Is a free shift scheduling app enough for 12 employees, or should we switch to paid?

We tried pushing a free tool with 14 staff at our restaurant in Cologne. The cap was 10, so we kept the 4 Minijob workers off the system on paper. Two weeks later shifts overlapped, we ended up down two staff in the kitchen on a Saturday night, and lost at least 800 EUR in revenue that day. We instantly switched to a tool charging 2.50 EUR per user; paying 35 EUR a month now and sleeping peacefully.

When picking a free tool, pay attention to where the server is located and check DSGVO compliance. Processing employees' names, phone numbers, and working hours on servers outside the EU could cause major headaches. Also check the export formats; if you can't hand monthly hours over to payroll as a CSV or Excel file, the app is just going to be a burden.

we set up a permission-locked template on google sheets instead of an app. tbh on mobile everyone only sees their own row. solved it with zero cost for 12 people, but every now and then someone accidentally deletes a formula and the whole week gets messed up gotta be careful.

Correction: I misremembered the figure, it was a bit lower.

What's the average age and tech-savviness of your staff? Also, do their contracts have flexitime clauses or fixed shifts? If Minijob hours change every single week, free boards definitely won't handle the shift-swap traffic.

Most apps advertised as free change their terms six months in. They either suddenly slash the user cap to 5 or put PDF downloads behind a paywall. Right when you've got the routine down and the staff onboarded, they start asking for money—go in knowing that from day one.

i know those ballpoint pen arrows on the paper board all too well, there was a shift fight at least twice a week... believe me, 30-40 EUR a month is nothing for a branch... once you switch to a proper system, youll be asking yourself "why didnt I do this three years ago."

If you can't pry budget out of headquarters right now set up one of the professional tools offering a 30-day free trial. At the end of the month, compile the hours saved alongside the complete elimination of shift errors and lay it out for management; getting the budget approved will be much easier.

is having staff install these apps on their personal phones a legal issue? do we have to provide company phones or can everyone just track their shifts from their own device?

Let me summarize the topic, since several different answers were given. Don't hesitate to ask; those who don't ask always pay more.

When we decide without measuring, we always end up in the same place. Correct me if I'm wrong.

This is exactly what we experienced. Splitting your budget without knowing where you're losing users is just throwing money in the dark.

I'm also curious if anyone does it differently.

Correct.

Generally correct but one part is missing. A small market isn't bad; working cheaply in a small market is.

Don't hesitate to ask; those who don't ask always pay more. I'm also curious if anyone does it differently.

My perspective changed after experiencing that. Calculate how many months you can survive without revenue, then halve that number.

If you post the result here, it will help others too.

Yes that's exactly how it is with free staff scheduling app. Hasty decisions become decisions you have to fix six months later.

If you post the result here, it will help others too.

Let's separate the concepts, they're getting mixed up. When we decide without measuring, we always end up in the same place.

Just leaving this note, it might be useful.

I have no experience with free staff scheduling app, so I'm asking. The biggest time-waster for us was not knowing who had the final say.

Of course, it varies if your situation is different.

Let me summarize the topic, since several different answers were given. The real issue isn't the number, but what it's based on.

Splitting your budget without knowing where you're losing users is just throwing money in the dark. Good luck with that.

The discussion got scattered, let me summarize. Everything goes well for the first three months; problems arise in the fourth.