7shifts

7shifts is an employee scheduling and payroll platform built specifically for restaurants. Founder Jordan Boesch started the company in 2014 out of the back office of a sandwich shop, and 7shifts Inc. is headquartered in Saskatoon, Canada, with a second office in Toronto. The vendor says more than 55,000 restaurants now use the platform – a vendor-reported figure, but the restaurant-only focus is genuine and it shows in the product.

The scheduling core covers drag-and-drop shift building, availability and time-off requests, shift swaps, labor budgeting and compliance tools. Around it, 7shifts wraps the rest of the hourly-team workflow: time clocking with photo and geofence controls, team messaging and announcements, a manager log book, task management, tip pooling and distribution, hiring and onboarding, and employee training quizzes. Payroll is built in rather than bolted on, syncing timesheets and tips directly into pay runs. On the integrations side, the official list covers the major restaurant POS systems – Toast, Square, Clover, TouchBistro, Revel and Lightspeed – plus payroll providers like Gusto, and a public developer platform at developers.7shifts.com for custom connections.

Pricing is per location, not per user. The Comp plan is free for a single location with up to 15 employees and covers basic scheduling, one-way announcements and availability requests. Essentials runs $44.99 per location per month ($39.99 billed annually) for up to 30 employees, Pro $89.99 ($79.99 annual) with unlimited employees, and Premium $149.99 ($134.99 annual) adding tip and task management. Every plan starts with a 14-day free trial of Pro features, no credit card required, and payroll is a paid add-on per location. Tip Management can also be bought separately at $49.99 per location per month, and the Manager Log Book and Task Management modules are available as $14.99 and $12.99 add-ons. iOS and Android apps cover staff on the go.

Where it falls short: the per-location model gets expensive for multi-unit groups compared with per-user rivals; the restaurant specialization means general retail or service businesses get less value; the free plan caps at one location and 15 employees; and support runs through in-app chat with no published support email. Tip management, one of its best differentiators, is locked to Premium or a $49.99 add-on.

Overall, 7shifts is the strongest restaurant-specific pick in this category: deeper hospitality workflows than generalist tools, a real free plan for single-location teams, and payroll plus POS integrations under one roof. Restaurants that outgrow the free tier should price the per-location model carefully. The company also leans into workplace culture – it is a certified carbon-neutral company and, per its own about page, ranked as a Best Workplace in Canada in 2023.