# Workforce scheduling: what AI models recommend, October 2026

HR AI Recommendation Index, October 2026 Edition. Asked as "employee scheduling software" and as "shift scheduling tool", six framings each, to fourteen models with search on, on behalf of a mid-market B2B company. Page: https://hr-ai-index.com/core/workforce-scheduling/

**Standing:** Deputy leads with 37% of first choices; verdict contested. 51 first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts.

## First-choice share

| # | Product | Share | Negative rate | Labels |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Deputy | 37% | 6% | 36 |
| 2 | Sling | 24% | 0% | 19 |
| 3 | Connecteam | 10% | 4% | 27 |
| 4 | When I Work | 6% | 0% | 38 |
| 5 | Homebase | 6% | 3% | 29 |
| 6 | Rippling | 4% | 20% | 10 |
| 7 | Workforce.com | 2% | 0% | 15 |
| 8 | Cal.com | 0% | 0% | 11 |
| 9 | 7shifts | 0% | 12% | 16 |
| 10 | Acuity Scheduling | 0% | 22% | 18 |
| 11 | Calendly | 0% | 42% | 24 |

## Each model's first choice on the direct prompt

- Claude Haiku 4.5: Rippling; alternatives ADP Workforce Now, Dayforce, Deputy, Paychex Flex
- GPT-5.4 mini: Deputy; alternatives Connecteam, Homebase, Rippling
- Gemini 3.5 Flash: Float; alternatives Assembled, Connecteam, Deputy, Kantata
- Perplexity Sonar: Deputy; alternatives Connecteam, TimeTrex, When I Work, Workforce.com
- Grok 4.1 Fast: Deputy; alternatives ADP Workforce Now, Connecteam, When I Work
- Mistral Small: Dayforce, Deputy, Legion WFM, UKG Pro Workforce Management; alternatives Connecteam, Homebase, When I Work
- DeepSeek V4 Flash: Deputy; alternatives Rippling, When I Work, Workforce.com
- Llama 4 Maverick: no first choice
- Qwen 3.7 Flash: Rippling; alternatives Deputy, Workforce.com
- Kimi K2: Deputy, When I Work; alternatives Homebase, ZoomShift
- GLM 4.7 FlashX: Deputy; alternatives Connecteam, Planday, Workforce.com
- MiniMax M2.5: Deputy; alternatives Connecteam, Quinyx, TimeTrex, Workforce.com
- GPT-6 Luna: Deputy; alternatives UKG Pro Workforce Management, UKG Ready, Workday Resource Scheduling
- Muse Glimmer 30B: Deputy, Workforce.com; alternatives Shiftboard, When I Work

## Sources the answers cite

75 of 84 answers came back with a source list, from 14 of 14 models. Sites named in the most answers:

- forbes.com: 35 answers, 41 citations
- capterra.com: 33 answers, 52 citations
- joinhomebase.com: 23 answers, 43 citations
- softwareadvice.com: 23 answers, 30 citations
- zapier.com: 23 answers, 26 citations
- peoplemanagingpeople.com: 21 answers, 25 citations
- calendly.com: 20 answers, 32 citations
- connecteam.com: 18 answers, 29 citations

Pages named in the most answers:

- https://forbes.com/advisor/business/software/best-employee-scheduling-software (27 answers)
- https://mangoapps.com/articles/best-employee-shift-scheduling-software (18 answers)
- https://zapier.com/blog/best-employee-scheduling-software (18 answers)
- https://capterra.com/resources/best-employee-scheduling-software-reviews-analysis (17 answers)
- https://larksuite.com/en_us/blog/staff-scheduling-software (16 answers)
- https://calendly.com/blog/scheduling-software-companies (14 answers)
- https://guideflow.com/blog/workforce-scheduling-software (13 answers)
- https://keka.com/best-employee-scheduling-software (12 answers)
- https://forbes.com/advisor/business/software/best-scheduling-apps (11 answers)
- https://capterra.com/resources/best-scheduling-software-reviews-analysis (10 answers)

## Warned against

- Calendly: 10 of 24 labels negative. "Closed source - opaque data handling practices... Collects more behavioral data than competitors" (MiniMax M2.5, negative prompt)
- Google Calendar: 4 of 9 labels negative. "Avoid using standard scheduling tools (like basic Google Calendar, Calendly free tier, or similar consumer-focused apps) when handling" (MiniMax M2.5, negative prompt)
- Acuity Scheduling: 4 of 18 labels negative. "it breaks down quickly as scheduling complexity increases, and it's not suitable for larger groups managing complex shifts" (Claude Haiku 4.5, negative prompt)
- FlexBooker: 2 of 2 labels negative. "FlexBooker suffered a massive data breach affecting over 3.7 million accounts" (Gemini 3.5 Flash, negative prompt)

## Movement since September 2026

Floor: 13 points of share, measured on the calibration repeat.
Same leader: Deputy at 34%.

- Deputy: 26% to 34%, +9. Inside the floor by 4 points · rank 1 of 99, unchanged.
- Homebase: 15% to 7%, −8. Inside the floor by 5 points · rank 2 → 5 of 99.
- Sling: 15% to 23%, +8. Inside the floor by 5 points · rank 3 → 2 of 99.
- Connecteam: 9% to 11%, +3. Inside the floor by 10 points · rank 4 → 3 of 99.
- When I Work: 6% to 7%, ±0. Inside the floor by 13 points · rank 5 → 4 of 99.
- Rippling: 4% to 5%, ±0. Inside the floor by 13 points · rank 7 → 6 of 99.
- Workforce.com: 0% to 0%, ±0. Inside the floor by 13 points · rank 26 → 13 of 99.
- Cal.com: 0% to 0%, ±0. Inside the floor by 13 points · rank 15 → 14 of 99.
- 7shifts: 0% to 0%, ±0. Inside the floor by 13 points · rank 20 → 15 of 99.
- Acuity Scheduling: 0% to 0%, ±0. Inside the floor by 13 points · rank 16 of 99, unchanged.
- Calendly: 0% to 0%, ±0. Inside the floor by 13 points · rank 14 → 24 of 99.

## Record

- Method: https://hr-ai-index.com/methodology/
- Raw judge labels and full responses: https://hr-ai-index.com/data/
- License: CC BY 4.0. Cite as HR AI Recommendation Index, October 2026 Edition, hr-ai-index.com.