What Claude (Anthropic) with web search answered for workforce scheduling software (small businesses) on 2026-10-11

Claude (Anthropic) with web search claude-opus-5 asked 2026-10-11

Coverage: Claude (Anthropic) with web search. Other engines not included.

The question asked, verbatim: best workforce scheduling software for small businesses

Brands named, in the order the engine gave

1. Homebase mentioned
   One caveat on the sources: a lot of the top "best scheduling software" listicles are published by the vendors themselves (Homebase, Connecteam, and When I Work all rank themselves #1 on their own blogs), so I've leaned on the pricing details and review-aggregator ratings rather than their rankings.
2. Connecteam mentioned
   One caveat on the sources: a lot of the top "best scheduling software" listicles are published by the vendors themselves (Homebase, Connecteam, and When I Work all rank themselves #1 on their own blogs), so I've leaned on the pricing details and review-aggregator ratings rather than their rankings.
3. Deputy mentioned
   Roughly $2.50/user/month (Lite) to $5-6/user/month (Core), which makes it the cheapest serious paid option - commonly cited as ~40% under Deputy.
4. 7shifts mentioned
   7shifts - if you're a restaurant
5. Sling mentioned
   Sling - cheapest paid option, multi-industry

Sources the engine cited

The answer, as recorded

One caveat on the sources: a lot of the top "best scheduling software" listicles are published by the vendors themselves (Homebase, Connecteam, and When I Work all rank themselves #1 on their own blogs), so I've leaned on the pricing details and review-aggregator ratings rather than their rankings. ## My picks, in order **1. Homebase - the default for a small hourly team** Free tier covers one location and up to 20 employees (some pages say 10 - it's changed, so check at signup) with scheduling and a time clock included. Scheduling, time tracking, team messaging, and hiring/onboarding sit in one mobile-first app, and payroll bolts on at roughly $39/month + $6 per employee paid. If you have one café, shop, or clinic and under ~20 staff, you can genuinely run on $0 for a while. Weakness: it gets expensive per location as you add sites. **2. When I Work - the best value once you outgrow free** Roughly $2.50/user/month (Lite) to $5-6/user/month (Core), which makes it the cheapest serious paid option - commonly cited as ~40% under Deputy. Clean shift-swap and availability handling, light HR tools. Good middle ground for retail and healthcare teams that want simple scheduling plus a time clock without a whole HR suite. **3. Deputy - if you run multiple locations** About $5-9/user/month depending on tier, priced per module (scheduling alone ~$4.50/user/month annually). You pay more, and what you get is cross-site visibility in one dashboard, strong award/overtime compliance rules, and solid POS and payroll integrations. Worth it at 3+ sites; overkill for one. **4. 7shifts - if you're a restaurant** Priced per location rather than per user, which is a big win for a full-service restaurant with 40 staff under one roof. FOH/BOH scheduling, tip pooling, POS-driven sales forecasting, and an auto-scheduler that flexes staffing to projected guest traffic. Free plan caps at 15 employees. Catch: time tracking isn't really in the main app - clock-in runs through your POS or a separate 7Punches app. Ratings are the strongest of the bunch (4.7/5 on Capterra across ~1,200 reviews). **5. Connecteam - if your team is deskless or in the field** Scheduling plus GPS/geofenced clock-in, task checklists, document storage, and internal comms in one mobile app. The right answer for cleaning crews, landscapers, security, home care - anyone with no shared back office. More platform than you need if everyone works in one building. **6. Sling - cheapest paid option, multi-industry** About $1.70/user/month billed annually, and the free plan allows 30 employees (double 7shifts'). Broader industry fit than 7shifts and better native time tracking with real break controls. Trade-off: more manual - you enter projected sales yourself instead of getting forecasts - so it suits an owner who wants hands-on control over a small schedule. **Short version:** one location, under 20 people → Homebase free. Outgrew it and want cheap → When I Work. Multiple locations → Deputy. Restaurant → 7shifts. Crews in the field → Connecteam. All of these run free trials, and the real differentiator is usually whether it integrates with your existing payroll and POS - check that before committing. Sources: - [Best Employee Shift Scheduling Software for Small Businesses in 2026 - Homebase](https://joinhomebase.com/blog/employee-shift-scheduling-software) - [Best Employee Scheduling Software for 2026 - Homebase](https://joinhomebase.com/blog/best-employee-scheduling-software) - [Deputy vs When I Work Pricing (2026) - Costbench](https://costbench.com/compare/deputy-vs-when-i-work/) - [Deputy vs Homebase Pricing (2026) - Costbench](https://www.costbench.com/compare/deputy-vs-homebase/) - [When I Work vs Deputy: Features and Cost Comparison 2026 - Capterra](https://capterra.com/compare/121248-167811/When-I-Work-vs-Deputy) - [Sling vs. 7Shifts - Connecteam](https://connecteam.com/sling-vs-7shifts/) - [7shifts vs Sling - SelectHub](https://www.selecthub.com/employee-scheduling-software/7shifts-vs-sling/) - [Employee scheduling software for small businesses - TrustRadius](https://solutions.trustradius.com/buyer-blog/employee-scheduling-software-small-businesses)

Near this answer

The same question, recorded on other dates: 2026-10-09, 2026-10-06, 2026-10-03, 2026-10-01, 2026-09-29, 2026-09-27, 2026-09-25, 2026-09-23, 2026-09-21, 2026-09-16, 2026-09-14.

workforce scheduling software, asked for other audiences: remote teams (asked 2026-10-11).

Other categories with a recorded answer: applicant tracking systems, background check services, benefits administration software, contractor management platforms.

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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.