Makeshift Review: Unlock New Revenue From Your Fanbase Effectively

Scheduling headaches slowing your team down?

If you’re dealing with hours lost to manual staff scheduling, confusing shift swaps, or payroll mistakes, you’re likely looking for something that just works better. That’s exactly why Makeshift comes up in your research.

But let’s be real: missed shifts and payroll chaos are draining your day and leaving you with more work, stress, and unhappy employees than any scheduler should have to handle.

From my deep dive, Makeshift stands out by combining true drag-and-drop scheduling, time tracking, and self-service tools—so you can finally skip the spreadsheets and start managing people, not problems. Their interface makes schedule edits instant, and built-in compliance alerts help you avoid expensive mistakes.

In this review, I’ll show you how you can build smarter schedules with less admin hassle and what that truly means for your daily routine.

Here’s what you’ll find in this Makeshift review: a real look at core features, pros and cons, pricing, where Makeshift fits against other tools, and the details you need for a confident trial or demo decision.

You’ll walk away knowing the features you need to actually fix your scheduling, and if Makeshift is what will finally free up your time.

Let’s get started.

Makeshift Overview

Makeshift has been dedicated to simplifying workforce scheduling since its founding back in 2014. Based in Saskatoon, Canada, I believe their entire mission is making employee management genuinely easier for everyone involved.

While they serve a wide range of industries, from healthcare to retail, I find they hit their stride with businesses that require flexible scheduling for hourly teams. This broad applicability is a key differentiator from highly niche competitors focused on just one vertical.

Their recent push into AI-powered scheduling assistance is a smart development you should know about. Through this Makeshift review, you’ll see how this move directly impacts manager workload and improves budget accuracy.

Unlike rivals whose platforms can feel disjointed, Makeshift fully integrates scheduling with time tracking and communication. Their commitment to a unified workforce management platform feels like it was built by people who actually understand the daily operational grind.

You’ll find them working with all sorts of organizations in retail, healthcare, and hospitality—any business that needs to manage complex shift patterns and compliance without the usual administrative headaches.

I find their ‘PeopleFirst’ strategy is more than just marketing jargon. By empowering employees with strong, intuitive self-service tools, they are directly responding to the modern workforce’s demand for better work-life balance and higher retention.

Now let’s examine their core capabilities.

Makeshift Features

Struggling with complex employee scheduling?

Makeshift features actually focus on streamlining workforce management, helping you get schedules right every time. Here are the five main Makeshift features that simplify operations.

1. Drag-and-Drop Scheduling

Building schedules by hand is a nightmare, isn’t it?

Manual scheduling can be incredibly time-consuming, leading to errors and overstaffing issues. This often leaves you stressed about coverage.

Makeshift’s intuitive drag-and-drop interface lets you quickly build schedules by assigning shifts, saving you tons of time. From my testing, seeing real-time weekly hours and overtime alerts is a game-changer for budget compliance. This feature truly simplifies ensuring proper staffing levels.

This means you can easily create balanced schedules that fit your budget and avoid costly labor law violations.

2. Employee Self-Service

Are your employees constantly asking for schedule changes?

Handling individual availability requests and shift swaps can be a huge administrative burden. It pulls you away from more critical tasks.

Makeshift empowers employees to manage their own availability, request time off, and swap shifts via mobile. What I love is how manager approval is still required for swaps, maintaining control. This feature significantly reduce your back-and-forth communication.

The result is your team gets more control over their work-life balance, and you gain valuable time back.

3. Time and Attendance Tracking

Worried about accurate work hour tracking?

Manual time cards are prone to errors and can lead to “buddy punching,” costing your business money. You need reliable data for payroll.

Makeshift provides robust time tracking with phone or on-site clock-ins, ensuring accurate timesheets automatically. Here’s what I found: the geofencing and photo verification features prevent any time theft. This feature gives you precise data for every employee.

So you can finally eliminate manual entry errors, streamline your payroll, and ensure fair, accurate pay.

4. Team Communication

Is your team struggling with fragmented communication?

Scattered messages and missed announcements can lead to confusion and operational delays. You need a centralized way to connect.

Makeshift includes real-time communication tools, like the MakeShift Connect app, for direct messaging and alerts. This is where Makeshift shines, keeping everyone informed with group messaging and read receipts. This feature simplifies sharing important updates and open shifts.

This means your team stays connected and on the same page, boosting efficiency and reducing misunderstandings.

5. Integrations and Reporting

Stuck doing redundant data entry for payroll?

Manually transferring scheduling data to payroll or HR systems is time-consuming and prone to errors. You need streamlined workflows.

Makeshift integrates with major HR and payroll systems like ADP and UKG, automating data flow and reducing errors. The configurable reports for payroll, hours, and budgets are incredibly useful, and can be exported easily. This feature simplifies your administrative tasks.

This means you can ensure payroll accuracy and get critical insights into labor costs without extra manual work.

You’ll appreciate how these Makeshift features work together to create a cohesive workforce management system rather than separate, siloed tools.

Makeshift Pricing

Unsure about scheduling software costs?

Makeshift pricing provides transparent tiered plans with clear per-employee costs, helping you budget predictably for workforce management.

Plan	Price & Features
CORE Plan	$3.75 per employee per month • Basic scheduling • Availability management • Team communication • Employee self-service • Standard reports
ADVANCED Plan	Contact Makeshift directly • All Core features • Advanced scheduling & call-outs • Advanced permissions • Analytics 2.0 • SmartSupport AI
ELITE Plan	Contact Makeshift directly • All Advanced features • Enterprise integrations • API access • Scalability & customization • ShiftMate AI module – SmartRequests
Time & Attendance Add-on	$2.00 per employee per month • Mobile clock-in/out • Automated timesheets • Geofencing • Photo verification

1. Value Assessment

Great value for your money.

From my cost analysis, Makeshift’s Core plan offers excellent basic scheduling functionality at a very competitive per-employee rate. What makes their pricing different is how it scales efficiently with your team size, ensuring you only pay for what you need without unnecessary features.

This means your monthly costs stay aligned with your active workforce, avoiding overspending on idle licenses.

2. Trial/Demo Options

Time to test it out.

Makeshift provides a generous 14-day free trial, allowing you to fully explore the platform’s scheduling and communication tools before committing. What I found regarding pricing is how this trial helps you assess real-world fit, giving your team a chance to try it out hands-on.

This helps you evaluate user adoption and specific needs, making a confident decision for your budget.

3. Plan Comparison

Choose your perfect plan.

The Core plan is ideal for smaller teams needing essential scheduling, while Advanced and Elite cater to growing businesses with complex needs. Budget-wise, the Time & Attendance add-on offers valuable functionality for accurate payroll without moving to a higher base plan.

This tiered structure ensures you match Makeshift pricing to your current operational requirements and scale efficiently.

My Take: Makeshift’s pricing strategy offers clear, scalable options, making it a strong contender for businesses of all sizes seeking flexible and transparent workforce management solutions.

The overall Makeshift pricing reflects excellent value for scalable workforce management.

Makeshift Reviews

What do real customers actually think?

This customer reviews section analyzes real user feedback and experiences with Makeshift, helping you understand what actual customers think about the software from my review analysis.

1. Overall User Satisfaction

Users seem largely content here.

From my review analysis, Makeshift reviews show a strong overall positive sentiment, with many users highlighting its ease of use. What I found in user feedback is that users find it dependable and easy to use, especially for scheduling and tracking.

This suggests you can expect a generally positive experience with its core functionalities.

2. Common Praise Points

The mobile app consistently earns high marks.

Users frequently praise Makeshift’s intuitive drag-and-drop scheduling and the convenience of its mobile app. Review-wise, I noticed employees love the self-service capabilities, such as setting availability, requesting time off, and swapping shifts directly from their devices.

This means your team will likely appreciate the autonomy and reduced administrative burden.

3. Frequent Complaints

Customer support responses sometimes lag.

While generally positive, some Makeshift reviews point to mixed experiences with customer support and occasional technical glitches. What stands out in user feedback is how users desire improved reporting and customization options, like color-coded shifts for better visual clarity.

These seem to be minor issues for most, but could be deal-breakers for specific, complex needs.

Overall, Makeshift reviews indicate genuine satisfaction with core scheduling functions, despite some areas for improvement.

Best Makeshift Alternatives

Considering other workforce management tools?

The best Makeshift alternatives offer various strengths, making them better suited for different business sizes, industries, and specific operational requirements.

1. 7shifts

Running a restaurant with unique staffing needs?

7shifts specializes exclusively in restaurant team management, providing features like industry-specific compliance and optimal labor tools. From my competitive analysis, 7shifts offers specialized features for restaurants, which go deeper than Makeshift’s broader industry applicability, though its pricing is generally higher.

Choose 7shifts if your business is a restaurant requiring specialized, industry-specific compliance and forecasting.

2. When I Work

Prioritizing robust communication for hourly staff?

When I Work focuses on comprehensive scheduling, time tracking, and communication, particularly for hourly employees. What I found comparing options is that When I Work emphasizes robust communication features, making it a strong alternative if team messaging and seamless shift swaps are your top priority.

Consider this alternative for its dedicated focus on hourly employee communication and scheduling simplicity.

3. Homebase

Are you a small business needing an all-in-one solution?

Homebase caters specifically to small businesses, offering a comprehensive suite beyond just scheduling, including time clocks, messaging, and budgeting. From my analysis, Homebase provides a more all-encompassing solution for smaller operations, simplifying multiple aspects of staff management.

Choose Homebase if you’re a small business needing a broad, easy-to-use solution beyond just employee scheduling.

4. Sling

Looking for top-tier mobile app usability?

Sling excels in mobile application user-friendliness and ease of setup for employee scheduling and communication. Alternative-wise, Sling boasts exceptional mobile app usability, outperforming Makeshift in this regard if your team heavily relies on mobile access.

Opt for Sling when mobile app experience and quick setup are your highest priorities.

The best Makeshift alternatives depend on your specific industry, business size, and feature priorities.

Makeshift Setup

Concerned about complicated software setup and training?

This Makeshift review will help you understand the practicalities of deployment. I’ll break down the setup requirements and adoption challenges from a realistic business perspective.

1. Setup Complexity & Timeline

Is Makeshift easy to set up?

Makeshift implementation is generally straightforward, though complexity increases with business size and customization needs. What I found about deployment is that assisted onboarding streamlines data migration, so plan for a few weeks to get fully operational, rather than expecting an instant switch.

You’ll want to plan for upfront data preparation and dedicated time for initial configuration.

2. Technical Requirements & Integration

Consider your existing IT infrastructure.

Makeshift is cloud-based, requiring web and mobile access on iOS or Android devices. From my implementation analysis, integration with major HRIS solutions is seamless, and an open API supports custom integrations with existing HR and payroll systems.

Your IT team will need to manage data flow between Makeshift and any existing systems to avoid manual data entry.

3. Training & Change Management

Will your team actually use it?

Makeshift has an intuitive design and drag-and-drop functionality, contributing to a generally low learning curve. What I found about deployment is that its intuitive design reduces initial training needs, but dedicated onboarding services are available for hands-on training.

You should proactively communicate benefits and provide clear guidance to ensure smooth user adoption, especially for mobile app users.

4. Support & Success Factors

How much help can you expect?

Makeshift offers comprehensive documentation, email support, and demo bookings, with responses typically within 1-2 business days. From my analysis, vendor responsiveness during implementation can be mixed, so plan your questions in advance.

You’ll want to leverage their documentation and plan for potential delays in live chat scenarios, which aren’t currently available.

Overall, Makeshift setup is generally simple, but proactive planning ensures successful adoption and full utilization of its scheduling features.

Bottom Line

Is Makeshift the right fit for you?

My Makeshift review synthesizes key insights to help you understand who should use this scheduling solution and why, ensuring your decision is well-informed.

1. Who This Works Best For

Businesses requiring efficient, flexible employee scheduling.

Makeshift is ideal for people-focused industries like healthcare, retail, and hospitality that need to manage dynamic staffing needs and ensure compliance. What I found about target users is that businesses prioritizing reduced scheduling time and improved accuracy will find significant value in its features.

You’ll succeed if your primary challenge is streamlining shift management and enhancing overall employee satisfaction through self-service.

2. Overall Strengths

Intuitive scheduling and robust self-service capabilities.

The software shines with its drag-and-drop scheduling, comprehensive employee self-service, and accurate time and attendance tracking. From my comprehensive analysis, its seamless integration with major HR and payroll systems significantly streamlines your operational workflows and reduces manual errors.

These strengths translate into genuine time savings and improved workforce satisfaction that directly benefit your bottom line.

3. Key Limitations

Customer support and integrated communication can be areas for improvement.

While powerful, some users report mixed experiences with customer support responsiveness and a desire for more robust built-in communication features. Based on this review, the reliance on a separate app for real-time messaging might not suit teams seeking an all-in-one communication hub.

These limitations are manageable trade-offs for its core scheduling strength, but important to consider based on your team’s specific needs.

4. Final Recommendation

Makeshift receives a strong recommendation from me.

You should choose Makeshift if your business prioritizes efficient and flexible employee scheduling, especially with a distributed workforce needing self-service options. From my analysis, this solution genuinely saves time and improves employee satisfaction, making it a valuable investment for its core purpose.

My confidence level is high for businesses seeking a dedicated scheduling solution with strong integration capabilities.

This Makeshift review confirms strong value for businesses prioritizing efficient scheduling and employee engagement while noting areas for future enhancement.