Free event staff rota apps in 2026: 7 honest options for event teams

If you coordinate event staff, your rota tool needs to handle the things that make event work different: irregular hours, last-minute changes, and a rotating cast of freelancers who only work some of your events. The dedicated event-staffing platforms (Quickstaff, Workstaff, Event Staff App, Liveforce) are built for agencies with budgets and charge from day one. None have free plans worth the name in 2026.

What does work for event teams without spending anything: general workforce rota tools with genuinely free tiers. The seven below all have real free plans, with the limits stated upfront so you can pick what fits your size and how you operate. Prices checked August 2026 and shown in the currency each vendor publishes.

Zelos Team Management

Event agencies with rotating freelance rotas

Zelos takes a signup-board approach to event staffing. Coordinators post shifts (location, role, skills required, start time), team members get push notifications, and whoever is available and qualified claims the role first. No algorithmic assignment, no per-person fees, no salaried-employee assumptions baked into the product. The whole thing runs on the principle that the person doing the work is the best one to decide if they can take it.

Built-in chat is part of the product, not a bolt-on. Each shift has its own conversation thread, so the venue address, dress code, call time, and contact for the floor manager stay attached to the job rather than scattered across group texts and emails. Member contact information is hidden from other members by design, which keeps the workspace professional when you’re coordinating a rota of freelancers who didn’t sign up to have their phone numbers in a shared directory.

• Free plan: Unlimited team members and admins, 25 concurrent active shifts, last 100 shifts in the archive, 10,000 chat messages.
• What’s paid: Bulk CSV shift upload, dynamic member segments that update automatically as profiles change (auto-update by skills, location, or any custom field), full shift archive, custom team URL. Pro at £79/month billed annually (£99/month billed monthly), flat regardless of rota size. Enterprise from £799/month billed annually.
• Communication: Built-in team chat (per-shift threads plus direct messages), admin-supervised. Member contact information is hidden by default. No customer-facing SMS.
• Best for: Event agencies, catering companies, festival organisers, and brand activation teams running a rotating freelance rota, where per-person pricing would scale awkwardly as the rota grows beyond what any single event needs.
• Watch out for: No GPS check-ins, no kiosk, no shift swapping. Hours are logged from task start and end (planned vs actual); payroll still sits in a separate system if you pay by the hour rather than per shift. Zelos is the scheduling and communication layer.
• Platforms: Native iOS, Android, and web. EU-built and GDPR-compliant by default.

Connecteam

Tiny event ops wanting full operations and comms

Connecteam is an all-in-one workforce platform with a genuinely generous free plan: up to 10 users get the full Small Business plan, which includes the Operations Hub (scheduling, time clock, GPS check-ins, open shifts), the Communication Hub (team chat, announcements, surveys, knowledge base), and the HR Hub (training, documents, recognition). For an event operation that fits in 10 seats, it’s one of the most feature-rich free plans in any category.

The product is mobile-first, designed for deskless and frontline teams. The drag-and-drop scheduler handles open shifts, shift swaps, and availability tracking. GPS-enabled clock-ins prevent the “I forgot to log my hours” calls after every event. AI-assisted scheduling is on paid plans.

• Free plan: Up to 10 users, full access to all three Hubs (Operations, Communication, HR). No time limit.
• Paid plans: Basic Operations Hub from US$29/month for up to 30 users, then extra per user above that (vendor FAQ; billed in USD). Bundle plans across hubs from there.
• Communication: Full Communication Hub on free, including team chat, direct messages, announcements, surveys, and knowledge base.
• Best for: A small event ops team (under 10 people) that wants scheduling, time tracking, GPS check-ins, and team communication in one app rather than stitching together separate tools.
• Watch out for: The 10-user cap on free is tight for any event agency that flexes beyond a core team, even if only some are active for each event. The jump to paid is reasonable but the cap binds quickly.
• Platforms: iOS, Android, web.

Sling

Small event teams up to 30 staff

Sling is a clean, mobile-first shift planning app owned by Toast (the restaurant POS company). The free plan covers up to 30 users with no time limit and includes the core scheduling toolkit: shift creation, schedule templates, open shifts that staff can claim, shift swaps, time-off requests, availability tracking, and private messaging between team members. It’s a focused product without much beyond scheduling.

The free plan is genuinely useful for smaller event teams. The hard 30-user cap is what to plan around: exceed it and you’re moved to Premium (US$1.70/user/month billed annually) with same-day prorated charges. Time tracking, labour cost reporting, and kiosk clock-in are all paid plan features. All Sling prices displayed are USD.

• Free plan: 30 users, full scheduling functionality, shift swaps, open shifts, private messaging, time-off requests.
• Paid plans: Premium at US$1.70/user/month billed annually adds mobile time tracking and labour cost tools. Business at US$3.40/user/month billed annually adds kiosk time tracking, compliance reporting, and annual-leave management.
• Communication: Built-in private messaging (direct and group) on the free plan. Customer-facing SMS isn’t part of the product.
• Best for: A small event company or catering operation with a core team of up to 30 staff that needs straightforward scheduling without time tracking complexity.
• Watch out for: Hard 30-user cap on free, no time tracking on free. Mobile app sync delays come up in reviews. Shift swap visibility was restricted to managers in 2024, which some teams found limiting. Billed in USD.
• Platforms: iOS, Android, web.

Homebase

Single-venue US-based event companies

Homebase is built for hourly and shift-based teams, mostly in US hospitality and retail. The free Basic plan covers one location with up to 10 employees and includes scheduling, time tracking, team messaging, and POS integration (Toast, Square, Clover, Shopify). Reviewers consistently praise the clean interface and fast onboarding. For a single-venue event company (a wedding venue, a small catering outfit, a regular pop-up), the free tier covers the core operation.

The per-location pricing model is the catch. Most event work happens across multiple venues, and Homebase charges per physical address on paid plans. The free plan limits you to one location. Add a second venue and you’re on Essentials from US$24/location/month billed annually (US$30 monthly). US payroll and compliance tools are part of the product; they are not a UK fit.

• Free plan: 1 location, up to 10 employees, basic scheduling, time tracking, team messaging, POS integration.
• Paid plans: Essentials from US$24/location/month billed annually adds unlimited employees, advanced scheduling, departments. Higher tiers add hiring, annual-leave management, labour cost tools, and HR compliance.
• Communication: Team messaging included on free (announcements and direct messages). Customer notifications aren’t part of the product.
• Best for: A wedding venue, single-location catering outfit, or event space with a regular hourly team where one physical address covers the operation — and where US payroll tooling is a feature, not a problem.
• Watch out for: Per-location pricing penalises multi-venue event companies. US-focused (POS integrations, payroll tools). If you want UK billing, Deputy publishes GBP (Lite from £3.25/user/month).
• Platforms: iOS, Android, web.

7shifts

Catering and hospitality event teams

7shifts is restaurant-and-hospitality scheduling software, which makes it a natural fit for catering companies and food-led event operations. The free Comp plan covers 1 location with up to 15 employees and includes drag-and-drop scheduling, a time clock, availability tracking, time-off requests, one-way announcements, and POS integrations with Toast, Square, Clover, and others. Built specifically around tip pooling, prep notes, and shift roles for food service work.

The free plan is genuinely useful for a small catering team or a wedding catering outfit running events out of a single kitchen. Real team chat (vs one-way announcements) is on the paid Essentials plan at US$39.99/month per location billed annually.

• Free plan: 1 location, 15 employees, scheduling, time clock, availability, time-off requests, one-way announcements, POS integrations.
• Paid plans: Essentials US$39.99/month/location billed annually (up to 30 employees, adds team chat and advanced scheduling; US$44.99 monthly). Pro US$79.99/month/location billed annually (unlimited employees on the current page, adds labour compliance and leave accruals). Premium US$134.99/month/location billed annually (US$149.99 monthly; tip and task management). Publishes USD.
• Communication: Free plan has one-way announcements only. Real two-way team chat starts at the Essentials paid tier.
• Best for: Catering companies, wedding food services, and hospitality event teams that already think in restaurant terms (POS systems, tip pooling, food cost vs labour cost).
• Watch out for: Restaurant-specific assumptions throughout the product. If your event work isn’t food-led, 7shifts will feel like it’s solving problems you don’t have. Tip pooling, prep notes, and section assignments matter for food service, not for an AV crew or brand activation team.
• Platforms: iOS, Android, web.

ZoomShift

Small event teams with short planning cycles

ZoomShift is a straightforward shift scheduler with a free Essentials plan for up to 20 users at one location. The product is intentionally simple: drag-and-drop scheduling, basic team communication, shift reminders via text and email, and time-off requests. Reviewers consistently mention how easy it is to learn, and one Capterra reviewer specifically uses it for a US non-profit music venue running 90+ events per year with 40+ student staff.

The free plan has one notable constraint for event work: schedules are limited to two weeks in advance. For event teams planning months ahead, that means a paid Starter plan to get an unlimited scheduling horizon (which also adds time tracking, annual leave, break trackers, and the manager logbook). ZoomShift publishes USD per active team member; check the vendor page for the current rate rather than an older per-user figure.

• Free plan: Up to 20 users, 1 location, basic scheduling, communication, shift reminders. Two-week scheduling horizon.
• Paid plans: Starter and Premium, per active team member, published in USD. Starter adds time tracking, annual-leave management, unlimited scheduling horizon, manager logbook. Premium adds geofencing, overtime warnings, customisable roles and access permissions.
• Communication: Basic team communication on free (announcements and messages). More structured communication tools on paid plans.
• Best for: A small event operation or venue with a rota up to 20 people that books events one or two weeks ahead, where the scheduling horizon isn’t a blocker.
• Watch out for: Two-week scheduling cap on the free plan is the real constraint for event teams. Time tracking is paid-only. Communication features are basic compared to Connecteam or Sling.
• Platforms: iOS, Android, web.

Findmyshift

Micro-teams of 5 or fewer

Findmyshift has been running since 2004 and has hosted over 200 million shifts (vendor figure). The free plan is restricted to 5 employees but is genuinely featureful within that cap: drag-and-drop scheduling, integrated time clock, timesheets, shift swaps and requests (with manager approval), and notifications via email, SMS, or push. You can have up to 10 separate teams on the free plan, which is unusual. Charity discount 25% if turnover is under US$1M.

The trade-offs are scope. Free scheduling is limited to one week forward and one week back. There are no templates, no real-time reporting, and no payroll calculations. If your event work fits these constraints (a small recurring crew, weekly planning, simple payroll done elsewhere), the free plan is workable indefinitely.

• Free plan: Up to 5 employees per team, up to 10 teams, time clock, shift swaps, notifications via email/SMS/push. One week forward, one week back scheduling.
• Paid plans: From US$27/month for teams of 6 or more, with templates, payroll calculations, real-time reporting, and longer scheduling horizons. Publishes USD, not GBP.
• Communication: Notifications via email, SMS, and push, but no in-app team chat. Communication is one-way (manager to staff).
• Best for: A micro-event-team (a small recurring catering crew, a wedding photography duo, a two-person event production outfit) where 5 staff is the actual size, not a constraint to plan around.
• Watch out for: The 5-employee cap is firm. The one-week scheduling horizon makes it unsuitable for event teams planning further out. No in-app messaging means you’ll be using texts or WhatsApp for the conversation around each event.
• Platforms: iOS, Android, web.

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Still narrowing down? Our event staffing app overview covers the specific challenges of coordinating temporary event crews. If your operation is closer to traditional shift work than event-by-event coordination, free staff scheduling software covers different territory.