# When I Work: how AI models rank it, September 2026

HR AI Recommendation Index, September 2026 Edition. Named in 76 judge labels across 5 categories by 12 of 12 models. Page: https://hr-ai-index.com/vendors/when-i-work/

## Standing by category

| Category | Share | Rank | Negative rate | Labels |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Workforce scheduling | 6% | 5 | 11% | 28 |
| Workforce management suites | 6% | 7 | 4% | 24 |
| Frontline employee apps | 0% | 17 | 10% | 10 |
| Time and attendance | 0% | 21 | 0% | 9 |
| Workforce planning | 0% | 23 | 0% | 5 |

## What the models said for it

- "I'd suggest starting with When I Work if budget is a concern and you need something that's easy to implement" (MiniMax M2.5, Workforce scheduling)
- "start with Zoho People or When I Work... When I Work excels if your primary need is shift scheduling" (MiniMax M2.5, Workforce management sui)
- "For most mid-sized B2B companies, When I Work or Homebase are excellent starting points" (Mistral Small, Workforce scheduling)
- "For the absolute lowest cost, When I Work and Homebase are the most budget-friendly" (Mistral Small, Workforce management sui)

## And against it

- "Employee Scheduling Tools (7shifts, HotSchedules, When I Work)... caution is about your own operational hygiene." (DeepSeek V4 Flash, Workforce scheduling)
- "When I Work has broad permissions (precise location, camera, Wi-Fi, notifications)" (Grok 4.1 Fast, Frontline employee apps)
- "does not appear to offer the same free-plan value as Connecteam" (GPT-5.4 mini, Workforce scheduling)
- "you've outgrown basic SMB tools like When I Work's free tier" (DeepSeek V4 Flash, Workforce management sui)

## Record

- Method: https://hr-ai-index.com/methodology/
- Raw judge labels and full responses: https://hr-ai-index.com/data/
- License: CC BY 4.0. Cite as HR AI Recommendation Index, September 2026 Edition, hr-ai-index.com.