When I Work alternative

Clock in, approve the week, no price per person.

A time clock, timesheets, time off, hiring and Team chat next to your CRM, deals and invoices. Every plan has unlimited users, so a new hire never adds to the bill.

Start free

Free plan, no card. Add your team and invite them by email.

Northwind StudioEmployeesWebsite chatTasksCustomersMaya, operations lead

When I Work and Alori, side by side.

When I WorkAlori

Main ideaShift scheduling and a time clock for hourly teamsAn all-in-one app with a time clock, HR and a CRM

Price$2.50 to $8 a user a month, 14-day trialFree to start, Solo from $99 a month, unlimited users

Shift schedules, open shifts and swapsYes, with auto-scheduling and templatesNo

Clock-inWith GPS or geofencingFrom My space on a computer or phone, no GPS

Timesheets and payroll hoursYes, with payroll integrationsApprove the week, Export to CSV with overtime

Time offYesYes, with balances and a team calendar

Team chatIn-app messagingChannels, direct messages and voice rooms

CRM, deals and invoicesNoBuilt in

From a clock-in to payroll.

Watch a teammate clock in, the week get approved, a time off request get answered and the hours go out for payroll.

1Clock in from My space
2Approve the week
3Answer time off, with who else is off
4Export the hours for payroll

Clock in from My space

What changes on Monday.

01
BeforeA shift scheduler the team never opens
With AloriA clock, an approved week and time off
02
BeforeEvery hire and part-timer adds a user to the bill
With AloriUnlimited users on every plan
03
BeforeHours in one app, clients and invoices in others
With AloriThe team and the clients in the same app

The bot meets every applicant first.

Post an opening and it shows on your career page. When someone applies with a phone number, the bot texts them your questions, one at a time, then gives you a fit from 1 to 5.

Keep the usual questions or write up to 5 of your own.
Click Hire and their employee file and first-day list start on their own.
Contracts are signed in the app with a finger.

Team chat, with your bot in it.

Channels, direct messages, threads and voice rooms you drop into. Write @Sam in any channel and he answers there: who is off, whose week waits for approval, which client is waiting.

Voice rooms are always open: click one and you're talking.
Invite a client or a contractor to one channel as a guest.
Unlimited users on every plan, so everyone is in.

Change it by asking.

Your app isn’t frozen on day one. Write what you need, the way you’d text it. Alori makes the change and shows you before anything goes live.

Who is off next week?
Approve everyone's hours for last week
How much overtime did Theo do this month?
Post an opening for a part-time support rep

The full guide

Everything above, in detail: how it works, what it replaces and what it does not.

Short answer: Alori is a When I Work alternative for small software companies and agencies that use a time clock, timesheets and time off, but don't plan their week in shifts. Alori keeps those next to your CRM, deals and invoices, adds hiring, onboarding and Team chat, and has unlimited users on every plan. It has no shift scheduler, so teams that build shift schedules every week should stay on When I Work. Switching is adding your team and inviting them by email.

Why teams leave When I Work

When I Work is a well made scheduling and time clock app for hourly teams. Teams that aren't built on shifts leave it for these reasons:

When I Work is built around shifts, open shifts and swaps. A software company or agency mostly needs a clock, an approved week and time off.
Plans are priced per user, so each hire, part-timer and contractor adds to the bill.
Hours and team messages are in When I Work, clients, deals and invoices in other tools. The same people are listed twice.

What you pay

When I Work, as listed on its pricing page in November 2026:

Team of 5	When I Work	Alori
Price	$2.50 a user a month on Essentials ($12.50), $5 on Pro ($25), $8 on Premium ($40)	Free to start, Solo from $99 a month, Business from $249
Free plan	No, a 14-day trial	Yes, no card needed
New hires	Each one adds a user	Unlimited users on every plan
CRM, deals and invoices	Not included	Included

For a shift schedule and time clock alone, When I Work costs less. Alori pays off when it also replaces your HR tool, your team chat and your CRM. See pricing.

What Alori replaces

A time clock: people clock in and out from My space, on a computer or a phone, or tell Ask Sam "clock me in".
Approve each person's week under Timesheets, fix a day, or add hours someone forgot. An approved week is locked until you reopen it.
Export to CSV gives one line per person per week: regular hours, overtime past 40 hours, hours on a statutory holiday and the total, ready for Gusto, ADP, Paychex or your accountant.
People ask for time off from their phone, you answer under To answer with who else is off in view, and they hear back in the app and by email. Each file shows what is left.
A team calendar shows time off, requests waiting for an answer, birthdays, start dates and departures in one place.
Hiring and onboarding: openings on your career page, a bot that texts each applicant your questions and rates the fit, then a first-day list and documents signed in the app.
Team chat: channels, direct messages, threads and voice rooms, with Sam, your team bot. See the Slack alternative.
The client work around it: customers, deals, tasks and invoices, in the same app as the hours.

What Alori doesn't do yet

Shift scheduling: no shift schedules to build and publish, no auto-scheduling, schedule templates, open shifts or shift swaps, and no labor forecast. No GPS or geofenced clock-in, no POS integration and no payroll. Alori's Schedule shows your team's calendars side by side, but it is not a shift planner. If you schedule hourly shifts every week, stay on When I Work.

How to switch

Start free. Describe your business. Alori builds your app with Employees and Team chat.
Add your team. Click Add an employee for each person, or paste your When I Work user list into Ask Sam: "Add these employees". Pick Hourly for anyone who keeps a timesheet, and invite each person by email so they get My space.
Add time off already approved. Tell Ask Sam "add vacation for Theo from December 22 to January 2", and check the days a year for each kind of time off.
Run your first week. Your team clocks in from My space. Approve the weeks under Timesheets and click Export to CSV for payroll. Past timesheets stay in When I Work: export them there for your records.

Questions

Another question? Ask it when you start.

Yes for software companies and agencies that need a time clock, timesheets, time off and hiring next to their clients and invoices. For teams that build hourly shift schedules, When I Work fits better.

Alori has a free plan with no card needed, and unlimited users on every plan. For a schedule and time clock alone, When I Work's per-user price is lower. Alori costs less once it replaces your HR tool, team chat and CRM too.

Your team: paste the list into Ask Sam or add each person. Upcoming time off can be added by chat. Shift schedules and past timesheets stay in When I Work.

No. Alori has no shift scheduler. People clock in when they work, and you approve their week.

Small software companies and agencies, usually under 50 people. See how Alori handles team management.

See all →

Your turn.

Describe your business in a sentence. Alori builds the app.