When I Work Review 2026: Pricing, Pros and Cons
Reviewed November 1, 2026 by Loïc Joachim
A popular shift scheduling app where time and attendance is a paid add-on per user.
| Best for | Hourly teams that mainly need scheduling and shift swapping. |
|---|---|
| How staff clock in | Tablet kiosk, Mobile app |
| Free plan | No |
| 20 staff | $80 / month |
| 50 staff | $200 / month |
| 100 staff | $400 / month |
| Made in | USA |
| Website | wheniwork.com |
Prices are in US dollars for the cheapest plan that includes a time clock, as of our last review. Check the vendor's site for current pricing.
Our When I Work review
When I Work is best known for shift scheduling, and that is still where it is strongest. Staff can see their shifts, swap them and set availability from a clean mobile app.
The time clock is an add-on. Time and attendance costs extra per user on top of the scheduling plan, which brings the total to roughly $4 per user per month at the cheapest. The free plan has been discontinued.
If scheduling is your main problem it is a good choice. If the time clock is the main thing you need, you are paying per user for a scheduling product to get it.
Pros
- Good shift scheduling with swaps and availability
- Easy to use mobile app for staff
- Shared device terminal mode for clocking in
Cons
- The free plan has been removed
- Time and attendance is an extra per user charge on top of the scheduling plan
- Gets expensive as the team grows
When I Work features
- Tablet kiosk app
- Clock in from a phone
- Desktop app
- Proprietary hardware clock
- Paper card punching
- PIN entry
- NFC cards or tags
- Face recognition
- Fingerprint reader
- GPS location checks
- Cloud based
- Ongoing subscription
- Locks you into their hardware
Looking for something simpler?
Timeclock.Kiwi was built by people who were fed up with time clocks that take three screens and a training session to use. Staff tap their name and a PIN on any tablet, a photo is taken in the background, and hours export straight to your payroll. You pay per kiosk, not per employee, from $5 a month.
Free for 3 months, no credit card required.
When I Work alternatives
- Homebase A broad scheduling, time clock and HR toolkit for hourly teams, with a free plan for small single location businesses.
- 7shifts Restaurant scheduling software with a separate time clock app called 7punches.
- Connecteam An all in one app for deskless teams with a time clock, scheduling, chat and forms, priced with a flat base for the first 30 users.
- Gusto A leading US payroll provider whose time tools and kiosk come with the Plus and Premium payroll plans.