off, and request shift swaps.
• Things to note: Pricing is not public, and a quote through sales is required. It is designed for global-scale organizations and tends to be excessive for small teams.
• Things to note: The official website has no list of supported languages or mention of Japanese support. UKG also has a second product line, UKG Ready, so you need to decide which line fits your company.

Pricing: Contact sales. Pricing is not listed on the official website, and quotes are obtained through a demo request or a sales inquiry. No free plan or free trial is stated.

Best for: Large organizations with employees across several countries that want one suite for time and attendance, scheduling, and forecasting, possibly alongside HR and payroll. Confirm Japanese support and legal-rule configuration with the vendor, and confirm the final decision with a qualified professional.

8. Workforce.com

Workforce.com is a workforce management platform for hourly staff in the US, Canada, and the UK. It targets hospitality, retail, and care sectors such as hospitals, clinics, dental, and elder care. It brings shift creation, demand forecasting, time and attendance, payroll, and HR into one platform with per-user licensing.

According to the official FAQ, it suits shift-based organizations of 20 to 3,000 people.

• Strengths: The AI Scheduling Agent builds a weekly draft from natural-language instructions, such as "keep costs under $X." It considers availability, past patterns, demand signals, labor budget, and state laws. Nothing is published without your approval.
• Strengths: Labor Forecasting uses POS sales, customer counts, weather, holidays, and events. It forecasts demand up to 4 weeks ahead.
• Strengths: You can adopt modules in combination, from shifts to time and attendance, payroll, and HR. The employee app has no additional fee, and shift swaps, bidding, and replacement finding work from the app.
• Things to note: Pricing is not public, and an accurate quote requires a call with sales. There is no free plan or free trial, so adoption starts with a demo request.
• Things to note: Compliance features center on US federal and state laws and Fair Workweek ordinances. The employee app has a language setting, but a list of supported languages is not public, and the Japanese help center had no articles as of November 2026. The official figures of 41% better forecast accuracy and 11% lower labor costs come without calculation methods.

Pricing: Contact sales. The four plans, All-in-One, Scheduling, Payroll, and HR, are all "Request Pricing." According to the official FAQ, licensing is per user, with discounts depending on the number of modules, contract term, and payment terms. No free plan or free trial is stated.

Best for: Mid-sized hourly operations in the US, Canada, or the UK that want a conversational scheduling agent and external-data forecasting. It is a weaker fit if Japanese support is required.

9. Sling

Sling is a shift scheduling, time clock, and team communication app based in Boston, USA. It is offered as "Sling by Toast" after its acquisition by the POS company Toast. It covers shift creation, long-term scheduling, open shifts, and messaging for teams from 2 people at a single location to over 200 across multiple locations.

• Strengths: The Free plan covers up to 30 users according to the pricing page. Paid plans start at $2/user/month, which keeps costs low for small teams.
• Strengths: Integration with Toast connects shifts with clock-ins and sales. Shifts can be enforced with the Toast time clock, and sales can be compared with labor cost percentage.
• Strengths: Only active users are charged. Charges for users who leave or are deactivated are prorated.
• Things to note: Automation is limited. Auto-assign shifts is available only on the Business plan, and the official help does not describe it as AI. Conflicting shifts must be resolved manually, and the official website does not mention demand forecasting or a conversational AI assistant. The "built-in artificial intelligence" described on some pages refers to flagging overlapping shifts and double-booking.
• Things to note: Supported languages are not stated, so Japanese support cannot be confirmed. The free plan limit is also inconsistent across official pages: up to 30 users on the pricing page, unlimited users and locations on the home page, and up to 50 users in the features page FAQ. Check the official website for the latest pricing and features.

Pricing: Free plan: Free (up to 30 users). Premium: $2/user/month ($1.70 billed annually). Business: $4/user/month ($3.40 billed annually). All prices are in USD, with a 15% discount when billed annually. Premium and Business include a 15-day free trial. Premium adds mobile clock-in, labor cost management, overtime tracking, and group messaging. Business adds kiosk clock-in, reports, no-show and sick-leave management, PTO management, and Auto-assign shifts.

Best for: Small to mid-sized teams in food service, retail, or healthcare that want low-cost scheduling and time clock features, especially those already using Toast. It is less suited to buyers who need sales-based demand forecasting or a conversational AI assistant, or who need confirmed Japanese support.

10. 7shifts

7shifts is a platform for shift scheduling, time tracking, payroll, and tip management built specifically for restaurants. It serves single-location restaurants as well as multi-location franchises and restaurant groups. It integrates with POS and payroll systems such as Toast, Square, Clover, Lightspeed, TouchBistro, Revel, and ADP.

Its core automation predicts required staffing from past sales and labor data imported through POS integration. The official website gives sales forecast accuracy with POS integration as 95%.

• Strengths: The free Comp plan covers 1 location and up to 15 employees. The 14-day trial needs no credit card, and pricing is flat per location, with unlimited employees on Pro and above.
• Strengths: Auto-fill uses past shifts and availability. Higher-tier plans add hourly labor cost forecasting and staffing recommendations.
• Strengths: Alerts for breaks, Fair Workweek laws, and minor regulations help prevent violations. The AI-powered Schedule Importer reads a photo of an existing schedule, and the AI Course Builder generates training courses.
• Things to note: It is not suited to industries other than food service, and costs add up per location. A conversational AI assistant is not mentioned, and the AI scope is mainly schedule import and course creation.
• Things to note: Supported languages are English, French, and Spanish, with no Japanese. Automatic translation of entered text is not supported. Payroll is US only, and the displayed prices are noted as "new customer prices" that may change.

Pricing: Comp is free (1 location, up to 15 employees). Essentials is $39.99 (up to 30 employees), Pro is $79.99 (unlimited employees), and Premium is $134.99 (payroll included, unlimited employees), all USD per location/month, as new customer prices when billed annually. The official page shows $44.99, $89.99, and $149.99 with strikethrough and states a 10% discount for annual billing. Add-ons are Tip Management $49.99, Manager Log Book $14.99, and Task Management $12.99 (per location/month). A 14-day free trial needs no credit card.

Best for: Restaurants, from single locations to groups, that use a supported POS and want sales-based labor forecasting. It is not a fit for non-restaurant businesses or Japanese-language use.

Recommendations by Goal

Goal	Recommended	Why
Start with a free plan	Homebase, Connecteam	Homebase Basic is free for 1 location and up to 10 employees, and Connecteam's Small Business Plan includes all features free for up to 10 people.
Free plan for a larger team	Sling	The pricing page lists the Free plan as free for up to 30 users, though other official pages state different limits.
Japanese on the frontline mobile app	Deputy, Quinyx	Deputy's mobile app supports Japanese, and Quinyx's mobile app supports 23 languages including Japanese, while their admin sites are in English.
Japanese admin dashboard	Connecteam	The help lists Japanese among the admin dashboard display languages, though the mobile app list does not include it.
Low per-user cost for a small team	When I Work, Sling	When I Work starts at $2.50/user/month with unlimited users, and Sling Premium starts at $2/user/month.
Enterprise or multi-country scale	Legion, UKG Pro Workforce Management	Legion reports operating in 35 countries, and UKG Pro Workforce Management is designed for employees in multiple countries.
Conversational AI assistant	Deputy, Workforce.com	Deputy AI works by chat or voice, and the AI Scheduling Agent in Workforce.com takes natural-language instructions, with approval required in both.
Restaurant POS integration	7shifts	It is built for restaurants and integrates with POS systems such as Toast, Square, Clover, and Lightspeed.

Most tools here do not fully support Japanese, so test the screens your administrators and staff will actually use. Confirm pricing and compliance settings with the vendor and a qualified professional before you commit.

How to Choose Without Regrets

Check what the free plan or trial really covers

Free offerings differ in scope. Homebase Basic and 7shifts Comp are limited to 1 location, with 10 and 15 employees respectively. Connecteam includes all features for up to 10 people, but AI Agents are excluded.

Deputy offers a free trial of up to 31 days, and When I Work offers 14 days. Legion, Quinyx, UKG Pro Workforce Management, and Workforce.com state no free plan or trial.

Match the pricing model to your headcount and sites

Per-user pricing, as in Deputy, When I Work, and Sling, grows with headcount. Per-location pricing, as in Homebase and 7shifts, suits a busy single site but adds up across many locations. Connecteam bills per hub, with 30 people included in each base price.

Estimate your cost for both today's team and next year's. Quote-only tools such as Legion and Quinyx require a demo before you can compare.

Verify Japanese support on both admin and mobile sides

Japanese support is rarely complete. Deputy's mobile app supports Japanese, but its web admin is English only. Connecteam shows Japanese in the admin dashboard, but the mobile app list in the help does not include it.

When I Work, Homebase, and 7shifts do not support Japanese. For Legion, UKG Pro Workforce Management, Workforce.com, and Sling, support cannot be confirmed from public information.

Separate real AI from rule-based automation

Ask what "AI" means in each product. Deputy, Legion, Quinyx, and Workforce.com offer conversational or agent-style features, each with human approval. Sling's Auto-assign is not described as AI, and 7shifts uses AI mainly for schedule import and course creation.

Also check which plan includes the feature. Deputy's Auto Scheduling needs Core, Connecteam's needs Expert, and Homebase's Scheduling Assistant needs Plus.

Match tool size and legal scope to your business

Legion and UKG Pro Workforce Management target large organizations, while Homebase, Sling, and 7shifts target small businesses. Labor law features usually follow the rules of regions such as the US, UK, and Australia. Confirm the final decision with a qualified professional.

FAQ

Q. Which tools have a free plan?

A. Homebase has a free Basic plan for 1 location and up to 10 employees. Connecteam's Small Business Plan is free for up to 10 people, and Sling's Free plan covers up to 30 users on its pricing page. 7shifts offers a free Comp plan for 1 location and up to 15 employees.

Q. Which tools do not publish pricing?

A. Legion, Quinyx, UKG Pro Workforce Management, and Workforce.com do not list pricing. You get a quote through a demo request or a sales inquiry, and none of them states a free plan or free trial. Check the official website for the latest pricing and features.

Q. Which tools support Japanese?

A. Support is partial. Deputy's mobile app supports Japanese, but its web admin is English only. Quinyx's mobile app supports 23 languages including Japanese, and Connecteam's admin dashboard can display Japanese. When I Work, Homebase, and 7shifts do not support Japanese.

Q. Which tools offer a conversational AI assistant or agent?

A. Deputy has Deputy AI, Legion has AI Assistants and Agent Managed Scheduling, and Quinyx has Ava. Workforce.com has an AI Scheduling Agent, and Connecteam offers AI Agents on Expert and above. When I Work, Sling, and 7shifts do not describe a conversational assistant.

Q. How do the entry-level paid prices compare?

A. Sling Premium is $2/user/month ($1.70 billed annually), and When I Work Essentials is $2.50/user/month. Deputy Lite is $5/user/month billed annually. Homebase Essentials is $30/location/month, and 7shifts Essentials is $39.99/location/month. The pricing models differ, so compare against your own headcount.

Summary

The tools in this comparison fall into three groups. Small-business apps such as Homebase, Sling, 7shifts, When I Work, and Connecteam publish prices and often offer free plans or trials. Mid-range platforms such as Deputy add AI features from entry-level plans. Legion, Quinyx, UKG Pro Workforce Management, and Workforce.com use quote-based pricing.

Japanese support is partial, unconfirmed, or absent for every tool, and "AI" ranges from conversational agents to rule-based auto-assignment. Check pricing models, plan requirements for AI features, and language coverage on both admin and mobile screens. Confirm the final decision with a qualified professional where legal rules are involved.

• Want to start free with a small team → Homebase (free Basic plan for 1 location and up to 10 employees)
• Want an AI assistant and a Japanese mobile app → Deputy (Deputy AI in all plans; admin screens are English only)
• Run a large multi-location organization → Legion (agentic AI with approval controls; pricing by quote)

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