Sling alternative for UK hospitality: a fair comparison

Sling is a popular choice for small teams, and the free plan is a big part of that. Up to 30 people can be scheduled without paying anything, and the app is tidy and simple. Many UK cafés and bars started with it for exactly that reason.

The usual reasons to look elsewhere: you've outgrown what the free plan does, the paid plans are in US dollars, or you want the kitchen's food-safety records in the same place as the rota. This page compares Sling and ShiftComplete fairly. Sling details are as of October 2026, checked on Sling's own website and linked in the sources.

What Sling does well

Sling's banner reads "Sling is now Sling by Toast!" following its acquisition by Toast. It targets small and mid-sized businesses across restaurants, retail, hospitality, healthcare and more. As of October 2026, its website lists:

• A free plan for up to 30 users with shift scheduling, time-off requests, available shifts, news sharing, long-term scheduling (months ahead) and private messaging. Shift templates, shift alarms, shift offers and announcements also feature in its plan comparison.
• Premium adds mobile time tracking, labour cost management (compared against sales), overtime tracking, group messaging and calendar sync.
• Business adds kiosk time tracking, labour reports, no-show and sick call-out tracking and PTO management.
• Task assignment per shift or per employee.
• Apps on the web, iOS and Android.
• Billing for active users only on paid plans, with unused spots prorated.

For a small team that mainly needs a shared schedule and chat, Sling's free plan is hard to argue with.

Where ShiftComplete is different

ShiftComplete is built only for UK pubs, restaurants, cafés, bars and hotels, priced in pounds, and covers the rota and the daily food-safety records together.

The rota builds itself

Staff set availability on their phones weeks ahead. You add events and weight the people you want on, and ShiftComplete builds a fair draft rota in seconds. You adjust by dragging, then publish to everyone's phone or by email.

Split shifts get up to four time blocks per person per day, each tagged with an area like Bar, Kitchen or Floor. Day notes sit on the rota, holidays are recorded, and labour cost shows while you build, not only on a paid tier, because every feature is included.

The kitchen's records live next to the rota

We didn't find food safety, temperatures or allergens on Sling's pricing page or homepage as of October 2026. ShiftComplete includes:

• Temperature logs for each fridge, freezer, hot-hold and ambient point, with its own range; out-of-range readings flagged on the dashboard.
• Allergens: every menu item mapped to the 14 UK allergens, searchable from the floor.
• Checklists for opening, closing, cleaning and due diligence, different by weekday, with named and timestamped ticks and photo evidence if you want it.
• Incidents and maintenance with photos and status, and printable risk assessments.
• A weekly report and full audit log with CSV export.

So the same app that tells your team when they're working also holds the records an EHO asks to see.

Sling vs ShiftComplete at a glance

Comparing the cost

On Sling, scheduling is free for up to 30 users. If you want labour cost management or time tracking, Premium is $2.00 per user per month billed monthly or $1.70 billed annually, and Business is $4.00 or $3.40, all in US dollars. We didn't find pound-sterling pricing on its site.

ShiftComplete is £1.49 per staff member per month with nothing held back for a higher tier. A team of 15 pays £22.35 a month; a team of 25 pays £37.25. No per-site fee, no contract.

Moving off a free plan: what changes

Going from a free rota app to a paid one is a fair thing to question. Here's what usually changes, in practice:

• You stop building from a blank grid. In ShiftComplete the first draft comes from your team's availability and the week's events. You edit; you don't start from scratch.
• Labour cost is there from the start. You see the week's wage bill while you move shifts around, rather than after the week is done.
• Split shifts and areas become clear. Up to four blocks per person per day, each showing where they're working.
• The kitchen's paperwork moves in. Fridge temps, allergens, opening and closing checks and incidents sit in the same app, so there's one login for the team.
• You pay per head. £1.49 per staff member per month, with every feature included.

If none of that matters to you, stay on the free plan. If the Sunday-night rota still eats your evening, it's worth trying.

Who should choose Sling

Sling is likely the better fit if:

• You want a free schedule for a team of up to 30 and don't need more.
• You want Sling's kiosk time tracking, labour reports or no-show and call-out tracking.
• You already use Toast, which Sling lists among its integrations.
• You want staff-to-staff shift offers and messaging built in.

Who ShiftComplete suits better

ShiftComplete is likely the better fit if:

• You want a draft rota built for you from availability and events, with labour cost from day one.
• You run split shifts across areas like bar, kitchen and floor.
• You want temps, allergens, checklists and incidents in the same app as the rota.
• You prefer software built and priced in the UK for hospitality.

"The rota stopped being a Sunday-night argument the week we switched over. The chef stopped being the only person who knows what's in the kitchen. And the EHO turn up to a screen, not a box file." Graeme Kirkham, Owner, The Lounge Oswestry & Knock & Snitch

Read the Kirkham Hospitality story.

Trying it without risk

Keep Sling running while you test. Start a free ShiftComplete trial, add your team and areas, ask everyone to set availability, and build next week's rota. Set up your fridges and opening checks too, so you see the whole picture. Sixty days is long enough to cover a bank holiday, a busy weekend and a quiet midweek. Book a free 15-minute set-up call if you'd like a hand.

Looking at free options more widely? See our honest guide to free rota apps in the UK, or compare When I Work.