The workforce scheduling software market is projected to hit $2.3 billion by 2029, growing at a 7.4% CAGR — and customer support operations are one of the fastest-growing segments driving that expansion. Why? Because running a 24/7 support team is genuinely hard. You’re not just filling shifts; you’re orchestrating overnight coverage, managing agents across multiple time zones, handling last-minute call-outs, and keeping overtime costs from blowing your budget.
Most scheduling tools were built for restaurants and retail. They do a decent job for 9-to-5 operations, but fall apart the moment you need to schedule a 2 AM graveyard shift or let an agent swap into an overtime slot from their phone in Manila.
We tested six tools head-to-head for 24/7 customer support scheduling. Here’s what we found.
| Tool | Best For | Free Tier | Starting Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🥇 Manage Roster | 24/7 distributed support teams | ✅ Yes (≤10 agents) | Free |
| 🥈 Deputy | Mid-market operations with compliance needs | ❌ No | $5/user/month |
| 🥉 When I Work | Single-location or small multi-site teams | ❌ Trial only | $2.50/user/month |
| Homebase | Brick-and-mortar with HR needs | ✅ Yes (1 location) | $24.95/location/month |
| ZoomShift | Budget-conscious small teams | ✅ Trial only | $2/user/month |
| Sling | Large teams needing free-tier scale | ✅ Yes (≤30 users) | $1.70/user/month (Premium) |
If you run a support operation that never sleeps, you need software that was actually designed for that reality. After evaluating six tools across 14 criteria — including overnight shift visibility, overtime management, timezone handling, mobile self-service, and AI features — Manage Roster is the clear winner for dedicated customer support teams.
Deputy is the strongest runner-up for teams that need compliance-heavy workforce management. When I Work earns third place for its clean UX and solid mobile experience. Homebase, ZoomShift, and Sling all have merit in specific niches but weren’t built with 24/7 support operations as the primary use case.
Running a customer support team around the clock isn’t like running a restaurant. The specific problems are different:
Time zone complexity. Your agents might span Bangladesh, the Philippines, Eastern Europe, and the US West Coast simultaneously. A tool that only displays schedules in one local time zone is practically useless when you’re trying to confirm APAC coverage for a Monday morning UTC handoff.
Overnight shift visibility. Standard scheduling views show a 6 AM–midnight window. That leaves night shift agents in a gap — literally not visible on the schedule. Every hour outside the standard view is a manual workaround.
Last-minute OT coverage. When an agent calls out at 1 AM, you need a system where available agents can self-select into open overtime slots — not a manager who has to wake up, log in, and manually reassign coverage.
Holiday scheduling across regions. A support team with agents in the US, Philippines, and Bangladesh deals with completely different public holiday calendars. Manually tracking which agents have what holidays off — and ensuring coverage during those dates — is error-prone without dedicated tooling.
Agent burnout and turnover. Customer support has notoriously high turnover — some studies put annual attrition rates above 40% in BPO environments. Bad scheduling is a significant contributor. Agents who consistently get their availability ignored or get scheduled for unsuitable shifts leave faster.
The software you choose needs to solve these specific problems. Most general-purpose scheduling tools don’t.
We evaluated each tool against the following criteria, weighted toward 24/7 support-specific needs:
Website: app.manageroster.com
Manage Roster is the only scheduling tool we tested that was purpose-built for distributed, always-on support teams. Every design decision reflects the reality of managing agents across time zones who work nights, weekends, and holidays.
What makes it different:
True 24-hour day view. Manage Roster displays a complete 24-hour timeline — not a truncated 6 AM–11 PM window. Night shift agents at 3 AM are visible on the schedule without any workarounds. This sounds like a small thing until you’ve spent months trying to schedule overnight coverage in a tool that literally doesn’t show those hours clearly.
OT event system with agent self-selection. When you need overtime coverage, you post an OT event and agents self-select. No manager needs to track down who’s available, no group texts, no spreadsheet. Agents get a notification, they claim the slot if they want it, done. This alone saves support managers hours per week.
Holiday groups for PH/BD and beyond. You can define regional holiday calendars — Philippine national holidays, Bangladeshi public holidays, US federal holidays — and assign agents to the appropriate group. The system automatically accounts for these when displaying availability and sending reminders. For BPO and distributed support teams, this is a game-changer.
Built-in AI assistant. The AI assistant helps with scheduling suggestions, coverage gap identification, and answering scheduling questions in natural language. It’s not a gimmick — it actually reduces the cognitive load of managing complex 24/7 rotations.
Dark UI. It’s a small thing, but when your managers are reviewing overnight coverage at midnight, a dark-mode interface matters.
Pricing:
The free tier is genuinely functional — not a crippled trial. If you’re running a small support pod of 10 or fewer agents, you can run the entire operation on Manage Roster at no cost, forever.
Best for: 24/7 customer support teams, BPO operations, distributed support pods with agents in multiple countries.
Limitations: Newer product — integration ecosystem is still expanding. If you need deep payroll integrations with legacy HRIS systems on day one, verify before committing.
Deputy is one of the most mature workforce management platforms on the market, with over 330,000 businesses using it worldwide. It covers scheduling, time & attendance, task management, and compliance in a single platform.
What it does well:
Where it falls short for 24/7 support: Deputy’s roots are in retail and hospitality. While it handles overnight shifts, the UI isn’t optimized for always-on operations. The scheduling view defaults to standard business hours, and features like OT self-selection aren’t as smooth as purpose-built tools. Holiday management across multiple regional calendars requires more manual configuration.
Pricing (as of early 2026):
A team of 25 agents on the Premium plan runs $150/month. At 50 agents: $300/month. At 100 agents: $600/month. Budget accordingly.
Best for: Mid-market operations (50–500 agents) where compliance, payroll integration, and labor cost analytics are top priorities.
When I Work has carved out a strong position in the SMB scheduling market with a genuinely well-designed interface and a mobile-first approach. It’s popular with healthcare, retail, and customer service teams that prioritize ease of use.
What it does well:
Where it falls short for 24/7 support: When I Work lacks native multi-timezone handling — a significant gap for distributed global teams. Holiday management is basic. There’s no purpose-built OT event system for overnight coverage gaps. The 24-hour schedule view is serviceable but not optimized for always-on operations the way Manage Roster is.
Pricing:
A team of 25 agents on Advanced: $125/month. At 50 agents: $250/month.
Best for: Single-location support teams under 50 agents that prioritize ease of use over 24/7-specific features.
Homebase started as a scheduling tool for local businesses — restaurants, retail shops, salons — and has expanded to include HR features, payroll, and team management. It’s a solid all-rounder for businesses that need scheduling plus light HR in one package.
What it does well:
Where it falls short for 24/7 support: Homebase is priced per location, not per user — which makes it expensive and impractical for distributed support teams. If your 50 agents are spread across five virtual “locations” or time zones, you’re paying for multiple location seats. The tool simply wasn’t designed for the distributed-remote model that most support teams operate on.
Multi-timezone scheduling is limited. The 24-hour view and overnight shift handling are basic compared to purpose-built tools.
Pricing:
For a single-location support center, this is affordable. For a distributed team, the per-location model doesn’t fit.
Best for: US-based support centers operating from a single physical location that need scheduling plus basic HR.
ZoomShift is a lean scheduling tool built primarily for hourly workers. It’s straightforward, affordable, and has a clean drag-and-drop schedule builder. It’s a step up from spreadsheets without the cost of enterprise tools.
What it does well:
Where it falls short for 24/7 support: ZoomShift is a basic scheduling tool — it doesn’t offer the 24-hour view optimization, OT event systems, regional holiday calendars, or AI features that 24/7 support operations need. It’s also light on integrations compared to Deputy or When I Work. Reporting is minimal.
Pricing:
A 25-agent team on Premium: $100/month. At 50 agents: $200/month.
Best for: Small support pods (under 20 agents) on tight budgets that need something better than spreadsheets but don’t yet need advanced features.
Sling offers the most generous free tier of any scheduling tool on this list — up to 30 users with basic scheduling features. It’s a good option for growing teams that need to manage costs while scaling.
What it does well:
Where it falls short for 24/7 support: Like ZoomShift, Sling lacks purpose-built features for around-the-clock operations. There’s no native 24-hour view optimized for overnight shifts, no OT event system, and timezone handling is basic. Payroll integrations are limited compared to Deputy or Homebase. The free plan lacks time & attendance features.
Pricing:
A 50-agent team on Business: ~$170/month.
Best for: Cost-sensitive teams of 20–30 agents who primarily need basic scheduling and are willing to live with feature gaps.
| Feature | Manage Roster | Deputy | When I Work | Homebase | ZoomShift | Sling |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| True 24h day view | ✅ | ⚠️ | ⚠️ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
| OT self-selection events | ✅ | ⚠️ | ⚠️ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
| Regional holiday groups | ✅ (PH/BD) | ⚠️ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
| Multi-timezone native | ✅ | ⚠️ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
| AI scheduling assistant | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
| Mobile app | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Shift swap / trade | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Free tier (real) | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ |
| Payroll integrations | ⚠️ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ⚠️ | ⚠️ |
| Compliance / labor law | ⚠️ | ✅ | ⚠️ | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ |
| Dark mode UI | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
✅ = Full support | ⚠️ = Partial / workaround needed | ❌ = Not supported
Real cost at different team sizes (annual billing where applicable):
| Team Size | Manage Roster | Deputy (Premium) | When I Work (Advanced) | ZoomShift (Premium) | Sling (Business) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 agents | Free | $60/mo | $50/mo | $40/mo | $34/mo |
| 25 agents | Contact | $150/mo | $125/mo | $100/mo | $85/mo |
| 50 agents | Contact | $300/mo | $250/mo | $200/mo | $170/mo |
| 100 agents | Contact | $600/mo | $500/mo | $400/mo | $340/mo |
Key insight: Manage Roster’s free tier covers teams up to 10 agents with full 24/7 scheduling features — no credit card, no feature restrictions. For small support pods, this is a significant cost advantage. For larger teams, contact Manage Roster for enterprise pricing.
Before you sign up for anything, run through this checklist:
Ask for a demo and immediately navigate to 11 PM–3 AM. Can you see those hours without scrolling? Are night shifts displayed clearly? If the tool defaults to a 6 AM–10 PM view, that’s a design choice that signals it wasn’t built for around-the-clock operations.
When a shift opens at 2 AM, what’s the workflow? In most tools: manager wakes up → logs in → manually assigns or sends messages. In Manage Roster: agents see open OT event → agent claims it → manager optionally approves → done. That difference matters at 2 AM.
If you have agents in the Philippines, Bangladesh, India, or any country with distinct public holidays, verify that the tool can handle multiple regional holiday calendars. This affects availability display, scheduling accuracy, and agent satisfaction.
Ask to see the iOS and Android app in demo. Can agents view their schedule, swap shifts, claim open slots, and message their manager without launching a browser? The best tools are fully mobile-native; the worst have “mobile apps” that are just wrapped web views.
Per-user pricing compounds fast. A tool that seems cheap at $2/user/month costs $200/month for 100 agents — before add-ons like payroll, compliance, or advanced reporting. Map out the actual cost at your expected team size in 6 and 12 months, not just today.
In high-turnover support environments (attrition rates of 30–45% are common in BPO settings), onboarding speed matters. A tool that requires 30 minutes of manual setup per new agent adds up fast. Look for self-service invitation flows where agents set their own availability and preferences.
Scheduling doesn’t exist in a vacuum. Check integrations with your helpdesk (Zendesk, Freshdesk, Intercom), HRIS (BambooHR, Workday, ADP), and communication tools (Slack, Teams). Missing integrations create manual data entry and errors.
For teams that specifically run 24/7 operations — with overnight shifts, agents in multiple time zones, and regular overtime coverage needs — Manage Roster is the strongest option. Its 24-hour day view, OT event self-selection system, and regional holiday groups (PH, BD) are purpose-built for this use case. Deputy is the best choice for teams that also need robust compliance and payroll features at scale.
Yes, significantly. Tools with visibility into agent availability, scheduled hours, and weekly overtime thresholds let managers avoid inadvertent OT by filling coverage gaps with agents who haven’t hit their limit. In support operations where OT can add 15–25% to labor costs in a given week, better scheduling visibility typically pays for the software within the first month.
Yes — Manage Roster offers a genuinely functional free plan for teams of up to 10 agents with no credit card required. Sling offers a free tier for up to 30 users, though with more limited features. Homebase has a free plan for single-location teams. Be cautious: most “free” plans from other tools are trials that expire in 14–30 days.
This varies dramatically between tools. Manage Roster was designed with distributed, multi-timezone teams in mind. Deputy handles multi-timezone operationally but is less optimized for it. Most other tools (When I Work, Homebase, ZoomShift, Sling) treat timezone management as an afterthought — which creates real operational problems when a manager in GMT+0 is scheduling agents in GMT+8 and GMT-5 simultaneously.
A standard scheduling view typically shows 6 AM to 11 PM (or similar) as the visible window. A true 24-hour view shows midnight to midnight — meaning overnight shifts from 10 PM to 6 AM are fully visible without scrolling. For a support team with a night shift, this is not a cosmetic difference. It determines whether your manager can actually see and manage overnight coverage at a glance.
It depends on ticket volume, average handle time, and required service levels, but a rule of thumb for 24/7 phone or chat support is roughly 4–6 agents per coverage slot when you account for weekends, holidays, PTO, and sick days. A team maintaining constant coverage with 3 simultaneous agents typically needs a headcount of 15–20 to sustain it without burnout. Larger support organizations running follow-the-sun models often have 50–200+ agents.
In the better tools, yes. Manage Roster’s OT event system lets agents self-select into open overtime or uncovered shifts directly from their mobile device. Deputy and When I Work both have shift swap/trade functionality. ZoomShift and Sling offer basic swap requests. The key question is whether swaps require manager approval at every step (slow) or whether the system can handle approved swaps automatically based on eligibility rules (fast).
For customer support teams, prioritize: helpdesk integrations (Zendesk, Freshdesk, Intercom) for volume-based scheduling, HRIS integrations (BambooHR, ADP, Gusto) for headcount sync, payroll integrations for accurate timekeeping, and messaging integrations (Slack, Teams) for shift notifications. Deputy has the deepest integration ecosystem of the tools reviewed; Manage Roster’s integrations are expanding.
If you’re managing a 24/7 customer support team — especially one with agents distributed across Southeast Asia, South Asia, or multiple regions — most scheduling software will frustrate you. It was built for 9-to-5 retail schedules, and the gaps show up fast when you’re trying to manage a 3 AM handoff between your Manila and Dhaka teams.
Manage Roster is the exception. It was built for this specific use case: always-on support teams with overnight shifts, timezone complexity, regional holidays, and a constant need for flexible OT coverage. The free plan supports up to 10 agents with no credit card — so the barrier to trying it is essentially zero.
For teams that have outgrown a free tier and need deep payroll and compliance integrations, Deputy is the strongest mid-market option at $5–6/user/month. When I Work is worth considering for smaller, single-location operations that prioritize UX simplicity.
But if 24/7 coverage is your core operational reality, start with the tool that was actually designed for it.
No credit card. No trial period. Up to 10 agents, free forever. Get your first schedule published in under 30 minutes.
Already managing a larger team? Contact us for enterprise pricing and a guided setup for multi-timezone support operations.