Comparison

HotSchedules vs Shiftfish Employees

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

Head to head
About

HotSchedules

This app simplifies employee scheduling and team communication. It allows for easy shift management, time-off requests, and calendar syncing. Managers benefit from faster schedule creation and performance monitoring, while teams stay connected through messaging.

Highlights
  • Shift swapping and pickup
  • Time off requests
  • Automatic calendar sync
  • Manager schedule building
  • Sales and labor monitoring
  • Team messaging
Features
Read full description

HotSchedules is the industry's leading employee scheduling app because it’s the fastest and easiest way to manage your schedule and communicate with your team. Team members love it because they can swap, pick-up or release shifts with one click. Work-life balance is easily managed with automatic shift pick ups when you want more hours, and time off requests for when you don’t. Calendar sync and notifications keep your Schedules and the roster automatically updated to your phone with any manager-approved changes. Managers appreciate the 75% time savings when building schedules and one-click approvals for shift changes. The ability to monitor business performance with sales and labor snapshots from anywhere, keeps them out of the back office. And most importantly, staying connected with broadcast and one-to-one messaging makes for a happy and productive team culture. NOTE: The HotSchedules application REQUIRES a valid HotSchedules user account through your employer. Need help? Contact Customer Care 24x7x365

About

Shiftfish Employees

This app gives employees control over their work schedules, eliminating the need for traditional time off requests or availability changes. It provides the flexibility of gig work while maintaining the benefits of a single employer.

Highlights
  • Employee schedule control
  • Eliminates time off requests
  • Manages availability changes
  • Flexible on-demand scheduling
  • Single employer benefits
Features
Read full description

Shift Fish puts the power & flexibility of scheduling in the hands of team members. Shift Fish eliminates the need for time off requests & availability changes. In the past to get access to flexible, on-demand scheduling employees had to work for multiple employers & pick up gig shifts. Shift Fish grants employees full scheduling control while working for a single employer. This ensures employees get the benefits of working for a single employer, but the flexibility of choosing a schedule that works for them! “Your Schedule, Your Choice”   -Shift Fish

Screenshots

HotSchedules4 screens
Shiftfish Employees4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Shiftfish Employees at Free against HotSchedules's $2.99. Shiftfish Employees also leads on iOS requirement (12.0 vs 17.1). HotSchedules's advantage is rating (4.6 vs 3.0) and ratings volume (67K vs 2). On update cadence, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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

Shiftfish Employees is free to download; HotSchedules costs $2.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

HotSchedules holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 3.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: HotSchedules has 67K ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 22% of HotSchedules's written reviews are positive against 0% of Shiftfish Employees's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

HotSchedules ships an update every 8 days, Shiftfish Employees fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 28, 2026 and October 19, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 5 level
HotSchedules versus Shiftfish Employees: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHotSchedulesShiftfish Employees
Price$2.99Free — better
Rating4.6 (67K ratings) — better3.0 (2 ratings)
Positive reviews21.6% of reviews — better0.0% of reviews
Number of ratings67K — better2
Update frequencyEvery 8 days — betterFortnightly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
Best chart rank#1 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPod
Requires iOS17.112.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size59 MB28 MB
Age rating12+4+
DeveloperHotSchedulesBig Banyan Digital

Customer experience

HotSchedules

All ratings67,307 ratings
Positive90.1%
Neutral3.4%
Negative6.5%
Written reviews385 reviews
Positive21.6%
Neutral12.7%
Negative65.7%

Shiftfish Employees

All ratings2 ratings
Positive50.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative50.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%

Bugs and requests

HotSchedules

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Login issues after updates
  • Calendar sync problems
  • Disappearing messages and data loss
  • Incompatibility with dark mode

Requested features

5 requests
  • Show shift end times
  • Categorize and filter inbox messages
  • Ability to view full team schedules
  • Automatic shift rotation algorithm
  • Integrated payroll and earnings tracking

Shiftfish Employees

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

HotSchedules

No in-app purchases

None

Shiftfish Employees

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is HotSchedules free?
HotSchedules costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Shiftfish Employees free?
Shiftfish Employees is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, HotSchedules or Shiftfish Employees?
HotSchedules is rated higher. HotSchedules averages 4.6 out of 5 from 67K ratings, while Shiftfish Employees averages 3.0 from 2 ratings.
Do HotSchedules or Shiftfish Employees have ads?
Neither HotSchedules nor Shiftfish Employees shows ads.
Which is updated more often, HotSchedules or Shiftfish Employees?
HotSchedules ships an update every 8 days, and Shiftfish Employees fortnightly. Most recently, HotSchedules was updated on October 28, 2026 and Shiftfish Employees on October 19, 2026.

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