Looking for a Sling alternative? See exactly how Netchex compares.
Sling is a solid shift-scheduling tool for a small hourly team. Netchex is a full payroll and HR platform, with scheduling and time tracking built right in, for businesses that need more than a calendar to run their workforce. Here’s how the two actually compare.
7,500+ organizations trust Netchex
Netchex vs. Sling, in one paragraph.
Sling is a shift-scheduling and team-messaging tool built for small, hourly workforces, now owned by Toast, Inc. It does one thing well: get a schedule published fast, with a genuinely useful free tier for teams under 30 people. It has no native payroll processing, so hours still have to leave Sling to get anyone paid. Netchex is a full payroll and HR platform for hourly, multi-location, and service-based businesses (50-5,000 employees), with native scheduling and time tracking built in alongside payroll, benefits, and HR, so nothing has to leave the platform.
Choose Sling if:
you run a very small hourly team, you need a free or low-cost tool just for shift scheduling and team messaging, and payroll is already handled somewhere else, especially if you’re on Toast POS.
Choose Netchex if:
you need payroll, HR, benefits, and scheduling in one system, your team has outgrown a scheduling-only tool, or you want one vendor responsible for getting employees paid, not just scheduled.
Netchex and Sling, side by side.
| Netchex | Sling | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Full payroll and HR platform | Shift scheduling and team messaging point solution |
| G2 rating | 4.5/5 (7,500+ businesses) | 4.4/5 (100+ reviews) |
| G2 support score | 8.9/10 | Not documented in this research |
| Native payroll processing | Yes | No, hours are exported to a third-party payroll provider |
| Best fit company size | 50-5,000 employees | Very small teams, especially under 30 employees |
| Implementation | Free, project-managed, about 6 weeks, dedicated Implementation Manager | Self-serve setup |
| Ongoing support | Dedicated Account Manager. 90% of calls answered in under a minute, with first-call resolution. | Not documented in this research |
| Shift scheduling | Native | Native, a genuine Sling strength |
| Time and attendance | Native, with geofenced and biometric clock-in options | Available on paid tiers, with POS integration for Toast users |
| HR, benefits, and onboarding | Full suite | Not offered |
| Company ownership | Independent | Owned by Toast, Inc. (NYSE: TOST) since 2022 |
Data collected as of September 2026 and subject to change. Netchex and Sling serve different core purposes, so several rows compare category rather than a direct one-to-one feature match.
Why companies move from Sling to Netchex.
Payroll still has to happen somewhere else
Sling has no native payroll processing. Per review commentary, hours have to be exported to a separate payroll provider, which means double data entry and two vendors to manage instead of one. For a growing hourly team, that gap tends to show up as more admin work, not less.
Mobile app reliability
Reviewers describe Sling’s mobile app as occasionally glitchy, a real friction point for hourly employees who depend on their phone to see their schedule and clock in for a shift.
A roadmap now built around Toast POS
Sling has been a Toast, Inc. product line since its 2022 acquisition, and its go-to-market reasonably skews toward restaurants already running Toast POS. That’s a fair question to ask directly if your business is retail, healthcare, home services, or another non-restaurant hourly industry.
Outgrowing the free tier
Sling’s free plan is a real strength for a first scheduling tool. But review summaries note that businesses needing broader workforce management functionality tend to eventually need an additional system alongside Sling, which means payroll, benefits, and HR still end up somewhere else.
| Netchex | Sling | |
|---|---|---|
| Calls answered in under 1 minute | 90% | Not published |
| First-call resolution | 90% | Not published |
| Customer satisfaction | 98% (97% most recent reading) | Not published |
| Account manager | Dedicated | Not documented in this research |
| Ranking | #1 on G2 for Service | Not documented in this research |
Where Netchex and Sling actually differ.
Payroll, actually run inside the platform.
Netchex processes payroll natively, with federal and state filings handled inside the same system employees clock in on. Sling has no built-in payroll. Hours have to be exported to a separate provider before anyone gets paid, which adds a manual handoff every pay period.
Sling’s home turf, covered natively by Netchex too.
Shift scheduling and team messaging are a genuine Sling strength, and its free tier is a real value for a small team’s first scheduling tool. Netchex includes native shift scheduling and time and attendance as part of the same platform as payroll and HR, with geofenced and biometric clock-in options, so a business that has outgrown a standalone scheduler doesn’t need to run two separate systems.
A full HR platform, not just a schedule.
Netchex covers benefits administration, onboarding, employee self-service, and reporting alongside payroll and scheduling. Sling doesn’t offer these at all. Its core product is scheduling, time-off requests, and messaging, which is a fine starting point for a very small team but leaves HR and benefits work uncovered as a business grows.
A dedicated team, from rollout to renewal.
Every Netchex client gets a dedicated Implementation Manager for a free, project-managed rollout that typically takes about 6 weeks, followed by a dedicated Account Manager for the life of the relationship. Sling is built as a self-serve product, which fits its price point but means there’s no comparable guided onboarding for a business bringing over payroll and HR data as well as a schedule.
Sling’s newsfeed is a real strength, on a narrow set of tasks.
Sling’s team messaging and newsfeed are well-liked for keeping a small hourly crew in sync on shifts. Netchex’s mobile app covers the same daily essentials, clocking in, requesting time off, viewing a paystub, and recognition, plus everything else an employee needs from HR and benefits, all from one login instead of one for scheduling and another for pay.
What running payroll and HR on Netchex actually sounds like.
“Coming from an in-house payroll company and moving to Netchex has opened so many wonderful doors. Netchex provides so much assistance with my payroll and HR needs, allowing me more time with other important duties.”
“I love the integrated platform. With our old payroll company you would have to make the same change in several different areas of the software. With Netchex, it only takes once. This system is so user-friendly, it makes training a breeze. And the customer service is second to none!”
“Netchex has been fantastic. We enjoy personalized service, we know the people that we deal with, and they bend over backward to get what we need done.”
“Netchex is wonderful. Everyone has been continuously impressed by the services they provide. Back when the new ACA regulations went into place, and even now with the whole COVID-19 situation, Netchex just continues to knock it out of the park.”
“The entire staff, from sales to implementation to service, has been stellar in their delivery. The culture of Netchex is one of a company that demonstrates the importance of relationships with clients.”
“Netchex has the best support of any service provider I’ve ever worked with. There aren’t any hoops to jump through with Netchex support.”
Sling vs. Netchex, answered.
Is Sling a direct competitor to Netchex?
Does Sling offer payroll processing?
What size businesses are the best fit for Sling vs. Netchex?
Is Sling still an independent company?
Does Netchex handle scheduling and time tracking too?
How does customer support compare between Sling and Netchex?
Comparing other HR and payroll providers?
See how Netchex stacks up against other scheduling and time-tracking tools.
See why 7,500+ businesses picked a full payroll platform over a scheduling app.
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