Comparison
Barley vs. 7shifts
7shifts and Barley both help restaurants run shifts, but they start from different places. 7shifts started as a scheduling tool and has built outward from there. Barley started from the whole shift — inventory, recipes, checklists, temperature logs, and waste, not just who's working — and scheduling is one part of that.
What 7shifts does well
7shifts is a mature, widely used scheduling tool with deep POS integrations for sales-based labor forecasting, drag-and-drop schedule building, shift swaps, and a mobile time clock (7punches) with geofencing and photo verification. If scheduling and labor compliance are the only problem you're solving, it's a reasonable, well-supported choice.
Where the two differ
| Feature | 7shifts | Barley |
|---|---|---|
| Scheduling | Yes | Yes |
| Time clock | Pro plan and up | Included |
| Tip pooling | Premium plan only | Included |
| Task and checklist management | Premium plan only | Included |
| Temperature logs / food safety | Not offered | Included |
| Inventory tracking | Not offered | Included |
| Recipe costing | Not offered | Included |
| Guest surveys | Not offered | Included |
| Pricing model | Per user, per month | Per location |
7shifts prices in tiers per user per month, and gates some features by tier — as of this writing, tip pooling and task management sit behind their top Premium plan. Barley prices per location instead of per user, and the features above come with every plan. Pricing and plan details change over time on both sides, so check each company's current pricing page rather than relying on any single snapshot, including this one.
If scheduling is the whole job
A restaurant that already has separate tools for checklists, food safety, and inventory — and just needs better scheduling and a time clock — won't get much extra value from switching to a broader platform. 7shifts, or a similar scheduling-focused tool, solves that narrower problem well.
If you're running more than schedules
Most shifts involve more than who's clocked in: opening and closing checklists, temperature checks, prep and inventory, and tip-outs at the end of the night. Keeping those in separate tools — or on paper — means re-entering the same information more than once and losing the connections between them, like a schedule that doesn't know who's certified to run a checklist. Barley's scheduling and time clock work the same shift as checklists, food safety, inventory, and tip-outs, so a manager isn't checking five apps to see how the shift is going.