Comparison · verified 2026-11-02
ExpoShift vs When I Work
When I Work is built for hourly, shift-based teams in any industry, from a single restaurant to multi-site operations, with a restaurant page and prices per user per month, two plans: $2.50 for a single location or schedule and $5 for multiple, each with every feature included. ExpoShift is built for independent full-service restaurants and is $49 a month per location, every feature included, any team size.
Pricing model
- ExpoShift
- $49 per location per month. One plan, every feature, any team size. 30 days free, no credit card.
- When I Work
- $2.50 per user per month for a single location or schedule; $5.00 per user per month for multiple locations or schedules. Every plan includes scheduling, time and attendance and messaging. No free plan.
Built for
- ExpoShift
- Independent full-service restaurants, roughly 20–100 staff, owner still in the building.
- When I Work
- Hourly, shift-based teams in any industry, from a single restaurant to multi-site operations, with a restaurant page.
Platforms
- ExpoShift
- IOS, Android and web.
- When I Work
- IOS, Android and web.
Side by side
Feature by feature
ExpoShift's column comes from the ExpoShift FAQ, pricing page and release notes. When I Work's column comes from When I Work's own pricing page, product pages and help center, read on November 2, 2026. Where When I Work doesn't publish something, the cell says "Not listed", not "no".
| Feature | ExpoShift | When I Work |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing & plans | ||
| Pricing model | One plan: $49 per location per month, every feature included, any team size. No tiers, no per-seat fees, no add-ons. | Per user per month, two plans, everything included in each: $2.50 for a single location or schedule, $5.00 for multiple. |
| Published monthly price for scheduling + time clock | $49 per location per month, billed monthly. | $2.50 per user per month (single location); $5.00 (multiple). A 50-person team at one location is $125 a month at the published rate. |
| Free trial | 30 days, every feature. | 14 days with everything. |
| Credit card to start | No. | No credit card required. |
| Contract or commitment | None. Month-to-month, cancel anytime. | None; cancel at any time. Month-to-month or annual billing. |
| Add-ons that cost extra | None. Every feature shipped next is included. | None listed; payroll is through a partner. |
| Free plan | No free plan; 30-day free trial. | No free plan listed. |
| Built for | ||
| Restaurant-specific | IncludedBuilt for independent full-service restaurants, by people who run one. | Partial'Designed exclusively for hourly workers' in any industry, with a restaurant page. |
| Tip handling included | IncludedTip pools, declared and POS tips, included. | PartialStaff enter tips at clock-out, with tip collection by role; pooling not listed. |
| Position / station scheduling | IncludedEvery shift carries a position; swap rules, pay and tip pools follow the position. | IncludedAssign by site, department or role; color-coded positions. |
| Scheduling & availability | ||
| Schedule builder with auto-draft | IncludedAuto Draft fills the week from availability, school calendars and fair hours; conflicts flagged before publish. | IncludedAuto Scheduling fills shifts from availability and qualifications; saved templates. |
| Availability rules (cutoff, blackout dates, advance window, reminders) | IncludedYou set how far ahead staff submit, the weekly cutoff and blackout dates; staff get a reminder before the window closes; weeks lock at the deadline. | PartialStaff submit availability; 'days notice required' applies to time off; no availability cutoff, blackout dates or deadline reminder described. |
| Time-off requests | IncludedStaff mark dates unavailable from the Work tab. | IncludedTime-off requests with optional approval by role, days-notice rules and accrual policies. |
| Open-shift claims | IncludedPut a shift up for grabs; qualified teammates are notified, first to claim takes it. | IncludedOpenShifts staff can take, with or without approval. |
| Shift hand-offs to a teammate | IncludedHand a shift to one qualified teammate. | IncludedShift Drop gives a shift to a coworker; Shift Swap trades; each can be enabled or disabled. |
| Partial shift swaps | IncludedOffer just part of a shift, say the second half. | Not listedNot found on When I Work's site or help center. |
| Manager approval option for swaps | IncludedInstant or approval required, set per position group. | Included'Managers can choose whether shift swaps require approval'; OpenShift pickups likewise. |
| Labor cost preview while scheduling | IncludedThe Labor tab shows what the week will cost before you publish. | IncludedLabor costs and scheduled vs budgeted hours before the schedule is shared; overtime warnings while building. |
| Minor labor guardrails | IncludedUnder-16 school-calendar limits flagged before publish; school calendars on each minor's record. | Not listedNo minor or youth labor rules found on When I Work's site. |
| Time clock & timesheets | ||
| Built-in time clock | IncludedStaff clock in and out from their Home screen; turn it on when you're ready. | IncludedBuilt-in time clock in every plan: phones, tablets, POS or laptop terminals. |
| Missed clock-out fix | IncludedOne tap: 'I left at my scheduled end' or the real time; the manager approves. | Not listedNot found on When I Work's site. |
| Punch corrections with approval | IncludedStaff flag a punch; managers approve corrections. | PartialDigital timesheets with edit logs and manager approval; employee correction requests not described. |
| Timecard split by position | IncludedServer → Expo → Server on one timecard. | Not listedNot found on When I Work's site. |
| Geofence on punches | IncludedOptional geofence around the building; location is checked on the phone, not stored. | IncludedGPS on each punch, geofencing, and photo clock-ins. |
| Exception-only timesheet review | IncludedTimesheets show only what needs a look: missing punches, corrections, big variances. | PartialManagers approve timesheets; absences tracked; an exception-only view is not described. |
| Tips, payroll & comp | ||
| Tip pools from real punches | IncludedSplit by the hours each person actually worked on the receiving position. | Not listedTips are tracked at clock-out; pooling is not listed. |
| Pay periods that lock | IncludedBuilt from real hours, locked once reviewed. | Not listedNot found on When I Work's site. |
| Payroll export file | IncludedExports a file your payroll provider imports, plus a generic CSV; more formats added as customers need them. | IncludedPayroll exports and integrations with seven named providers in every plan; payroll itself through a partner. |
| Per-position wages | IncludedRates by position, admin-only; each employee sees only their own. | Partial'Calculate multiple pay rates automatically'; wages per position not described. |
| Raises and bonuses recorded in-app | IncludedGive a raise in two taps; bonus budget and reasons on the Team tab. | Not listedNot found on When I Work's site. |
| POS & insights | ||
| POS sales pull | IncludedConnect once; sales and tips pull in nightly where the POS offers an API; manual entry in the meantime. | Partial'Payroll and POS integrations' listed in every plan; no POS is named and no sales pull is described. |
| Labor % vs sales | IncludedLabor % next to each day's sales. | Partial'Calculate staff coverage based on sales and labor budget'; labor as a percentage of sales not described. |
| Sales, kitchen and team reports | IncludedTop items, server rankings, ticket times by hour, station pace, on-time clock-ins. | PartialLabor distribution and scheduled-vs-worked reports; custom reporting on the multi-location plan. |
| Team communication & culture | ||
| Direct messages, groups, broadcasts | IncludedDMs, group chats by position, broadcasts, daily schedule notes. | Included1:1, group, by position or schedule; announcements. |
| Scheduled messages | IncludedWrite now, send later. | Not listedNot found on When I Work's site. |
| Polls and quizzes | IncludedPolls, surveys and quizzes in the News tab. | Not listedNot found on When I Work's site. |
| Recognition and rewards | IncludedShoutouts, points for the things you want, monthly winners pick a reward you set. Off until you turn it on. | Not listedNot found on When I Work's site. |
| Monthly team newsletter | IncludedDrafts itself each month. | Not listedNot found on When I Work's site. |
| Staff records & compliance | ||
| Certifications with photos and expiry reminders | IncludedA photo of the card on file; reminders before it lapses. | Partial'Skills & certification management' in every plan; expiry reminders not described. |
| Documents with acknowledgements | IncludedDocument Center tracks who has acknowledged each handbook or policy. | PartialDocument sharing and storage; acknowledgement or e-signature not listed. |
| Staff profiles | IncludedPositions, contact and emergency info, school calendars for minors. | PartialQualifications and skills per person; profile fields not described. |
| Offboarding and rehire record | IncludedHow they left, notice given, eligible for rehire, last day worked. | Not listedNot found on When I Work's site. |
| Ops tools | ||
| Food & supplies order guide | IncludedVendors, storage areas, pars, count walk, shop by vendor; works offline. | Not listedNot found on When I Work's site. |
| Equipment maintenance calendar | IncludedAn example maintenance calendar you customize for your restaurant, plus an equipment registry and service log. | Not listedNot found on When I Work's site. |
| Red Book / shift notes | IncludedRed Book entries and daily schedule notes, included. | PartialShift details, photos or notes shared in messaging; no log book described. |
| Tasks | IncludedTask completions that managers verify from the Manager Hub. | IncludedDaily checklists and shift tasks, with who completed each and when. |
| Platforms & support | ||
| iOS, Android, web | IncludedApp Store and Google Play; web browser for admin work. | IncludediOS, Android and web. |
| Support | IncludedEmail support@exposhift.com; a human who has run a shift answers. | IncludedLive chat weekdays 7am–7pm Central and tickets 7am–10pm; weekends 9am–4:30pm (from the Terms). |
| Data ownership | IncludedYour restaurant's data belongs to your restaurant; never sold or used for marketing. | Not listedNot checked on When I Work's terms. |
Included on the plan named
Partial some of the row, as described
Add-on priced separately
Higher plan on a When I Work plan above Single location
Not listed not found on When I Work's site or help center
When I Work prices and features as published on https://wheniwork.com/pricing and When I Work's help center on 2026-11-02. When I Work bills month-to-month or annually at the listed per-user price; the page shows no separate annual price. "Single location" is When I Work's plan for one location or schedule. When I Work is a trademark of When I Work, Inc.; ExpoShift is not affiliated with or endorsed by When I Work, Inc.
Where When I Work may be the better fit
- You have a small team: per-user pricing means a 15-person team pays about $37.50 a month at the published single-location rate.
- You want every feature in one plan with no add-ons, and unlimited locations on the $5 plan.
- You want payroll, HR and benefits through When I Work's preferred payroll partner, with a promotional free period at time of reading.
- You run hourly teams outside a restaurant, or several sites that share staff: labor sharing between locations and departments is built in.
Where ExpoShift is the better fit
- One price, every feature: $49 a month per location, any team size. When I Work's per-user price grows with the roster; 50 users on the single-location plan is $125 a month at the published rate.
- Built for full-service: tip pools split by the hours each person actually worked on the receiving position, from real punches; per-position wages; raises recorded in-app. When I Work tracks tips at clock-out but lists no pooling.
- Availability rules you set once: how far ahead staff submit, the weekly cutoff, blackout dates, and a reminder before the window closes. Managers see a 7-day grid split by lunch and dinner.
- Staff cover themselves: hand a shift to a qualified teammate, put it up for grabs, or give away just part of it, instant or with approval per position group.
- Team culture and staff info in the same app: shoutouts, points and monthly rewards, polls and quizzes, a monthly newsletter, certifications with a photo of the card and expiry reminders, documents with acknowledgements.
- Ops tools included: a food and supplies order guide, an example maintenance calendar you customize for your restaurant, the Red Book, and tasks.
Switching
Moving from When I Work to ExpoShift
- 1Export your teamAny staff list in CSV or Excel works.
- 2Import it hereTeam tab → Import. One row per person, positions comma-separated; there's a one-tap template.
- 3Publish the same dayAdd your positions, build the first week, publish. Staff get an email invite, no codes.
- 4Decide in 30 daysFree for 30 days, no credit card, cancel anytime. A human who has run a shift answers at support@exposhift.com.
Questions
ExpoShift vs When I Work: common questions
Is there a free plan?
No. ExpoShift is free for 30 days with every feature, no credit card, then $49 a month per location. When I Work lists no free plan; its trial is 14 days.
Do I pay per employee?
No. ExpoShift is $49 a month per location, any team size, every feature included. When I Work prices per user per month, two plans: $2.50 for a single location or schedule and $5 for multiple, each with every feature included.
Does ExpoShift connect to my POS and payroll?
POS: connect once; sales and tips pull in nightly where the POS offers an API, with manual entry in the meantime. They fill your tip pools and feed the sales, kitchen, team and labor insights. Payroll: pay periods build from real hours, lock once reviewed, and export a file your payroll provider imports, plus a generic CSV.
Can I bring my team over from When I Work?
Yes. import the roster into ExpoShift from CSV or Excel (there's a one-tap template), add your positions, and publish your first schedule the same day. 30 days free, no credit card, cancel anytime. Questions: support@exposhift.com.
How current is this page?
When I Work's prices and features were read from When I Work's own pricing page and help center on November 2, 2026. This page is re-checked quarterly. If something here is out of date, email support@exposhift.com and we'll fix it.