The workforce scheduling software market is valued at $2.53 billion in 2026 and growing at 10.2% annually — and yet most tools were built for restaurants and retail, not for distributed support teams running overnight shifts across Manila, Dhaka, and Lagos (Source: Verified Market Reports, 2025).
If you manage a 24/7 remote customer support team, you already know the pain: When I Work was designed for single-location hourly workers. It works fine if your team clocks in at a physical store. But if you’re coordinating agents in three time zones, managing OT slots for Philippine and Bangladeshi holidays, and trying to answer “who’s covering the 2 AM shift tonight?” — you’re fighting the tool instead of using it.
This guide breaks down the 5 best When I Work alternatives for remote support teams in 2026, ranked by what actually matters for 24/7 distributed operations: overnight scheduling visibility, OT management, multi-timezone handling, and total cost of ownership.
| If You Want To… | Use This | Best For | Starting Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Schedule 24/7 support with full overnight visibility | Manage Roster | Distributed support teams, 24/7 ops | Free (≤10 agents) |
| Manage compliance and large enterprise teams | Deputy | Multi-location enterprises | $4.50/user/mo |
| Keep costs rock-bottom for single-location teams | Homebase | SMBs, single location | Free (1 location) |
| Get clean, simple scheduling with great UX | ZoomShift | Small remote teams | $2/user/mo |
| Start completely free with a simple tool | Sling | Teams on tight budgets | Free (≤30 users) |
We evaluated 18 scheduling tools against six criteria critical for 24/7 remote support teams:
Only 5 tools cleared the bar for genuine remote-support-team use. Here’s the full breakdown.
When I Work isn’t a bad product — it’s just optimized for the wrong customer. At $2.50/user/month (Essentials) to $8/user/month (Premium), it’s affordable on paper. But for distributed support teams, the hidden friction adds up fast:
1. No true 24-hour scheduling view. When I Work’s default schedule view is business-hours-centric. Teams running overnight shifts constantly fight calendar cutoff issues where a shift that starts at 11 PM and ends at 7 AM doesn’t render cleanly across the day boundary.
2. No native country-specific holiday separation. If you have Philippine agents and Bangladeshi agents, they observe different national holidays. When I Work treats all employees the same — you can’t automatically give PH agents Araw ng Kagitingan off while keeping BD agents scheduled, and vice versa.
3. OT slot management is manual. When extra shifts open up, managers have to manually hunt down available agents and send individual messages. There’s no self-selection system where agents raise their hands for open OT slots.
4. No AI scheduling assistant. You can’t ask “who’s available tonight after 10 PM?” and get an instant answer. You’re clicking through filters manually.
5. Pricing scales badly. At $5–$8/user/month for the features remote teams actually need, a 30-agent team runs $150–$240/month before any integrations. Several competitors deliver more for less — or even for free.
These aren’t bugs. They’re design decisions for When I Work’s core market: local hourly workforces. For remote support teams, they’re dealbreakers.
Every tool in this list was evaluated against the same rubric. We weighted criteria based on what remote support team managers told us matters most:
| Tool | 24h View | Multi-Region Holidays | OT Self-Select | AI Assistant | Free Tier | Price (per user/mo) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manage Roster | ✅ Live NOW indicator | ✅ Country-level groups | ✅ Built-in OT events | ✅ Plain English queries | ✅ Up to 10 agents | Free → Paid |
| Deputy | ✅ Full 24h | ⚠️ Manual setup | ❌ Manager-driven | ⚠️ Basic AI | ❌ Trial only | $4.50–$6 |
| Homebase | ⚠️ Limited | ❌ Single-location focus | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ 1 location | Free → $19.95/loc |
| ZoomShift | ✅ | ⚠️ Manual | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ Trial only | From $2 |
| Sling | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ Up to 30 | Free → $2 |
| When I Work | ⚠️ Day-boundary issues | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | $2.50–$8 |
Website: app.manageroster.com
Starting price: Free (up to 10 agents, 1 workspace, no credit card required)
Best for: Distributed customer support teams running overnight and around-the-clock shifts
Manage Roster was built from the ground up for exactly the scenario that breaks When I Work: a team of support agents spread across multiple countries, running 24/7, with different regional holidays, unpredictable OT needs, and managers who need instant answers at 3 AM.
True 24-hour day view with a live NOW indicator. Unlike calendar-style tools that cut off at midnight, Manage Roster shows the entire 24-hour day as a continuous timeline. A live “NOW” marker shows exactly where you are in the current shift cycle — so at any moment, you can see who’s currently working, who comes on in two hours, and who just ended their shift. This single feature eliminates the most common 24/7 scheduling headache: not knowing who’s on right now without calling someone.
OT event system with agent self-selection. When you need extra coverage, you post an OT event with the slot details. Agents who are available and willing simply select themselves. No manager phone tag. No group messages that get ignored. Agents own their OT availability, which means faster fill rates and less admin overhead. Most teams fill OT slots 60–80% faster compared to manual coordination.
Holiday group separation by country. This is the feature that makes Manage Roster irreplaceable for international teams. You configure holiday groups once: Philippine agents are assigned to the PH holiday calendar (complete with Rizal Day, Ninoy Aquino Day, etc.), and Bangladeshi agents are assigned to the BD calendar (Eid al-Fitr, Independence Day, Victory Day, etc.). The scheduler then automatically marks correct days off for each group. No more accidentally scheduling PH agents on Philippine Independence Day while your BD agents are correctly off for Eid.
AI assistant for plain-English scheduling queries. Ask “who’s working tonight after 10 PM?” and get an immediate answer. Ask “which agents are available for an OT slot this Saturday?” and the system tells you. This removes the most time-consuming part of overnight support management: manually cross-referencing schedules to answer status questions.
Completely free for small teams. Up to 10 agents, 1 workspace, no credit card required. For startups and growing support teams, this means you can get your scheduling infrastructure right before spending a dollar.
| Plan | Price | Agents |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | Up to 10 agents, 1 workspace |
| Paid | Contact for pricing | Unlimited agents |
Verdict: If you’re replacing When I Work specifically because of 24/7 remote team limitations, Manage Roster is the clearest upgrade. It solves every major When I Work pain point for distributed support teams and offers a genuinely free starting tier.
Website: deputy.com
Starting price: $4.50/user/month (Scheduling or Time & Attendance plan)
Best for: Large enterprises with compliance-heavy scheduling requirements
Deputy is a polished, enterprise-ready scheduling platform with strong compliance features, solid integrations (QuickBooks, Square, BambooHR, Gusto, ADP), and a well-designed mobile app. It’s the go-to choice when your organization needs audit trails, Fair Workweek compliance, and break enforcement alongside scheduling.
Deputy has a genuine 24-hour schedule view that handles midnight-crossing shifts well. Its shift swapping and open shift features are mature — managers post open shifts, employees claim them. It integrates with most major HR and payroll platforms, which matters for larger teams.
The mobile app is well-reviewed, with fast clock-in/out and push notifications that actually work reliably.
Deputy doesn’t have country-specific holiday group separation out of the box — you’ll configure this manually. There’s no AI scheduling assistant. The OT management workflow is manager-initiated, not agent self-select. And at $4.50–$6/user/month, a 30-agent team runs $135–$180/month — comparable to When I Work Premium without solving the remote-specific pain points.
| Plan | Price | Includes |
|---|---|---|
| Scheduling | $4.50/user/mo | Scheduling only |
| Time & Attendance | $4.50/user/mo | Time tracking only |
| Premium | $6/user/mo | Scheduling + time tracking |
| Enterprise | Custom | Advanced compliance, dedicated support |
Verdict: Deputy is the right choice if you’re a 50+ person team with compliance requirements and need deep integrations. For pure 24/7 remote support scheduling, it’s overkill on price and under-serves on remote-specific features.
Website: joinhomebase.com
Starting price: Free (1 location, unlimited employees)
Best for: Single-location support teams or SMBs just getting started
Homebase is the dominant free scheduling tool for small businesses, and for good reason: the free tier is genuinely capable. Unlimited employees at a single location, basic scheduling, time clocks, and team messaging — all at no cost.
Over 100,000 businesses use Homebase, and it earns strong reviews for ease of setup and payroll integration.
The free tier is hard to beat for cost-conscious teams. If you have one location and need basic scheduling fast, Homebase gets you running in under an hour. The OT warnings are useful for staying within budget, and the payroll integration is well-implemented.
Homebase’s pricing model is per location, not per user — which sounds great until you have multiple locations and the cost jumps sharply. The Essentials plan ($19.95/location/month) and Plus plan ($49.95/location/month) can get expensive for distributed teams spread across multiple “virtual locations.”
Critically, Homebase is designed for brick-and-mortar. The 24-hour schedule view is limited, there’s no multi-country holiday system, and no OT self-selection mechanism. Overnight support ops will quickly outgrow it.
| Plan | Price | Per |
|---|---|---|
| Basic | Free | Per location |
| Essentials | $19.95/month ($16/mo annually) | Per location |
| Plus | $49.95/month ($40/mo annually) | Per location |
| Enterprise | $99.95/month ($80/mo annually) | Per location |
Verdict: Homebase is excellent for what it is — single-location SMB scheduling. Remote support teams with multi-country ops will hit its ceiling within weeks.
Website: zoomshift.com
Starting price: From $2/user/month
Best for: Small remote teams that want a clean, no-frills scheduling experience
ZoomShift earns its place on this list for one reason: it’s genuinely easy to use. The interface is clean, scheduling is drag-and-drop intuitive, and it handles the basics of shift management well — including an open shifts feature where employees can pick up available shifts.
ZoomShift handles the fundamentals well: recurring shift templates, shift swaps, availability management, and email/SMS notifications. It supports unlimited locations on higher plans, which helps for distributed teams. The employee-facing mobile app has strong reviews for usability.
At $2/user/month, it’s one of the most affordable paid options. A 20-agent team runs $40/month — significantly cheaper than When I Work’s comparable tier.
ZoomShift doesn’t have country-specific holiday groups, a built-in OT self-selection system, or an AI assistant. The 24-hour view works but isn’t optimized for overnight operations the way Manage Roster is. It’s a solid general-purpose scheduler, not a 24/7 support-specific tool.
| Plan | Price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Essential | From $2/user/mo | Limited team members/locations |
| Starter | Higher tier | Unlimited team members, unlimited locations |
| Premium | Top tier | Full feature set |
Verdict: ZoomShift is worth considering if you want a polished, affordable scheduling tool and can live without the specialized 24/7 and multi-region features. It won’t replace all of When I Work’s pain points, but it’s cheaper and cleaner for basic use.
Website: getsling.com
Starting price: Free (up to 30 users)
Best for: Budget-constrained teams that need basic scheduling now
Sling’s free tier is legitimately generous: up to 30 users with basic scheduling, shift management, time off requests, and team communication. For a team that’s just getting off spreadsheets, Sling is a low-friction starting point.
The free tier’s 30-user capacity is the most generous among all the tools in this list. Sling includes a team messaging feature, shift templates, and a decent mobile app — all for free. The Premium plan at $2/user/month adds time tracking and labor cost management, and the Business plan at $4/user/month adds advanced analytics.
Sling’s scheduling engine is built for simplicity, not complexity. There’s no 24-hour-specific view optimized for overnight ops, no country-level holiday separation, no OT self-selection, and no AI assistant.
As reviewed on GetApp: users consistently cite that the platform’s features are comprehensive for basic needs, but teams with more complex scheduling requirements — like 24/7 support operations — find themselves working around the tool rather than with it.
| Plan | Price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | Up to 30 users, basic scheduling |
| Premium | $2/user/mo ($1.70 annually) | Time tracking, labor cost management |
| Business | $4/user/mo ($3.40 annually) | Advanced reporting, payroll integrations |
Verdict: Sling is an excellent starting point if cost is your primary concern. The moment your team hits 30+ agents or you need real 24/7 support-specific features, you’ll need to migrate.
| Feature | Manage Roster | Deputy | Homebase | ZoomShift | Sling | When I Work |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 24-hour schedule view | ✅ Live NOW | ✅ | ⚠️ | ✅ | ✅ | ⚠️ |
| Free tier | ✅ 10 agents | ❌ | ✅ 1 location | ❌ | ✅ 30 users | ❌ |
| Country holiday groups | ✅ Built-in | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
| OT self-selection | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ⚠️ Basic | ⚠️ Basic | ❌ |
| AI assistant | ✅ | ⚠️ Limited | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
| Multi-timezone support | ✅ | ✅ | ⚠️ | ✅ | ✅ | ⚠️ |
| Mobile app | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Payroll integrations | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ⚠️ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Shift swap requests | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Team messaging | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
Let’s run the real numbers. Assume a 25-agent remote support team needing multi-timezone scheduling, OT management, and overnight coverage:
| Tool | Monthly Cost (25 agents) | Annual Cost | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Manage Roster | $0 (up to 10 free) | $0 | Free for small teams; paid tier for 25+ |
| Deputy Premium | $150/month | $1,800/year | $6/user × 25 |
| Homebase Plus | $99.75/month* | $1,197/year | *If 2 virtual locations at $49.95 each |
| ZoomShift | $50/month | $600/year | $2/user × 25 |
| Sling Premium | $50/month | $600/year | $2/user × 25 |
| When I Work Pro | $125/month | $1,500/year | $5/user × 25 |
Bottom line: ZoomShift and Sling are the cheapest paid options at $600/year for a 25-agent team. Deputy is the most expensive at $1,800/year. Manage Roster’s free tier covers you completely up to 10 agents, making it the most cost-effective entry point for growing teams.
Teams that migrate from When I Work often make the same avoidable errors. Here’s what to watch for:
When I Work lets schedules accumulate messy recurring shifts and outdated employee records. Before migrating, audit your active agents, current shift templates, and time-off policies. A clean export beats a messy import every time.
Never switch scheduling tools in the middle of a pay period. You’ll end up with hours split across two systems and a payroll reconciliation nightmare. Always switch at the start of a new pay cycle.
If you’re moving to a platform with multi-country holiday support (like Manage Roster), configure your holiday groups before your first scheduled shift. It takes 15–20 minutes and saves dozens of scheduling conflicts.
Scheduling tools only work when your whole team is on them. Build 15 minutes into your first week for agent app setup, notification preferences, and basic training. Teams that skip this step see significantly lower adoption in the first 30 days.
If you’re switching from manager-driven OT to an agent self-select model (like Manage Roster’s OT events), give your agents a clear explanation of how the new system works. Some agents won’t check for OT opportunities unless they know they’re expected to.
Q: Is When I Work being shut down in 2026?
A: No. When I Work is an active product. But it’s optimized for local hourly workforces, not distributed remote support teams. Teams leaving aren’t doing so because the product is dead — they’re leaving because it doesn’t solve their specific problems.
Q: Can I import my When I Work schedule into Manage Roster?
A: Yes. You can export your existing schedule and agent list from When I Work and import the data into Manage Roster. The process typically takes 30–60 minutes including setting up holiday groups and OT configurations.
Q: Does Manage Roster’s free tier actually cover a real support team?
A: For teams of 1–10 agents, yes — completely. One workspace, up to 10 agents, full feature access including the 24h view, OT events, holiday groups, and AI assistant. No credit card required, no expiring trial.
Q: What’s the best When I Work alternative for a 50-person support team?
A: At 50 agents, Manage Roster’s paid tier covers you with all the 24/7-specific features. Deputy is worth evaluating if you have significant compliance requirements (Fair Workweek, break enforcement, audit trails). For budget-only decisions, ZoomShift at $100/month is the most affordable structured option.
Q: Do any of these tools handle shift handover notes?
A: Manage Roster supports shift notes and communication within the scheduling interface. Deputy and Homebase have team messaging features that serve this purpose. Sling includes team communication tools in all plans.
Q: How long does it take to migrate from When I Work to a new tool?
A: Most teams complete the technical migration in 2–4 hours: exporting data, importing to the new platform, configuring settings, and notifying agents. Full team adoption typically reaches 90%+ within the first week when onboarding is handled correctly.
Workforce scheduling software is a $2.53 billion market in 2026 because the problems are real — but most tools still solve for restaurant managers and retail supervisors, not for the growing segment of support teams running 24/7 operations across multiple time zones and countries.
When I Work works fine for what it was designed for. It’s when you try to stretch it into a 24/7 multi-country support scheduling system that the gaps appear — no live overnight view, no country-specific holiday calendars, no agent-driven OT self-selection, no AI to answer quick status questions.
Our recommendation: Start with Manage Roster if you run a remote support team. The free tier for up to 10 agents removes any risk from evaluating it, and the features built specifically for 24/7 distributed teams — the live 24h view, OT events, country holiday groups, and AI assistant — address exactly what When I Work fails to deliver.
Start free with Manage Roster →
No credit card required. Up to 10 agents free. Set up your first 24/7 schedule in under 20 minutes.
Pricing data sourced from vendor websites and third-party review platforms (Capterra, G2, GetApp) as of February 2026. Prices may vary by region and are subject to change. Market size data from Verified Market Reports, 2025.