Comparison

Simple Rota Maker vs Shift Work Calendar & Planner

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

Head to head
About

Simple Rota Maker

This app helps you create and manage work schedules and personal appointments. It can automatically generate rolling rota patterns for multiple workers and includes a task manager for to-do lists and audio notes. Share schedules easily with dynamic links.

Highlights
  • Automatic rolling rota generation
  • Manual schedule creation
  • Integrated task manager
  • Audio note recording
  • Shareable dynamic links
  • Export rotas to spreadsheets
  • Worker availability settings
Features
Read full description

Automatically generate rolling rota patterns—perfect for scheduling multiple workers over an indefinite period. Easily create your schedule or manual rotas with a few taps—ideal for managing your work shifts, personal schedules, appointments, or customizing worker rota patterns. A powerful yet simple task manager. Organize your to-do lists alongside your work shifts to stay super productive & on top of your schedule. In a hurry? Quickly record an audio note to replay anytime. Seamlessly create tasks, assign them to workers, & share dynamic links that open the task directly on their devices, automatically saving a copy for easy access and tracking. The simplest tool to customize your work shifts, personal schedules, appointments, & timetables—or create & share rolling rotas to roster multiple workers into hourly or daily shifts, complete with a built-in task manager. -For an automated rolling shift pattern, simply enter: • The names & number of workers • Optional worker availability or exclusion dates: Specify dates when workers must work or must be away, & the app will include or exclude them as needed Done! The app generates: • A beautiful monthly calendar for 24-hour or once-a-day shifts. • A sleek weekly calendar for shifts lasting 1-23 hours. Key Features: • Ensures workers receive an equal number of shifts. • Allows multiple workers per shift. • Lets you set a daily shift end time with ease. • Handles complex rolling block patterns like ‘n’ days on ‘n’ days off seamlessly. -Export rotas to spreadsheet apps like Excel -View detailed rota breakdowns, including the number of weekdays, weekends, & hours each worker is scheduled to work, along with additional worker statistics. -Easily edit the rota to adjust shifts, give workers more or fewer shifts, or modify must-work & away dates with ease. -Take full control & create your custom rota manually in just three easy taps. -For your personal work shifts, schedules, appointments, or timetables: • Simply enter shift or schedule names, select a date range, & populate the calendar with just a tap! • View 1-3 shifts per day in a clean, easy-to-read calendar format. • annotate your custom calendar with powerful notes that expand when you tap on a date. Share dynamic links to allow coworkers to view & edit the rota. Each time a link is opened, a duplicate “.share” version of your rota is created, which can be edited & shared back & forth. From these links, workers can: • Open the rota on their device. • Download their specific shifts. • Add shifts to their device calendar. • Set shift reminders. • Download the rota as a spreadsheet. -Annotate the rota with notes that follows & updates with the dynamic link to your rota. -Enhance your notes with powerful formatting options, including headings, bold, italics, underline, & a variety of font colours. - Stay organised & in control with your all-in-one task manager—perfect for creating to-do lists, shopping lists, & assigning tasks to coworkers. Whether you’re managing personal goals or team projects, it’s the simple way to keep everything on track. -Export your rota, schedule, or shifts seamlessly to your Calendar app for effortless integration and accessibility. -Set reminders for shifts or schedules & receive notifications to stay informed when a work shift is approaching. -Access your rota & tasks from any device—your task lists & rosters are securely saved to your profile for seamless access anytime. -Long-press the name of your rota or tasks to pin them to the top of your list for quick access. -Save & rename multiple versions of your rota & tasks for easy organization & reference, with an archive page to store & access old tasks & rosters. -Save your rota as an image or print it directly for easy sharing and reference. -Start your day with daily motivational quotes delivered directly to your profile. -Enjoy an integrated games page to unwind, relax, & recharge with a variety of fun games. Need help? Email us!

About

Shift Work Calendar & Planner

This app helps manage your work schedule with a fast and intuitive calendar. Easily add shifts, customize them with colors and icons, and sync with your Apple Calendar. Widgets provide a quick overview of your upcoming workdays.

Highlights
  • Add work shifts easily
  • Monthly and yearly calendar views
  • Customizable colors and icons
  • Notes for shift entries
  • Apple Calendar sync
  • Home screen widgets
  • Dark & Light Mode
Features
Read full description

ShiftWorkCal is a shift work calendar meticulously crafted to be fast, capable, and easy to use. Add your work shift schedule instantly and get a great overview over your work life. FEATURES INCLUDE • Easily Add Your Work Shifts • Monthly and Yearly Calendar • Custom Colors and Icons • Notes for Shift Entries • Apple Calendar Sync • Home Screen Widgets • Dark & Light Mode WORK SHIFTS Edit the start and end time and mark shifts as whole day. COLORS AND ICONS Customize shifts to your liking with beautiful colors and icons. APPLE CALENDAR SYNC Sync all your shifts to the calendar app and easily share them with others. iCLOUD SYNC Sync all your shifts to all of your devices. WIDGETS Add you whole months schedule as a home screen widget in various sizes. PRIVACY FIRST Everything you do is securely kept on your device. Download now and take control of your work life! --- Privacy Policy https://shiftworkcal.com/privacy Terms of Service https://shiftworkcal.com/terms

Screenshots

Simple Rota Maker4 screens
Shift Work Calendar & Planner4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Shift Work Calendar & Planner at 100% against Simple Rota Maker's 23%. Shift Work Calendar & Planner also leads on rating (5.0 vs 3.0) and ads (none vs shown). Simple Rota Maker's advantage is device support (3 vs 1) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.6). On price, ratings volume, update cadence and in-app purchases 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. Simple Rota Maker sells 6 one-off in-app purchases and Shift Work Calendar & Planner sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per 7 days. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Shift Work Calendar & Planner holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 3.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 2 and 3 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 23% of Simple Rota Maker's written reviews are positive against 100% of Shift Work Calendar & Planner's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Simple Rota Maker ships an update every 2 weeks, Shift Work Calendar & Planner every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 10, 2026 and October 6, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Simple Rota Maker versus Shift Work Calendar & Planner: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSimple Rota MakerShift Work Calendar & Planner
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.0 (2 ratings)5.0 (3 ratings) — better
Positive reviews23.1% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings23 — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeks — betterEvery 3 weeks
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFreemium
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone
Requires iOS15.0 — better17.6
Further details — not scored
Size28 MB19 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperMembers of Us LimitedDenis Andrasec

Customer experience

Simple Rota Maker

All ratings2 ratings
Positive50.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative50.0%
Written reviews13 reviews
Positive23.1%
Neutral0.0%
Negative76.9%

Shift Work Calendar & Planner

All ratings3 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

6 purchases

Simple Rota Maker

One-time6
  • Simple Rota Maker Pro$1.99
  • Monday to Saturday Rota$2.99
  • Saturday To Sunday Rota$2.99
Show 3 more
  • Simple Rota Maker Ad Free$3.99
  • Customise day of week roster$4.99
  • Rolling Block Scheduler$9.99
3 purchases

Shift Work Calendar & Planner

Subscriptions3
  • Weekly Plan3 Days trial$1.997 Days
  • Pro Monthly$4.991 Month
  • Pro Yearly7 Days trial$24.991 Year

Questions

Is Simple Rota Maker free?
Simple Rota Maker is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Shift Work Calendar & Planner free?
Shift Work Calendar & Planner is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Simple Rota Maker or Shift Work Calendar & Planner?
Shift Work Calendar & Planner is rated higher. Simple Rota Maker averages 3.0 out of 5 from 2 ratings, while Shift Work Calendar & Planner averages 5.0 from 3 ratings.
Do Simple Rota Maker or Shift Work Calendar & Planner have ads?
Simple Rota Maker shows ads; Shift Work Calendar & Planner does not.
Which is updated more often, Simple Rota Maker or Shift Work Calendar & Planner?
Simple Rota Maker ships an update every 2 weeks, and Shift Work Calendar & Planner every 3 weeks. Most recently, Simple Rota Maker was updated on October 10, 2026 and Shift Work Calendar & Planner on October 6, 2026.

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