HotSchedules vs LINC Learning
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
HotSchedules
This app simplifies employee scheduling and team communication. It allows for easy shift management, time-off requests, and calendar syncing. Managers benefit from faster schedule creation and performance monitoring, while teams stay connected through messaging.
- Shift swapping and pickup
- Time off requests
- Automatic calendar sync
- Manager schedule building
- Sales and labor monitoring
- Team messaging
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HotSchedules is the industry's leading employee scheduling app because it’s the fastest and easiest way to manage your schedule and communicate with your team. Team members love it because they can swap, pick-up or release shifts with one click. Work-life balance is easily managed with automatic shift pick ups when you want more hours, and time off requests for when you don’t. Calendar sync and notifications keep your Schedules and the roster automatically updated to your phone with any manager-approved changes. Managers appreciate the 75% time savings when building schedules and one-click approvals for shift changes. The ability to monitor business performance with sales and labor snapshots from anywhere, keeps them out of the back office. And most importantly, staying connected with broadcast and one-to-one messaging makes for a happy and productive team culture. NOTE: The HotSchedules application REQUIRES a valid HotSchedules user account through your employer. Need help? Contact Customer Care 24x7x365
LINC Learning
Provides restaurant team members with instant access to job training, company communications, and broadcast videos. Leaders can monitor team performance on learning modules. Requires a valid username and password for access.
- Job training access
- Company communications
- Broadcast videos
- Team performance tracking
- Learning module monitoring
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LINC gives Chili’s Team Members instant access to job-related training, communications, broadcast videos and much more! The LINC app also enables leaders to view their team’s performance on modules and other learning activities. To access LINC, Chili’s Team Members must have a valid HotSchedules username and password. A Wi-Fi connection is strongly recommended to avoid using cellular data. For assistance with anything related to LINC, please email LINC Support (LINC@brinker.com). NOTE: Download and usage of the LINC app is entirely optional. If you prefer not to install/use it on your personal device, ask your leader about the option of accessing the LINC app from your restaurant’s designated training iPad.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: LINC Learning at Free against HotSchedules's $2.99. HotSchedules's advantage is rating (4.6 vs 2.1) and update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 4 months). On review sentiment, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
LINC Learning is free to download; HotSchedules costs $2.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
HotSchedules holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 2.1. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: HotSchedules has 67K ratings behind it against 153, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 21% of HotSchedules's written reviews are positive against 14% of LINC Learning's.
HotSchedules ships an update every 2 weeks, LINC Learning every 4 months. The most recent releases landed on September 25, 2026 and September 21, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | HotSchedules | LINC Learning |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $2.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 4.6 (67K ratings) — better | 2.1 (153 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 20.7% of reviews — better | 14.3% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 67K — better | 153 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 weeks — better | Every 4 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Best chart rank | #1 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 17.1 | 17.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 59 MB | 255 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 17+ |
| Developer | HotSchedules | Schoox, Inc. |
Customer experience
HotSchedules
LINC Learning
Bugs and requests
HotSchedules
Reported bugs
4 issues- Login issues after updates
- Calendar sync problems
- Disappearing messages and data loss
- Incompatibility with dark mode
Requested features
5 requests- Show shift end times
- Categorize and filter inbox messages
- Ability to view full team schedules
- Automatic shift rotation algorithm
- Integrated payroll and earnings tracking
LINC Learning
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
HotSchedules
No in-app purchases
LINC Learning
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is HotSchedules free?
Is LINC Learning free?
Which has better reviews, HotSchedules or LINC Learning?
Do HotSchedules or LINC Learning have ads?
Which is updated more often, HotSchedules or LINC Learning?
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