# Rota Calendar vs CopCal

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Rota Calendar at 65% against CopCal's 23%. Rota Calendar also leads on rating (4.7 vs 1.8) and update cadence (every 3 days vs every 2 months). CopCal's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 10) and iOS requirement (7.1 vs 15.0). On price, ads and device support there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Rota Calendar sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. CopCal asks for nothing beyond the download.

Rota Calendar holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 1.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Rota Calendar has 728 ratings behind it against 16, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 65% of Rota Calendar's written reviews are positive against 23% of CopCal's.

Rota Calendar ships an update every 3 days, CopCal every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 17, 2026 and October 8, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Rota Calendar | CopCal |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | **[4.7 (728 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/rota-calendar-shift-planner/id430229059/reviews)** | [1.8 (16 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/copcal/id449505734/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | **728** | 16 |
| Positive reviews | **65.4% of reviews** | 22.9% of reviews |
| In-app purchases | Yes | **No** |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | **Every 3 days** | Every 2 months |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | **Free** |
| Size | 38 MB | 35 MB |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | **7.1** |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPod |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [JRW Studio Limited](https://appshunter.io/developer/430229062) | [App Holdings](https://appshunter.io/developer/808581339) |

## What reviewers say

### Rota Calendar

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/rota-calendar-shift-planner/id430229059)

Easily plan your life around work with this shift worker's calendar. See your schedule years in advance, customize shifts with colors and emojis, and sync with your existing calendars. Share your availability with others.

**Highlights:** Scrollable calendar view, Generate schedules up to 5 years ahead, Customizable shift colors and labels, Sync with existing calendars, Share schedules via AirDrop (iOS), Supports repeating and irregular shifts

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Family Sharing, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (10)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Rota Calendar Supporter Monthly | $1.99 | per month |
| Platinum Special Monthly | $1.99 | per month |
| Pro Monthly: Unlimited Edits | $2.99 | per month |
| Gold Monthly | $2.99 | per month |
| Platinum Monthly | $3.99 | per month |
| Supporter Yearly: Backup Only | $19.99 | per year |
| Platinum Special Yearly | $19.99 | per year |
| Pro Yearly: 5 Years Cloud Sync | $29.99 | per year |
| Gold Yearly | $29.99 | per year |
| Platinum Yearly | $39.99 | per year |

**What reviewers like**

- 🚀 Easy to program repeatable rota/roster pattern
- 👍 Keeps track of work and personal life
- 👍 Ideal for shift work schedules
- 👍 Syncs with other calendars
- 👍 Configurable for different shift types

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Issues with recent updates overriding or deleting existing shifts
- 🐛 Crashes when trying to airdrop shifts
- 🐛 Inability to save individual shift changes
- 🐛 Compatibility issues with newer iOS versions
- 🔒 Concerns over subscription model and loss of functionality for previous paid users

**Reported bugs**

- Rota not properly accounting for holidays and days off
- Inability to handle complex shift patterns beyond 9 weeks
- Sync issues between iPad and iPhone versions
- Day/month display not working after recent update

**Requested features**

- Ability to share rota/schedule with partner
- More color options for shifts
- Separate view for each month
- Ability to add travel days to shifts
- Integration with Apple Watch


### CopCal

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/copcal/id449505734)

Manage your work schedule with custom categories and repeating patterns. Ideal for public safety professionals or anyone needing to separate work shifts from personal life. Supports custom fields for specific event types like court cases.

**Highlights:** Repeating non-traditional work schedules, Customizable event categories, Dynamic fields for specific categories, Separate work and personal schedules, Track time off and earned comp time

**Features:** macOS Compatibility

**In-app purchases:** none


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Rota Calendar free?

Rota Calendar is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Is CopCal free?

CopCal is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Which has better reviews, Rota Calendar or CopCal?

Rota Calendar is rated higher. Rota Calendar averages 4.7 out of 5 from 728 ratings, while CopCal averages 1.8 from 16 ratings.

### Do Rota Calendar or CopCal have ads?

Neither Rota Calendar nor CopCal shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Rota Calendar or CopCal?

Rota Calendar ships an update every 3 days, and CopCal every 2 months. Most recently, Rota Calendar was updated on October 17, 2026 and CopCal on October 8, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*