A Sling alternative for businesses with 2–5 locations
A Sling alternative only makes sense if you need something Sling lacks, because Sling Premium at $60/month for 30 staff (30 × $2.00) is cheaper than every other priced plan we checked except Connecteam Operations Advanced ($59). Sling's pricing page lists no cash-drawer or stock counts, and its Free plan has no time clock, shift swaps or SMS shift alarms.
Cost at 3 locations and 30 staff
Example: Sling is free for up to 30 users. Premium adds the time clock, shift swaps, geofencing and SMS shift alarms at $2.00 per user per month: 30 × $2.00 = $60/month, or 30 × $1.70 = $51/month billed annually. Business is 30 × $4.00 = $120/month. Sling's pricing page does not say whether managers count as users or whether Free supports more than one location; if 3 managers count, 33 users exceed the Free limit and Premium is 33 × $2.00 = $66/month. In our cost check of 10 scheduling apps at 3 stores and 30 staff, the only cheaper paid plan is Connecteam Operations Advanced at $59/month for the first 30 users.
Verdict
Choose Sling if you want the lowest per-user price with a time clock and shift swaps ($60/month for 30 staff on Premium), POS links to Toast, Square, Harbortouch, Restaurant Manager or POSiTouch, or free schedules for up to 30 users.
Choose Assistlify if you want cash-drawer counts and stock counts per location in the same app as the schedule, time clock and time-off requests, one flat monthly price per business instead of a per-user price, and setup done for you: we load your current schedule and staff. It has no shift swaps, payroll, POS integrations, GPS or SMS. Assistlify's price is not yet published, so we cannot say whether it costs less. It is in early access; you can try it in the preview workspace.
Side by side
| Item | Sling | Assistlify |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Per user per month; Free for up to 30 users | One flat monthly price per business, not per location or per user |
| Cost at 3 locations / 30 staff | Free: $0 if total users are 30 or fewer (multi-location on Free not stated). Premium: 30 × $2.00 = $60/month; 30 × $1.70 = $51 billed annually | One flat monthly price per business; Assistlify's price is not yet published, so we cannot say whether it costs less. |
| Free plan | Free for up to 30 users: scheduling, time-off requests, available shifts, shift offers; no time clock, swaps or SMS alarms | Not published; in early access, with an open preview workspace to try |
| Scheduling | Yes, all plans including Free | Yes: weekly schedules built by hand or generated from staff availability and approved time off, then published to the team; staff can be assigned to one or more locations |
| Time clock | Mobile time tracking on Premium and Business; kiosk on Business; not on Free | Yes: clock in/out with breaks; attendance CSV export |
| Shift swaps / open shifts | Swaps on Premium and Business; available shifts and shift offers on all plans | No |
| Time off | Time-off requests on all plans; PTO management on Business | Yes: requests from the phone; approval flags overlapping shifts |
| Payroll | Payroll reports on Business; payroll processing not found on Sling's site | No (attendance CSV export only) |
| POS integrations | Toast, Square, Harbortouch, Restaurant Manager, POSiTouch (plan requirement not found) | No |
| GPS / geofence | Geofencing on Premium and Business | No |
| SMS | SMS shift alarms on Premium and Business | No |
| Cash-drawer counts | Not found on Sling's site | Yes, per location |
| Stock counts | Not found on Sling's site | Yes, per location |
| Setup and trial | 15-day free trial | We set it up for you: we load your current schedule and staff. Staff join by link or QR code and use it in the browser on iPhone, Android or desktop |
Vendor cells come from Sling's own pages, checked November 12, 2026. "Not found" means we did not find it on those pages, not that it does not exist.
Related: cost of 10 scheduling apps at 3 stores and 30 staff, Homebase alternative for 2–5 locations, cash drawer count calculator.
Questions
Is Sling free for multiple locations?
Sling is free for up to 30 users, but its pricing page does not state whether the Free plan supports more than one location.
Does Sling's free plan include a time clock?
No. Mobile time tracking starts on Premium at $2.00 per user per month ($1.70 billed annually).
Does Sling count managers as users?
Not stated on Sling's site. If they count, 33 users exceed the Free limit of 30 and Premium costs 33 × $2.00 = $66/month.
Sources
- Sling pricing (checked 2026-11-12)
- Sling integrations (checked 2026-11-12)
- Sling geofencing (checked 2026-11-12)
- Sling help: adding locations (checked 2026-11-12)
- Connecteam pricing (checked 2026-11-12)