Comparison

Scheduler vs Shift Work Calendar | Schedule

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

Head to head
About

Scheduler

This app helps shift workers visualize their work schedules up to six years in advance. It supports various common shift patterns, allows for custom schedules, and can overlay a partner's schedule for better family planning. It also tracks overtime, vacation, and sick time.

Highlights
  • Visualize schedules up to six years ahead
  • Supports custom and common shift patterns
  • Tracks overtime, vacation, and sick time
  • Overlays partner's schedule
  • Records and formats trade offers
  • Countdown to retirement
Features
Read full description

Visualize Your Shift Schedule From Jeff: Please don't put questions or suggestions in a review -- there's no way for me to reply directly to you. Instead. use the in-app email buttons (on the Help tab), or send to sched@buddy.com. If your schedule varies from week to week, keeping track of your working days can be a chore, and it’s often difficult to quickly figure out when you’ll be on-duty weeks or months in the future. Scheduler to the rescue! Designed for public-service employees such as police officers, firefighters and health-care workers — anyone who works an unusual but predictable schedule — Scheduler always shows your schedule for the next six years from “today.” Common shift schedules are built-in, such as the “Berkeley” (a.k.a. “California”), “48-96” and “Dupont,” but you can easily change them or create other repeating schedules covering any number of days. See the screenshots (here and on the web site) for some examples. And there’s even a “Doofus” mode for showing irregular schedules (e.g., health-care workers). If your spouse/partner works a shift schedule, too, you can have that entirely different rotation appear on the calendar with yours. This will help you organize family activities such as vacations and day-care. Features: • Displays your schedule for the next six years, including vacations and holidays. • Perfect for public-service workers such as police officers and firefighters. • Records trades (swaps). Tracks hours earned or owed on a person-by-person basis. • Formats emails for sending out trade offers and approval requests. • Maintains a record of your OT hours. • Tracks your vacation time: automatically computes hours earned and shows weekly balances. Also records and totals sick time. • Logs “events” with date, time and location — you can edit the title, text, and location details when you have time. • Overlays an entirely separate schedule for your spouse/partner to help you coordinate your lives. • Adjustable colors for shifts, vacations, Kelly days, holidays, etc. • Mark special days such as Kellys, paydays, “early” shifts, or training days. • Countdown to retirement. • Extensive Help pages for every feature and screen; indexed. • Includes UK Rota features for London train and bus drivers. Notes: 1. You *can* enter a custom schedule. 2. You *can* set the text that appears on each day. 3. You *can* enter very long rotations. 4. You *can* superimpose text to mark special days on the calendar. 5. You *can* set bi-weekly repeating events (e.g., for paydays) 6. Scheduler is complicated. Please don't give up and leave a bad review -- I can't help you that way. If you have questions or comments, the best way to contact me is by using the in-app email button on the Help screen (2nd best: sched@buddy.com). I reply to all emails immediately (or within a few hours if I'm sleeping or traveling, which isn't often). If you didn't hear from me promptly, it means there was failure in the "Tubes." Please try again to contact me. Attention FDNY (firemen): you'll find my other app, FDNY, more useful for FD New York.

About

Shift Work Calendar | Schedule

Easily manage and view your work schedule with this calendar app. Register shifts, add notes with emoji icons, and save your calendar as an image. Share your schedule via email or check it quickly with a widget.

Highlights
  • Create custom shift types
  • Easy shift input
  • Notes with emoji icons
  • Save calendar as image
  • Share shifts via email
  • Widget for quick schedule check
Features
Read full description

There are many people working at the retail trade and the hospital, etc. by the shift work. Isn't it convenient to be able to confirm the schedule of your work with iPhone easily quickly? This is a useful calendar for such people. It is possible to confirm it by the calendar by easily registering your shift. Moreover, You can save this calendar as an image, and set it as a wallpaper of the idle screen of iPhone. Features - Create amount of shift types - Easy shifts input - Notes for any date on calendar with Emoji Icon. - Save a calendar as an image. - Send your shifts to others via E-mail. - Widget:Quickly check schedule and shifts with widget Premium Plan features ・No ads ・iOS Calendar Sync Your shifts are imported to iOS calendar. ・Shift Table You can input and view other person's shift too. Auto-renewable subscriptions You can choose the period of use from 1 month, 6 months, 1 year. The longer the period, the better the price! It will be automatically continued when the use period expires. To terminate automatic subscription, please carry out cancellation processing from the setting application. Account will be charged for renewal within 24-hours prior to the end of the current period, and identify the cost of the renewal Subscriptions may be managed by the user and auto-renewal may be turned off by going to the user's Account Settings after purchase Terms of use http://ebisu-soft.com/shift-work-calendar/premium_plan_ios_terms_of_use

Screenshots

Scheduler4 screens
Shift Work Calendar | Schedule4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Shift Work Calendar | Schedule at Free against Scheduler's $7.99. Shift Work Calendar | Schedule also leads on rating (4.7 vs 3.9) and ratings volume (9.6K vs 75). Scheduler's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 6) and ads (none vs shown). On update cadence, device support and iOS requirement 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

Shift Work Calendar | Schedule is free to download; Scheduler costs $7.99 up front. Shift Work Calendar | Schedule sells 6 in-app purchases, starting at $1.59 per month. Scheduler asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Shift Work Calendar | Schedule holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 3.9. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Shift Work Calendar | Schedule has 9.6K ratings behind it against 75, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 79% of Scheduler's written reviews are positive against 96% of Shift Work Calendar | Schedule's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on November 10, 2026 and November 11, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard8 real differences · 3 level
Scheduler versus Shift Work Calendar | Schedule: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSchedulerShift Work Calendar | Schedule
Price$7.99Free — better
Rating3.9 (75 ratings)4.7 (9.6K ratings) — better
Positive reviews78.9% of reviews95.6% of reviews — better
Number of ratings759.6K — better
Update frequencyFortnightlyFortnightly
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaidFree with in-app purchases — better
Best chart rank#200 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPod — betteriPhone
Requires iOS15.0 — better16.0
Further details — not scored
Size8 MB48 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperThe Buddy System, LLCEbisu Soft Inc.

Customer experience

Scheduler

All ratings75 ratings
Positive68.0%
Neutral6.7%
Negative25.3%
Written reviews171 reviews
Positive78.9%
Neutral6.4%
Negative14.6%

Shift Work Calendar | Schedule

All ratings9,640 ratings
Positive94.4%
Neutral3.1%
Negative2.5%
Written reviews1,851 reviews
Positive95.6%
Neutral1.7%
Negative2.6%

User reviews

Scheduler

From 75 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Outstanding app for shift workers
  • 👍 Highly customizable and flexible
  • 📆 Excellent for planning schedules years in advance
  • 💰 Worth every penny
  • 🤝 Great customer support

Room to improve

  • 🕰️ Steep learning curve
  • 🔀 Issues with repeating events and schedules
  • 🔄 Problems with updates causing data loss
  • 💤 Outdated UI and appearance

Shift Work Calendar | Schedule

From 9.6K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Easy to use
  • 👍 Customizable
  • 💡 Helpful for shift workers
  • 🚀 Convenient
  • 👍 Organized

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Occasional glitches
  • 💸 Expensive subscription
  • 📢 Too many ads

Bugs and requests

Scheduler

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Events and schedules disappearing after updates
  • Vacation and overtime tracking not working correctly

Requested features

4 requests
  • Drag and drop support for shift swapping
  • List view option for events
  • Ability to use emojis in event titles
  • Removal of unnecessary time zone settings

Shift Work Calendar | Schedule

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Calendar dates not syncing correctly
  • App freezing or crashing
  • Issues with data migration

Requested features

5 requests
  • Recurring shift scheduling
  • Ability to add multiple shifts per day
  • More customization options
  • Sync with other calendars
  • Payroll integration

In-app purchases

None

Scheduler

No in-app purchases

6 purchases

Shift Work Calendar | Schedule

Subscriptions6
  • No advertisement plan 1 month$1.591 Month
  • Premium Plan 1Month$2.391 Month
  • No advertisement plan 6 months$6.396 Months
Show 3 more
  • Premium Plan 6 Months$9.596 Months
  • No advertisement plan 1 year$11.001 Year
  • Premium Plan 1 Year$16.901 Year

Questions

Is Scheduler free?
Scheduler costs $7.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Shift Work Calendar | Schedule free?
Shift Work Calendar | Schedule is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Scheduler or Shift Work Calendar | Schedule?
Shift Work Calendar | Schedule is rated higher. Scheduler averages 3.9 out of 5 from 75 ratings, while Shift Work Calendar | Schedule averages 4.7 from 9.6K ratings.
Do Scheduler or Shift Work Calendar | Schedule have ads?
Shift Work Calendar | Schedule shows ads; Scheduler does not.
Which is updated more often, Scheduler or Shift Work Calendar | Schedule?
Scheduler ships an update fortnightly, and Shift Work Calendar | Schedule fortnightly. Most recently, Scheduler was updated on November 10, 2026 and Shift Work Calendar | Schedule on November 11, 2026.

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