GigSmart Get Gigs

Review by eFreeware

If you want paid work you can slot around everything else in your week, GigSmart Get Gigs is built for that. It is a free app from GigSmart, Inc. that lists hourly Shift Gigs and longer-term job openings, and it lets you choose the shifts that fit your schedule rather than committing to a fixed rota. The pitch is simple: browse what is available near you, accept what suits you, and get paid through the app.

The app has been around for a while. It launched in late November 2018, and it has passed a million installs on Google Play. Its average rating sits at 3.6 from a little over 7,000 ratings, which is the kind of middle-of-the-road score that suggests a useful tool with room for improvement. Since the app itself is free, with no ads and no in-app purchases, the only real cost of trying it is the time you spend setting up a worker profile.

Hourly shifts across a broad range of industries

The core of the app is the Shift Gig: a single block of hourly work that you apply for and accept on your own terms. The developer lists warehouse, construction, food service, retail, delivery, restaurant and cleaning among the fields covered, and describes work as available nationwide. That spread matters, because it means the app is not tied to one trade or one kind of employer. A shift could be a few hours of stocking shelves, a day on a site, or an evening in a kitchen.

What appeals to me about this model is the control it hands to the worker. You are not assigned a schedule; you pick from what is posted and choose the shifts that match your experience and availability. That suits people who want to stack a few gigs together, or who need work that bends around study, caring responsibilities or a second job.

The trade-off is that the app is a marketplace, so what you see depends on what employers in your area are posting. In a busy metro area the list is likely to be long; somewhere with fewer participating businesses, the choice will be thinner. That is a characteristic of this type of platform rather than a fault in the app itself, but it is the main thing that will shape your experience.

The Job Board for full- and part-time roles

Alongside the hourly shifts, the app includes a Job Board for full-time and part-time positions. The developer describes it as one of the quickest routes to finding and applying for ongoing roles in your area, and applications are handled inside the app. This gives the platform a second purpose: it is not only somewhere to pick up a day's work, it is also somewhere to look for a steadier job.

I would expect this to be most useful to someone who is already using the app for shifts and wants to see what permanent openings exist nearby without opening a separate job site. The two halves work together reasonably well: the shift side gets you earning quickly, while the job board points toward something more fixed. If you are only ever going to want one or the other, the app still works, but you will be ignoring roughly half of what it offers.

It is worth being clear that this is a listing and application tool. It connects you with employers; it does not guarantee a placement, and the volume of openings on any given day is down to the businesses posting them.

Insurance and benefits for shift workers

One detail that stands out is the coverage attached to Shift Gigs. The developer says workers are covered by Occupational Accident Insurance while carrying out shift work arranged through the app, which addresses an obvious worry for anyone taking on temporary or manual jobs. Knowing that protection is in place removes one of the usual hesitations about short-term work.

There is also a Worker Benefits Portal, through which the developer offers access to affordable health, dental and vision plans. For gig workers who are not attached to an employer's benefits package, that is a meaningful addition, since these are exactly the costs that tend to fall on the individual in this kind of work. I would treat the benefits side as a supplement to the app's main purpose rather than a reason to download it on its own, but it rounds out the offer nicely for anyone planning to work shifts regularly.

Setting up a profile and getting paid

Getting started is deliberately lightweight. The app lets you build a Worker Profile and start taking shifts right away, with no interviews or resume needed. For anyone who has found traditional hiring processes slow or discouraging, that is the most attractive part of the app: the barrier between signing up and earning is low.

Payment runs through the app as well. A Worker Wallet keeps track of what you earn, and Rapid Transfer is meant to get that money to you in as little as a day. For people living paycheck to paycheck, that speed can matter as much as the hourly rate.

The most recent update is a maintenance release, with bug fixes and technical improvements to performance rather than new features.

Who the app makes sense for

This is an app for people who want to work now and decide their own hours. If you are between jobs, studying, picking up extra income around another commitment, or simply prefer variety over a fixed workplace, the shift model fits naturally. The lack of interviews and resumes also makes it accessible to anyone who finds conventional applications tedious or who has gaps in a traditional work history.

It is equally relevant to someone hunting for a more permanent role who wants to earn something in the meantime. Using the shift side to bring in money while applying through the Job Board is a sensible way to combine the two features, and it is probably how the app is most valuable.

The 3.6 average rating is worth weighing if you are deciding whether to invest time in a profile. It points to an app that people find useful enough to keep, without universal enthusiasm. Since there is nothing to pay, the sensible approach is to set up a profile, look at what is actually posted in your area, and judge it on that rather than on the rating alone.

A practical tool for flexible hourly work

GigSmart Get Gigs does one job well: it puts hourly work and local job listings in one place and handles the payment side without fuss. The combination of self-selected shifts, accident insurance, a benefits portal and same-day access to earnings covers the concerns that usually come with gig work, and the free price with no ads or purchases makes it easy to try.

What you get out of it depends heavily on where you live and what employers nearby are posting, so the first thing to do is check the listings in your own area. If there is steady demand around you, this is a straightforward way to find work on your own schedule. If you want flexible hourly jobs and are willing to build a profile instead of sending out resumes, it is worth installing and browsing before you commit to anything.

What's new in version 4.46.0

* We have squashed some bugs and added technical enhancements to improve app performance.