A focused alternative for
open shifts and self-signup

Yes. Zelos is built around open-shift signup as the entire app, while Sling publishes available shifts inside a manager-built roster. In Zelos there's no schedule to construct first, you post the shift, and the people it was targeted to claim it.

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 is no unsupervised one-to-one messaging between team members. Sling includes private employee-to-employee messaging on its free plan and group messaging from Premium up.

Yes. There's no headcount limit on any Zelos plan, free or paid. Sling's free plan covers up to 30 users, after which you move to Premium at $1.70 per user per month or Business at $3.40, billed annually.

Yes, for teams built around self-signup rather than manager-built rosters. Zelos is a strong alternative if you coordinate volunteers, gig workers, contractors, or event staff. It's not a replacement if you depend on time clocks or labour cost reporting, those are Sling strengths Zelos doesn't try to match.

No. Zelos has no time clock and no payroll feature. Members submit their actual start and end times when they complete a shift, and hoursheets calculate each person's hours for CSV export into a payroll system. If payroll is part of your workflow, Sling (or a dedicated payroll tool) is the right fit.

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. Sling charges per user on both paid plans.

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.

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. Zelos lets you target tasks to specific groups or skills, but the final pick is always made by the person.

Yes, and it's the most common use. Sling is designed for hourly employees with wages, positions, and locations attached, which makes volunteer rosters awkward and expensive past 30 people. Zelos treats everyone as a member who claims work, with no wage data required.

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. If you run a Toast POS restaurant and need sales-linked labour planning, Sling is the better fit.

Yes, and some teams do. A venue might use Sling for its rostered hourly staff (time clock, labour costs, payroll reports) and Zelos for its on-call or volunteer pool (self-signup, no per-seat fees). The two products fit different parts of the workforce question.