Comparison

iFire vs ShiftMate Planner

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

iFire

This app provides real-time team availability for volunteer firefighters, allowing them to quickly book on and off duty. It instantly updates availability across all team members' devices, making it easy to see who is available for call-outs. Optional subscription unlocks advanced statistics and notification features.

Highlights
  • Update availability instantly
  • View station crew availability
  • Set periods of unavailability
  • Receive low crew notifications
  • Track weekly availability hours
Features
Read full description

iFire shows your crew who is available right now, and makes booking on and off a single tap. Built by an on-call firefighter for on-call (retained) fire crews. WHO'S AVAILABLE, AT A GLANCE - A live crew list with everyone's status, rank and qualifications - Cover bars for every role (officers, drivers, BA wearers and more) turn orange or red as cover drops - Low crew alerts when your station falls below the levels you set YOUR STATUS IN ONE TAP - Available, delayed, unavailable, course or leave - "Back at..." timers book you back on automatically - Geofencing changes your status as you arrive at or leave the station* PLAN AHEAD - Book time off on the calendar - whole days, or from a start time to an end time - then change or cancel it any time - Set your rota once, with shift hours if you work shifts: you're only unavailable while you're at work - Set your day hour by hour: tap or drag the hours, then pick a status - See the whole crew's day, with how many are available each hour CALL-OUTS THAT GET THROUGH - Mobilisation alerts that sound through silent mode and Do Not Disturb - Answer "I'm responding" straight from the alert - See who is responding and how far away they are AND MORE - Station chat, events and training - Dark mode, set for the whole crew by your station or by you - Sort the crew list your way, choose which view it opens on, and show ranks if you like - Face ID / Touch ID app lock - Contracted hours tracking* FOR STATION MANAGERS Station managers can run their station from the iOnCall dashboard on a computer: availability planning, rotas, crewing rules and call-out history. * Included with a subscription. Your station may already cover this for you. SUBSCRIPTION iFire Premium is an optional auto-renewing subscription, monthly or yearly, that adds the features marked *, leave and course statuses, and extra statistics and alert options. - Price: £1.99 per month, or £8.99 per year - Payment is charged to your Apple Account when you confirm the purchase. - The subscription renews automatically unless you turn off auto-renew at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Your account is charged for renewal within 24 hours before the end of the current period. - Manage or cancel it in your Apple Account settings after purchase. Privacy policy: https://ifire.ifireapp.net/privacy-policy.html Terms of use: https://ifire.ifireapp.net/app/html/terms

About

ShiftMate Planner

Features
Read full description

SHIFTMATE — VOLUNTEER SCHEDULING MADE EASY Running a volunteer team is rewarding work. Managing the spreadsheets, group chats and manual reminders that come with it? Less so. ShiftMate replaces all of that with one clean, simple app. FOR ADMINS & ORGANISERS • Create and edit shifts in seconds • Assign roles: Owner, Admin, Crew, or Volunteer • Invite members instantly with a unique invite code • Broadcast messages to everyone, just admins, crew, or one person directly • Always see who is covering what, and when Whether you run a volunteer fire department, food bank, sports club or community event — ShiftMate scales to your organisation. FOR VOLUNTEERS • See your upcoming shifts at a glance • Receive automatic reminders before a shift starts • Get messages from your organisation directly in the app • Join multiple organisations with a single account KEY FEATURES • Shift planning — create, edit and assign with ease • Role-based access — Owner, Admin, Crew, Volunteer • Invite codes — share a code and members join instantly • Organisation messaging — broadcast or direct messages • Smart notifications — shift reminders and message alerts • Multi-organisation — manage or join several at once • 7 languages — EN, NL, DE, FR, ES, IT, PT FREE & PREMIUM ShiftMate is free to use. Growing organisations can unlock a premium subscription for increased limits and advanced features. Download ShiftMate and get your first shift published in under five minutes. Terms of Use: https://shiftmate-bkr.web.app/terms-of-use.html

Screenshots

iFire4 screens
ShiftMate Planner4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: ShiftMate Planner at every 3 days against iFire's weekly. ShiftMate Planner also leads on iOS requirement (13.0 vs 15.0). On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. iFire sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month and ShiftMate Planner sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $17.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

iFire ships an update weekly, ShiftMate Planner every 3 days. Both last shipped on October 14, 2026.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
iFire versus ShiftMate Planner: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameteriFireShiftMate Planner
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.8 (6 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews76.3% of reviews—
Number of ratings6 — better—
Update frequencyWeeklyEvery 3 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreemium—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.013.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size59 MB95 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperKernow SoftwarePeter Boekelaar

In-app purchases

2 purchases

iFire

Subscriptions2
  • iFire Subscription$1.991 Month
  • iFire Annual subcription$19.991 Year
2 purchases

ShiftMate Planner

Subscriptions2
  • ShiftMate Planner Monthly$17.991 Month
  • ShiftMate Planner Annual$179.991 Year

Questions

Is iFire free?
iFire is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is ShiftMate Planner free?
ShiftMate Planner is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do iFire or ShiftMate Planner have ads?
Neither iFire nor ShiftMate Planner shows ads.
Which is updated more often, iFire or ShiftMate Planner?
iFire ships an update weekly, and ShiftMate Planner every 3 days. Most recently, iFire was updated on October 14, 2026 and ShiftMate Planner on October 14, 2026.

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