Running a restaurant comes with many challenges, and managing your staff effectively is crucial to keeping operations smooth and your customers happy.
While platforms like Jolt offer powerful tools for time tracking, scheduling, and food safety management, they might not be the best fit for every business.
Small restaurants, cafes, or bars may find Jolt’s complexity overwhelming, and the lack of dedicated HR and administrative support can be a drawback.
If you’re looking for a more tailored solution, we’ve reviewed the top 5 Jolt competitors in 2024. Below, we explore each option’s standout features, pros, cons, and its pricing to help you find the perfect restaurant management software for your business.
What is Jolt and Why Is It Used For?
Jolt is a restaurant management software created to simplify operations for restaurant owners, offering tools to streamline food safety, inventory management, and team oversight. Jolt enhances restaurant efficiency by managing daily checklists and boosting employee productivity.
With Jolt, users can integrate hardware such as meat thermometers, refrigerator and freezer monitors, line prep stations, and bread proofers, making it ideal for busy restaurant managers who need to stay compliant with food safety regulations and inspections.
The platform also includes tools for organizing inventory and creating lists, keeping the back-of-house operations efficient and clean.
Additionally, Jolt’s information library allows managers to centralize recipes and training materials for both new and experienced staff members.
Why Consider Jolt Alternatives?
Jolt is a robust solution for larger restaurants and franchises that need to streamline food handling processes. However, it may not be the best fit for restaurants of all sizes, especially when it comes to managing employees and operations.
You Need Simpler Team Management Tools
While Jolt offers connected devices for food safety and inventory management, its team operation features fall short in terms of flexibility and ease of use. The time clock, scheduling, and chat tools are not user-friendly or mobile-optimized, which is inconvenient for restaurant owners who need to manage teams remotely.
You Want a Platform with an Easier Learning Curve
Jolt’s customer support is responsive and helpful when it comes to training and troubleshooting. However, small restaurant and cafe owners rarely have the time to rely on support just to understand how to use their software. It’s better to choose an alternative that you and your team can quickly learn and integrate into daily operations without much hassle.
You’re Looking for a Small Business-Friendly Solution
Most Jolt users are mid-sized restaurants with 50 to 1,000 employees, which allows for bigger budgets to invest in additional tools. However, Jolt doesn’t handle critical tasks like payroll, document storage, or tax filing. Small restaurant owners need software that can multitask, covering communication, scheduling, time tracking, payroll, and HR without stretching resources.
Key Features to Consider in Jolt Alternatives
If you’re having trouble finding the right replacement for Jolt, it may be because you haven’t explored options with these crucial features:
Tailored for Small Businesses
Running a small business doesn’t require expertise in HR, labor law, or accounting, but you still need to comply with regulations. Look for platforms that offer built-in notifications and reminders to help you stay compliant. It’s even better if the platform connects you to HR resources, templates, and experts for added support.
Ease of Use
User-friendly software minimizes mistakes during shift changes, availability updates, or clock-ins and outs. A well-organized layout makes it easy for employees to navigate the platform without confusion or frustration. This reduces the time you’ll spend answering questions or offering additional training.
Comprehensive Team Management Tools
Many platforms focus solely on time tracking, scheduling, and communication. While these are essential for keeping your staff informed and coordinated, consider solutions that also offer tools for onboarding, training, and centralizing team data. This helps streamline processes, keep software management simple, and control business costs.
Affordability
Pricing models vary, and not all are suitable for small business budgets. Start with a platform that offers a robust free plan. For more advanced features, look for solutions that charge per location rather than per user to avoid higher costs as your team expands.
The 5 Best Jolt Alternatives
Each Jolt alternatives in our list is crafted to enhance restaurant staff management:
KNOW: Best all-in-one restaurant management solution
7shifts: Ideal for tip pooling
HotSchedules: Perfect for labor forecasting
Restaurant365: Best for controlling business expenses
Sling: Great for budget-friendly scheduling
Features
KNOW
7Shifts
HotSchedules
Restaurant 365
Sling
Scheduling/Shift Planning
✅
✅
✅
✅
✅
Time Tracking/Attendance
✅
✅
✅
✅
✅
Checklist of all kinds
✅
❌
❌
❌
❌
Employee Training
✅
❌
❌
✅
❌
Food Safety Hygiene
✅
❌
❌
❌
❌
Audits and Compliance
✅
✅
✅
❌
❌
Faults, maintenance and incident resolution
✅
❌
❌
❌
❌
Team Communication
✅
✅
❌
✅
✅
Top Jolt Alternatives for Businesses in 2024
Here’s an overview of software options that can replace Jolt. These Jolt alternatives will help you understand what each platform offers and how they align with your business needs.
KNOW is the most user-friendly, affordable, and comprehensive restaurant management software that can help digitize your restaurant operations. It’s perfect for restaurants of all sizes, from small cafes to large multi-unit franchise groups.
Designed to simplify daily operations, labor management, maintenance, and compliance, KNOW helps owners of restaurants, cafes, bars, and other hospitality businesses reduce their workload, save time, and boost productivity.
But KNOW offers more than just daily task management.
With features for quality management, including HACCP checks, hygiene audits, and inspections, KNOW ensures that you stay on top of food safety. Its intuitive platform keeps a complete audit log of all actions, so you’ll never worry about missing files or unclear records again.
Key Features of KNOW:
Checklists Manage kitchen handovers, complete opening/closing checklists, and log daily sales and wastage effortlessly.
Food Safety and Hygiene Organize HACCP checks, hygiene audits, and monitor food and equipment temperatures.
Audits and Compliance Digitize pest control, fire safety, equipment checks, and facility inspections with ease.
Onboarding and Employee Training Create custom learning paths for new hires with bite-sized content, and give them access to your knowledge base anytime.
Faults, Maintenance & Incident Resolution Quickly report, track, and resolve equipment issues, repairs, and incidents.
Scheduling & Attendance Management
Best employee scheduling app that helps plan employee schedules and track attendance for both full-time and part-time staff, ensuring smooth operations.
Pros and Cons
Pros
Ready to use with simple configuration options.
Simple interface, works offline, and supports low-tech devices.
Available in various languages for global teams.
Accessible on mobile for scheduling, training, and issue tracking.
In-app communication and notification for team accountability.
Cons
Some features might require extra time to master.
Pricing
The website does not list specific pricing details. However, KNOW offers a free, no-obligation demo, allowing you to explore the software and its features before making any commitments.
7shifts is a restaurant-focused team management tool that simplifies scheduling, time tracking, hiring, onboarding, and employee management. Employees can use the 7shifts mobile app to clock in and out, view their schedules, and communicate with coworkers and managers.
For restaurants dealing with tipping regulations, 7shifts offers customizable tip pooling and payroll integration, ensuring fair and accurate tip distribution.
Key Features
Drag-and-Drop Scheduling: Easily create and save customizable scheduling templates using drag and drop interface.
Mobile Time Clock: Prevents buddy punching and time theft.
Hiring & Onboarding Tools: Includes document storage for new hires.
Tip Management: Customize tip pools and process tips with payroll.
Team Communication: Centralized messaging and task management tools.
Pros & Cons
Pros:
Integrates with popular POS systems.
Makes scheduling and team communication easy.
Highly user-friendly.
Cons:
The shift-trading feature can be tricky to use.
Lacks rules for time-off requests.
Higher price compared to competitors.
Pricing
7shifts offers four pricing tiers: Comp (free for up to 30 employees), Entrée ($29.99/month for up to 30 employees), The Works ($69.99/month for unlimited employees), and Gourmet ($135/month for unlimited employees). Each tier progressively adds more advanced features for scheduling, communication, compliance, and management, catering to different team sizes and needs.
HotSchedules, powered by Fourth, offers a comprehensive suite of tools for managing inventory, team operations, and scheduling, designed specifically for the restaurant and hospitality industry.
HotSchedules serves as Fourth’s dedicated employee scheduling solution, allowing managers to easily create and share schedules with staff via the mobile app.
While it’s a simple scheduling tool that small businesses can use effectively, it lacks built-in time tracking. When combined with other Fourth products, it’s ideal for larger restaurants and franchises.
Key Features
Employee Scheduling: Create schedules with shift-swapping options.
Integration with Fourth: Access to inventory management, labor costing, and applicant tracking.
Time-Off Requests: Easy management of employee leave.
In-App Messaging: Communicate with your team directly through the app.
Analytics & Reporting: Generate insights on operations and employee performance.
Pros & Cons
Pros:
Excellent for employee scheduling and labor forecasting.
Easy-to-use interface.
Convenient shift-swapping feature.
Cons:
No built-in time tracking tools.
Setup can be a bit challenging.
Pricing
Pricing for HotSchedules is not readily available. For details, you’ll need to contact them directly.
Restaurant365 is a robust platform designed to help restaurant owners manage expenses, finances, inventory, and staff. The platform’s R365 Workforce solution covers hiring, onboarding, scheduling, and benefits administration, making it an excellent fit for established restaurants and franchises offering employee benefits like health insurance.
Additionally, R365 Accounting offers powerful tools for menu analysis, cash flow management, inventory management, and profitability tracking, ensuring your restaurant remains efficient and cost-effective.
Key Features
Employee Schedules: Includes shift-swapping tools for flexibility.
Hiring & Onboarding: Grow your team with easy recruitment and training features for new employees.
Payroll Management: Full-service payroll for streamlined operations.
Accounting Software: Track expenses and control costs with in-depth financial reports.
Detailed Reporting: Get insights into profitability, cash flow, and more.
Pros & Cons
Pros:
User-friendly system.
Excellent customer support.
Great for training managers on financials and labor costs.
Cons:
Not budget-friendly for small restaurants.
Lacks built-in time tracking.
Limited employee communication tools.
Pricing
Restaurant365 pricing starts at $435 per location per month, with billing done quarterly.
5. Sling: One of the Best Employee Scheduling Tools
Sling is a flexible app built exclusively for employee scheduling. But it also offers additional tools for cost management, task management, employee tracking, and integrations. Employees can track their work hours via Sling’s mobile app and receive reminders for clocking in and out.
The app also facilitates seamless communication among team members and managers, with the ability to send announcements to the entire team.
One of Sling’s standout benefits is its free plan, which allows managers to create schedules for unlimited employees and locations. This makes it a great option for new restaurant owners working with a tight budget who need basic scheduling capabilities.
Key Features
Time Tracking: Mobile and kiosk-friendly time tracking that syncs with payroll.
Employee Scheduling: Shift-swapping and schedule template creation to save time.
Task Management: Assign tasks for every shift and track completion.
Communication Tools: In-app messaging for team coordination.
Labor Costing: Helps managers make informed scheduling decisions.
Pros & Cons
Pros:
Free version offers great value and ease of use.
Easy onboarding with a short learning curve.
Managers can quickly see who’s working at a glance.
Cons:
Occasional bugs and glitches.
Some features are a bit tricky to find on the dashboard.
Chat notifications can become overwhelming.
Pricing
Sling offers a Free Plan with basic scheduling and communication features. The Premium Plan ($1.70/user/month) and Business Plan ($3.40/user/month) add advanced tools like labor cost management, time tracking, and detailed payroll reports.
While Jolt can help manage your restaurant’s food safety and inventory, it might fall short when it comes to handling key team management tasks. You need a solution that offers both. If you’re searching for a platform that combines intuitive scheduling, onboarding, employee training, and expert audit and compliance tools, KNOW is your ideal choice.
KNOW simplifies employee scheduling and time tracking, making it incredibly easy to manage your team. One of the biggest benefits? It’s user-friendly and requires no training, perfect for busy restaurant owners who need quick implementation.
Ready to streamline your operations? Book a free demo now and see how KNOW can transform your business.
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