jacks
The best Amion alternatives in 2026
Amion is the schedule most residents check every day. Here is what it does well, where programs and physician groups outgrow it, and what the same year looks like with a schedule that is built for you.
What Amion does well
Amion started in 1998, when a doctor built it to help his wife, then a chief pediatric resident, make her program’s schedule. Doximity bought it in 2022. It runs a large share of physician on-call schedules in the US, and most residents already have its free app on their phone.
- Everyone can see it. Who is on, in a free app, with paging, messaging and swap requests.
- It is inexpensive. Programs pay per schedule, not per person.
- Everyone knows it. New interns arrive already using it.
Where programs outgrow it
The complaints are rarely about reading the schedule. They are about making it.
- Building happens in a desktop app. Amion’s scheduler is Windows software. On a Mac it needs Windows emulation, or a browser session that runs the same desktop app remotely.
- The autoscheduler needs a lot of setup. It fills one service at a time, and only after someone has entered the rules and call patterns it works from. That someone is usually a chief resident with a one-year term, so the setup leaves when they graduate.
- Checking the whole schedule is yours. Rest after call, the 80-hour average, coverage across services and each person’s fair share all have to hold together across the year, and catching the conflicts is a person’s job.
- Mid-year changes are manual. When someone calls out, finding who can legally cover, and keeping the counts fair afterwards, is still someone working the phone.
The same year, in Amion and in jacks
jacks is a scheduling platform for residency programs and attending groups: call, rotations, OR and clinic. Here is each stage of the year, side by side.
| Stage | In Amion | With jacks |
|---|---|---|
| Setup | A chief enters rules and call patterns into a desktop app | We sit down with you, turn how your program runs into rules, and stay until your first schedule is published |
| Building | By hand, or an autoscheduler that fills one service at a time | jacks builds the whole year, every service and call type together |
| Rules | Checking the result is a person’s job | Every draft passes every rule. When a seat can’t be filled, jacks names the rule in the way |
| Fairness | Counted up afterwards | Everyone balanced against their own target: an even split, by FTE or class, or a number you set |
| Changes | Edit, then recheck by eye | Tell jacks a new rule in plain words, or drag anything; it rechecks the whole schedule |
| A call-out in March | Someone works the phone | The shift goes to whoever is eligible and furthest under target, owed calls are tracked, and everyone affected is told on their phone and calendar |
| Next year | The setup leaves with the chief | Your rules stay in jacks; next year’s chief starts from them |
Every rule checked is a big claim, so we tested it. Given a real program’s full year of call, a general-purpose AI broke eight rules. jacks broke none. Read the test, or drag residents around in the live demo on our home page and watch it recheck the schedule.
Other Amion alternatives
Amion alternatives at a glance
Who actually builds the schedule, and who each option suits.
| Option | Who builds the schedule | Good fit |
|---|---|---|
| jacks | jacks builds all of it; you make the final calls | Programs and groups that want it built, checked and run all year |
| QGenda | You, mostly by hand, after a long setup | Health systems with scheduling staff |
| Lightning Bolt | The software, after an enterprise setup | Hospitals and large groups on PerfectServe |
| MedHub, New Innovations | You; they log and check hours | Duty-hour records and GME reporting |
| Done-for-you services | A service, once a year | A first draft, with every change after that on you |
| Chiefly | You, in a friendlier app | Small programs that build by hand |
A simplification for comparison. Products change; ask each vendor to show you every stage with your own rules.
QGenda
The biggest name in physician scheduling, owned by Hearst Health since 2024, and sold by quote alongside time and attendance, credentialing and, since 2025, New Innovations’ residency management. In our conversations with programs that use it, few rely on its schedule generator; most build the schedule by hand inside QGenda. More in our QGenda alternatives guide.
Lightning Bolt (PerfectServe)
Automatically generated physician shift schedules, owned by PerfectServe since 2019 and sold alongside its clinical messaging. Built for hospitals and large groups, with the setup that comes with them.
GME suites (MedHub, New Innovations)
These run graduate medical education: evaluations, case logs and duty-hour logging. They flag violations after the hours are worked; they do not build a schedule that avoids them, so programs still build call somewhere else.
Done-for-you services and Chiefly
Services send back a finished first draft, often as a file you load into Amion; every change after that is yours. Chiefly is a friendlier app for building the schedule yourself; you still place every shift and catch every conflict.
What to ask before you switch
Building the schedule
- Who turns our rules into settings?Someone should sit down with you and set up how your program runs, not hand you a blank rules screen.
- Does it build the whole year?Every service and every call type together, not one service at a time.
- Does every draft pass every rule?Checked while it builds, and when a seat can’t be filled, it names the rule in the way.
- Does the setup outlive the chief?Your rules should live in the tool, so next year’s chief starts from them, not from scratch.
Running the year
- What happens when someone calls out?It should find who can legally cover, keep everyone near their target, and track who owes a call back.
- Will everyone still see it on their phone?Residents and attendings are used to Amion’s app; the replacement has to be at least as easy, with calendar sync.
Comparing more than Amion? See the best residency scheduling software in 2026, or our guide to building a fair call schedule.
Questions programs ask
What is the best Amion alternative for a residency program?
If your problem is building the schedule, not viewing it, look for a tool that builds the whole year from your rules, checks every rule while it builds, balances everyone against a fair target and handles call-outs after you publish. jacks does all of that, and sets your program up with you.
Does Amion have an auto-scheduler?
Yes. Amion’s autoscheduler lives inside its Windows desktop scheduling app. It fills one service at a time, once you have set up the rules and call patterns it works from.
Is there a free alternative to Amion?
Viewing a schedule in Amion’s app is already free for residents; programs pay to publish schedules in it. The free alternatives are spreadsheets and shared calendars, which leave building the schedule and checking every rule to you.
What is the difference between Amion and QGenda?
Amion is a low-cost, widely used on-call schedule that everyone can see, built in a Windows desktop app. QGenda is a large workforce platform sold by quote, with scheduling, time and attendance and credentialing. In both, building a schedule that passes every rule is still mostly a person’s job.
Can we switch away from Amion in the middle of the year?
Yes. The cleanest point is between blocks: publish the next block from the new tool and leave the weeks already worked where they are. Ask any vendor how residents will get the new schedule on their phones and calendars from day one.