Fit
Who each product is best for
Choose Talstor if…
- You want time tracking, PTO policies and reporting without moving up a tier.
- You bill work as well as schedule it and want invoices from tracked hours.
- You want one predictable price by headcount rather than per user per month.
- You want approvals, audit history and exports included from the start.
Choose Sling if…
- You only need shift scheduling and announcements and want to stay on a free plan indefinitely.
- You use Toast in a restaurant and want tools from the same vendor.
- You want a long established native mobile app for staff.
- Your team is small enough that the free tier covers everything you will ever need.
Side by side
How the two compare
| Area | Talstor | Sling |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Up to 10 employees with the entire platform, and every plan is free during beta. | Free scheduling and messaging, time tracking and labour tools on paid tiers. |
| Pricing model | Headcount bands. | Per user per month above the free tier. |
| Time and attendance | Included on every plan with approvals and exports. | Paid tiers only. |
| Billable work | Estimates, work orders, job costing and invoicing included. | Not offered. |
| Mobile | Mobile browser, no download needed. | Native iOS and Android apps. |
Sling details are summarised from their public product and pricing pages and can change at any time, so check their pricing page before you decide. Sling is a trademark of its owner and we are not affiliated with them.
Pricing
What you actually pay
Talstor
Priced only by how many people use it. Free up to 10 employees, then $15/mo for 25 people, $30/mo for 50 and $60/mo for 100, with custom pricing above that. Every plan includes the whole platform. During beta every plan is free.
See the full pricing breakdownSling
A free plan covering core scheduling and messaging, then paid tiers priced per user per month that add time tracking, labour cost controls, overtime rules and reporting.
We do not publish their exact figures here because they change, so price your own configuration on their site.
Honest advantages
The two things we genuinely do better
1. The paid features are not paid features
Time tracking, labour costs, overtime alerts, PTO policies, approvals and exports are the reason teams leave a free scheduler. In Talstor they are on the free plan too, so outgrowing spreadsheets does not immediately mean a per user bill.
2. Quoting and invoicing are in the same account
Sling manages labour. Talstor also runs estimates, work orders, job costing and invoicing, so a business with billable jobs does not need a second system to turn work into money.
Where they win
Where Sling is the better buy
Sling has a longer track record, native mobile apps and a natural fit for Toast restaurants. Its free tier is well proven for teams that genuinely only need scheduling and announcements. Talstor is newer, browser first and still building integrations. If a pure free scheduler is all you want, Sling is a fine answer.