ESS Mobile vs ScheduleAnywhere
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
ESS Mobile
This app offers flexible time tracking for employees, allowing them to punch in/out, review hours worked, check schedules, and manage benefit balances. It facilitates communication with supervisors for attendance-related matters and supports various time entry methods.
- Flexible time tracking
- Review hours worked
- Check schedules and benefit balances
- Request time off
- Enter tips and mileage
- Communicate with supervisor
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ESS Mobile is a smart, adaptive app that, when used with your employer's Attendance on Demand system, provides employees with flexible time tracking options. You have access to the information needed to track your hours worked and review schedules or benefit balances. Notifications can be sent when your time card needs action, such as the addition of a missing punch. Messages can be exchanged with your supervisor to record attendance-related activities like an absence or if you will be late for your shift. Using ESS Mobile hourly employees may be able to punch in and out, request time off, or enter tips. For employees that simply report total hours worked multiple time sheet views are available. Additional operations such as entering mileage, expenses, or tips are also available. Contact your payroll administrator or Attendance on Demand service provider for additional details. Note: ESS Mobile uses location services to obtain your location during app usage. Continued use of the app or background GPS tracking can dramatically decrease battery life.
ScheduleAnywhere
This app simplifies employee scheduling and communication, allowing managers to create schedules, manage requests, and instantly notify staff of changes. Employees can view their shifts, submit requests, and stay informed from any mobile device.
- Create work schedules
- Communicate changes instantly
- Manage employee requests
- Access schedules on mobile
- Automate schedule rotation
- Reduce overtime
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ScheduleAnywhere is the easy, affordable and proven way to build work schedules and communicate with your employees. Save time and make your job easier and your employees happier, all while meeting the needs of your business. If you schedule shifts and need to ensure proper staff coverage, ScheduleAnywhere is for you! · Schedule anywhere, any time · Eliminate spreadsheets and paper schedules · Communicate changes instantly · Avoid overstaffing · Ensure proper shift coverage · Rotate schedules automatically · Reduce unnecessary overtime · Save time and money! Mobile Tools for Managers on the Go Don't be tied to your desk. Now you can access and manage staff schedules and employees requests from any mobile device with our free ScheduleAnywhere app or mobile site. See who's scheduled, or not scheduled, and make last-minute changes. Simply repost the schedule to instantly notify affected employees. For managers: · Respond to time-off, cover and swap requests · Find available employees for no-shows · Access daily rosters and staff schedules · Make last-minute changes · Repost schedules to notify employees of shift changes · Fast, easy and convenient! 24/7 Mobile Access for Employees Instantly access your work schedule with our free ScheduleAnywhere app or mobile site. Manage and submit schedule requests from anywhere, anytime. Plus, you'll always know when you're scheduled to work. For employees: · See when you work · View staff schedules · Submit time off, cover and swap requests · Check the status of requests · Never miss a shift!
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: ScheduleAnywhere at 2.2 against ESS Mobile's 1.7. ScheduleAnywhere also leads on update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 3 months) and review sentiment (11% vs 3%). ESS Mobile's advantage is ratings volume (343 vs 49). On price, 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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
ScheduleAnywhere holds the better App Store score, 2.2 against 1.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: ESS Mobile has 343 ratings behind it against 49, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 3% of ESS Mobile's written reviews are positive against 11% of ScheduleAnywhere's.
ESS Mobile ships an update every 3 months, ScheduleAnywhere every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 23, 2026 and September 19, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | ESS Mobile | ScheduleAnywhere |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 1.7 (343 ratings) | 2.2 (49 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 2.9% of reviews | 11.1% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 343 — better | 49 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months | Every 2 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 18.6 | 15.1 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 1 MB | 27 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Attendance on Demand, Inc. | Humanity.com, LLC |
Customer experience
ESS Mobile
ScheduleAnywhere
User reviews
ESS Mobile
From 343 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- ✅ Simple and straightforward time tracking functionality
- 📧 Email records linked to time card
- ⚙️ Works reliably on Android devices
Room to improve
- 🐛 Connect button functions as text box instead of button
- ❌ App crashes frequently after updates
- ⚪ White screen loading issues
- 📍 Location detection inaccurate (4-5 miles off)
- 🔐 Login failures and credential issues
ScheduleAnywhere
From 49 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Can check schedule
- 👍 Can make shift changes
- 👍 Instant schedule updates for staff
- 👍 Access to up-to-the-minute schedules
- 👍 Submit schedule requests from anywhere
Room to improve
- 🐛 App won't let me edit
- 🐛 Extremely limited functionality compared to desktop
- 🐛 Menu setup doesn't make sense
- 🐛 Terrible app and support unavailable
- 🐛 Annoying system errors requiring reinstallation
Bugs and requests
ESS Mobile
Reported bugs
17 issues- Connect button treats input as editable text field
- App fails to load or shows blank white screen
- Location services report incorrect location
- Login credentials rejected despite correct information
- Clock-in button disappears or becomes non-functional
Show 12 moreShow fewer
- App freezes when entering information
- Cannot proceed past login screen
- App crashes on latest iOS versions
- Automatic logout without user action
- Cannot clock in to new job within one minute of clock out
- Punch functionality only works on second attempt
- Controls render off-screen on certain devices
- App incompatible with iOS 15
- Timesheet data fails to load
- Notifications sent to wrong phone numbers
- Pay stubs missing tip percentage and hourly information
- Redundant navigation buttons on same page
Requested features
12 requests- Face ID or biometric authentication
- Remember me/stay logged in functionality
- Current time display on home screen
- Manager approval system for early out/late in requests
- Ability to view all punch times and historical data
Show 7 moreShow fewer
- Support for multiple employers without app reinstallation
- Landscape mode support
- Easy password reset functionality
- Loading indicators for better UX
- Visible phone number management (primary/secondary)
- Better accessibility and menu navigation
- Improved pay stub formatting and clarity
ScheduleAnywhere
Reported bugs
26 issues- App won't let me edit anything
- System errors requiring app deletion and reinstallation
- Linking to Google Calendar stops working after a month
- Always logs out
- Cannot see full schedule (vacations, days off, notes)
Show 21 moreShow fewer
- Only lists current day's schedule
- Cannot see coworkers' schedules
- Update makes app unusable
- Overtime hours don't stay on the same day when running into the next day
- App has not been updated for years
- App needs update for iPhone Xs
- App needs better viewing and graphics
- App needs to sync with iPhone calendar
- App needs to be updated for multiple things
- App needs features from website, like requests
- Almost impossible to view requests
- Cannot get past the login screen
- App is read-only
- Impossible to navigate large employee schedules (over 150 employees)
- App messes up every other time
- App is in need of a good upgrade
- App stopped loading, shows a blank white screen
- App is a web shortcut to their mobile version
- App can't remember username and password
- App is worthless, can't log into business scheduling system
- No way to select the database to connect to
Requested features
24 requests- Show all future requests and manager response
- Bring back weekly view option
- Make weekly view an option
- Add features that the website has, like requests
- Update to be compatible with iPhone XS and XS Max
Show 19 moreShow fewer
- Add features to request and review time off
- Show schedule as a month view
- Allow users to stay signed in
- Sync with iPhone calendar
- Sync with personal calendars
- Add monthly view
- Import schedule to calendar
- Add a month view like the full website
- Add notifications for messages or changes
- Add interface for managers
- Add integration with iOS's native calendar or Google calendar
- Add ability to edit schedule
- Add ability to add comments/make changes
- Add text message or email notifications for daily assignments
- Add month view like desktop version
- Add ease in scheduling employees and their daily assignments
- Add ability to save schedule
- Add ability to sync to Google calendar
- Add ability to select database to connect to
In-app purchases
ESS Mobile
No in-app purchases
ScheduleAnywhere
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is ESS Mobile free?
Is ScheduleAnywhere free?
Which has better reviews, ESS Mobile or ScheduleAnywhere?
Do ESS Mobile or ScheduleAnywhere have ads?
Which is updated more often, ESS Mobile or ScheduleAnywhere?
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