Zenput vs Jolt: Which Tool is Right for Your Business?

Management
General
Published on:
October 30, 2024
Read Time:
18
min

Deciding which SaaS tool to choose can be all about finding a path out of a maze with no clear way out. But beyond all the promises, reviews, and sales pitches — it’s so easy to feel paralyzed by fear of making the wrong choice, even after you do your due diligence. 

No matter if you are a restaurant owner, retail manager, or operations director you are under a lot of pressure to decide for a tool that fits your particular business needs and you do not want to make costly mistakes.

This guide serves as a solution for that. If you have limited your scope to Zenput and Jolt, you have reached a point where you are setting yourself up for success. Both platforms are highly regarded operations management tools, but each provides a slightly different set of capabilities and serves a different business need. 

In this comparison, we’ll target their strengths and weaknesses so that you know with confidence which is the solution for your business.

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Zenput Overview 

Zenput

A compliance management and operations software, which is best for those businesses with multiple locations in the restaurant, retail, and grocery sectors.

The platform has tools to manage tasks, audits, incident reporting, and employee performance in a centralized system to ensure consistency and compliance with distributed operations.

What makes Zenput different is how it can support mobile devices, which is attractive to field operators and multi-location managers.

It seeks to bring administrative procedures on the digital path, from paper-to-paper checklists to real-time reporting and providing task tracking tools for operational ease.

Zenput’s powerful automation tools provide real-time visibility into how well you’re meeting your task completion rate and how your cross-location teams are performing. You can assign automated follow-up tasks and make sure nothing falls through the cracks once it is resolved.

The platform facilitates store audits for a complete picture of operations, accountability, and maintaining operational standards. This allows managers to make data-driven decisions through the analysis of employee, store, or team performance—finding top performers and gathering areas to improve.

The reporting tools provided by Zenput surface performance trends that can be acted upon quickly, when necessary.

In addition, the platform offers immediate alerts through email or mobile push notifications when audits identify problems and managers can then handle the problems immediately.

However, historical submission tracking allows businesses to track improvements that they make over time and compare them to see if operational standards are followed every time.

Photos and videos of new signage, fixtures, or product displays can be efficiently shared via team, cutting out the need to have ‘in the field’ personnel to monitor execution, allowing teams to monitor execution from any location.

Automation of corrective actions allows us to reduce the need for extensive follow-up via email or on-site visits, saving both time and money.

Core Features of Zenput

Zenput Core Features

Task Management and Automation

  • Custom Checklists: Using Zenput, managers can automatically create daily checklists and assign tasks to a specific employee or team. A manager can monitor the progress remotely with these tasks including photos or notes.
  • Recurring Tasks: It allows users to automate recurring assignments, which will not let process, for example, equipment checking to be missed.
  • Real-Time Updates: The platform allows for immediate status updates, giving managers insight into task completion and ensuring compliance at all levels.

Audit and Incident Management

  • Audit Forms: Zenput simplifies the audit process by offering customizable digital forms. Businesses can create audits to check operational standards and ensure compliance across locations.
  • Incident Reporting: Employees can document incidents using pre-designed forms that capture key information, including photos, injury details, and signatures.
  • Corrective Action Tasks: This platform allows immediate status updates of what’s been completed, as well as to check for compliance at every level.

Analytics and Reporting

A robust set of reporting tools is offered by Zenput so that managers can generate reports around performance. You can also customize these reports to capture any key metrics that are most important to you: task completion rates, compliance scores, etc. 

These reports help businesses understand what trends are present in the data so that they can make more data-driven decisions to improve upon their operation.

Mobile Accessibility

The mobile-first design of Zenput enables employees and managers to carry out tasks & audits from their smartphones. Specifically, this is very useful for field operators who are grinding out data on the go. 

Additionally, the functionality of the mobile version makes sure that management teams can always stay linked with what’s happening on the ground without having to be physically present at every place.

The mobile-first design of Zenput enables employees and managers to carry out tasks & audits from their smartphones. Specifically, this is very useful for field operators who are grinding out data on the go.

Additionally, the functionality of the mobile version makes sure that management teams can always stay linked with what’s happening on the ground without having to be physically present at every place.

User Experience and Ease of Use

With a user-friendly interface that starts to make sense for large teams, Zenput is praised for its ease of use. However, some users note that the setup of features such as form customization, or a grading system is not straightforward to set up.

The steep learning curve, which sometimes leads to frustrations, is very well understood by users with less technical background.

Despite that, Zenput has positive feedback for reducing administrative burdens through digitization of processes and the elimination of paper systems. As users start using the platform, they can effortlessly organize daily activities.

Customer Support

One of the strongest things about Zenput is customer support. It turns out, that users keep reporting good interactions with the support team; they are deemed responsive and helpful, starting with the setup phase but on and on.

There are multiple channels for support at Zenput, like email and phone, so users always get the help they need as quickly as possible.

Zenput Positive Reviews

  • Compliance: "Zenput makes your business run smoother. It gives you the opportunity to teach your team when they are submitting documents without missing the importance and becoming non-compliant." — Alan F., Enterprise
  • Communication: "Drives operational efficiencies across the business, provides a communication platform, and is a great tool to collect information from the field teams." — Matt S., Enterprise

Zenput Negative Reviews

  • Cost: "The cost is a bit high; if it was cheaper, we could have individual logins for each employee versus a shared one per location." — Jason M., Network Administrator
  • Functionality: "The back-end user experience can be frustrating to navigate. Needlessly limits some functionality (like project recurrence time selection) and some of the features like reporting could be better." — Anonymous Reviewer, G2

Zenput Pricing

Founded in 2014, Zenput has tiered pricing plans suitable for a range of businesses starting at around $40 per user per month.

The platform provides three primary service levels: Company, Team, and Enterprise. The features and customization options will vary for each plan. The entry-level tier has its cost, but beyond that, Zenput encourages businesses to reach out directly for a custom quote.

But there’s a free trial available with Zenput, for users who’d like to play with the platform before committing. But unfortunately, there’s no such thing as a permanent free version, meaning that if a business does make use of that free version then they need to transition to a paid plan afterward.

Jolt Software

Jolt

Jolt’s solutions are centered around its essential product range, developed for the changing requirements of businesses within the food service, retail, and hospitality industries.

Jolt combines tools of team accountability, digital food safety, and employee performance to provide the resources businesses need in order to operate efficiently but still meet compliance standards.

The software turns everyday devices, accessible via smartphones and tablets, into powerful management tools with the help of mobile technology.

With mobile devices becoming the de facto tool for our daily tasks, Jolt helps businesses run their operations digitally, easily, and instantly communicate and manage tasks from wherever they’re at.

Jolt’s task tracking and real-time monitoring add an extra dimension to accountability within teams. Jolt automates food safety checks and audits to keep industries such as food service in compliance with safety regulations.

The platform also gives tools to train and evaluate employee performance, to help build more motivated and efficient teams.

These operational challenges are even more pronounced for businesses that have frontline employees. Managing things like tracking time and attendance for retail staff, and ensuring food safety standards in restaurants, can be easy to do manually, but can be tedious and error-prone.

That is where Jolt comes in as a game-changer platform that helps make businesses with deskless employees sleek and simple. Jolt is a digital solution for running everything from checklists to scheduling and task tracking, to compliance audits to communication tools.

Jolt is used by Smoothie King, Legoland, Dallas Cowboys, Buffalo Wild Wings, Jimmy Johns, and countless other companies to ensure that operations are consistent throughout multiple locations.

Jolt digitizes phases of processes that were formerly paper-based, allowing managers to keep track of things, improve productivity, and decrease human error in essential workflows.

Core Features of Jolt

Jolt Core Features

Task Management and Digital Checklists

Jolt’s task management module enables organizations to make sure daily tasks are completed on time and well.

By creating customizable checklists managers can ensure they get the house for recurring tasks, like cleaning schedules, food safety checks, and equipment maintenance.

It tracks tasks in real-time and shows managers how much is done, and what is remaining to be completed.

Automated reminders and alerts are reminders that tasks can’t be forgotten and can keep a business on course with compliance and safety regulations.

Employee Scheduling and Time Tracking

Jolt makes shift planning simple with a drag-and-drop scheduling interface.

Through its mobile app platform, managers create schedules, assign shifts, and notify employees, integrate time tracking with GPS verification of clock-in at approved locations, and attendance reports simplify payroll.

There is also an option to send shift reminders and to quickly communicate with each other, in order to minimize the amount of time wasted on scheduling conflicts.

Compliance Management and Reprting

Compliance and food safety management is one of Jolt’s strongest features. With temperature logs, automated audits, and Bluetooth sensor integrations, businesses can set up to monitor key metrics in real time.

Jolt has enabled detailed insights into task performance, compliance status, and operational trends with their reporting tools.

Data reveals areas to be improved on, allowing managers to monitor performance over time to make data-driven decisions to support performance.

Communication Tools and Alerts

Message blast features Jolt’s for important announcements and reminders. Company policies and procedures are stored in the information library and readily available for employees when information is needed.

Tasks missed and audits that detect compliance gaps are sent in real-time, providing activation of corrective action in a timely manner.

Mobile Access and Usability

Both employees and managers can access schedules, checklists, and announcements on the go with the iOS and Android available platforms.

Employees can do all the tasks, log the hours, and communicate directly through the app. However, some have found the mobile app occasionally performs sluggishly with slow loading times and occasional glitches.

Customer Support and Training Resources

Jolt offers rich customer support, including phone, email, and chat so users can get timely help.

There is also tremendous resources on the platform itself to train employees such as webinars, online documentation, and even in-person sessions to help configure how businesses onboard and streamline workflows.

Jolt assigns dedicated business consultants to premium customers for setup and optimizations.

Jolt Positive Reviews

  • Audits: "It was only a few years ago that McDonald's completed food safety by pen and paper. Using Jolt has revolutionized how we conduct our most critical audits. The platform is easy to use, and daily status emails keep us updated across all nine restaurants. It’s been a game-changer, and we’re excited to continue growing with Jolt."— Steven H., Mid-Market
  • Support: "Jolt offers a user-friendly interface packed with features that make it the best software I’ve used. I’ve tested several other platforms, but Jolt stands at the top. Additionally, their support team is exceptional, always ensuring we get the most out of the system." — Mathew O., Administrator, Small Business
  • Tasks: "Jolt has been transformative in managing our inventory and task lists. Through photos, we can monitor store activities remotely, ensuring accountability and seamless operations. It’s opened new doors for visibility into our business."— Tyler J., Small Business

Jolt Negative Reviews

  • Accessibility: "One challenge we've encountered is related to wifi issues. In some store locations with slower connections, Jolt’s performance can be impacted, causing delays in food safety tasks. Although this isn't a flaw in Jolt’s technology itself, it’s something we've had to work around." — Steven H., Mid-Market
  • Updates: "The software updates can sometimes be tricky. The last one posed a storage issue, but Jolt’s support team was quick to assist, which helped us resolve it smoothly." — Mathew O., Administrator, Small Business
  • Onboarding: "The initial setup and downloading of content onto new devices can be quite time-consuming, particularly if you have multiple devices. This process could definitely be more efficient." — Travis C., Enterprise

Pricing Structure

Prices at Jolt begin at $89.99 per month but plans available are tailored to businesses of any size or industry.

Jolt doesn’t have a free trial, but its plans come with premium features including API access, dedicated business consultants, and 24/7 support for businesses on higher-tier plans. With a flexible pricing model, companies can choose the plan that suits their operational requirement best, to scale.

Jolt vs. Zenput – Side-by-Side Comparison

Which Tool Should You Choose?

Both Jolt and Zenput are enterprise tools for operations management and each excels in the automation of tasks, compliance, and performance tracking. But they do cater to slightly different needs.

By and large, this section acts as a hard match to these platforms for the business to make up his/her mind to use the right possible platform for him/her.

User Experience

  • Jolt: Jolt is known for putting user friendly first, which is perfect for companies with high levels of employee turnover, such as restaurants and retail stores. It also gives employees mobile access to clock in complete tasks and view schedules as they go on their smartphones and tablets. However, some complain of occasional glitches and slow loading times on mobile devices.
  • Zenput: While Zenput also has robust mobile functionality, it takes a little more time to master, especially for field operators with complex forms or audits. Some users like Zenput’s real-time reporting and notifications, while a couple complain it’s not easy to configure advanced features.

Verdict: If you are a business interested in quick adoption and an easy onboarding process for your employees, Jolt might be your choice, but if you need more advanced reporting tools and are prepared to work for it, you should go for Zenput.

Pricing

  • Jolt: Jolt offers small and medium-sized businesses customizable pricing plans starting at $89.99 a month. But Jolt doesn’t have a free trial, which may put smaller businesses off, rounding out the list.
  • Zenput: Zenput is $40 per user per month and can get expensive for larger teams. Zenput offers tiered plans (Team, Company, Enterprise) but is probably better for those enterprise-level organizations due to its advanced features and scalability.

Verdict: If you are a small to mid-sized business then Jolt offers a much more affordable starting point and Zenput can be more beneficial to the great-sized enterprise that needs a more specialized audit tool.

Customization & Flexibility

  • Jolt: Jolt is a product built successfully for restaurants, retail, hospitality, and healthcare with a focus on being flexible. For workerless companies with a lot of field workers, it offers tools to manage tasks, food safety, and employee scheduling.
  • Zenput: Deep audit and compliance customization features in Zenput coupled with its ability to work across multiple locations and in retail, grocery, and food service industries make it a very effective tool for multi-location operations. Even better, Zenput does an exceptional job at tracking incident reports and corrective actions to meet compliance standards at every location.

Verdict: Jolt and Zenput both tie for industry flexibility, but Jolt is superior with employee scheduling and food safety, whereas Zenput shines for creating businesses and compliance-heavy operations where audits are required to perfection.

Task & Workflow Management

  • Jolt: Provides a set of tools to automatically checklists, inventory management, and task time tracking. But it’s Jolt that offers attributes like Bluetooth sensor integrations for tracking temperature that takes the sting out of obliging the mundane and make it a breeze for companies to ensure their people are safe.
  • Zenput: Known for its robust feature set for managing audits and also task management with custom workflows that are being created, tasks being assigned, and being able to track in real-time. It is a strong choice for businesses that care about accountability and compliance with their operational gaps thanks to automated follow-up tasks that prevent them.

Verdict: Zenput provides more comprehensive analytics and is better suited for businesses that require detailed performance tracking across multiple locations. Jolt is ideal for those looking for simple, easy-to-understand reports to monitor day-to-day operations.

Xenia is the Solution You’re Looking For

Xenia

While both Jolt and Zenput excel within their respective areas, businesses increasingly need a solution that transcends these platforms’ limitations.

Xenia delivers a comprehensive operations management platform with superior workflow automation, robust employee engagement tools, and seamless integrations.

Unlike Jolt and Zenput, which target specific niches, Xenia unifies operations across a wide range of industries, providing a streamlined solution for businesses with frontline teams. 

With Xenia, managing complex workflows and fostering team alignment becomes easier and more efficient than ever before.

Advantages of Xenia

Industry Flexibility

While Jolt leans heavily towards restaurants, and Zenput tackles multi-location compliance management, Xenia serves a broader range of industries.

From retail, healthcare, and hospitality, to construction, Xenia is a flexible tool and customizes solutions for any business with frontline worker operations, so whichever kind of operation your business does it can be a custom fit.

Superior Workflow Automation

With the ability to automate repetitive tasks and workflows, Xenia reduces their dependence on manual action. Xenia handles scheduling and compliance tracking from the first to the last operation.

It minimizes errors, and it allows teams to focus on more important tasks; overall it brings a level of operational efficiency that outperforms Jolt and Zenput.

Employee Engagement & Communication

Xenia incorporates built-in tools for employee engagement and communication, allowing managers to keep their teams motivated and aligned.

Features such as announcements, surveys, and real-time feedback loops promote collaboration and morale, fostering a more engaged workforce.

While Zenput offers notifications and Jolt provides message blasts, Xenia goes further by embedding engagement within operational processes.

Cost-Effective Solution

With more advanced features at a lower price than Jolt and better value than Zenput, Xenia stands out as the smarter choice. It enables businesses to reduce operational costs while maintaining access to essential features and scalability. 

By balancing affordability with functionality, Xenia ensures that companies don't have to compromise quality for cost.

This combination empowers organizations to manage operations effectively and scale seamlessly, delivering maximum value without exceeding budget constraints.

Final Thoughts

When selecting the appropriate operations management solution, it’s not just to meet your operational requirements, but to keep your employees motivated and engaged.

Jolt and Zenput are both solid tools, with Jolt being a great all-around solution and Zenput being a good fit for high-frequency orders.

Employee scheduling and food safety management are where Jolt shines, whereas compliance tracking and multi-location audits are where Zenput rates are high. 

While each has its advantages such as reduced costs, setup liabilities, and frustrating interfaces, some businesses may find that smooth operations are not achievable.

Xenia steps in as a better solution to this. Xenia offers a complete tool that is the best of both with superior automation, cross-industry portability, and happier prices.

Without the compromises that come with other more niche-focused solutions, it offers all the functionality businesses need. 

Organizations get seamless integrations, powerful employee engagement tools, and workflows that can scale across industries with Xenia.

Book a demo today.

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