Deputy, When I Work or Sling for security guards?
Good schedulers, but a guard company sells posts
Deputy, When I Work and Sling are solid, low-cost shift schedulers, and all three can run a security company's rota and time clock. What they do not describe, as of October 2026, is the rest of the job: posts with post orders, checkpoint tours, incident reports, daily activity reports and a portal for your client. CGuardPro is built around those, at $5 per user per month. It costs more than the cheapest schedulers, and this page says so.
What do Deputy, When I Work and Sling do well?
Scheduling, and at a good price. Deputy offers auto-scheduling, demand forecasting, labor-law compliance and payroll integrations, with a geofenced clock-in you can set between 100 and 1,000 meters. When I Work starts at $2.50 per user, verifies clock-ins with GPS and a photo, and has a security guard page focused on shift planning, messaging and time tracking. Sling, now Sling by Toast, is free for up to 30 users. If your only problem is getting a rota out and people clocking in, any of them will help and cost less than we do.
Why do generic schedulers miss what a guard company needs?
Because they answer "who works when", and your clients ask "was the post covered, and what happened there". Three things fall through:
- Posts. A scheduler places a person at a location. A guard contract is a post that must never be empty, with its own post orders. CGuardPro models client, site and post, raises an uncovered-post alert when a shift is not started, and helps you find relief.
- Tours. Patrols are proven by checkpoints. In CGuardPro they can be QR codes or NFC tags; each scan is checked on the server against time and position, with an optional photo or note, and a missed tour raises an alert.
- DARs and incidents. The daily activity report and the incident report with photos are what a client actually reads. In CGuardPro they are written on shift, handed to the next officer in the pass-down, and visible in the client portal.
Around those sit the things a guard needs and a retail crew does not: a panic button, an SOS your client can press, push-to-talk radio, visitor and vehicle logs, and an offline queue for the basement. The longer version of this argument is in generic workforce apps vs guard software.
How do they compare for a security company?
| Topic | Deputy | When I Work | Sling | CGuardPro |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Published price (per user / month) | Lite $5, Core $6.50, Pro $9; $30 monthly minimum | Essentials $2.50, Pro $5, Premium $8 | Free up to 30 users; Premium $2, Business $4 | $5, one plan; $299.99 one-time implementation |
| Free trial | Trial before billing starts | 14 days, no card | 15 days on paid plans | 7 days, no card |
| GPS clock-in | Geofence 100–1,000 m on clock-in | GPS and photo verification; geofence from 100 m | Mobile time tracking (Premium) | Live GPS fix plus selfie; geofence per post, radius or polygon, with exit alerts |
| Unit you schedule | Locations and areas | Schedules, job sites and positions | Locations and positions | Client › site › post, with post orders and a rotation |
| Guard tours / checkpoints | Not in its plan lists | Not described on its security page | Not in its plan lists | QR or NFC, each scan verified server-side with time and position; missed-tour alerts |
| Incident reports and DARs | Not in its plan lists | Not described on its security page | Not in its plan lists | Incidents with photos, daily activity reports, shift pass-down |
| Client portal | Not in its plan lists | Not described on its security page | Not in its plan lists | Client app and portal included, with client SOS |
| Payroll | Payroll integrations; Deputy Payroll add-on | Payroll integrations | Hours and wages reports (Business) | Gusto (US, free) plus CSV, Excel and PDF exports |
Sources, read in October 2026: deputy.com/pricing and Deputy's help center; wheniwork.com/pricing, its security guard page and time clock page; getsling.com/pricing. "Not in its plan lists" or "not described" means we did not find it on those pages, not that it cannot be done. Deputy, When I Work and Sling are trademarks of their owners; CGuardPro is not affiliated with or endorsed by them.
When should a security company stay on a generic scheduler?
When the work really is just shifts: a small team on one or two static posts, clients who never ask for patrol proof, and no need for tours or a client view. Sling's free tier or When I Work's entry plan will do that for less money. Once clients start asking for reports, or you start sending photos of paper logs over a group chat, you have outgrown the scheduler.
Moving is a few days of setup. See how to switch guard management software for what to bring and how to run one site in parallel.
Frequently asked questions
Can I use Deputy, When I Work or Sling for security guards?+
Yes, for scheduling and time clocks. All three build shifts, handle swaps and time off, and clock people in on a phone, and Deputy and When I Work can geofence that clock-in. What they do not describe, as of October 2026, is the rest of a guard company's day: posts with post orders, checkpoint tours, incident reports, daily activity reports and a portal your client logs into. If your clients ask for proof of patrols, you will need something that records them.
Why do generic schedulers miss posts?+
Because they schedule people into shifts at a location. A security contract is coverage of a post: a specific spot, with its own instructions, that must never be empty. Guard software tracks whether the post is covered right now, raises an alert when it is not, and finds relief. A shift calendar shows that someone was scheduled; it does not tell you that the north gate has been empty for 20 minutes.
Is CGuardPro more expensive than Deputy, When I Work or Sling?+
Usually, yes. Sling is free up to 30 users, When I Work starts at $2.50 per user, and Deputy Lite is $5, the same as CGuardPro. We also charge $299.99 once for implementation. The extra buys guard tours, incident reports, daily activity reports, pass-down, panic and client SOS, push-to-talk and a client portal in the same price.
Can I keep Deputy for scheduling and add guard software?+
You can, but you would keep two schedules, two clock-ins and two sets of hours to reconcile. CGuardPro includes scheduling, relief coverage, time off and GPS and selfie clock-in, so most firms move everything. For US payroll, CGuardPro sends approved hours to Gusto as time sheets split into regular, overtime and double overtime.
What should a security company try first?+
Take one real site and run it for a week on the 7-day CGuardPro trial: build the post, write the post orders, print or place the checkpoints, and let officers clock in and run rounds on their own phones. At the end, compare what your client could see with what your current scheduler gives them.
Schedule the post, not just the person
Build one site with its post orders and checkpoints and run it for 7 days, free, on your officers' own phones.