When I Work alternative

Built for 24/7 operations, across every team and time zone.

When I Work is an easy, affordable scheduler for hourly teams at small and midsize businesses. Octofi is built for operations that run around the clock, with live status, time-off accruals, labor analytics, and single sign-on on every plan.

Choose When I Work if

  • You run hourly teams at a small or midsize business
  • You want month-to-month billing
  • Simple team messaging matters most
  • You want a standard time clock for hourly staff

Choose Octofi if

  • You run 24/7 coverage across teams, sites, or time zones
  • People switch between tasks and channels during a shift
  • You need live status from Microsoft Teams or Slack
  • You need SSO and API access on every plan
FeatureOctofiWhen I Work
Built for24/7, multi-team operationsHourly teams at small and midsize businesses
SchedulingSchedules, templates, rotations, and tasks inside shiftsSchedules, templates, OpenShifts, and shift swaps
Live statusActivity Status dashboard and activity history, fed by Teams and Slack presenceTime clock
Time offApproval workflows with inline coverage views, accruals with tenure rules, and regional holidaysTime-off requests
Labor analyticsHours by activity, team, and shift, with reports, CSV, and an open API for BIReporting, with custom reporting on higher plans
Single sign-onEvery planTop plan
API accessEvery planTop plan
Team messagingWorks with Teams and SlackSimple chat panel in the app
Time to go liveLive in two weeks, with your schedules, time-off policies, and integrations set up by our teamSelf-serve: your admins set it up
Contract termsAnnual, with multi-year savingsMonth-to-month available

Based on publicly available information as of September 2026. Features and plans change, so check with each vendor.

What changes at 24/7

When the work never stops, scheduling needs more.

Work inside the shift

Plan tasks within each shift, like phones in the morning and tickets after lunch, and let people hold more than one status at once.

Status that updates itself

Microsoft Teams and Slack presence feed the Activity Status dashboard, so managers see who's actually available without asking.

Time off built on policy

Accruals with tenure bonuses, regional holiday calendars, and overdraft rules, calculated automatically for every person.

FAQ

Switching from When I Work.

Does Octofi have built-in team messaging?

No. Octofi works with Microsoft Teams and Slack, where your team already talks, and uses their presence to keep live status current.

How does Octofi track time without a time clock?

Through activity statuses. Every status change is timestamped, which gives you a detailed record of worked time by activity, person, and team.

Is single sign-on included?

Yes. Microsoft Entra ID and Google Workspace sign-in are included on every plan, and any SAML provider is available on Enterprise.

What are the contract terms?

Plans run on annual terms, with savings on multi-year agreements and no setup fee.

Can you move our schedules over?

Yes. Our team handles the move during onboarding, and most teams are live in two weeks.

Everything else included

The full Octofi platform.

Beyond the differences above, here's everything your team gets with Octofi.

Scheduling

  • Rotating patterns and templates
  • Tasks inside shifts
  • Drag-and-drop and bulk duplicate
  • Time zone per shift
  • Coverage percentage
  • Labor compliance

Time off

  • Requests and approvals
  • Automatic accruals
  • Tenure bonuses and overdraft rules
  • Regional holiday calendars
  • Call-out tracking
  • Busiest-week stats

Live status

  • Activity Status dashboard
  • 30-second refresh
  • Multiple statuses at once
  • Activity history
  • Teams and Slack presence
  • Automatic status updates

Teams and access

  • Multi-team
  • Built-in and custom roles
  • SSO with Google and Entra ID
  • Mobile SSO
  • Audit log of every change
  • SAML on Enterprise

Data and reporting

  • Labor analytics
  • Built-in reports
  • CSV export from every table
  • Datasets
  • API access
  • Custom reports on request

Integrations

  • Web, iOS, and Android apps
  • HR sync with 70+ systems
  • Microsoft 365 profile sync
  • Payroll hour sync on Enterprise
  • Your BI tool through the API
  • Onboarding by our team
Some features depend on your plan.Compare plans →

See Octofi run your 24/7 day.

We'll show you your teams, shifts, and live status set up in Octofi.

Live in two weeks. Configured by our team.