Best Employee Scheduling Software: 12 Tools That Beat Excel

Quick answer

Best overall for small teams: Turnozo is the strongest fit if you want scheduling, mobile time tracking, GPS/geofencing, availability, absences, shift swaps, unlimited locations, and timesheet exports without buying a full HR suite.

Best by use case: Turnozo for simple small teams; Homebase for one-location teams starting free; 7shifts for restaurants; When I Work for the established generalist pick; Deputy for compliance-heavy teams; Connecteam for broader deskless operations.

Pricing baseline: Turnozo is free for up to 10 employees, then €2.47/person/month. Competitors usually charge per user, per location, or per module. Compare the plan that includes scheduling, time tracking, mobile access, and payroll-ready exports.

Turnozo facts

Quick verdict: If you're replacing Excel or WhatsApp scheduling, start with Turnozo for simple teams, Homebase if you need a free single-location option, When I Work if you want the safe established pick, and 7shifts if you run a restaurant. Most other tools only make sense if you need deeper HR, compliance, or field-team workflows.

If you searched best employee scheduling software, you probably want the practical answer: which tool will make next week's schedule easier without adding a new admin headache. If you are mainly comparing free plans, start with the separate free employee scheduling software breakdown. If you run a shop, the more specific retail scheduling software guide is a better fit.

If you are still building the process itself, read how to create an employee schedule first. If your scheduling problem is really payroll cleanup, compare the ways to track employee hours or jump to the full time tracking for small business guide.

That's the filter we used here.

A lot of scheduling apps look similar in a comparison table. The differences show up later: setup time, mobile adoption, pricing jumps, missing time tracking, or simple tasks buried in upgrades.

This guide is for small and mid-sized teams where scheduling is one job among many: restaurants, retail shops, cleaning companies, healthcare teams, gyms, hotels, and field teams. If you are still planning in Excel, use the free employee schedule template to clean up the weekly rota before you compare paid tools.

We signed up for every tool on this list, built schedules, invited test employees, and pushed each one far enough to see where it helps and where it starts wasting time.

Why most scheduling software comparisons are hard to use

Most roundups blur together because they stop short of saying who should actually buy what.

"Great for different needs" sounds fair, but it does not help much when you need a schedule published this week.

The real trade-offs are usually much simpler:

• some tools are great until multi-location pricing kicks in
• some look powerful but are too bloated for a 20-person team
• some are genuinely good, but only for restaurants
• some are free until you need the one feature that actually matters

That is the lens for this page. Not feature count. Not vendor hype. Just: which scheduling tool solves the real problem for the least ongoing pain.

How we tested

We put each tool through the same basic workflow: sign up, add 12 employees across 2 roles, build and publish a weekly schedule, invite 3 test employees, then test clock-ins, availability, shift swaps, and basic time card calculation for payroll cleanup.

We evaluated on five things:

1. Time to first schedule (how long from signup to a published schedule)
2. Mobile experience (can employees see shifts, swap, and clock in without training?)
3. Pricing transparency (is the real cost obvious, or buried in hub/tier/location math?)
4. Scheduling speed (drag-and-drop feel, template reuse, copy-forward)
5. Deal-breakers (cancellation friction, hidden fees, missing basics like time tracking)

Screenshots below are from our actual testing, captured in March 2026. Pricing verified against each tool's website the same month.

Methodology and source notes

We compared the plan a small team would actually use, not the cheapest headline plan. If a vendor sells scheduling separately from time tracking, we used the tier that includes both. If a vendor charges by location, we note where that model helps and where it gets expensive. Pricing changes often, so verify each vendor's current public pricing before buying.

What would scheduling software cost your team?

What changed in 2026

A few things changed since older scheduling-software roundups were published:

Sling got acquired by Toast. Toast bought Sling in 2022, and the integration is now complete. Sling still works as a standalone product, but the roadmap is clearly restaurant-focused. If you're not in food service, Sling's future development probably won't serve you. Non-restaurant users should have a backup plan.

7shifts laid off 19% of staff. In January 2024, 7shifts cut about 68 employees. The CEO acknowledged culture problems and spent the rest of 2024 rebuilding. The product still works well, but if long-term stability matters to you, it's worth noting.

Connecteam's hub pricing catches people off guard. Their pricing page shows $29/month, which sounds cheap. But that's per hub. Most teams need at least two hubs (Operations + HR, or Operations + Communications), which means the real starting price is $58-87/month. We wrote a full breakdown of how Connecteam's pricing actually works.

Homebase cancellation complaints are growing. Reddit threads about difficulty canceling Homebase subscriptions have multiplied. One manager on r/Connecteam described it as "an absolute scam to try and cancel with." We cover this in our Homebase cancellation guide.

When I Work keeps raising prices. They've quietly increased pricing multiple times over the past two years. Multi-location pricing in particular has crept up. Still a solid tool, but it's no longer the budget option it once was. If budget is the primary concern, check our best free scheduling apps for small teams.

Deputy added employee sentiment tracking. Their Shift Pulse+ feature (mid-2025) lets you collect feedback after shifts. Interesting if you care about employee engagement, but it means Deputy is moving further into HR territory and away from "simple scheduling."

Quick comparison table

Employee scheduling software reviews

1. Turnozo

What it is: Scheduling software built specifically for small teams. Not an enterprise product scaled down.

Time to first schedule: 12 minutes. Add employees, set roles, drag shifts onto the grid, publish. No onboarding wizard, no sales call, no waiting for account activation.

Our testing notes: Setup took about 15 minutes. We added 12 employees, built a weekly schedule, and published it without needing a sales call or a long onboarding flow. The schedule builder was quick, and the employee mobile view was easy to understand.

Availability was the most useful part in day-to-day testing. Employees can set availability from their phone, and managers see it while building the schedule instead of checking a separate screen.

GPS clock-ins worked as expected: employees clock in from their phone, location is checked, and hours roll into timesheets.

Shift swaps were also straightforward. One employee requests the swap, the other confirms, and the manager approves.

What it does well:

• Drag-and-drop weekly scheduling with templates
• Employee availability management (they set it, you schedule around it)
• Open shifts with automatic notifications
• Time tracking with GPS verification at clock-in and geofencing
• Automatic timesheets with overtime calculation
• Shift swaps with manager approval
• Absence management with time-off requests
• Calendar sync (Google Calendar, Apple Calendar)
• $2.47/employee/month, everything included, no per-location fees

Where it falls short:

• No built-in payroll processing (export timesheets to your payroll provider)
• No POS integrations
• Newer product, smaller community than established tools
• No AI auto-scheduling (scheduling is manual, which some people actually prefer)

Pricing: Free for up to 10 employees (all features). $2.47/employee/month above that. No tiers, no per-location charges.

Best for: Teams of 5-50 who want scheduling, time tracking, and availability management without paying for an HR suite they don't need.

What makes it different: Every feature is included at one price. No "upgrade to unlock time tracking" or "add another hub for communications." What you see is what you get.

Full review: Turnozo features and pricing breakdown

Get started free with Turnozo

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2. Homebase

What it is: Scheduling and time tracking with a strong free tier for single locations.

Time to first schedule: 18 minutes. Account setup includes a location wizard. Once through, scheduling is straightforward.

Our testing notes: The free plan is genuinely useful. We scheduled a week for one location, no issues. The hiring tools (job posting, applicant tracking) are a nice bonus that other free plans don't include.

Things got complicated when we tested multi-location. Each location is billed separately. A coffee shop with 3 locations on Essentials pays $74.85/month before adding any extras.

The cancellation complaints are worth noticing. Several Reddit users describe problems canceling or continued charges after cancellation. We cannot verify each case, but there are enough reports that buyers should read the cancellation terms carefully.

What it does well:

• Free plan that actually works for one location
• Built-in hiring tools (job posts, applicant tracking)
• Time clock with POS integrations
• Team messaging
• Good onboarding flow for new users

Where it falls short:

• Pricing jumps hard after the free tier ($24.95/location/month for Essentials)
• Multi-location gets expensive fast (each location is a separate charge)
• Cancellation process has a terrible reputation on Reddit
• Free tier feels designed to push you toward upgrading

Pricing: Free (1 location, basic). $24.95/location/month (Essentials). $59.95/location/month (Plus). $99.95/location/month (All-in-One).

Best for: Single-location businesses that want free scheduling and don't mind upgrading later. Just know what you're getting into with the upgrade pricing.

Full review: Homebase Review: Free Plan, Pricing, and the Catch | How to Cancel Homebase

Comparisons: Best Homebase Alternatives | Turnozo vs Homebase vs 7shifts

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3. When I Work

What it is: One of the original shift scheduling apps. Simple, clean, widely used.

Time to first schedule: 15 minutes. Clean onboarding. The drag-and-drop is the smoothest in the category.

Our testing notes: The interface is the best in the category for pure simplicity. Building a schedule feels intuitive from the first click. The mobile app is polished and employees picked it up without any training.

Auto-scheduling for filling open shifts works surprisingly well. Set the rules, and it suggests employees based on availability and role. Not AI-generated schedules (which rarely work), but smart suggestions.

The pricing used to be the main selling point, but recent increases have made it less of a bargain. At $2.50/user for one location, it's competitive. At $5/user for multi-location, it's getting into Deputy territory without Deputy's time tracking depth.

What it does well:

• Clean, intuitive interface (genuinely the best UX in this list)
• Good mobile app
• Auto-scheduling suggestions for filling open shifts
• Solid shift swapping
• Large user community and established support

Where it falls short:

• Multi-location pricing doubles the per-user cost
• Has been raising prices consistently over the past two years
• Time tracking is basic compared to Deputy or Turnozo's GPS features
• No free plan (14-day trial only)

Pricing: $2.50/user/month (single location). $5/user/month (multi-location). Includes scheduling, time tracking, and messaging.

Best for: Teams that want a familiar, established scheduling app with a polished interface, and are comfortable paying more as needs get more complex.

Full review: When I Work Review: Pricing, Bugs, and What Reddit Says

Comparisons: Best When I Work Alternatives | Homebase vs When I Work

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4. 7shifts

What it is: Restaurant-specific scheduling software. Built for food service from the ground up.

Time to first schedule: 20 minutes. More setup steps due to restaurant-specific config (roles, stations, POS connection). Worth it if you're in food service.

Our testing notes: If you run a restaurant, the first five minutes feel like the product was built for you. It understands FOH vs BOH. It connects to your POS. It forecasts labor costs against your sales data. Tip pooling works out of the box.

If you don't run a restaurant, nothing about it makes sense. The roles are food-service specific. The POS integrations don't help you. The tip management is irrelevant. You're paying for a restaurant tool and using 40% of it.

The January 2024 layoffs (19% of staff) raised stability questions, though the CEO has been transparent about rebuilding. The product itself hasn't suffered visibly, but it's worth monitoring.

What it does well:

• Understands restaurant roles (FOH, BOH, kitchen, bar)
• Labor cost forecasting tied to POS sales data
• Tip pooling and management
• POS integrations (Toast, Square, Clover)
• Free plan for single locations under 30 employees

Where it falls short:

• Restaurant-only. If you're not in food service, most features are irrelevant
• Gets expensive for larger teams ($89.99/location/month for the full suite)
• Laid off 19% of staff in January 2024
• Free plan is limited to 30 employees at one location

Pricing: Free (1 location, 30 employees). $34.99/location/month (Entree). $76.99/location/month (The Works). $89.99/location/month (Gourmet).

Best for: Restaurants that want scheduling tied directly to POS sales data and labor cost management. The only tool on this list purpose-built for food service.

Full review: 7shifts Review: Pricing, Separate Time Clock, and Android Issues

Comparisons: Best 7shifts Alternatives | Turnozo vs Homebase vs 7shifts

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5. Deputy

What it is: Scheduling and time tracking with strong workforce management features.

Time to first schedule: 25 minutes. More configuration upfront (locations, areas, integrations). The depth pays off for larger teams.

Our testing notes: Deputy has the best time tracking in this category. GPS tracking, break compliance, demand-based scheduling. If tracking employee hours accurately is your primary concern, Deputy does it better than everyone else.

The flip side: it's $6/user/month, which is 2-3x what simpler tools charge. For a 30-person team, that's $180/month. You can get scheduling + time tracking from Turnozo for $74/month or When I Work for $75/month.

The interface felt heavier than When I Work or Turnozo. More menus, more settings, more screens to learn. For a simple scheduling use case, it's overkill. For a compliance-heavy environment (healthcare, large retail), the extra depth is worth it.

Deputy recently added Shift Pulse+ for employee sentiment tracking, which signals they're moving further into HR territory. Good if you want that, unnecessary complexity if you don't.

What it does well:

• Best time tracking in the category (GPS, break compliance, demand-based scheduling)
• Excellent integrations ecosystem
• Break compliance tracking
• Demand-based scheduling (forecast staffing needs based on historical data)
• Employee sentiment tracking (Shift Pulse+, added mid-2025)

Where it falls short:

• $6/user/month adds up fast for larger teams
• Interface can feel overwhelming for simple scheduling needs
• Moving into HR territory (more complexity coming)
• Minimum $30/month even for tiny teams

Pricing: $6/user/month (Premium). Minimum $30/month. Custom pricing for Enterprise.

Best for: Businesses that prioritize time tracking accuracy and compliance, and are willing to pay more per user for depth.

Comparisons: Best Deputy Alternatives | Turnozo vs Deputy vs Sling

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6. Connecteam

What it is: All-in-one employee management platform. Scheduling is one piece of a much bigger toolkit.

Time to first schedule: 30 minutes. The most setup of any tool on this list. You're configuring hubs, features, permissions. Worth it if you need the full platform. Overkill if you just want shifts on a calendar.

Our testing notes: The free plan for up to 10 users is the best free option in this category. Not a crippled trial. You get scheduling, time tracking, forms, checklists, and internal comms. For micro-teams, it's hard to beat.

The hub pricing is where it gets complicated. Connecteam splits features into three "hubs": Operations, Communications, and HR. Each hub is priced separately. Most teams need at least two hubs. A 25-person cleaning company wanting scheduling + chat + time-off management pays $87/month on Basic. On Expert, that's $297/month.

The product itself is powerful. The mobile app is excellent for deskless workers. The customization options go deep. But if you just want scheduling and time tracking, 80% of the platform is noise you're scrolling past to find what you need.

We wrote a detailed breakdown: Connecteam Review: Pricing, Pros, and the Hub Math

What it does well:

• Free for up to 10 users (genuinely useful, not a stripped-down trial)
• Goes beyond scheduling: forms, checklists, training, internal comms
• Great mobile app for deskless and field workers
• Highly customizable
• Good for teams that genuinely need an all-in-one platform

Where it falls short:

• Hub pricing means most teams pay 2-3x the advertised price
• Feature overload if you just want scheduling
• Can feel more like a corporate intranet than a scheduling tool
• The sheer number of features makes onboarding slower

Pricing: Free (up to 10 users). $29/month per hub for up to 30 users (Basic). $49/month per hub (Advanced). $99/month per hub (Expert). Most teams need 2-3 hubs.

Best for: Teams under 10 who want a legitimately free all-in-one platform, or larger teams that genuinely need operations + communications + HR in one place and are prepared for the pricing math.

Full review: Connecteam Review: Hub Pricing Breakdown

Comparisons: Turnozo vs Connecteam vs When I Work | Best Connecteam Alternatives

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7. Sling

What it is: Free scheduling tool with messaging and task management. Now owned by Toast.

Time to first schedule: 10 minutes. The fastest setup on this list. Sign up, add people, build a schedule. Simple.

Our testing notes: The free plan is solid. Shift scheduling, availability management, and team messaging without paying anything. The interface is clean and modern. Labor cost tracking on the free plan is a rare bonus.

The main caveat is ownership. Toast acquired Sling in 2022, and Sling now sits inside a restaurant-first company. If you're a retail store, cleaning company, or gym, Sling may still work well today, but future development is likely to favor restaurants.

The paid tiers ($2/user Premium, $4/user Business) are competitively priced but confusing to navigate. Time tracking requires the paid plan, which defeats the "free" selling point for many teams.

What it does well:

• Free tier includes shift scheduling, availability, and messaging
• Clean, modern interface
• Labor cost tracking (even on the free plan)
• Newsfeed for team communication
• Competitive paid tier pricing

Where it falls short:

• Acquired by Toast. Future development is restaurant-focused.
• Time tracking requires the paid plan
• Fewer integrations than competitors
• Unclear long-term roadmap for non-restaurant users

Pricing: Free (basic scheduling + messaging). $2/user/month (Premium). $4/user/month (Business).

Best for: Teams that want free scheduling with built-in team messaging right now, and are comfortable with the Toast acquisition uncertainty.

Full review: Sling Review: Free Plan vs Paid

Comparisons: Best Sling Alternatives | Turnozo vs Deputy vs Sling

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8. Planday

What it is: European scheduling platform, strong in hospitality and retail.

Time to first schedule: Unknown. You have to talk to sales before you can use it. That's already a red flag for small teams.

Our testing notes: Planday is the most "European" tool on this list. It understands EU labor laws, integrates with European payroll providers, and supports multiple languages. Revenue-based scheduling (connecting sales data to staffing decisions) is a feature most competitors don't offer.

The lack of transparent pricing is frustrating. You have to request a custom quote, which in our experience means "more expensive than you'd expect." For small teams that want to compare costs before committing, this is a dealbreaker.

Planday feels designed for businesses with 50-200 employees. Below that, you're paying for sophistication you don't need. Above that, you're probably looking at enterprise tools like UKG or ADP.

What it does well:

• Built for European labor laws and compliance
• Revenue-based scheduling (connect sales data to staffing)
• Strong payroll integrations for EU payroll providers
• Multi-language support
• Solid in hospitality and retail verticals

Where it falls short:

• No transparent pricing (custom quotes only)
• Overkill for simple scheduling needs
• Primarily focused on European market
• No self-serve trial (you have to talk to sales first)

Pricing: Custom pricing. Generally more expensive than alternatives for small teams. You have to talk to sales to find out.

Best for: European businesses in hospitality and retail with 50+ employees that need compliance-aware scheduling and don't mind opaque pricing.

Comparison: Turnozo vs Planday

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Best employee scheduling software by situation

• Best for most small teams: Turnozo
• Best free option for one location: Homebase
• Best established pick: When I Work
• Best for restaurants: 7shifts
• Best for heavy time tracking/compliance: Deputy
• Best all-in-one platform for deskless teams: Connecteam
• Best free scheduling-first option: Sling

Start with the right type of scheduling tool

The best tool depends less on feature count and more on which problem is costing you time right now:

Who should pick which tool

Use this instead of overthinking the whole category:

• Pick Turnozo if your current problem is that scheduling takes too long, timesheets are messy, and you do not want per-location pricing or feature gating.
• Pick Homebase if you have one location, want to spend as little as possible upfront, and can tolerate that the free plan is the start of the upsell, not the end state.
• Pick When I Work if you want the familiar established option and you are willing to accept that the pricing gets less attractive as complexity grows.
• Pick 7shifts if you run a restaurant and want restaurant-specific workflows more than general simplicity.
• Pick Deputy if labor compliance and time tracking accuracy matter more than keeping cost low.
• Pick Connecteam if scheduling is only one part of the problem and you also want chat, forms, training, and operations workflows in the same platform.
• Pick Sling if your main goal is free scheduling first and you can live with a shakier long-term fit outside restaurants.

How to choose the right one

Don't start with features. Start with these four questions:

1. How big is your team?

Team size changes the math completely:

• Under 10: Connecteam's free tier is genuinely the best option. Full platform, no cost. Homebase's free plan is the runner-up.
• 10-30: Per-user pricing matters now. Turnozo ($2.47/user, everything included), When I Work ($2.50/user single-location), and Sling ($4/user for scheduling + time tracking) are the main options.
• 30-50: Price per user stays flat with Turnozo and When I Work, but per-location tools (Homebase, 7shifts) start to look expensive. Connecteam's hub pricing adds up fast above 30 users ($0.50/user extra).
• 50+: You're either going enterprise (UKG, ADP) or choosing a tool with flat per-user pricing. Deputy at $6/user gets expensive here. Turnozo stays at $2.47/user regardless of team size.

2. What industry are you in?

• Restaurants: 7shifts was built for you. POS integration, tip management, and labor cost forecasting tied to sales data. Nothing else comes close for food service.
• Retail, cleaning, general services: You don't need restaurant features. Turnozo, Homebase, or When I Work. Keep it simple.
• Healthcare: Compliance matters more. Deputy's break tracking and demand-based scheduling, or Planday's labor law features. Turnozo works if you want simpler + cheaper and handle compliance separately.
• Europe: Turnozo or Planday. Both understand EU labor regulations. Turnozo is transparent on pricing. Planday has more enterprise features but you'll need a sales call.
• Field teams (cleaning, security, maintenance): Connecteam or Turnozo. Mobile-first matters. GPS clock-in matters. Connecteam has more field-specific features. Turnozo is simpler and cheaper.

We wrote industry-specific guides: restaurant, hotel, healthcare, bar, gym, cleaning, retail. UK-based? See best rota software.

3. What's your actual budget?

For a 20-person team at one location, monthly costs look like this:

The hidden costs: Homebase and 7shifts charge per location, so two locations doubles the price. When I Work doubles per-user pricing for multi-location. Connecteam charges per hub, and most teams need 2-3 hubs. Sling's free plan looks great until you need time tracking ($4/user Business plan). Only Turnozo and Deputy have straightforward per-user pricing that includes everything without multipliers.

We broke down the full cost picture: What Does Employee Scheduling Software Actually Cost?

4. Do you need more than scheduling?

This is the question that separates the simple tools from the platforms:

• Just scheduling + time tracking: Turnozo, When I Work, or Sling. Don't pay for what you won't use.
• Hiring tools: Homebase includes job posting and applicant tracking. Nobody else on this list does.
• Team communication: Connecteam and Sling have built-in messaging. Everyone else assumes you'll use WhatsApp or Slack.
• Full HR platform: Connecteam goes deepest (training, forms, checklists, knowledge base). But you're paying for it.
• Time tracking depth: Deputy is the specialist here. GPS, break compliance, demand-based scheduling, sentiment tracking. For a full breakdown of every method, see our complete time tracking guide.

More on features: What to Look For in Employee Scheduling Software

What usually goes wrong when teams choose the wrong scheduling software

The wrong tool usually fails in one of four ways:

1. Pricing punishes growth. The free or cheap plan looks fine until you add locations, time tracking, or admin access.
2. Managers hate using it. Too many steps, too much setup, too many features that do not help build next week's rota.
3. Employees ignore the app. If shift viewing, swaps, or clock-ins feel clunky, people go back to WhatsApp.
4. It solves scheduling but creates payroll mess. Bad timesheets, weak overtime visibility, and messy exports just move the pain downstream.

That is why the best employee scheduling software is rarely the one with the biggest feature matrix. It is the one that holds up in the boring weekly workflow.

The spreadsheet question

If you're still using Google Sheets or Excel, you're not necessarily wrong. For teams under 10 with predictable schedules, a spreadsheet can work fine.

The switch makes sense when:

• You're spending more than 30 minutes a week on scheduling
• Shift swaps and availability changes are creating confusion via WhatsApp
• You don't have a reliable way to track hours
• People are missing shifts because they didn't see the latest version
• You need to track overtime or generate timesheets for payroll

The average manager spends 3.14 hours per week on scheduling tasks. At that point, even a $50/month tool pays for itself in time saved.

We wrote the full decision guide: Spreadsheet vs Scheduling Software: When to Switch

Which scheduling tool is right for you?

Not sure where to start? This takes 30 seconds:

Our recommendation

For most small teams, start by ruling out tools that charge by location, hide key features in higher tiers, or require more setup than your scheduling problem justifies.

1. Turnozo if you want scheduling, time tracking, availability, swaps, and timesheets in one simple plan without per-location pricing.

2. Homebase if you have one location and want to start free, as long as you understand the upgrade pricing.

3. When I Work if you want a proven, polished scheduling app and do not mind paying more as complexity grows.

4. 7shifts if you run a restaurant and want restaurant-specific workflows.

5. Connecteam if scheduling is part of a bigger operations, HR, and communications problem.

The right choice is usually the one your manager can set up quickly, your staff will actually use, and your budget can still tolerate after three months.