Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

When I Work VS Notion

Compare When I Work VS Notion and see what are their differences

When I Work logo When I Work

When I Work is an employee scheduling and communication app using the web, mobile apps, text messaging, social media, and email.

Notion logo Notion

All-in-one workspace. One tool for your whole team. Write, plan, and get organized.
  • When I Work Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-07-30
  • Notion Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-12

When I Work features and specs

  • User-Friendly Interface
    When I Work offers a clean, intuitive interface that both employers and employees find easy to navigate, making scheduling and communication straightforward.
  • Mobile Accessibility
    The mobile app allows employees to check schedules, request time off, and communicate from anywhere, enhancing flexibility and accessibility.
  • Efficient Scheduling
    Automated scheduling features help managers save time by quickly creating and adjusting schedules based on employee availability and business needs.
  • Time Tracking Integration
    When I Work integrates time tracking and attendance, simplifying payroll processes and ensuring accurate timekeeping.
  • Employee Management
    The platform supports streamlined employee management with tools for communication, task assignment, and shift reminders.

Possible disadvantages of When I Work

  • Cost
    While powerful, When I Work can be relatively expensive, especially for smaller businesses with tight budgets.
  • Limited Customization
    Some users have reported that the software offers limited customization options for specific business needs and scheduling intricacies.
  • Learning Curve
    Although generally user-friendly, some features may have a learning curve for new users, particularly those who are not tech-savvy.
  • Customer Support
    While adequate, some users have experienced delays or difficulties in getting timely support from the customer service team.
  • Feature Limitations in Basic Plan
    The basic plan may not include all the advanced features, requiring an upgrade to access the full range of functionalities.

Notion features and specs

  • All-in-One Workspace
    Notion combines note-taking, task management, databases, calendars, and collaboration features in a single platform, reducing the need for multiple tools.
  • Highly Customizable
    Users can tailor Notion to fit their specific workflow with customizable templates, pages, and databases, making it versatile for various use cases.
  • Collaboration Features
    Notion offers seamless collaboration with real-time editing, comments, mentions, and shared workspaces, enhancing teamwork and productivity.
  • Cross-Platform Availability
    Notion is available on multiple platforms, including web, desktop, and mobile, providing flexibility and accessibility from anywhere.
  • Integration Capability
    Notion supports integrations with various third-party applications like Google Drive, Slack, and Trello, allowing for a more interconnected workflow.

Possible disadvantages of Notion

  • Learning Curve
    Due to its extensive features and customization options, new users might find Notion challenging to learn and navigate initially.
  • Performance Issues
    Some users report that Notion can become slow or experience lag, especially with large databases and complex pages.
  • Offline Limitations
    While Notion offers some offline capabilities, its functionality is significantly reduced without an internet connection, which can be inconvenient for some users.
  • Pricing for Teams
    Though Notion offers a free version, its premium plans can be expensive for larger teams, which may be a constraint for startups or small businesses.
  • Privacy Concerns
    As with any cloud-based service, there are potential privacy and data security concerns, especially for users handling sensitive information.

Analysis of When I Work

Overall verdict

  • When I Work (wheniwork.com) is generally considered a good scheduling and workforce management tool.

Why this product is good

  • When I Work is praised for its user-friendly interface, ease of scheduling, and communication features that streamline shift management. It offers time tracking, team messaging, and integration capabilities to assist in simplifying workforce operations.

Recommended for

    When I Work is recommended for small to medium-sized businesses looking for an efficient and intuitive platform to manage employee schedules, track time, and facilitate communication between team members. It is particularly useful for industries such as retail, healthcare, hospitality, and restaurant services where shift work is common.

When I Work videos

Digital Unboxing: When I Work

More videos:

  • Review - When I Work - Review and Edit Timesheets

Notion videos

The Most Powerful Productivity App I Use - Notion

More videos:

  • Review - I switched to Notion for a week... Here's what happened!
  • Review - Notion is Truly an All-in-One Productivity Tool (App Review)

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to When I Work and Notion)
Employee Scheduling
100 100%
0% 0
Productivity
0 0%
100% 100
Time Tracking
100 100%
0% 0
Project Management
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

Share your experience with using When I Work and Notion. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare When I Work and Notion

When I Work Reviews

The 9 Best Paid and Free WhenIWork Alternatives
Whether youโ€™ve grown tired of When I Work or are looking to change things up and see if thereโ€™s an app thatโ€™s better out there โ€“ then this article is for you. In just a moment, we will walk you through nine different software that we believe are fantastic alternatives to When I Work.
Source: everhour.com

Notion Reviews

  1. jk22
    ยท consultant at GFI ยท
    Notion has helped in documenting our business

    It's been very very helpful to streamline different people on our team, especially remote workers to help them understand what's going on in our business without 100s of meetings.

    ๐Ÿ‘ Pros:    Ui is very attractive|Easy to use|Great for collaboration|Good customer service|Free to use
    ๐Ÿ‘Ž Cons:    Steep learning curve
  2. Ramesh Kumar
    ยท Product Manager at Aerial ยท
    Extremely helpful- made life easier

    My remote-first start-up has eliminated more than 200+ hours of meetings and 1000s of mismanaged documents because our entire communication happens through Notion.

    ๐Ÿ‘ Pros:    Clean ui|File sharing|Modular
    ๐Ÿ‘Ž Cons:    Learning curve
  3. Boyd Richardson
    ยท Writer at SE ยท

    As someone who's always on the lookout for the perfect productivity app, I was excited to try out Notion. It promises to be an all-in-one tool for everything from note-taking to project management to personal wikis.

    From the moment you open Notion, you can tell that it's different from other productivity apps. The interface is sleek and modern, and it's easy to navigate. The app is divided into pages, which can be customized with different templates to fit your needs. You can create to-do lists, databases, wikis, calendars, and more.

    One of the things I love about Notion is the ability to create relationships between pages. For example, you can create a database of your favorite books and then link to a page with your book reviews. Or you can create a to-do list and link to a page with notes about the task. This feature makes it easy to keep all of your information in one place and to connect related items.

    ๐Ÿ Competitors: Microsoft Loop
    ๐Ÿ‘ Pros:    Highly customizable|All in one|Collaboration|Cross platform
    ๐Ÿ‘Ž Cons:    Steep learning curve

Top 10 Productivity Apps for MacOSย 2025
Okay, I know, I know. Notion is probably the most predictable pick for a productivity app list. But hereโ€™s the thing: Itโ€™s popular for a reason. Notionโ€™s flexibility, customisation, and overall smooth user experience make it a standout, no matter how many times it pops up on productivity lists. Whether youโ€™re organising tasks, taking notes, or creating databases, Notion lets...
Source: dev.to
Top 10 Notion Alternatives for 2025 and Why Teams Are Choosing Ledger
If you're looking for a Notion alternative that supports real, scalable teamwork, you're not alone. Whether youโ€™ve outgrown Notion or are just exploring more robust, team-friendly platforms, hereโ€™s a breakdown of the top 10 alternatives in 2025โ€”and why Ledger is becoming the go-to choice for modern teams.
How Tight-Knit Teams Get More Done with Innovative Project Management Tools
Notion: More than a task manager, it acts as a knowledge base. You can store guidelines, references, wikis, and to-do lists all under one roof.
Source: medium.com
11 Popular Knowledge Management Tools to Consider in 2025ย 
Notion AI (Optional Add-on) โ€“ $8 per user/month (billed annually). Available for all plans (including the free plan)
Source: knowmax.ai
11 Best Google Keeps Alternatives for 2024
Unlike other note-taking apps, Notion stands out for its endless customization. Itโ€™s like an all-in-one workspace structured by pages and blocks.
Source: upbase.io

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Notion seems to be a lot more popular than When I Work. While we know about 441 links to Notion, we've tracked only 6 mentions of When I Work. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

When I Work mentions (6)

  • Employee calendars that all super admins have access to
    How are the users accessing these calendars if you don't create accounts for them? What you probably want is a work scheduling service like when I work: https://wheniwork.com. Source: over 2 years ago
  • Volunteer schedule with varying hours
    You could try something like this: https://wheniwork.com. Source: about 3 years ago
  • Labour as a percentage of sales.
    I record all of our takings through a spreadsheet and from this I add our takings into wheniwork.com and get my labour as a percentage of sales. Source: about 4 years ago
  • Web-Based Time Keeping System Suggestions
    Look at wheniwork.com. We used them a few years ago and they had lots of features. Source: about 4 years ago
  • Web/App-based Time Tracking Application for Lab use
    We are going to resume our work in few weeks and looking for efficient time tracking applications to keep track of the people working in the lab at any given time. In one lab I am using WhenIWork app and planning to us clockify in the second lab. Both of them are free and have some pros and cons. I was wondering if anybody has experience using any other software (free) in your lab. We are a team of 5-6 people and... Source: over 4 years ago
View more

Notion mentions (441)

  • Cool SHIT you can do with docker
    Two of the most popular open source note taking app are affine (basically notion but open source) and obsidian (which stores notes in markdown). - Source: dev.to / 11 months ago
  • Ask HN: Who is hiring? (October 2024)
    Notion | https://notion.so | Android Engineer | SF | hybrid (in office 2x a week) | Full time
      Level: Mid/Mid+ (4-6yrs experience).
    - Source: Hacker News / about 1 year ago
  • Karyam: Simples everyday writing app
    Advanced Notion and Google Doc writing editor. - Source: dev.to / over 1 year ago
  • My blog post workflow
    I manage my non-work and work-adjacent tasks in Notion. Whenever I have an idea, regardless of how big or small or silly or achievable it is, I'll add it to Notion, and use labels to categorise it by type of output (e.g. blog, silly project, website update). Today I wanted to write a short post for my site. I clicked on the filtered blog post view, and selected this one (because I hoped it would be a quick one!). - Source: dev.to / over 1 year ago
  • 6 AI tools that feels illegal to know๐Ÿค–
    Notion.so redefines workspaces. With its intelligent organization and collaboration features, it's more than a productivity toolโ€”it's a digital haven. Discover the art of streamlined and efficient teamwork. - Source: dev.to / almost 2 years ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing When I Work and Notion, you can also consider the following products

Deputy - Deputy is a software for employee scheduling, time and attendance and communication management.

Trello - Infinitely flexible. Incredibly easy to use. Great mobile apps. It's free. Trello keeps track of everything, from the big picture to the minute details.

ResourceGuru - The fast, simple way to schedule people, equipment, and other resources online.

Asana - Asana project management is an effort to re-imagine how we work together, through modern productivity software. Fast and versatile, Asana helps individuals and groups get more done.

Sling - Sling is a free shift scheduling and communication software. It is built around four main features - shifts, messages, newsfeed and tasks, making it possible for managers to organize all aspects of their work on a single platform.

Evernote - Bring your life's work together in one digital workspace. Evernote is the place to collect inspirational ideas, write meaningful words, and move your important projects forward.