When I Work vs Ankr

About

When I Work is an employee scheduling and time tracking platform designed specifically for hourly and shift-based workforces. Founded in 2010 and headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the company has raised over $35 million in venture funding. The platform serves more than 200,000 businesses across the retail, food service, healthcare, and service industries, helping managers build schedules and communicate with their frontline teams through a mobile-first experience.\n\nThe platform's scheduling tools allow managers to create and publish weekly schedules, fill open shifts, and manage time-off requests in a drag-and-drop interface. Team members receive shift notifications via the mobile app, can request swaps, and communicate with their team through an integrated messaging feature. The time clock function supports GPS-based clock-in, kiosk mode, and web clock options to match different workplace environments.\n\nWhen I Work has positioned itself as the accessible, affordable option for small and mid-market businesses that need practical scheduling without the complexity or cost of enterprise workforce management suites. Its freemium entry point and simple onboarding have driven strong adoption in industries where workforce churn is high and manager bandwidth is limited.