This is version 1.0 of the scheduling model, and it's published: these weights are final. We read every price and clause on the vendor's own pages, note the date we read it and link to it. The table below is generated from the model itself, so its weights are always the ones we use.
We compare the same restaurant for every app: one location and fifteen people who need an account, counting the managers who need one, over twelve months. Your sales don't change these prices, so the calculator doesn't ask for them.
We score what a restaurant feels every week when it builds the schedule and pays for hours:
- Cost. What the cheapest plan with scheduling and a time clock costs that restaurant over a year, billed month to month: the fee per user, per location or per block of users, plus fees every restaurant pays. A yearly price is shown in the plan notes, never priced as if you could cancel it monthly. Optional add-ons are shown, not added, and a price that isn't published counts as missing, never as zero. A free plan counts a little, and we say whether it only schedules or also tracks time.
- Scheduling. Labor cost against sales from your POS, shift swaps and open shifts, availability and time off, labor law alerts, automatic schedules and team messages.
- Time clock. Whether the time clock is part of the plan, location checks at clock-in, breaks and overtime, and tip pooling.
- POS and payroll. Which POS systems connect and, apart from the logo list, which ones send sales to the schedule; and how hours reach payroll: the vendor's own payroll, a sync with payroll providers or only a file you upload.
- Contract and support. The initial term, whether you get a refund when you cancel, the notice to avoid a renewal and phone support. Every vendor gets the same contract template.
In the Spanish edition of this site, the Spanish-language criteria count too, channel by channel: the employee app, the manager dashboard, live support, help articles and the website in Spanish. An app store listing or a browser translation doesn't count as a Spanish interface. In this English edition they aren't part of the score.
Third-party ratings, promotions and anything commercial never count toward the score. We didn't open accounts or test the apps: the scores describe what each vendor documents, not how the app performs. A labor law alert is a tool, not legal advice. A vendor needs enough verified data before it enters any ranking.
Criteria and weights
Spanish-language criteria count only in the Spanish edition
These criteria count only in the Spanish edition of this site: employee app in Spanish, manager dashboard in Spanish, live support in Spanish, help articles in Spanish, and website in Spanish for the US. In this English edition they aren't part of the score, and the weights in the table add up to 100% without them. So a scheduling app can have a different RTC Score in each edition.
| Criterion | Pillar | Weight | What we measure | How it's scored |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12-month cost (reference restaurant) | Cost | 22% | 12-month software cost | 12-month software cost of the reference restaurant (1 location, 15 people): full score at $360, zero at $2,400 |
| Time clock | Time clock and attendance | 8% | Time clock | By option: Included in the comparable plan → 10/10; Paid add-on → 3/10; Not offered → 0/10 |
| POS systems it connects to | POS and payroll | 8% | POS systems it connects to | By option: Toast → 1.4/10; Square → 1.4/10; Clover → 1.4/10; Shift4 POS → 1.4/10; Lightspeed → 1.4/10; SpotOn → 1.4/10; Heartland (Genius) → 1.4/10; TouchBistro → 0/10; Others → 0/10 |
| Hours into payroll | POS and payroll | 7% | Getting hours into payroll | By option: Its own payroll (paid add-on) → 10/10; Hours sync to payroll providers → 10/10; Timesheet file export only → 4/10; No → 0/10 |
| Labor cost against sales | Scheduling | 6% | Labor cost against sales | By option: Sales forecast from your POS, with labor cost on the schedule → 10/10; Labor cost on the schedule, without sales → 5/10; No → 0/10 |
| Published pricing | Cost | 5% | Published pricing | By option: Published → 10/10; Partly published → 5/10; Quote only → 0/10 |
| Shift swaps and open shifts | Scheduling | 5% | Shift swaps and open shifts in the app | Yes = 10/10, No = 0/10 |
| POS sales on the schedule | POS and payroll | 5% | POS that send sales | By option: Toast → 1.4/10; Square → 1.4/10; Clover → 1.4/10; Shift4 POS → 1.4/10; Lightspeed → 1.4/10; SpotOn → 1.4/10; Heartland (Genius) → 1.4/10; TouchBistro → 0/10; Others → 0/10 |
| Initial term | Contract and exit | 5% | Initial term | By steps: Up to 11 months → 10/10; 12–23 months → 5/10; 24–35 months → 2.5/10; 36 months or more → 0/10 |
| Refund when you cancel | Contract and exit | 4% | Refund when you cancel | By option: Unused time refunded → 10/10; Only in some cases (for example, early in an annual plan) → 5/10; No refund of the period already paid → 0/10 |
| Free plan | Cost | 3% | Free plan | By option: Yes, with scheduling and a time clock → 10/10; Yes, scheduling only → 5/10; No free plan → 0/10 |
| Availability and time off | Scheduling | 3% | Availability and time-off requests | Yes = 10/10, No = 0/10 |
| Labor law alerts | Scheduling | 3% | Labor law alerts | By option: Overtime and breaks, plus predictive scheduling (fair workweek) rules → 10/10; Overtime and break alerts → 6/10; No → 0/10 |
| Location check at clock-in | Time clock and attendance | 3% | Location check (GPS or geofence) | Yes = 10/10, No = 0/10 |
| Notice to avoid renewal | Contract and exit | 3% | Notice to avoid renewal | Linear: full score at 30 days, zero at 90 days |
| Breaks and overtime | Time clock and attendance | 2.5% | Breaks and overtime on timesheets | Yes = 10/10, No = 0/10 |
| Tip pooling and payouts | Time clock and attendance | 2.5% | Tip pooling and payouts | By option: Included → 10/10; Paid add-on or higher plan → 5/10; Not offered → 0/10 |
| Phone support | Support | 2% | Phone support | Yes = 10/10, No = 0/10 |
| Automatic schedule builder | Scheduling | 1.5% | Automatic schedule builder | Yes = 10/10, No = 0/10 |
| Team messaging | Scheduling | 1.5% | Team messaging | Yes = 10/10, No = 0/10 |
The formula
Each criterion gives a partial score from 0 to 1. The RTC Score is 10 × the weighted average of the criteria we could verify, reduced when data is missing: × (1 − 0.5 × (1 − completeness)). Completeness is the share of the total weight we could verify.
Below 60% completeness, a scheduling app is marked as not having enough data and isn't ranked. That check always uses the base weights, so a ranking by type of business never includes an app the overall ranking leaves out. A price the vendor doesn't publish counts as missing: it lowers completeness, and with too little data the app isn't ranked.
Reference profile for cost
Reference: 1 location, 15 people with an account, 12 months: 1 location(s), 15 people with an account and 0 screen(s) per location, over 12 months.
Assumptions behind the cost criteria
- The cost adds the cheapest plan that covers the reference restaurant (priced per account, location, user or screen), the monthly and yearly fees, usage fees (per guest, text message or invoice) and one-time setup and hardware.
- Optional add-ons are shown on each pricing page but not added. A module the reference restaurant always needs is added.
- A price the provider doesn't publish never counts as $0: the estimate stays incomplete and the cost criterion counts as missing.
- Promotions, like free months, are never taken off the cost and never count in the score.
Weights by type of business
Rankings by type of business multiply some weights. The overall ranking always uses the base weights.
| Type of business | Adjustments |
|---|---|
| Small restaurants and cafés | 12-month cost (reference restaurant) ×1.25 · Free plan ×2 · Initial term ×1.25 · Labor cost against sales ×0.75 |
| Multi-location | 12-month cost (reference restaurant) ×0.8 · POS sales on the schedule ×1.5 · Labor law alerts ×1.5 · Automatic schedule builder ×1.5 |
What never affects a score
Commissions, affiliate deals, sponsorships and price requests. The scoring engine has no access to them, and every vendor gets the same rubric.
Changelog
v1.0.0 ·
Published version. The weights of the 0.1.0 draft are now final, so no score changes with this version. This section is no longer a draft.
v0.1.0 ·
First draft for employee scheduling software. The score covers the 12-month software cost for one location with 15 people (30%, with published pricing and the free plan), scheduling tools (20%), the time clock (16%), POS and payroll connections (20%), contract terms (12%) and phone support (2%). In the Spanish edition, Spanish-language criteria (employee app, manager dashboard, live support, help articles and website in Spanish) count for 10% and every other weight is scaled by 0.9. Third-party ratings and promotions don't count toward the score. Weights are pending external validation.