A free alternative for open shifts and task dispatch
Zelos covers that slice of When I Work at one flat price,
without the time clock, payroll integrations, and per-user fees.
Employee scheduling, time clock, and team messaging
Fits businesses scheduling hourly employees across locations.
Open shifts, task dispatch, notice board, and team chat
Built for people who aren't on payroll.
No credit card · Unlimited members on every plan · Set up in under 5 minutes
How open shifts work in each app
OpenShifts inside a schedule
Managers build the schedule first, then publish the shifts nobody is assigned to as OpenShifts for eligible staff to claim or swap.
Open shifts as the whole product
Admins post shifts and tasks; team members browse and claim what fits their skills and schedule.
What When I Work is better at
If your workflow depends on the things below, When I Work is the right pick.
Time clock and attendance
Clock-in with GPS and geofencing, break tracking, timesheets, and attendance data that syncs to labour reports. If you need to know who was on site and for how long, Zelos doesn't answer that question.
Payroll and POS integrations
Native connections to Rippling, Gusto, QuickBooks, ADP, Square, and Paychex, plus POS data for sales-linked labour planning. Zelos exports CSV and nothing more.
Forecasting and multi-location rosters
Auto-scheduling, labour forecasting, schedule templates, and labour sharing between sites. For a chain building next month's rota across five locations, that's the whole job.
Scheduling rules and compliance
Scheduling rules for labour law, role permissions, custom reporting, and callout handling. If compliance is something you have to evidence, When I Work is built for it and Zelos isn't.
If these bullet points are non-negotiable, you're a When I Work customer.
What Zelos is sharper at
If you don't need the full suite of employee scheduling tools, Zelos is a better fit.
Free that doesn't expire
When I Work has no free plan, you get 14 days, then you pay per user. The Zelos free tier has no headcount limit, no trial clock, and no credit card.
Pricing that doesn't grow with the team
Zelos premium costs $99/month flat, independent of crew accounts. When I Work runs $2.50 to $8 per user per month, with time tracking billed on top as an add-on.
Members, not employees
When I Work models everyone as an employee with a wage, a position, and a timesheet. Zelos models them as people who claim work, which is what volunteers, contractors, and casual staff actually are.
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.
per month
200 people, same coordination work. When I Work bills you $500 a month.
Zelos bills you $99.
What you'll actually pay at different team sizes
Here's what that looks like in practice (USD, before add-ons).
| Team size | Zelos | Zelos Pro | When I Work* |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 people | Free | $99/mo | $25/mo |
| 30 people | Free | $99/mo | $75/mo |
| 50 people | Free | $99/mo | $125/mo |
| 100 people | Free | $99/mo | $250/mo |
| 200 people | Free | $99/mo | $500/mo |
| 500 people | Free | $99/mo | $1,250/mo |
* When I Work pricing pulled from wheniwork.com/pricing. Essentials tier at $2.50 per user per month; Pro is $5 and Premium is $8. Time Tracking & Attendance is a paid add-on on every plan. There is no free plan. The trial runs 14 days.
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.
Seen enough?
Get started in our self-service.
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Teams that pick Zelos over When I Work
Volunteer-led nonprofits with growing rosters
Per-user pricing gets expensive at volunteer scale, and volunteers have no wages or timesheets to track. A 300-volunteer nonprofit on When I Work Essentials would pay around $750/month. Zelos covers the same group for free.
Learn more →Event staffing and on-demand workforces
Events spike to hundreds of staff for a weekend, then back down. Paying per user for a roster that only exists three days a month is a poor trade. 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
Contractors set their own availability and aren't on your payroll, so a scheduling tool is solving the wrong problem. Post the job, let the right people claim it, coordinate in the task chat.
Learn more →Community groups and youth programmes
No budget line for per-seat software, and participation matters more than attendance records. Zelos adds points and leaderboards, which is what actually moves turnout with younger participants. Changemakers Academy took task completion from 20-30% of the group to 75-90%.
Learn more →Brand ambassadors and street teams
Marketing teams running ambassador programmes need lightweight self-signup and built-in chat, not time clocks and labour forecasting. Zelos costs less and includes only what they actually use.
Learn more →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 $250/month on When I Work Essentials.
Learn more →From teams who picked Zelos
What teams who picked Zelos say
"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 → "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 → "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.
Frequently asked questions
Can Zelos do open shifts like When I Work?
Is there a free version of Zelos?
Does Zelos have team chat like When I Work?
Can I track hours and run payroll with Zelos?
Does Zelos charge per person?
Can I use Zelos for volunteers?
What's the catch with the Zelos free plan?
Why doesn't Zelos auto-schedule shifts like When I Work can?
Is Zelos a When I Work alternative?
Does Zelos integrate with payroll, Slack, or Zapier?
Can I use both Zelos and When I Work?
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pick their own work?
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