Comparison

When I Work Staff Scheduling vs BambooHR

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

When I Work Staff Scheduling

Streamline employee scheduling, time tracking, and team communication. This app helps reduce chaos and costs by improving accountability, facilitating shift trades, and providing instant notifications for schedule changes. It's designed for shift-based workplaces to enhance team management and boost productivity.

Highlights
  • Employee scheduling
  • Time clock
  • Team messaging
  • Shift trades
  • Time off requests
  • Auto scheduling
  • Labor forecasting
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

Join more than 200,000 workplaces running on When I Work to reduce chaos, costs, and turnover with employee scheduling and time tracking for the modern workforce. When I Work is an employee scheduling app that does more than just save you time on scheduling. It also helps you improve communication, eliminate excuses, boost accountability among your staff, track time and attendance, and grow your business. “2026 Shortlist” - Capterra “2025 Category Leader” - Getapp "Fastest Implementation" - G2 Crowd MANAGERS LOVE IT: • Easy to use time clock to clock in and out • Message with staff 1:1 or in groups • Monitor and approve shift trades and time off requests • View the entire staff schedule anywhere at anytime • Create a work calendar to efficiently plan schedules • Quickly alert staff of changes and updates to the schedule • Messaging and scheduling permissions for easier management • Geofencing features to prevent buddy punching EMPLOYEES LOVE IT: • Clock in and out of shifts from the app • Instantly trade shifts with coworkers • View work schedules from anywhere at anytime • Pick up extra hours with open shifts • Check the work calendar to easily request time off • Privately message coworkers 1:1 or in groups within the app • Easily check who's working which shifts WHEN I WORK FEATURES: When I Work is employee-focused and built exclusively for shift-based workplaces. We monitor our systems 24/7/365 to give you and your employees peace of mind that your data is safe and secure. Choose When I Work to get the best in: • Team management - Onboard new employees, approve time off requests, review shift trades, and fill shifts in seconds. • Team accountability - Shift confirmation, mobile clock in, shift task lists, team task lists, and chat ensure everyone is on the same page. • Team communication - Notify your team of changes instantly and communicate with coworkers 1:1 or in group chats. • Team empowerment - Your team can manage availability, submit time-off requests, and collaborate on shift trades. • One-click scheduling - Build your entire work schedule in one click with Auto Scheduling. • Confident shift coverage - Receive shift confirmations from employees and be notified immediately of swaps and drops. • Share schedules - Publish the schedule and your whole team is instantly notified of their shifts. • Labor forecasting - Easy-to-use labor tools help you manage your labor budget efficiently. • Control overtime costs - Get overtime alerts and labor reporting to make managing labor costs easier. • Schedule enforcement - Limit clock ins to shifts and locations to ensure that everyone is where they need to be at the right time. • Payroll integration - Import your timesheets to quickly and accurately process payroll. • Labor reports - Use labor distribution to manage costs and forecast for the future. Terms of use: https://wheniwork.com/terms Privacy policy: https://wheniwork.com/privacy

About

BambooHR

Access essential HR functions on the go. View your company directory, manage time off requests, and stay updated with notifications. Securely access employee information and approve or deny leave requests from anywhere.

Highlights
  • Company directory access
  • Time off requests and approvals
  • View colleague information
  • Add contacts to phone
  • Check time off balances
  • Push notifications for requests
  • TouchID and passcode protection
Currently charting
Read full description

BambooHR is online HR software for small and medium-sized businesses that have outgrown spreadsheets. We automate many of the most tedious HR functions and free you up to do meaningful work. The BambooHR app lets you take some of those most important functions with you, and makes your most common tasks in BambooHR simple and fast. * In order to do anything with the BambooHR app you will need a current BambooHR account. Find out more on our website. * The app fully supports single sign-on (SAML) to login Your Company Directory, Everywhere You Go Your company’s phone numbers, emails, photos, titles—your whole company directory goes wherever you do. * See colleague’s information and call, email, or message them with a tap * Quickly add someone’s info to your phone’s contacts Plan and Manage Time Off Planning a trip? Request time off when you’re out and about. Leave requests can be submitted in the app, and if you’re an approver, you can approve them there as well. * See who’s out of the office today and on any future date * See current and calculate your future time off balances * Submit, view, edit, and comment on your time off requests * Approve and deny time off requests * Push notifications keep you in the loop on the status of your requests And don’t worry, TouchID and passcode protection will help keep your information secure. Happy Bambooing!

Screenshots

When I Work Staff Scheduling4 screens
BambooHR4 screens

Verdict

The call

When I Work Staff Scheduling and BambooHR both sit at 4.8 stars, but that hides the real split: 90% of When I Work Staff Scheduling's written reviews are positive against 26% of BambooHR's. When I Work Staff Scheduling also leads on ratings volume (57K vs 13K). BambooHR's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 10). On price, rating, update cadence and ads 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. When I Work Staff Scheduling sells 10 one-off in-app purchases. BambooHR asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.8 for When I Work Staff Scheduling against 4.7 for BambooHR. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 57K and 13K respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 90% of When I Work Staff Scheduling's written reviews are positive against 26% of BambooHR's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

When I Work Staff Scheduling ships an update weekly, BambooHR every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 17, 2026 and October 16, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 8 level
When I Work Staff Scheduling versus BambooHR: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterWhen I Work Staff SchedulingBambooHR
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (57K ratings) — better4.7 (13K ratings)
Positive reviews89.8% of reviews — better26.1% of reviews
Number of ratings57K — better13K
Update frequencyWeekly — betterEvery 2 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFreemium
Best chart rank#101 — better#186
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.0 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size230 MB287 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperWhen I Work, Inc.BambooHR

Customer experience

When I Work Staff Scheduling

All ratings57,388 ratings
Positive96.4%
Neutral1.8%
Negative1.7%
Written reviews1,439 reviews
Positive89.8%
Neutral2.9%
Negative7.3%

BambooHR

All ratings12,755 ratings
Positive91.8%
Neutral1.8%
Negative6.3%
Written reviews287 reviews
Positive26.1%
Neutral12.9%
Negative61.0%

User reviews

When I Work Staff Scheduling

From 57K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Easy to use
  • 🚀 Convenient for scheduling
  • 💡 Helpful for shift swapping and communication
  • 👍 User-friendly interface
  • 👍 Effective for managing staff

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Occasional bugs and glitches
  • 🔍 Difficult to navigate some features
  • 🔍 Lack of customization options
  • 🔍 Issues with shift approval and time-off requests
  • 🔍 Problems with the messaging/chat functionality

BambooHR

From 13K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Easy to use for employer and employee
  • 👍 Simple to use
  • 👍 Professional approach
  • 👍 User friendly
  • 👍 Great app when it involves anything to do with my job

Room to improve

  • 🐛 App ask for update to see inbox, people or my info
  • 🐛 Locks you out
  • 🐛 Spends a lot of time down, can't always see signature so you don't know if forms are actually filed out or not
  • 🐛 Not user friendly
  • 🐛 Freezes

Bugs and requests

When I Work Staff Scheduling

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • App crashes or freezes frequently
  • Unreliable notifications and alerts
  • Syncing issues between mobile and web versions
  • Problems with location-based clock-in/out features

Requested features

6 requests
  • Allow employees to view Sunday schedules
  • Improve shift drop/swap process
  • Add a sick day request feature
  • Provide more flexibility in availability settings
  • Enhance the calendar view and scheduling tools
Show 1 more
  • Improve the messaging/chat experience

BambooHR

Reported bugs

14 issues
  • App ask for update to see inbox, people or my info
  • Locks you out
  • Spends a lot of time down, can't always see signature so you don't know if forms are actually filed out or not
  • Freezes
  • Notifications don't clear properly
Show 9 more
  • Badges slow to update, annoying
  • Poor crashes
  • Log in is impossible
  • Slow app
  • Phone directory look up not working
  • Contacts don't work
  • Document Sigining not working
  • Crashes on log in
  • Crashes every time you try to save a contact locally

Requested features

14 requests
  • Dark mode option
  • Advanced calendar view on app
  • Allow employees to download letter of employment at their own
  • Easier way to fix clocking issues
  • Easier way to track lieu hours
Show 9 more
  • Open app from email links
  • More functionality on app compared to website
  • Ability to cancel time off requests from app
  • Include user on calendar/out today view
  • Text-based recruiting services
  • Ability to onboard new hires from app
  • Allow document signing on mobile
  • Announcements in the app
  • Ability to view emergency contacts

In-app purchases

10 purchases

When I Work Staff Scheduling

One-time10
  • Annual Micro Scheduling Plan$99.99
  • Annual Mini Scheduling Plan$209.99
  • Annual Small Scheduling Plan$299.99
Show 7 more
  • Annual Medium Scheduling$399.99
  • Annual Large Scheduling$499.99
  • Annual Small Scheduling and Attendance$599.99
  • Annual XL Scheduling$599.99
  • Annual Medium Scheduling and Attendance$799.99
  • Annual Super Scheduling$799.99
  • Annual Plus Scheduling$999.99
None

BambooHR

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is When I Work Staff Scheduling free?
When I Work Staff Scheduling is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is BambooHR free?
BambooHR is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, When I Work Staff Scheduling or BambooHR?
When I Work Staff Scheduling is rated higher. When I Work Staff Scheduling averages 4.8 out of 5 from 57K ratings, while BambooHR averages 4.7 from 13K ratings.
Do When I Work Staff Scheduling or BambooHR have ads?
Neither When I Work Staff Scheduling nor BambooHR shows ads.
Which is updated more often, When I Work Staff Scheduling or BambooHR?
When I Work Staff Scheduling ships an update weekly, and BambooHR every 2 weeks. Most recently, When I Work Staff Scheduling was updated on October 17, 2026 and BambooHR on October 16, 2026.
Which is more popular, When I Work Staff Scheduling or BambooHR?
When I Work Staff Scheduling currently peaks at #101 in the App Store charts, and BambooHR at #186. Chart position reflects recent download velocity rather than total install base.

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