Looking for the best on-call scheduling software for your team? Or maybe you’re exploring alternatives to your current tool?
Signing up for different on-call tools and testing them all takes weeks. That’s a lot of time you probably don’t have, especially when you need reliable on-call coverage now.
That’s why I did the heavy lifting for you. I signed up for and tested the 5 popular on-call scheduling tools in the market: Spike, PagerDuty, Incident.io, Splunk Oncall, and OpsGenie.
Here’s how I tested them: I created actual on-call schedules in each platform, set up rotations, created overrides, and evaluated how easy everything was to use. Then I scored each tool out of 5 points across four key criteria (which you’ll get to know soon; keep reading).
Quick note: I didn’t score Spike because it’s our own tool. Including it in the rankings wouldn’t be fair to you or the other tools. I want to give you honest, unbiased comparisons.
Ready to see which tool fits your team best? Let’s dive in.
Table of Contents
New to On-Call? Start Here
Feel free to skip this section if you’re familiar with on-call basics.
What is an on-call schedule?
An on-call schedule tells you who will handle incidents when they happen. It’s a plan that rotates team members so everyone takes turns being the first responder.
What is an on-call schedule layer?
A on-call schedule layer is a rotation pattern within your on-call schedule. For example, one layer for weekday coverage and another for weekends.
What is an on-call override?
An on-call override is when someone temporarily covers another person’s on-call shift. If you have a dentist appointment during your scheduled time, you create an override so a teammate covers those specific hours.
Why do teams need on-call scheduling software?
Manual scheduling with spreadsheets becomes messy as teams grow. On-call software automates rotations, sends alerts to the right person, and makes it easy to swap shifts without missing incidents.
To learn more about on-call management, check out our on-call guide
My Criteria for Testing On-Call Scheduling Software
When evaluating the on-call scheduling software, I focused on these core functions that make or break your on-call operations:
- On-Call Schedule Creation – How easy it is to build new on-call schedules from scratch, and whether ready-made templates are available
- On-Call Flexibility – How easy it is to modify on-call schedules for weekdays, weekends, after hours; set up different on-call models; add new team members; update shifts; and handle changes as your team evolves
- On-Call Dashboard & Visibility – How clearly you can see who’s on-call and check on-call schedules at any time
- On-Call Override Functionality – How quickly you can create or manage shift overrides when you need last-minute coverage for things like a dentist appointment, kid’s birthday party, or an unexpected emergency
What I didn’t consider: I didn’t focus on advanced AI features, complex analytics, or enterprise compliance capabilities. While these might matter for some teams, they’re not essential for most on-call operations.
5 Best On-Call Scheduling Software
| Tool | On-Call Schedule Creation | On-call Flexibility | On-Call Dashboard & Visibility | On-Call Override Functionality | Total Score | Best For |
| Spike | – | – | – | – | Not scored | Teams of all sizes seeking simplicity |
| PagerDuty | 4/5 | 3/5 | 4/5 | 3/5 | 14/20 | Large enterprises and organizations |
| Incident.io | 4/5 | 4/5 | 3/5 | 4.5/5 | 15.5/20 | Slack-heavy teams |
| Splunk OnCall | 2/5 | 3/5 | 2/5 | 3/5 | 10/20 | Teams invested in Splunk ecosystem |
| OpsGenie | – | – | – | – | – | Migration required (shutdown) |
1. Spike
Spike is an intuitive on-call scheduling tool that caters to teams of all sizes. It focuses on simplicity without sacrificing the features you need for reliable coverage.
On-Call Schedule Creation
Creating a new on-call schedule in Spike is simple and fast. You can either use ready-made templates or build from scratch.
Its live calendar preview shows exactly how your schedule will look, with names for each on-call member. (Trust me, no other tool has got such a good preview! 🤌)
Spike gives you everything you need—nothing more, nothing less. The setup is intuitive, and the calendar preview makes it easy to spot mistakes before you go live.
On-Call Flexibility
Managing schedules in Spike is quick and flexible. You can clone entire schedules instead of rebuilding from scratch, and mark your most-used ones as favourites for quick access.
Adding new layers is instant and doesn’t mess with your existing setup. The live preview shows changes as you make them, so you always know what your team will see.
Spike connects to Slack and Teams for shift start/end alerts, syncs with Linear for triage duties, and provides calendar sync options.
On-Call Dashboard & Visibility
Spike’s dashboard gives you a clear overview of all on-call schedules. You can use a list view for quick details or a calendar view to see your monthly coverage. This makes it easy to check your own duties and see what other teams are doing.
When you open a schedule, you instantly see who is on-call and who is up next. This simplifies handoffs and planning. Spike also shows a complete history of all activities and past overrides for easy tracking.
On-Call Override Functionality
Creating overrides in Spike is fast and simple. Click the override button or just press “o”, pick who covers for you, set start and end times, and add comments to give context. You can see all past overrides in the history for easy tracking.
Spike also includes work modes for on-call well-being:
- Deep Work mode blocks non-urgent alerts during focus time
- Cooldown mode gives you recovery time after incidents
- Out-of-Office mode handles your vacation coverage
When you need a break or time off, you can simply activate cooldown or out-of-office mode and all your on-call duties are handed over automatically.
Overall
Spike covers all the essential on-call functions without unnecessary complexity. The live preview, work modes, and intuitive design make it stand out from other tools. Teams of all sizes seeking simplicity will find Spike easy to adopt and a pleasure to use.
2. PagerDuty (14/20)
PagerDuty is a battle-tested veteran with comprehensive features. However, its robust capabilities come at a high price.
On-Call Schedule Creation (4/5)
PagerDuty’s schedule creation follows a clear three-step process: add users, set rotations, and pick start times. You can duplicate or copy configurations between schedules, which makes the setup faster. However, I prefer building manually to get a complete picture of the schedule.
The calendar preview offers too many view options (1 day, 4 days, 1 week, 2 weeks, 30 days) when just day, week, and month would work fine. Plus, the calendar preview sits at the bottom instead of side-by-side, making it less convenient to see changes as you build your schedule.
On-Call Flexibility (3/5)
PagerDuty allows you to add new layers to existing schedules, but you need to open and edit each schedule—no instant “add layers” button like Spike. This slows down quick adjustments.
You can duplicate schedule layers, but you can’t clone an entire schedule. Also, while you can search for schedules, there’s no option to favourite them for faster access.
You can export schedules to your calendar using iCal or webcal feeds, which helps keep everyone in sync.
On-Call Dashboard & Visibility (4/5)
PagerDuty’s dashboard shows your on-call shifts, escalation paths, and all schedules at a glance. You can switch between list and calendar views to see your on-call coverage.
Each schedule offers multiple timeline views (1 day, 4 days, 1 week, 2 weeks, 30 days) and shows who’s on-call now and your next shift.
However, you can’t see activity logs or past overrides, which makes tracking shift changes difficult.
On-Call Override Functionality (3/5)
PagerDuty makes creating overrides simple—click the override button or directly on the calendar. You pick who covers for you, set start and end dates with times, then create the override.
However, PagerDuty lacks a comments feature, so you can’t give context to the person covering your shift. There’s also no history of past overrides, making it hard to track who covered what and when.
Overall
PagerDuty offers comprehensive on-call features, but it feels over-engineered for simple tasks. It has solid scheduling capabilities but misses convenient touches like comments and override history. It’s best suited for large enterprises that need more capabilities and can justify the higher price tag.
3. Incident.io
Incident.io takes a Slack-first approach to on-call management and incident response. It’s built for teams who live in chat and want their on-call tools to work the same way.
On-Call Schedule Creation (4/5)
Incident.io keeps schedule creation straightforward. You just need to add the schedule name, timezone, rotation, responders, and handover time. You can even import public holidays from your HR software or add them manually.
A standout feature is concurrent shifts, which lets you pair 2 or more people for each shift—great for training or shared responsibility.
The calendar preview sits on the side, but it’s not as clear as Spike’s. Still, it works and is easy to follow.
On-Call Flexibility (4/5)
Incident.io gives you quick options to edit, duplicate, view, and delete schedules right from the on-call dashboard. When editing, it shows a helpful before-and-after preview so you can see exactly what changes.
However, there’s no instant “add layers” button—you need to open each schedule. You also can’t favourite schedules for quick access, which slows down navigation when managing multiple teams.
On-Call Dashboard & Visibility (3/5)
Incident.io’s dashboard gives you a list view of all your schedules, showing who’s on-call now, who’s next, and teams involved. There’s a search bar to help you find schedules quickly.
However, there’s no calendar view on the dashboard—you only get that after clicking into a schedule. You also won’t find an activity log or a history of past overrides, so tracking changes is difficult.
On-Call Override Functionality (4.5/5)
Incident.io lets you create overrides with a simple button or by clicking on the calendar. You can even type an override in plain language, like “Kaushik Thirthappa today from 11 pm to tomorrow 7 am.”
However, like PagerDuty, Incident.io also doesn’t provide comments for context and history of past overrides.
Overall
Incident.io strikes a good balance between simplicity and useful features. The natural language overrides and concurrent shifts make it stand out. However, it misses tracking capabilities and charges extra for on-call. It’s a good choice for Slack-heavy teams who want on-call scheduling to live inside their primary communication tool.
4. Splunk Oncall (10/20)
Splunk OnCall is a part of Splunk’s ecosystem. Teams who already use Splunk’s monitoring and analytics tools, find Splunk OnCall more useful.
On-Call Schedule Creation (2/5)
Finding where to create schedules in Splunk OnCall is confusing—it’s buried in teams → person → on-call schedule instead of having a clear on-call tab on the main dashboard.
Splunk allows you to create only team-specific schedules, which limits flexibility for cross-team coverage. Plus, the schedule preview is basic and lacks multiple views.
I found the entire schedule creation process on Splunk unintuitive and complex. This is because you have to navigate through multiple nested menus just to find the scheduling feature, and once you’re there, the interface doesn’t guide you clearly through the setup steps. Plus, the workflow seems scattered and requires more clicks than necessary.
On-Call Flexibility (3/5)
Splunk OnCall lets you instantly add members to shifts, create new shifts, delete shifts, and edit existing ones.
However, you can’t duplicate rotations or favourite them for quick access. And though the preview updates as you edit, it’s hard to read.
On-Call Dashboard & Visibility (2/5)
Splunk OnCall’s dashboard only shows schedules for your specific team—you can’t see other teams’ on-call coverage. This creates blind spots when you need to coordinate across teams.
The dashboard displays team members, rotations, escalation policies, and scheduled overrides. However, rotations only appear in timeline view with no calendar option. Also, there isn’t any activity log to track changes.
On-Call Override Functionality (3/5)
Splunk OnCall has a dedicated overrides tab where you can create scheduled overrides and see existing ones. However, you can’t click directly on the calendar to create overrides.
Like most tools, Splunk OnCall doesn’t offer comments when creating overrides, so you can’t give context to whoever covers your shift.
Overall
Splunk OnCall covers the basics but feels clunky and limited compared to other options. Its real strength is deep integration with Splunk’s analytics and monitoring tools. It may be best for teams tied into the Splunk ecosystem.
5. OpsGenie
OpsGenie was a major player in on-call management, but Atlassian stopped new sales on June 4, 2025, and will shut down completely by April 2027.
Since you can’t sign up for OpsGenie anymore, I didn’t review it. And if you’re a current user, you’re probably here looking for alternatives anyway.
So, here are some helpful resources for your migration:
- OpsGenie Shutdown: What You Need to Know and Your Next Steps
- OpsGenie Alternatives: Your 12-Point Evaluation Checklist
- 6 Better Atlassian OpsGenie Alternatives (2026)
Open-Source On-Call Scheduling Software
Open-source tools are free to use and give you full control over your setup. This makes them a good choice for teams with tight budgets and specific needs.
Here are some popular open-source on-call scheduling software:
While “free” sounds good, remember that open-source tools require your team’s time for setup, maintenance, and troubleshooting. Paid tools often have a lower total cost when you factor in engineer hours. Plus, you get dedicated support when things break.
Final Thoughts
The best on-call scheduling software depends on your team’s size, budget, and workflow.
Spike works great for teams wanting simplicity, while Incident.io excels for Slack-heavy teams. PagerDuty suits large enterprises, and Splunk OnCall fits existing Splunk users.
Focus on tools that make scheduling fast and clear. Good visibility and easy overrides matter more than fancy features you’ll never use.
Want detailed comparisons? Take a look at these:
Want to try out Spike right away, the sign-up button is waiting for you.