# What Claude (Anthropic) with web search answered for workforce scheduling software (small businesses) on 2026-10-06

## In short

On 2026-10-06, Claude (Anthropic) with web search was asked "best workforce scheduling software for small businesses". It named 5 brands, in this order: Homebase, Deputy, 7shifts, Connecteam and Sling.

| Fact | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Question | best workforce scheduling software for small businesses |
| Asked on | 2026-10-06 |
| Engine | Claude (Anthropic) with web search |
| Model | claude-opus-5 |
| Brands named | 5 |
| Sources cited | 7 |
| Audience | small businesses |
| Coverage | Coverage: Claude (Anthropic) with web search. Other engines not included. |
| Last verified | 2026-10-06 |

Page: https://bikoosh.com/answers/s/workforce-scheduling-software-small-businesses-2026-10-06
Coverage: Claude (Anthropic) with web search. Other engines not included.

## The answer, as recorded

Asked on 2026-10-06 through Claude (Anthropic) with web search (model claude-opus-5).

> Here's how I'd rank them for a small business:
> 
> **1. Homebase** - My default recommendation for most small businesses, especially single-location retail, cafés, and restaurants. It's the only one with a genuinely usable free tier (scheduling + timesheets for unlimited employees at one location), and it prices **per location** rather than per employee, so a 25-person shop pays the same as a 5-person shop. Paid plans start around $16-20/month per location. It also bundles time clock, team messaging, and optional payroll, so you're not stitching three tools together.
> 
> **2. When I Work** - The cheapest per-head option (roughly $2.50-$5/user/month) and the cleanest mobile app of the bunch. Best when you want scheduling and shift-swapping done well without much else. Good middle ground for retail and healthcare teams. If you have a small team and want a tool employees will actually open, this is it.
> 
> **3. Deputy** - Step up to this when you have **multiple locations**. Cross-site visibility in one dashboard, strong auto-scheduling against labor budgets, and solid timesheet-to-payroll accuracy. Around $5-$9/user/month, so it gets expensive with large hourly rosters - the trade is better c

## Brands named, in the order the engine gave

| Position | Brand | How it was named |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Homebase | recommended |
| 2 | Deputy | mentioned |
| 3 | 7shifts | mentioned |
| 4 | Connecteam | mentioned |
| 5 | Sling | mentioned |

## Sources the engine cited

- https://www.capterra.com/resources/best-employee-scheduling-software-for-small-business/ (review)
- https://capterra.com/compare/153076-167811/Homebase-vs-Deputy (review)
- https://www.capterra.com/resources/deputy-vs-homebase/ (review)
- https://www.g2.com/compare/deputy-vs-when-i-work (review)
- https://costbench.com/compare/deputy-vs-when-i-work/ (other)
- https://www.costbench.com/compare/homebase-vs-when-i-work/ (other)
- https://www.joinhomebase.com/blog/best-employee-scheduling-app (other)

The question page: https://bikoosh.com/answers/q/workforce-scheduling-software/small-businesses

Alerts and membership: Answer Watch Pro, 79 USD per month: https://bikoosh.com/answers. Bikoosh is monitoring assistance, not complete protection.

Answer Watch records what one AI answer engine said on one date, nothing more. Each page names the engine and the model, carries the date the question was asked, and lists the brands that appeared in the answer in the order the engine gave them, with the sources it cited. It is a measurement, not a ranking, not a recommendation and not a claim about the world. Brands that did not appear in an answer are not named on any public page. Coverage: Claude (Anthropic) with web search. Other engines not included.