Free employee scheduling & time clock app for one store
AI Assistant at the core
Is there a free scheduling and time clock app for a small store? Yes. DohOps Free gives one store (up to 8 users) scheduling, a kiosk and phone time clock, overtime, time off and team messaging at $0 for your first 6 months, after 30 days of the full Standard plan with no credit card. As of November 2026, Homebase, 7shifts, Connecteam and Sling also list free plans, and When I Work and Deputy offer free trials.
No credit card. Set up in under an hour.
What you get on DohOps Free
Every new business starts with 30 days of the full Standard plan: every feature, DohOps AI included, unlimited locations and up to 8 users. No credit card. On day 30, if you haven't subscribed, your business moves to DohOps Free automatically for the rest of your first 6 months.
DohOps Free covers one location and up to 8 users, with:
- Scheduling. Build the week's shifts and publish them; your crew sees the schedule in the app.
- Time clock on a kiosk and on phones. Staff clock in with a PIN on a shared tablet at the store, or from their own phone.
- Overtime. DohOps tracks weekly and daily overtime from the hours your team clocks.
- Time off. Employees request days off in the app and a manager approves or denies them; nobody approves their own request.
- Team messaging. One-to-one and group chats with your crew, inside the app.
- Job posts. Post an opening and share the apply link; candidates apply without making an account.
- Photo checklists you review yourself. Send opening, closing or cleaning checklists that ask for photos, then approve, reject or send back each hand-in yourself.
- DohOps AI, 30 requests a month. Ask questions in plain words, like “who is clocked in?”, or have it suggest an action that you confirm, such as drafting a week of open shifts from one sentence. Each question, action, draft or summary you ask for counts once toward the 30; translating messages doesn't count. If they run out, DohOps AI pauses until next month; the time clock, kiosk and scheduling keep working.
The DohOps app is in English, Spanish and Hindi, on the web, iPhone and Android, and DohOps AI understands and replies in all three. Setup takes under an hour.
What's not on Free, and when Standard makes sense
DohOps Free is for one location and up to 8 users, for your first 6 months. Not on Free: AI photo scoring (including the AI photo check before hand-in), bonus money (points still count), reports across stores, the payroll report, store audits, pulse surveys, fix-it tasks, the Hospitality module for hotels, a second location and a 9th user. They're all in Standard. Free does include a basic timesheet export, message read receipts, points, training courses, tickets, inventory, deliveries, food waste and customer feedback.
DohOps Standard is $99/month for unlimited locations, 8 users included, then $8 per extra user; every active employee counts as a user. Standard includes all 13 modules and DohOps AI, and it's month to month: cancel anytime. For example, a store with 12 people pays $99 + 4 × $8 = $131/month.
Standard makes sense when:
- you open a second store, or hire a 9th person;
- you want DohOps AI to score photo hand-ins against your example photo (opt-in per checklist), with a manager making the final call;
- you want to record bonuses for approved checklists;
- you want reports across your stores;
- you run a hotel: $99 plus $1.99 per room a month, never less than the standard per-user price.
Upgrade early, lock your price. Subscribe to Standard during your 30-day trial or any time while you're on Free, and your $99/month price is locked for 2 years. Extra users are still $8 each. Every plan is on the pricing page, and this guide explains why DohOps has no per-location fee.
How the 6 months work
DohOps Free counts from the day you sign up, and the 30-day trial is part of your first 6 months.
- Days 1 to 30: the full Standard plan. Every feature, DohOps AI included, unlimited locations, up to 8 users. No credit card.
- Day 30: DohOps Free. If you haven't subscribed, your business moves to Free automatically: one location, up to 8 active users, 30 DohOps AI requests a month. If you have more, you choose the location and the 8 people who stay active; the others are paused, never deleted, until you subscribe.
- Months 4, 5 and 6: reminders. We remind you in each of those months, and again 7 days before Free ends.
- After 6 months: your choice. Subscribe to Standard to keep going. Otherwise your account becomes read-only: staff can no longer clock in, and you can still export your data.
- One Free business per owner. A second location means subscribing to Standard. Adding a second business ends Free for the first one too: each business subscribes, and the new one gets no trial.
- The 8 users are active people, including staff who only use the kiosk. People you deactivate don't count.
- Once you've paid, you stay on Standard. If you cancel, the account becomes read-only with your data ready to export; it doesn't go back to Free.
- A verified mobile number is needed to start Free.
- “Powered by DohOps” shows on pages a Free business shares, like its job apply page.
Other free plans for one store, as of November 2026
DohOps is one of several scheduling apps with a $0 option for a small team. Here is what each vendor listed on its own website in November 2026:
| App | Free option | Listed limit or trial |
|---|---|---|
| DohOps | DohOps Free, $0 for your first 6 months (after a 30-day full trial) | 1 location, up to 8 users |
| Homebase | Basic, $0 | 1 location, up to 10 employees |
| 7shifts | Comp, $0 | 1 location, up to 15 employees |
| Connecteam | Small Business plan, $0 | Up to 10 users |
| Sling | Free plan | Up to 30 users (accounts not linked to Toast POS) |
| When I Work | No free plan | 14-day free trial |
| Deputy | No free plan | Free trial of up to 31 days |
Each is worth a look for a single store. The limits are counted differently (by location, by employees or by users), so match them to everyone who will clock in, and check each vendor's own pricing page before you choose. DohOps Free is for your first 6 months from sign-up.
DohOps is our product. Homebase, 7shifts, Connecteam, Sling, When I Work and Deputy are trademarks of their owners; no endorsement is implied.
What to look for in a free scheduling app for a store
Whichever app you pick, check these before your crew starts using it:
- Kiosk, phones, or both. A shared tablet at the counter suits crews who don't use their phones at work; phone clock-in suits everyone else. DohOps does both: the kiosk uses a PIN and can be locked to your store's own network, and phone clock-in can check that the employee is at the store.
- Overtime before payday. Look for overtime worked out from clocked hours, not in a spreadsheet. DohOps tracks weekly and daily overtime, and you can ask DohOps AI who is in overtime this week.
- Time off in the app. Requests, approvals and a record of who is off. DohOps checks for time off when you add a shift.
- Messaging in the same app. Schedule changes and store notes stay next to the schedule instead of in personal group texts.
- Photo checklists. Opening, closing and cleaning lists with photo proof you can check from your phone. On DohOps Free you review them yourself; AI photo scoring is in Standard.
- Languages your crew reads. The DohOps app is in English, Spanish and Hindi; DohOps AI understands and replies in all three.
- Hours for payroll. Ask how hours get to whoever runs payroll. DohOps does not run payroll or connect to payroll providers; Standard has payroll reports you can export to CSV, Excel or PDF.
- Limits that fit, and what comes next. Check how the free plan counts people (users or employees), how many locations it covers, how long it lasts and what happens after. On DohOps: one location, up to 8 users, your first 6 months, then Standard, or read-only with your data ready to export.
Running one store? Start on DohOps Free: one location, up to 8 users, free for your first 6 months. See how DohOps works in convenience stores, gas stations, QSR and franchise units, restaurants, retail shops and bars.
DohOps Free FAQ
Keep reading
Smart Scheduling
Build, publish and share the week's schedule from your phone or laptop.
Time & Attendance
How the kiosk PIN and phone clock-in work, and how DohOps tracks overtime.
Photo checklists
Opening, closing and cleaning checklists with photo proof, reviewed in one inbox.
Per-store vs no location fee
How per-location pricing adds up as you open stores, and how DohOps Standard is priced.
Run your store on DohOps Free.
Start free: every feature for 30 days, then DohOps Free for one location (up to 8 users) through your first 6 months. No credit card.