Connecteam alternative

A focused alternative for
open shifts and task dispatch

Zelos covers that slice of Connecteam at one flat price,
without the time clock, payroll, training, and per-user fees.

Connecteam logo

Shift scheduling, task management, HR hub, and much more

Fits organisations with
HR, supervisors, and admin staff.

Zelos logo

Open shifts, task dispatch, notice board, and team chat

Fits when the organisation is all on you.

Start a free Zelos project

No credit card · Unlimited members on every plan · Set up in under 5 minutes

How open shifts work in each app


Connecteam

Open shifts inside a scheduling system

Open shifts are one feature within a fuller workforce platform that includes time clock, GPS verification, and payroll.

Zelos

Open shifts as the whole product

Admins post shifts and tasks; team members browse and claim what fits their skills and schedule.

What Connecteam is better at

If your workflow depends on the things below, Connecteam is the right pick.

Time tracking and payroll

Connecteam covers the full HR stack for hourly workforces: time-off policies with balance tracking, recognition badges, recruitment pipelines, org charts.

Training and compliance

Connecteam's HR Hub includes courses, quizzes, e-sign documents, and a knowledge base. If your team needs to complete certifications, sign policy acknowledgments, or work through structured onboarding, that's not what Zelos is for.

Deeper integrations

Connecteam covers the full HR stack for hourly workforces: time-off policies with balance tracking, recognition badges, recruitment pipelines, and org charts.

HR-grade workflows

Time-off policies with balance tracking, recognition badges, recruitment pipelines, org charts. Connecteam covers the full HR stack for hourly workforces. Zelos doesn't try to.

If these bullet points are non-negotiable, you're a Connecteam customer.

What Zelos is sharper at

If you don't need the full suite of employee management tools, Zelos is a better fit.

Built for one thing, tuned for it

The whole product is open shifts, task dispatch and team chat. That focus shows up as a faster app, less to configure, and less for new team members to learn.

Pricing that doesn't grow with the team

Zelos premium costs $99/month flat, independent of crew accounts. On a slow month teams can move to the free tier without losing a single account.

Built to run itself

Zelos is the kind of tool a single coordinator can configure on a Tuesday afternoon and have a 200-person team using by Wednesday morning. There's no admin training, no setup call, no permission matrix to design.

Privacy that's the default, not an upgrade

Workspaces are invite-only. Members can't see each other's contact info. All chat includes admin oversight ,,, no unsupervised 1:1 messaging. Built in Estonia, GDPR-compliant out of the box.

If you're drawn to this kind of simplicity, you should spin up a free project in Zelos right away.

Start your free project
$474 → $99

per month

200 people, same coordination work. Connecteam bills you $474 a month.
Zelos bills you $99.

What you'll actually pay at different team sizes

Here's what that looks like in practice (annual billing, USD).

Team size Zelos Zelos Pro Connecteam*
10 people Free $99/mo Free
30 people Free $99/mo $49/mo
50 people Free $99/mo $99/mo
100 people Free $99/mo $224/mo
200 people Free $99/mo $474/mo
500 people Free $99/mo $1,224/mo

* Connecteam pricing pulled from connecteam.com/pricing

If your team grows seasonally or scales for events, the per-user model changes the equation.
Nonprofits and education teams get additional discounts on Zelos Pro and Enterprise.

How Zelos works

Seen enough?
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Teams that pick Zelos over Connecteam

Cleaning services and field crews

Cleaning companies and field service businesses use Zelos to dispatch jobs. Crews claim what fits their day, and coordinate through built-in chat. On a slow month, a 100-person on-demand crew runs free on Zelos, but would pay $224/month on Connecteam Operations Advanced.

Learn more →

Event staffing and on-demand workforces

Events spike to hundreds of staff for a weekend, then back down. Connecteam's per-seat model makes that scaling expensive. Zelos's flat fee doesn't move. Most event staff also pick the shifts that fit their schedules - exactly what self-signup is built for.

Learn more →

Contractor pools and gig dispatch

Connecteam's per-user pricing makes it expensive at volunteer scale. A 300-volunteer nonprofit on Connecteam would pay around $724/month. Zelos covers the same group for free.

Learn more →

Hospitality and on-call hourly teams

Restaurants, hotels, and venues with on-call shift pools use Zelos to post coverage needs and let staff claim their shifts. Zelos provides fast scheduling at flat pricing that doesn't grow with the roster.

Learn more →

Brand ambassadors and street teams

Marketing teams running ambassador programmes need lightweight self-signup and built-in chat, not training modules and time clocks. Zelos costs less and includes only what they actually use.

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Volunteer-led nonprofits with growing rosters

Connecteam's per-user pricing makes it expensive at volunteer scale. A 300-volunteer nonprofit on Connecteam would pay around $724/month. Zelos covers the same group for free.

Learn more →

From teams who picked Zelos

What teams who picked Zelos say

Capterra
★★★★★

"It helped us a lot reducing the planning overhead. It is way more motivating for staff to pick their task than just getting assigned!"

Manuel W.

Coordinator, Events Services

Full review →
Capterra
★★★★★

"We were looking for a system to handle our concert staff. Zelos is really easy to access both for the administrator and the users!"

Niels Peter H.

Board member, Music

Full review →
Capterra
★★★★★

"The overall experience has been great, the customer service is amazing and I can't wait for all the new changes coming up in the app!"

Celia D.

Coordinator, Motion Pictures and Film

Full review →

Free for teams of any size

No credit card, no trial expiration.

Pro starts at $99/month, never per person.

Nonprofit and education discounts on Pro and Enterprise.

See full pricing → Or just get started, it's free

Frequently asked questions

Can Zelos do open shifts like Connecteam?
Yes. Zelos is built around open-shift signup as the entire app, while Connecteam offers it as one feature within a fuller workforce platform that includes time clock, payroll, and HR.
Does Zelos have team chat like Connecteam?
Yes. Built-in messaging is Included in every plan, including free. You get task-specific channels, group chats, direct messages, and push notifications. The main difference is intent: all chat in Zelos includes admin oversight by design - there are no unsupervised 1:1 messaging between team members. Connecteam's chat is closer to a corporate messenger; Zelos's is closer to a coordination layer.
Can I dispatch field jobs with Zelos?
Yes. Post a job to a group, a skill, or a location filter; the right people get notified, claim what fits, and coordinate through built-in chat.
Is Zelos a Connecteam alternative?
Yes, for teams built around self-signup rather than top-down scheduling. Zelos is a strong alternative if you coordinate volunteers, gig workers, contractors, or event staff. It's not a replacement if you depend on GPS time tracking, payroll integration, or compliance training, those are Connecteam strengths Zelos doesn't try to match.
Can I track hours and run payroll with Zelos?
No. Zelos doesn't have a time clock or payroll integration. Zelos is built around tasks and shifts that people sign up for, not hours that need to be paid. If payroll is part of your workflow, Connecteam (or a dedicated payroll tool) is the right fit.
Does Zelos charge per person?
No, never. The free tier includes unlimited team member accounts. The premium tier is a flat subscription starting $99/month for advanced features. Whether you have 50 or 5,000 people, the price doesn't change. Connecteam charges per user above 30 users, per hub.
What's the catch with the Zelos free plan?
There isn't one. The free plan includes unlimited members, unlimited admins, full self-signup, built-in messaging, push notifications, gamification, smart targeting, and CSV export. The limits are 25 concurrent active tasks, 100-task archive, and 10,000 chat messages. If you need more volume or features like CSV bulk upload, that's when Pro at $99/month makes sense.
Why doesn't Zelos auto-assign shifts like Connecteam can?
Because people know their availability, skills, and preferences better than software does. Self-signup typically produces higher fill rates and lower no-show rates than auto-assignment, especially for non-employee teams (volunteers, contractors, gig workers). Zelos lets you target tasks to specific groups or skills, but the final pick is always made by the person.
What if I outgrow the Zelos free plan?
You'll hit the 25 concurrent task limit before you hit any other limit. Pro lifts that to unlimited and adds CSV bulk upload, full task archive, and complete chat history. Pro is $99/month flat, regardless of how many team members you add.
Does Zelos integrate with Slack, Zapier, or other tools?
Not directly. Zelos has built-in messaging, so most teams don't need a separate chat tool alongside it. CSV export of tasks and members is on every plan; REST API and webhooks are on Enterprise. Zapier is not currently supported.
Can I use both Zelos and Connecteam?
Yes, and some teams do. For example, a service company might use Connecteam for their full-time W-2 staff (time clock, payroll, training) and Zelos for their on-call contractor pool (self-signup, no per-seat fees). The two products fit different parts of the workforce question.

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