On-call rotations that work on Slack's free plan

Why teams on Slack free struggle with on-call

Slack's free plan is perfectly capable for most teams — but it doesn't include Workflow Builder, which is what people typically reach for when they want to automate something inside Slack. That leaves teams on the free plan stuck with spreadsheets, manual Slack status updates, or paying for a separate on-call tool that doesn't feel like Slack at all.

Sched is a Slack app that doesn't depend on Workflow Builder or any paid Slack feature. It installs like any other Slack app and works the same way regardless of your Slack plan.

What you get

• Automatic handoffs

  Sched rotates the on-call person on your schedule — weekly, bi-weekly, or custom — without anyone having to remember to do it.

• /oncall lookup — no user group needed

  Anyone can type /oncall to see who's on duty right now. It works on every Slack plan, since it doesn't depend on a Slack user group.

• Handoff DMs

  Both the outgoing and incoming responder get a DM when the shift changes. No one misses a handoff.

• Shift swaps

  Team members can swap shifts without leaving Slack. Sched updates the roster automatically, and the on-call user group too if your plan supports one.

• Unlimited team members

  No per-seat pricing. Add every engineer to the rotation at no extra cost.

• Free for up to 3 rotations

  Primary, secondary, and weekend on-call — all covered on the free tier. No credit card required.

No paid Slack features required

Sched doesn't rely on Workflow Builder, Slack Connect, or any feature gated behind Slack Pro or Business+. Rotating people, DM'ing responders, and answering /oncall all use the same Slack APIs available on the free plan — no upgrade needed.

User groups (the kind of mention group behind @oncall) are the one piece Slack itself restricts to Pro, Business+, and Enterprise Grid — that's a Slack plan limit, not a Sched one. On the free plan, Sched simply skips the user group and keeps everyone in the loop with DMs and the /oncall command instead. Upgrade Slack later and Sched will start syncing the user group automatically, no reconfiguration needed.

How to set up on-call on Slack free

1. Install Sched in your Slack workspace — free, no credit card.
2. Create a rotation: pick the engineers and set the cadence (weekly is a good starting point). If your Slack plan supports user groups, choose one to keep in sync — free plans can skip this step entirely.
3. Sched takes over from there. Handoffs happen automatically, everyone gets DM'd when the shift changes, and /oncall always has the right answer.

More detail in the getting started guide.

Compared to upgrading Slack just for on-call

Slack Pro costs $7.25 per user per month. For a 10-person engineering team, that's $72.50/mo — and you still don't get on-call rotation logic, just Workflow Builder to cobble something together yourself. Sched's free tier handles on-call properly, for zero dollars, without touching your Slack plan.

If you outgrow 3 rotations, Sched Pro is $9.99 per workspace per month — flat, not per user. Still a fraction of upgrading Slack.

See full pricing.