Scheduling software solves one piece of the hourly workforce puzzle. When a scheduling system does not connect to the hiring pipeline, and neither connects to payroll, employee data gets re-entered across three or more platforms, which absorbs hours that should go toward running the business.
Sling built its reputation on accessible shift scheduling with a free tier that attracted budget-conscious operators. As multi-location restaurants scale, the evaluation shifts. Hiring, onboarding paperwork, and payroll processing all run in other systems, and time tracking sits on paid plans. What starts as a free scheduling tool often becomes one part of a wider software stack.
This review examines what Sling delivers in 2026, what its free and paid plans cover, how the Toast relationship shapes the product, and how a scheduling-first tool compares to platforms that connect hiring through payroll for hourly teams.
Sling is a workforce management tool focused on employee scheduling, shift swapping, and team communication. Originally founded in 2015, the company was acquired by Toast in 2022, positioning it as the scheduling component within Toast's restaurant technology ecosystem.
The platform targets small and medium businesses in hospitality, retail, and other shift-based industries.
Core features include:
Sling does not provide a native applicant tracking system, a structured new-hire onboarding workflow, or full-service payroll processing. It is a scheduling-first tool that connects to separate systems for the stages before and after scheduling.
Sling's free plan is among the more generous scheduling-only offerings in its category, supporting up to 30 users on standard accounts. For a single-location restaurant with a small team, it delivers real value at no cost.
What the free plan includes:
What generally requires a paid plan:
The 30-user ceiling on standard accounts creates a growth threshold. A restaurant with 25 employees operates comfortably on the free plan, and a seasonal hiring push can move the team onto a paid per-user plan. Legacy free accounts above 30 users can keep their existing users but cannot add more without upgrading.
The absence of time tracking on the free plan is the practical constraint for hourly businesses. Scheduling without time tracking means employees still record actual hours in another system, which reduces the consolidation benefit that workforce software is meant to provide.
Sling's mobile app lets employees view schedules, request shift swaps, and communicate with managers from their phones. The interface prioritizes simplicity, and most users can check upcoming shifts within seconds of opening the app.
Employee-facing mobile features:
Manager-facing mobile capabilities:
The mobile experience reflects the product's scheduling focus. Reviewing applicants, completing new-hire paperwork, and reviewing payroll before a run happen in whichever separate systems an operator has chosen.
For restaurants evaluating mobile-first workforce tools, the question is how much of the employee lifecycle needs to be manageable from a phone. Platforms with a mobile app spanning application through paycheck give managers mobile control over more of that lifecycle.
Time tracking in Sling requires a paid plan. The paid tiers unlock mobile and web clock-in and clock-out, GPS verification, and labor cost management.
Time tracking features include:
The Business tier adds kiosk time tracking for shared devices, which matters for restaurants using a communal tablet at a clock-in station. Operators planning around shared punch stations should confirm the tier before rollout.
Because Sling is not a payroll processor, time data ultimately has to be transferred to a payroll system, either through an integration or an export. That transfer step depends on correct configuration and data synchronization. For restaurants that want time data flowing straight into payroll processing inside the same platform, that architectural difference is the main comparison point.
Toast acquired Sling in July 2022, creating tighter integration between scheduling and Toast's point-of-sale system. For restaurants already running Toast, the connection offers practical benefits.
Benefits for Toast users:
What non-Toast operators should know:
Sling continues to advertise integrations with other systems, including Square, Harbortouch, Restaurant Manager, POSiTouch, Gusto, and Shopify. Operators on other point-of-sale systems should confirm which specific data flows their POS supports, since integration depth varies by partner.
Operators who integrate Sling deeply with Toast should also consider migration requirements if they later change POS systems. For multi-brand operators running different POS platforms across concepts, it is worth confirming that a single scheduling tool serves every location the same way.
Beyond scheduling, Sling offers workforce management features that vary by tier. Labor cost tracking, team communication, task management, and employee document storage extend functionality past pure scheduling.
Labor cost management:
Team communication:
Capabilities handled in other systems:
These divisions create the fragmented system problem multi-location operators know well: scheduling in one system, hiring in another, onboarding somewhere else, and payroll in a fourth. Each handoff adds manual data entry and a chance for errors.
The fundamental difference between the two platforms is scope: scheduling-first versus hiring-through-payroll in one system.
Sling handles scheduling well and connects to separate systems for hiring and payroll. Workstream consolidates the employee lifecycle, from job posting through final paycheck, into a platform built for hourly businesses.
Restaurants using Sling run applicant tracking, job distribution, and candidate screening in a separate hiring system.
Workstream's hiring platform includes:
Sling transfers time data to a separate payroll provider through an integration or an export. Its documented payroll-related connections include Gusto and Toast Payroll workflows, and its materials have also referenced ADP Workforce Now.
Workstream's full-service payroll provides:
Sling Business includes employee document storage with expiration tracking rather than a structured new-hire onboarding workflow.
Workstream's onboarding system handles:
For operators whose workload extends past building a schedule, Workstream keeps hiring, onboarding, HR records, time and scheduling, and payroll in one connected system built for hourly teams.
Hiring runs natively, with applicant tracking, automated interview scheduling, text-to-apply, a talent network, distribution to more than 25,000 job boards, and unlimited free Indeed job listings through an Indeed Platinum Partnership. VoiceAI conducts 24/7 automated phone screening in multiple languages, and VideoAI adds asynchronous video interviews with summaries and match scores.
Mobile-first onboarding moves new hires through W-4, I-9, and E-Verify workflows with e-signatures, adds WOTC screening for eligible hires, and syncs completed information into payroll and employee records rather than requiring re-entry. Background checks are initiated and tracked through the Checkr integration, with Checkr performing the screening.
On the pay side, full-service payroll supports multi-EIN structures, employees working multiple roles and locations at different rates, automated tax filing, and labor compliance monitoring, with tip pools that can be applied to payroll as a Beta capability. Time records move into payroll inside the same platform instead of exporting to an outside vendor. Workstream reports that 46 of the top 50 restaurant brands use its platform, a vendor-reported figure that includes franchise operations under brands such as Taco Bell, Culver's, Bojangles, Arby's, IHOP, and Jimmy John's, demonstrating adoption among major restaurant brands.
Talk to Workstream about what a single system covers for hourly teams.
Sling supports payroll-related integrations including Gusto and workflows with Toast Payroll, and its documentation has also referenced ADP Workforce Now. Depending on the integration, Sling can sync or export workforce and time data to the payroll system, which reduces manual entry compared with spreadsheet-based workflows. Integration-based payroll still depends on correct configuration and ongoing data synchronization, and multi-location operators often find that maintaining those connections across sites adds administrative overhead. Verify any additional payroll integration directly with Sling before building a process around it.
Sling supports multiple locations within a single account, so operators can manage schedules across sites. Because Sling does not provide native payroll processing, multi-EIN payroll is handled by the connected payroll provider, and cross-location hiring workflows run in a separate hiring system. A franchisee operating two different restaurant brands could schedule both in Sling while using other systems for brand-specific hiring requirements and entity-level payroll. The platform delivers scheduling consistency across locations, with the broader multi-concept workflow assembled from several tools.
Sling's mobile app focuses on schedule viewing, shift swaps, and team communication, and it handles those functions well. Mobile-first platforms designed for hourly workforces extend mobile access across the whole employee lifecycle: text-to-apply applications, mobile onboarding with e-signatures, geofenced time clocks, scheduling, and mobile pay stub access. The distinction matters because hourly workers and restaurant managers increasingly expect to handle workforce tasks from their phones, and a scheduling-focused app leaves the remaining workflows to separate systems.
Toast acquired Sling in July 2022, and the product now offers dedicated Toast integrations along with Toast-specific Sling scheduling plans sold within the Toast ecosystem. Documented data flows between the two include employees, timesheets, sales, and schedules, with functionality varying between the Lite and Pro packages. Sling also continues to advertise integrations with other systems, including Square, Gusto, and several restaurant POS products. Operators integrating the two deeply should factor migration requirements into any future decision to change point-of-sale systems.
The comparison depends on total cost of ownership rather than the scheduling subscription alone. A 50-employee restaurant needs a paid Sling tier for time tracking, then adds whatever it pays for applicant tracking and payroll processing from other vendors, along with the administrative time spent moving data between them. All-in-one platforms priced by employee count and feature set may deliver a lower combined cost while removing integration maintenance and multiple vendor relationships. Building a real comparison means pricing each named system for your actual headcount and billing cadence rather than comparing list prices for scheduling alone.