Schedio vs When I Work: which one fits your team?
Last reviewed: July 2026
Prices exclude tax – any applicable tax is added at checkout.
- Pick When I Work if you want simple, well-known scheduling with built-in team messaging and a mobile-first experience, priced per user.
- Pick Schedio if you want the live coverage picture and structured shift hand-offs – and a price that ignores headcount.
- Pricing: When I Work prices per user per month, with add-ons by plan; Schedio is $49/month per location, unlimited staff.
Side by side
$49/month per location, unlimited team members
Per user per month, plan tiers gate features
None – staff logins never cost extra
Yes – the bill scales with every person on the roster
Self-serve: pick an industry template at signup, then upload your current schedule as a spreadsheet, a PDF or a photo
Self-serve, quick start, mobile apps
Eleven industries: hotels, restaurants, retail, clinics, security, cleaning, fitness, beauty, logistics, support desks, dispatch centers
Broad small-business – retail, hospitality, healthcare, services
Built in – structured hand-over notes attached to every shift
Team messaging built in; no structured per-shift hand-over notes
Monthly, cancel anytime; cancelling never deletes your data and it stays yours to export
Monthly or annual, self-serve cancellation
Where When I Work is strong
When I Work made shift scheduling mainstream for small teams, and the polish shows. The mobile apps are mature, team messaging is built in, and staff generally pick it up quickly – for a crew that lives on their phones, that's worth a lot.
Time tracking is available as an add-on, so it can grow into the timesheet role if that's where you're heading.
Where Schedio is different
Shift context is hard to retrieve from a group thread – the 3 am note is sixty messages up by the time the day shift reads it. Schedio's hand-over notes are structured and attached to the shift: open issues, done and verified, heads-up for the next crew. The dashboard answers "who's on, who's covered" without scrolling.
And the price is flat: $49 per location, unlimited people. Per-user pricing makes every new hire a billing decision; per-location pricing keeps the bill the same.
Switching
Moving from When I Work is a roster export and an import. Schedio reads your people and a typical week from the file you have – a spreadsheet, a PDF or even a screenshot – with a row-by-row preview, and nothing lands until you confirm it.
The first month is free and needs no card, so the usual path is to run Schedio alongside your current tool for a few weeks and let your shift leads decide. If you leave, cancelling never deletes your data – it stays yours to export, and a deleted workspace has a 30-day window to undo before it’s erased.
Common questions
Does Schedio have team chat like When I Work?
No – and on purpose. Your team already has a chat. Schedio pushes urgent alerts and coverage gaps into the Slack channel, Telegram group or WhatsApp your team already watches, sends each person their own schedule and shift reminders through the Telegram or WhatsApp bot, and keeps shift context in structured hand-over notes that don't scroll away.
Can staff claim open shifts on their phones?
Yes. Staff log in from any phone browser, see open shifts at their location, claim covers and propose trades – with manager approval if you keep it on.
What does switching cost?
Nothing beyond the trial: upload your current schedule as a spreadsheet, a PDF or a screenshot, check it in the preview, and run the two side by side for a week. Schedio stays $49 per location whatever your headcount.
See your own schedule in it.
First month free, no card. Upload your current schedule and compare mornings.
Start a free month