“Schedulefly has saved us tens of thousands of labor dollars, countless scheduling hours, and has increased employee retention over the last 18 years as a happy customer.”Scott Maitland · Top of the Hill Restaurant & Brewery · Chapel Hill, NC
Simple Restaurant Scheduling Software
Hospitality Software with Soul
Stop scheduling headaches. Cut labor waste. Keep your team connected.
Schedulefly is restaurant employee scheduling software for independent restaurants. Build schedules in minutes, handle shift trades and time-off requests, keep an eye on labor costs, and reach your whole team by text - without the bloat.
More than 20,000 restaurants served since 2007. 5,000+ on Schedulefly right now.
No contracts
No sales pressure
No b.s.
I'm Wil Brawley, proprietor of Schedulefly. My personal cell phone number is in this video. Hit me up any time
Serving restaurants like yours since 2007. Schedulefly gives managers one simple place to build staff schedules, approve shift trades and time-off requests, message the whole team, and watch labor costs - everything you need to run the weekly schedule, and none of the bells and whistles you don't.
Highly rated. Independently recognized.
Schedulefly is rated 4.9 out of 5 on Capterra, GetApp and Software Advice.
Why Schedulefly
If you're still scheduling on paper or Excel, you're paying a chaos tax every week.
After nearly two decades working with independent restaurant operators, the pattern is clear. The ones still on paper or spreadsheets watch the same thing happen — manager time bleeds out, labor mistakes add up, and good employees get frustrated and leave.
Schedulefly fixes that. No bloat. No complicated onboarding. No system your managers have to be talked into using. Just a simple, clean tool that removes the chaos and gives everyone a better weekly rhythm.
Wages35%
Restaurant wages have risen 35% since 2020. Every scheduling mistake, every overstaffed shift, every hour of unnecessary overtime costs more than it ever has.
Labor target36.5%
The median labor cost as a percent of sales for full-service operators in 2024. Profitable operators fight to keep it at 34% or below. Poor scheduling is the fastest way to blow past that number.
Turnover cost$5,000
What it costs every time you lose an employee — recruiting, training, and all the attention you'd rather be spending on your guests.
Manager time
5 hrs/week
What the average manager burns building the schedule and managing the fallout — call-ins, swaps, phone tag, and shift juggling. That’s 260 hours a year spent on chaos that shouldn’t exist.
The Math
Here’s what manual scheduling actually costs you - and what you get back.
Most operators are shocked when they see it laid out this way. The chaos tax is real, it’s recurring, and it’s probably bigger than you think. These numbers are based on a typical independent restaurant with 35 staff and a $150K annual labor budget.
| Category | Manual / Paper / Excel | With Schedulefly | Net Benefit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Manager time |
$6,500/yr ~5 hrs/wk @ $25/hr. About 3 hrs building the schedule, plus 2 hrs of post-publish chaos: call-ins, last-minute swaps, phone tag, and shift juggling that pulls managers off the floor. |
$650/yr ~30 min/wk. Schedule built in minutes. Staff handle their own swaps. Managers get back on the floor — training staff, engaging guests, checking food quality. |
$5,850 * |
| Labor leakage |
$7,500/yr 5% of a $150K labor budget lost to overtime, overstaffing slow shifts, and last-minute coverage gaps — not fraud, just honest scheduling mistakes that quietly add up every week. |
$3,750/yr Reduces waste ~50%. Visual scheduling flags OT before it posts. Coverage matches actual need. Employees trade shifts with easy manager approval. |
$3,750 ** |
| Employee turnover |
$15,000/yr ~3 preventable quits/yr @ $5,000 each. Managers burn out from after-hours scheduling chaos. Staff leave because they can’t see their schedule on their phone, can’t trade shifts easily, and feel disorganized. The best employees have options — and they use them. |
$10,000/yr Saves ~1 employee/yr. Staff get their schedule in their pocket, instant notifications, and easy shift swaps. Managers stop staying late in an empty restaurant. Both stay longer. |
$5,000 *** |
| Tool cost | $0 Plus the chaos tax you’re already paying. |
$480/yr About $1.33/day. No contracts. No hidden fees. |
−$480 |
| TOTAL | $5,850 + $3,750 + $5,000 − $480 | $14,120 |
* TimeForge industry survey · Shiftbase scheduling research
** 2023 Restaurant Operations Report: restaurants are improperly staffed — over or under — for 38% of any given week
*** Toast: 56% of restaurant employees say schedule flexibility was the #1 reason they took their job — ahead of pay · Black Box Intelligence: replacing one hourly employee costs $2,000–$5,000 · Harvard Business Review: lack of schedule flexibility drives turnover
The verdict
For about $1.33 a day, you could save roughly $14,120 a year.
No contracts. No hidden fees. All features included. Cancel anytime.
What could you save?
Enter your staff count and see your estimated annual upside. Calculated dynamically based on staff count using industry averages.
Estimated annual upside
Try it free for 30 days
$0
Recommended plan: $40/mo · Approx. $1.33/day
Based on industry averages for manager time, labor leakage, and employee turnover.
Invisible ROI
The ROI you can’t put in a table.
Think about the manager who waits until the shift ends, then stays two or three hours late to work on the schedule in an empty restaurant. Week after week. No work-life balance. No separation from the job. That manager burns out and quits — and the cost of replacing them dwarfs an entire year of Schedulefly. At $1.33 a day, this isn’t a cost. It’s the price of a consistently healthier, calmer, more profitable operation.
Stories
Proof, not hype
WHAT OPERATORS AND STAFF ARE SAYING
“Schedulefly saved my life. It saved me many hours every week on creating the schedule in Excel and dealing with all of the changes. That’s time I now spend with my family. I’ve used it at two restaurants and love it.”Adriana · Manager · Mary O’Neill’s · Waxhaw, NC
“The Toyota of scheduling apps. Always reliable. They make you feel like their only client. No over-the top bells and whistles, fair price, and amazing customer service.”Nicole Westerman · The Culinary Creative · Denver, CO
Demo video
See how it works in 5 minutes.
We built it for the restaurant industry and designed it to be fast, easy, engaging and fun! Quickly post schedules online and text/email them to staff, easily manage shift changes, broadcast important messages via text, organize time off requests, keep an eye on labor costs and much more...
What you get
The tools restaurant teams actually use
Simple scheduling software built to save managers time, reduce chaos, and keep staff connected — without the complexity.
Build schedules in minutes
Create, copy and publish schedules quickly. Staff automatically get their schedules and changes by text and email.
Handle shift trades without the drama
Employees can give up, pick up and trade shifts with manager approval built in. Approved changes update automatically.
Keep time-off requests organized
Managers see employee availability and time-off requests while they are building the schedule - before conflicts happen.
Reach your whole team instantly
Send announcements, reminders and schedule updates by text and email without relying on messy group chats.
See labor before the week starts
Enter forecast sales and see scheduled labor dollars and projected labor cost as a percentage of sales before you publish.
Real people when you need help
Call, text or email Schedulefly and reach an actual person who knows the product and understands restaurants.
And there's a lot more built in.
Multi-location dashboard
See and move between every restaurant in your group with one login, and communicate across locations.
Fly Notes manager logbook
Start the day with a summary of who is working, contact information, manager notes, reminders and staff birthdays.
Daily Crib Sheet
Managers see employee availability and time-off requests while they are building the schedule - before conflicts happen.
Employee information in one place
Keep employee contact information, emergency contacts, notes and other useful details organized and accessible.
Documents & files
Share handbooks, menus, manuals and other important files with your team and track engagement where supported.
Reporting that helps operators manage labor
Track scheduled labor, forecast sales, labor percentage, wages, time-off activity, staff logins and more.
Plus iOS + Android apps, Google Calendar sync, job postings and more.
See everything Schedulefly can do ➔
Before Schedulefly
Managers chase coverage through buried texts
Group messages get messy. Handwritten edits appear after the schedule is posted. People miss updates and labor drifts for reasons nobody sees fast enough.
After Schedulefly
One place for schedules, alerts, swaps, and requests
A cleaner weekly rhythm for managers and staff. Less confusion, better accountability, and fewer labor surprises.
Verified restaurant operators on G2
Independent operators and restaurant leaders consistently call out Schedulefly's simplicity, ease of use and human support.
"The Apple of scheduling platforms."
Schedulefly is so user friendly and easy to use. We used it for a decade, left to try others, and came back. It's perfect for restaurants.
Dominick D. | COO | 12 locations | Current User | Validated Reviewer"Super easy to use with top-notch customer service."
Schedulefly is super easy to use and the customer service beats any other game out there. The owners themselves will give you their cell phone number and return your call.
Lisa C. | Owner | 2 locations | Current User | Validated Reviewer"Essential scheduling tool with excellent support."
When I call, I get to talk to a real person, not some phone tree or AI assistant. The product is valuable for its scheduling ease and communication features, and the initial setup was very easy.
Michael D. | Director of Operations | 21 locations | Validated Reviewer
Pricing
Simple pricing. No contracts. No surprises.
Everything included. No surprises. Cancel anytime.
Up to 19 staff
$30/mo
$1.00/day
20–39 staff
$40/mo
$1.33/day
40–59 staff
$50/mo
$1.67/day
60–79 staff
$60/mo
$2.00/day
30-Day Free Trial
No Credit Card Required
Every Feature Included
Real Human Support
No contracts
Cancel anytime
Stories
Stories About Amazing Restaurant People
In addition to our podcast and two Restaurant Owners Uncorked books (available on Amazon), we’ve made several short films over the years about some of the incredible people we are so lucky to serve.
FAQ
Common Questions
How much does Schedulefly cost?
Schedulefly is priced by staff count: $30/mo for up to 19 staff, $40/mo for 20-39, $50/mo for 40-59, and $60/mo for 60-79. All features are included, with no contracts. Restaurants with 80+ staff can call for a quote.
Does Schedulefly have a mobile app?
Yes. Schedulefly has free iOS and Android apps so staff can check schedules, trade shifts, and message teammates from their phones.
Is Schedulefly a good fit for small or independent restaurants?
Yes. Schedulefly is built specifically for independent restaurants and hospitality businesses, with a simple, focused feature set rather than enterprise complexity.
Is there a contract or setup fee?
No contracts and no setup fees. Schedulefly is month-to-month, all features included, and you can cancel anytime. A 30-day free trial is available with no credit card required.
BRAND POINT OF VIEW
We built Schedulefly for independent restaurants. We kept it that way.
We’re not trying to be the biggest scheduling platform out there. We’re trying to be the most useful, most trusted, and most human one. We have everything you need to schedule and communicate with your team — and none of the bells and whistles you don’t.
If you want something your managers will actually use and your staff will actually check, you are in the right place.
Ready to stop the chaos?
No credit card required. No contracts. Cancel anytime. All features included from day one.