Shifty vs Roster
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Shifty
This app simplifies staff scheduling for small businesses and individuals. It allows you to input recurring shift patterns, staff, and duties, then easily create schedules by dragging and dropping these elements. It's designed to save significant time on daily tasks.
- Drag and drop scheduling
- Input recurring shift patterns
- Manage staff and duties
- Duplicate shifts easily
- Email schedule changes
- Customizable layouts
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Shifty is a scheduling app for small businesses and individuals. :: ABOUT :: The basis of Shifty is to enter all the data which rarely ever changes, such as shift patterns, staff and duties. After that's in the system making schedules is just dragging and dropping combinations of those items. Shifty was originally designed to be used by restaurants, pubs and shops. However it turned out to be useful to a much wider audience. For example: families, security companies, tour guides, charities, schools, churches, doctors and even gardeners! :: THEY SAY :: "Overall, this is a fantastic application that will really make running any business a whole lot easier." (ipad-application-reviews.com) "This app can perform tasks pertaining to scheduling in business like a breeze. All you need to do is download this app, configure it for your particular business specific information and get started with its lucid drag and drop interface." (QJ.net) :: YOU SAY :: "Despite a few annoying limitations it's still the best program I've seen for less than $500." (Richard via email) "I think the layout is ingenious." (Peter via email) "This is a great app I just wanted you to know, you have saved me hours." (Phillip via email) "Keeps the team together. Great app for quick and easy scheduling. Love the fact it's easy to duplicate shifts from week to week. Can't get much simpler than drag and drop. Worth every cent. Keep up the great work" (Canada review) "Great app! I am all about cutting time from my daily tasks. This app really helps our crew of 30 stay on schedule and helps me get back to work a lot quicker." (US review) "Love it! Tried a bunch of other scheduling apps and this one is by far the best. Well done!" (US review) "I can be done with a 2 week schedule in 20 min instead of the usual 2 hours. Love it." (US review) "I run a small petsitting business and this makes scheduling a breeze. There's a little learning curve but once you get it... works great! Thanks" (US review) "Amazingly helpful. This is the only app of its kind. Well worth every penny. I am the manager of a store, and a project group. This keeps me organized while I can email staff schedule changes! Much recommended." (US review) "This is an attractive application, easy to use and customise and with a good email export facility. I highly recommend the investment and rate this as 5 stars without hesitation." (UK review) "I love this app it made my schedules for my team an easy exercise. I was looking for something to try out a few supports shift for Christmas cover it works great. You need to make time to check out the online manual, I initially missed a trick or two." (UK review) "This app is by far the best app I have purchased for my iPad. It's really easy to use and better yet it's easy for everyone to read once the data is put in. I would recommend this app to anyone that has to make schedules for employees or even for someone who works a few jobs or does shift work. It's so visual the whole family will be able to figure out where you are. This app is the best money I have spent for my iPad." (Canada review) "Great app that is easy to use. Feedback is quick and considers opinion. Looks good and works well for multiple staff." (Australia review) :: WORLDWIDE AVERAGE RATING :: Every country has its own AppStore. This means you only see ratings and reviews for your own country. For your convenience, the worldwide average is... 4.5 stars! This is based on 300+ ratings from all countries that have ratings, calculated October 2020. :: LEARN MORE :: Visit ShiftyApp.com or tap the "Shifty Support" link on this page. There you'll find the manual and videos that show Shifty in action. You can also find the videos by searching for "ShiftyApp" on YouTube. There's also a free version called "Shifty Jr" available on the App Store. This should help you decide if you want to plunge into the wonderful world of Shifty, if you're not already convinced!
Roster
Easily input your work shifts into your calendar with customizable options for times, colors, and names. Create complex shift patterns rapidly and manage your schedule efficiently. Includes features like PDF export, iCloud sync, and automatic recurring cycle addition.
- Quick shift entry
- Customizable shift details
- Editable templates
- Single tap add/delete
- Monthly PDF export
- iCloud data sync
- Automatic recurring cycles
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Get the best roster app now. Quickly enter your shift patterns into your calendar. Just choose your shift, morning, regular or late and tap the corresponding day. You can define work times, colors, names and many more to fit your needs. With our unique app you can create your whole shift pattern in less than a minute. No app can beat this. Unique features: - Free editable templates. - Single tap to add or delete calendar entries. - Double tap to switch shift entries - Choose work times, names, colors and more. - Option to add notes to any calendar day - monthly export of services as PDF-file - matching of the data with iCloud - matching of your services, and notes in your device - default calendar (manual and automatic) - Automatically add recurring shift cycles to roster-calendar - Auto- Delete for shifts - Calculations optional: - double shifts - entries of holiday, vacations, etc. - backup/restore - password protection for App - Overtime - fully functioning audio recorder for each day - full-fledged camera application for each day - Extra - Website You can purchase Website+Extras for 1 month for the price of $ 0.99. Payment will be charged to iTunes Account at confirmation of purchase. Subscriptions will automatically renew unless canceled within 24-hours before the end of the current period. Your account will be charged for renewal within 24-hours prior to the end of the current subscription period, and identify the cost of the renewal. You can manage your subscriptions and turn off auto-renewal by going to your Account Settings on the App Store after purchase. A once completed subscription can not be canceled before its term expires. Read our privacy policy and terms of use for more information under www.roster-calendar.com and www.lifegrit.com.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Roster at $2.99 against Shifty's $19.99. Roster also leads on chart position (#200 vs unranked) and device support (3 vs 1). Shifty's advantage is rating (4.5 vs 3.6) and in-app purchases (none vs 7). On update cadence and ads 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
Shifty costs $19.99 and Roster $2.99 up front. Roster sells 7 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month. Shifty asks for nothing beyond the download.
Shifty holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 3.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Shifty has 62 ratings behind it against 9, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 90% of Shifty's written reviews are positive against 71% of Roster's.
Shifty ships an update every 2 months, Roster every 4 months. Both last shipped on November 6, 2026.
| Parameter | Shifty | Roster |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $19.99 | $2.99 — better |
| Rating | 4.5 (62 ratings) — better | 3.6 (9 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 89.6% of reviews — better | 71.1% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 62 — better | 9 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months — better | Every 4 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Paid | Free with in-app purchases — better |
| Best chart rank | — | #200 — better |
| Devices | iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 12.0 — better | 15.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 5 MB | 23 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 17+ |
| Developer | Supercake | michael heinz |
Customer experience
Shifty
Roster
User reviews
Shifty
From 62 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Easy to use
- 🚀 Quick scheduling
- 👍 Drag-and-drop functionality
- 👍 Customizable shifts and groups
- 👍 Emailing schedules to staff
Room to improve
- 🐛 Occasional crashes and glitches
- 🔒 No time clock or landscape mode
- 🔒 Limited to 18 shifts per group
- 🔒 Difficulty managing time off requests
Roster
From 9 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Easy to use and understand
- 👍 Very practical for shift workers
- 👍 Good overview and clear display
- 👍 Reliable and functional
- 👍 Syncs well across devices
Room to improve
- 🐛 App crashes frequently
- 🐛 Data loss after updates or crashes
- 🐛 Sync issues with calendars
- 🐛 Inconsistent performance after updates
- 🐛 Some features not working as expected
Bugs and requests
Shifty
Reported bugs
2 issues- Inability to import data after iOS updates
- Incorrect date/time display in monthly view
Requested features
4 requests- Ability to view and print schedules in different formats
- Integration with calendars and time tracking
- Expanded shift and employee limits
- Mobile app version for iPhone
Roster
Reported bugs
10 issues- App crashes or closes unexpectedly
- Schedules not saving or disappearing
- Synchronization issues with iCloud/other calendars
- Updates causing new problems or breaking existing features
- In-app purchases not restoring or working
Show 5 moreShow fewer
- App not launching after updates
- Issues with adding recurring shifts
- Shift color changes not retroactively applied
- Text disappearing on dark backgrounds
- Landscape mode not working on iPad
Requested features
10 requests- Dark mode option
- Apple Watch support
- Export as photo/PDF
- More color options
- Better calendar view with full year display
Show 5 moreShow fewer
- Alarm/reminder function
- Improved synchronization with other calendars (Google Calendar)
- Ability to add multiple shifts per day
- Better handling of recurring shifts for longer periods (more than a year)
- Widget for weekly view
In-app purchases
Shifty
No in-app purchases
Roster
- Website+Extras$0.991 Month
- Extra 1$0.99
- Extra 2 - Security$0.99
- Extra 3 - Overtime$0.99
Show 3 moreShow fewer
- Extra 4 - Audio$0.99
- Extra 5 - Pictures$0.99
- All Extras$1.99







