Restaurant scheduling apps: tip pooling, payroll and what they cost
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A restaurant with 20 staff pays $30 to $100 a month for scheduling (10 staff: $0 to $50), from Homebase Essentials at $30 per location to $5 per user on Deputy Lite or When I Work Pro, based on vendor pricing pages read on October 16, 2026. 7shifts, the restaurant specialist, did not publish prices in our research.
Of the five, only 7shifts documents tip pooling. If your house pools tips, that one feature can outweigh price, so get a quote before you rule it out.
Restaurant scheduling software builds front and back of house shift schedules, handles swaps and clock-ins, and in some products splits pooled tips and checks schedules against labor rules before hours go to payroll.
Our picks at a glance ranked by published score out of 100
- 1HomebaseA single restaurant on a budget$30 a month77See pricing
- 2ConnecteamCatering and event crews$35 a month72See pricing
- 3DeputyMulti-unit groups watching labor cost$100 a month62See pricing
- 4When I WorkShift swaps on a small budget$100 a month58See pricing
- 57shiftsThe only one with tip pooling documentedNot published21See pricing
On this page
- Pick by how your restaurant runs
- Restaurant scheduling apps ranked by score
- What a restaurant pays for 10 and 20 staff
- Tip pooling and tipped wages
- Labor rules: predictive scheduling and overtime
- Payroll for restaurants: which app connects to what
- Scores in full
- Common mistakes restaurants make with scheduling software
Pick by how your restaurant runs
- Tip pooling documented
- 7shifts onlyprice not published
- Free for one location
- Homebaseup to 10 employees
- 10 staff with payroll
- $109 a monthHomebase, cheapest published
- Forecasting
- Deputy$5 to $9 per user
- One location, under 10 staff, no tip pool: Homebase Basic, free.
- House tip pool: 7shifts, on a written quote.
- Several units with labor targets: Deputy, on monthly billing until you are sure.
- Already on Square POS: pair any scheduling app with Square Payroll at $35 + $6 per person paid.
Restaurant scheduling apps ranked by score
Ordered by our scheduling scores. Tip tools are only part of the 25 feature points, so a general app can outscore a restaurant specialist. Read the picks for fit, not just rank. Method: our scoring rules.
Homebase
Free scheduling for one location with up to 10 employees, $30 per location for more. Payroll at $49 + $6 per employee paid runs from the same app. Tip pooling is not documented on the pages we checked.
How the score adds up
- Price30/30
- Scheduling tools15/25
- Payroll link15/15
- Contract terms11/15
- Complaints record6/15
Connecteam
GPS time clock and team chat for staff who work off-site. $35 a month for the first 30 users. No payroll of its own and no tip tools documented.
How the score adds up
- Price30/30
- Scheduling tools15/25
- Payroll link5/15
- Contract terms13/15
- Complaints record9/15
Deputy
Demand forecasting, auto-scheduling and labor law compliance tools are documented. $5 to $9 per user; annual plans cannot be cut back after a slow season.
How the score adds up
- Price20/30
- Scheduling tools20/25
- Payroll link10/15
- Contract terms7/15
- Complaints record5/15
When I Work
Shift swaps and messaging for front and back of house, from $2.50 per user. Budget Pro at $5 if you need the clock.
How the score adds up
- Price20/30
- Scheduling tools15/25
- Payroll link7/15
- Contract terms11/15
- Complaints record5/15
7shifts
Restaurant-built, with tip pooling, labor compliance and a payroll add-on. Its low score comes from missing prices and contract terms in our research, not from its restaurant features. Get a written quote.
How the score adds up
- Price0/30
- Scheduling tools10/25
- Payroll link8/15
- Contract terms0/15
- Complaints record3/15
What a restaurant pays for 10 and 20 staff
| App (score) | Scheduling, 10 staff | Scheduling, 20 staff | With the app's own payroll route, 10 staff | Tip pooling documented |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Homebase (77) | $0 (Basic) | $30 (Essentials) | $0 + $49 + 10 x $6 = $109 | No |
| Connecteam (72) | $0 (free, up to 10 users) or $35 | $35 | Outside payroll, billed separately | No |
| Deputy (62) | 10 x $5 = $50 | 20 x $5 = $100 | Annual Core $58.50 + $49 + 10 x $8 = $187.50 | No (labor law tools yes) |
| When I Work (58) | 10 x $5 = $50 on Pro | 20 x $5 = $100 on Pro | Rippling, quote only | No |
| 7shifts (21) | Not published | Not published | Not published | Yes |
Source: vendor pricing pages, checked October 16, 2026. "No" means not documented on the pages we checked. Payroll taxes extra.
Restaurants often have more logins than shifts suggest: managers, a chef, a bar lead. Deputy bills every admin and manager as a user. Homebase charges by location instead, so a second restaurant doubles the tier fee: 2 x $30 = $60 a month on Essentials. Homebase payroll covers several locations only when they share one EIN.
Homebase also shows "$29 per month for teams up to 5" for payroll without saying whether the $6 per-person fee applies. A 5-person cafe could pay $29 or $59. Get it in writing.
Tip pooling and tipped wages
Tip pooling software splits a shared pot among staff by hours, role or points. Of the five apps, only 7shifts documents it. If you pool tips on another app, you will be doing the split in a spreadsheet or in payroll.
The split is only half the job. Payroll must also pay at least the tipped cash wage, and if tips do not bring pay up to the minimum wage, you pay the difference. Federally that cash wage is $2.13 an hour with a maximum tip credit of $5.12, for staff who regularly get more than $30 a month in tips (DOL table dated July 1, 2026). States vary widely:
| State | Minimum wage | Tipped cash wage |
|---|---|---|
| California | $16.90 | $16.90 (no tip credit) |
| Washington | $17.13 | $17.13 (no tip credit) |
| Arizona | $15.15 | $12.15 (max tip credit $3.00) |
| New Jersey | $15.92 most employers; $15.23 small (under 6) and seasonal | $6.05 (max tip credit $9.87) |
| Illinois | $15.00 (employers with 4+ employees) | $9.00 (tip credit 40%) |
| Florida | $15.00 from Sept 30, 2026 | $11.98 from Sept 30, 2026 |
| Pennsylvania | $7.25 | $2.83 (tipped threshold $135 per month) |
| Texas | $7.25 | $2.13 |
Source: DOL tipped minimum wage table (dated July 1, 2026) and state labor department pages, checked October 2026. Local minimums can be higher.
The full list is on 2026 minimum and tipped wages by state. For tip credit math, FICA on tips and tip reporting, see restaurant payroll software. Our research does not source federal or state tip pool eligibility rules, so we do not cover who may join a pool.
Labor rules: predictive scheduling and overtime
Deputy and 7shifts document labor law compliance tools; the other three do not on the pages we checked. Our research does not detail which rules those tools apply, and we have not sourced local predictive scheduling or state overtime laws for this page. Ask each vendor to show a rule for your city in the demo.
Payroll for restaurants: which app connects to what
Homebase runs its own payroll in all 50 states and DC. Deputy sells Deputy Payroll by Paycor on annual Core or Pro plans only. 7shifts has its own payroll add-on, with a promo of 3 months free and no published price. When I Work uses Rippling, which quotes. Connecteam integrates with outside payroll, not on its free plan, and our research does not name its payroll partners.
If you want payroll chosen on its own merits, compare payroll providers ranked and Gusto's three plans. Budget payroll taxes per server or cook with our employer cost calculator.
Scores in full
| Provider | Total (100) | Price for 20 staff (30) | Features (25) | Payroll link (15) | Contract (15) | Complaints (15) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Homebase | 77 | 30 | 15 | 15 | 11 | 6 |
| Connecteam | 72 | 30 | 15 | 5 | 13 | 9 |
| Deputy | 62 | 20 | 20 | 10 | 7 | 5 |
| When I Work | 58 | 20 | 15 | 7 | 11 | 5 |
| 7shifts | 21 | 0 | 10 | 8 | 0 | 3 |
Scores dated October 17, 2026. Inputs: vendor pricing pages read October 16, 2026, and Trustpilot ratings seen that day. Tip tools count for 5 of the 25 feature points.
Common mistakes restaurants make with scheduling software
- Signing an annual plan before the slow season. Deputy's annual plans cannot be refunded, downgraded or cut in headcount.
- Counting only hourly staff. Manager and admin logins can count as users.
- Assuming the app splits tips. Only 7shifts documents tip pooling among these five.
- Ignoring the tipped wage floor. California and Washington allow no tip credit, so the cash wage is the full minimum.
- Leaving the free tier without noticing. Homebase Basic stops at 10 employees and one location.
More on each app: Homebase pricing, Connecteam pricing, Deputy pricing, When I Work pricing, 7shifts pricing and payroll. Back to all scheduling software or time clock apps.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best scheduling app for restaurants?
Which restaurant scheduling app does tip pooling?
How much does restaurant scheduling software cost?
What is the tipped minimum wage in 2026?
Can restaurant scheduling apps run payroll?
Sources (13)
- Homebase: Homebase pricing page (checked Oct 16, 2026)
- Connecteam: Connecteam pricing page (checked Oct 16, 2026)
- Deputy: Deputy pricing page (checked Oct 16, 2026)
- When I Work: When I Work pricing page (checked Oct 16, 2026)
- 7shifts: 7shifts pricing page (no prices shown) (checked Oct 16, 2026)
- Square: Square Payroll pricing (checked Oct 16, 2026)
- Gusto: Gusto pricing page (checked Oct 16, 2026)
- US Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division: Minimum wages for tipped employees (table dated July 1, 2026) (checked Oct 2026)
- US Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division: Minimum wage (checked Oct 2026)
- US Department of Labor: State minimum wage laws (checked Oct 2026)
- California Department of Industrial Relations: 2026 minimum wage news release (checked Oct 2026)
- Washington Department of Labor and Industries: Minimum wage (checked Oct 2026)
- New Jersey Department of Labor: Minimum wage news release (checked Oct 2026)
This page is general information, not tax, legal or accounting advice. Rules and rates change, so check the official source linked above before you file or sign a contract. Read our disclaimer.