Sling's free plan covers basic scheduling for up to 30 users. But it has no time tracking, labor cost management, or reports. Paid plans cost $2-$4/user/month on monthly billing, or $1.70-$3.40/user/month with annual billing.
Deputy positions itself as an enterprise-grade platform with features like demand forecasting, auto-scheduling, and biometric time clocking. They also have a $30/month minimum spend. It's powerful if you need those features, but overkill for most small teams.
Yes. Turnozo is designed to be simple to set up. Most teams are scheduling within minutes, not days. There's no long onboarding process or implementation fee. Get started and add your team.
All three work for restaurants, but the best fit depends on your size. Solo restaurants with fewer than 30 staff can start with Sling's free plan. Growing restaurants wanting simplicity and time tracking will prefer Turnozo. Multi-location operations with complex labor forecasting needs might justify Deputy's premium.
Yes. Turnozo is paid after its 14-day trial. The Pro trial requires no card. Deputy offers a 31-day free trial. Sling has a permanent free plan for up to 30 users plus a 15-day trial for paid features.
Get practical ideas
Open a ready-made prompt to summarize the article and apply it to your team.
You've decided your team needs scheduling software. Good call. But now you're staring at a dozen options that all claim to be "the simplest, most affordable scheduling solution."
This Deputy vs Sling comparison focuses on the practical choice: Deputy's deeper workforce controls and time clock versus Sling's free scheduling entry point and lower paid prices. Turnozo stays in the comparison as a simpler third benchmark.
Full disclosure: we built Turnozo. But we're not going to pretend it's perfect for everyone. Some teams genuinely are better served by Deputy or Sling, and we'll tell you which ones.
Real Cost: Scheduling + Time Tracking
Annual USD prices for equivalent features: scheduling + time tracking + reports. Turnozo's EUR price is converted at €1=$1.14. Free/basic plans with fewer features exist.
TurnozoBest value
$1,023/year
Save $927 vs most expensive
Sling Business (annual)
$1,020
Deputy Core (annual)Most expensive
$1,950
These totals compare 25 employees across 1 location. Turnozo's euro prices are converted at €1 = $1.14; actual card rates and VAT may differ.
Turnozo: Essential €9.99/month up to 10 / Pro €2.99 from employee 11 or the second location, whole workforce billed
Essential is €9.99/month for up to 10 employees and one location, with every feature included. Pro is €2.99/active employee/month from employee 11 or the second location, billed across the whole workforce. Prices exclude VAT. Turnozo is paid after its 14-day trial. The Pro trial requires no card.
For a team of 15 employees: €44.85/month.
That's it. Essential includes every feature for up to 10 employees and one location at €9.99/month. Pro keeps the same feature set for larger teams.
Deputy: $5-$9/user/month annual + $30 minimum
Deputy has three tiers:
Lite: $5/user/month annual, or $5.50 monthly. basic scheduling and timesheets
Pro: $9/user/month annual, or $10 monthly. includes Analytics+ and Messaging+
Plus add-ons: HR ($2/user/mo), Messaging+ ($1.95/user/mo), Analytics+ ($1.50/user/mo).
And here's the catch: $30/month minimum spend, regardless of team size.
For a team of 15 on annual Core: $97.50/month ($6.50 × 15).
For a team of 5 on annual Lite: $25/month by usage, but the $30 minimum applies on monthly invoices.
Deputy is clearly built for larger teams. If you have 5-10 employees, you're paying a premium for features designed for 100+ person operations.
Deputy pricing page showing Lite, Core, and Pro plans
Sling: Free to $4/user/month
Sling's pricing is its biggest differentiator:
Free: Basic scheduling for up to 30 users
Premium: $2/user/month ($1.70 annual). Adds time tracking, labor costs, and overtime tracking
For a team of 15 on Business: $60/month (monthly) or $51/month (annual).
The free plan is genuinely free, not a bait-and-switch. But it's also genuinely limited. no time tracking, no labor cost tools, no reports. For most businesses that need more than just a visual schedule, you'll end up on a paid plan.
Sling pricing page showing Free, Premium, and Business plans
Features: what actually matters
Scheduling
All three handle basic drag-and-drop scheduling. The differences:
Turnozo keeps it simple. Drag-and-drop grid, color-coded roles, availability visible while you schedule. No AI auto-scheduling. You build the schedule; the tool just makes it faster and prevents conflicts.
Deputy goes deepest here. Auto-scheduling, demand forecasting, micro-scheduling (15-minute increments), and break planning compliance. If you have complex labor law requirements or need to match staffing to predicted demand curves, Deputy has the most sophisticated tools.
Sling is somewhere in between. Long-term scheduling (build months ahead), available shifts board, and shift templates. Clean interface, but the scheduling features on the free plan feel basic compared to paid alternatives.
Time tracking
Turnozo: GPS clock-in/out and daily records are included on Essential and Pro. Essential is €9.99/month for up to 10 employees and one location, with every feature included.
Deputy: Similar core features, but adds biometric clocking (face/fingerprint) on Core and above. Timesheet auto-approval rules are a nice touch for larger teams.
Sling: Time tracking only on paid plans. Mobile clock-in on Premium, kiosk mode on Business. If you're on the free plan, you need a separate time tracking solution.
Employee communication
Turnozo: In-app notifications, shift reminders, schedule publishing. Your team sees their schedule on their phone. Straightforward.
Deputy: Has a full messaging system (upgraded with Messaging+ add-on). News feed, shift-aware messaging, role-based permissions. It's essentially a workplace communication platform bolted onto scheduling.
Sling: Messaging is actually one of Sling's strengths. even the free plan includes private messaging and news sharing. Group messaging on Premium. For a free tool, the communication features are impressive.
Integrations
Deputy: Strongest here. QuickBooks, ADP, Gusto, BambooHR, Square, Xero (see our Turnozo vs Planday comparison), and dozens more. If you need your scheduling tool to talk to your payroll, POS, or HR system, Deputy has the most options.
Sling: Integrates with major payroll and POS systems. Not as extensive as Deputy, but covers the common ones.
Turnozo: Growing integration list. Calendar sync (Google, Outlook) and payroll export. We're building more, but we're honest. if you need 50 integrations today, Deputy wins this category.
Who should use what
Choose Turnozo if:
You have a small-to-medium team (5-100 employees)
You want a clear Essential/Pro split without hubs or per-location fees
You don't need AI auto-scheduling or demand forecasting
You value simplicity over feature count
You're based in Europe (€ pricing, GDPR-native)
Choose Deputy if:
You have a large or multi-location operation
You need demand forecasting and labor optimization
You require biometric time clocking
You need deep integrations with enterprise HR/payroll systems
Budget is less of a concern than capability
Choose Sling if:
You have fewer than 30 employees and want free scheduling
Time tracking isn't critical (or you have a separate tool)
You want strong team messaging built in
You're testing the waters and not ready to pay for software yet
The honest take
Deputy is the most powerful of the three. It's also the most expensive and the most complex. If you're a multi-location restaurant group with 200+ employees, demand forecasting is worth the premium. If you're a single café with 8 staff, you're paying for a jet engine to power a bicycle.
Sling has the best entry point. Free for 30 users is hard to beat. But "free" comes with real limitations, and the paid plans, while affordable, still split key time-tracking and operations controls across tiers.
Turnozo is the simplest. Essential is €9.99/month for up to 10 employees and one location, with every feature included. Pro keeps the same feature set for larger teams at one transparent price. We built it for the business owner who wants to spend 15 minutes on scheduling, not 15 minutes figuring out which plan they need.
We're also the newest. which means we're still building features that Deputy and Sling have had for years. If you need auto-scheduling, 50 integrations, or enterprise-grade analytics, we're not there yet. If you need clean, simple, affordable scheduling with time tracking. we think we're the best option.
Try all three. Sling is the easiest place to start, Deputy gives you the deepest feature stack, and Turnozo is the cleanest option if you want scheduling + time tracking without tier math. The best tool is the one your team actually uses every week.
