Soon vs Sling: free shift publishing or planned coverage?
Sling is the most generous free scheduler in its category, and since Toast bought it in 2022 it ships inside every Toast POS package as Scheduling Basics. It publishes shifts, runs a time clock, and keeps a team chatting for very little money. Soon starts where Sling stops: it works out what coverage a day needs, builds the schedule to meet it, and plans the activities inside each shift. Here is where each one earns its keep.
| Feature | Soon | Sling |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | $4 to $16 per user per month billed yearly; 14 to 60 day free trial, no credit card | Free for up to 30 users; Premium $1.70 and Business $3.40 per user per month billed yearly |
| How the schedule gets built | Generated from staffing requirements, skills, and availability | Managers create the shifts; Business plan auto-assign fills the empty ones |
| Forecasting | Native demand forecasting drives staffing requirements | Labor budget vs projected sales; imported sales forecasts only for Toast POS customers on Scheduling Pro |
| Planning inside a shift | Timed activity scheduling and intraday coverage tracking | Shift tasks attach a checklist to the whole shift, without times |
| Time clock | None; Soon exports hours to your time or payroll system | Mobile clock with geofencing on Premium, shared kiosk on Business |
| Team messaging | Schedule notifications in Slack and Microsoft Teams | Built-in newsfeed and private messages on Free, group chat on Premium |
| Calendar sync | Real-time two-way Google and Outlook Calendar sync | One-way iCalendar feed on Premium and above |
| Employee self-service | Availability, leave, swaps, open shifts, preferences | Time off, unavailability, swaps, and shift offers, most of it on Free |
| Overtime and breaks | Working time and contract rules enforced while the schedule is generated | Overtime alerts at scheduling time; automated break rules on Premium and above |
| AI assistant | Natural-language scheduling changes on the Scale plan | None |
| Integrations | Zendesk, Freshdesk, Front, Twilio Flex, Amazon Connect, Shopify, Square, Stripe, REST API | Toast, Square and other POS systems; Gusto, ADP and Toast Payroll exports |
| Best fit | Teams that plan coverage by the hour: support, healthcare, logistics, operations | Small hourly teams, restaurants, and anyone already on Toast |
The verdict
Choose Sling if you need to publish shifts, clock hours, and message a small team for free, or if you run Toast. Choose Soon when the hard part is deciding how many people each hour needs and building a schedule that meets it, including what happens inside the shift.
Try Soon FreeFrequently asked questions
Is Soon a good Sling alternative?
For teams that have outgrown shift publishing, yes. Sling is excellent at the basics: a free plan for up to 30 users, a time clock, and messaging. Soon is built for the next problem, which is planning coverage against demand and scheduling the work inside each shift. If you are leaving Sling because the schedule takes too long to build or coverage keeps coming out wrong, Soon is the right direction. If you are leaving because of price, it is not: Sling is cheaper.
Does Sling have auto-scheduling?
Sling has an auto-assign function on the Business plan. It fills shifts a manager has already created as unassigned, matching people on unavailability, time off, position, and location. It does not decide how many shifts a day needs. Soon generates the shifts themselves from staffing requirements, then fills them against skills, availability, and working time rules.
How does pricing compare between Soon and Sling?
Sling is free for up to 30 users. Premium costs $2 per user per month, or $1.70 billed annually, and Business costs $4, or $3.40 annually. Soon runs from $4 to $16 per user per month billed yearly, with a free trial of 14 to 60 days depending on plan and no credit card required. Sling wins on price every time. The question is whether the cheaper tool removes the work you are actually paying managers to do.
Can I forecast demand in Sling?
Partly. Premium and Business let you set a weekly labor budget and compare scheduled labor against projected sales. Importing an actual sales forecast is only available to Toast POS customers on the Scheduling Pro plan, up to four weeks ahead. Soon forecasts demand natively, converts it into staffing requirements per interval, and uses those requirements to generate the schedule.
Does Soon have a time clock like Sling?
No. Sling includes mobile time tracking with geofencing on Premium and a shared kiosk on Business. Soon focuses on scheduling, leave, forecasting, and intraday planning, and exports hours to the time and payroll system you already use. If clock-in data is the main reason you are buying, Sling is the stronger pick.
Can Sling plan tasks inside a shift?
Sling's shift tasks, on the Business plan, attach a checklist, description, and files to a whole shift, without times. Day parts filter the schedule by time-of-day range. Soon schedules timed activities inside a shift, tracks coverage per activity through the day, and automates that assignment on the Scale plan. This is the clearest difference between the two products.
What changed when Toast bought Sling?
Toast acquired Sling in July 2022. Sling still sells standalone plans, but it is now positioned as Sling by Toast, and Sling Lite is bundled into every Toast POS package as Scheduling Basics, with Pro upgrades sold through Toast Shop. Restaurants on Toast get an unusually good deal. Teams outside hospitality should expect the roadmap to keep following Toast's customers.
How do I move from Sling to Soon?
Export your employee list from Sling, import it into Soon via CSV, and set up your staffing requirements and shift templates. Most teams are live within a day, and Soon's team will set up the first schedule from your export at no charge. Sling's calendar feed and messaging have no migration step; Soon syncs two-way with Google and Outlook Calendar and posts schedule changes to Slack or Microsoft Teams.
More comparisons
Need the wider field? Read our guides to the best employee scheduling software and best AI shift scheduling software.
How does the switching process work?
Switch from Sling to Soon with confidence.
There are multiple ways to move from Sling to Soon. You can transition at your own pace, or reach out so we can help with your migration.
- 01
Create your Soon workspace
Sign up and create your first team. It takes less than two minutes and no credit card is needed.
- 02
Import your team
Add your employees manually or import them from a CSV file. Set roles, skills, and contract hours.
- 03
Set your scheduling rules
Define shift templates, coverage requirements, rest period rules, and any constraints your team needs.
- 04
Run a pilot alongside your current tool(optional)
Most teams run a 1 to 2 week pilot with one team before rolling out to the full organization.
- 05
Go live
Publish your first schedule and invite your team. Our support team is available if you need help along the way.
Your next schedule could take 2 minutes.
Import your team, set your rules, hit auto-fill. Most teams are live the same day.
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