# Rota Calendar vs Shift Calendar

The clearest difference is update cadence: Rota Calendar at every 5 days against Shift Calendar's monthly. Rota Calendar also leads on ratings volume (731 vs 1). Shift Calendar's advantage is rating (5.0 vs 4.7) and iOS requirement (12.0 vs 15.0). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Rota Calendar sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month and Shift Calendar sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

Shift Calendar holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Rota Calendar has 731 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.

Rota Calendar ships an update every 5 days, Shift Calendar monthly. The most recent releases landed on October 23, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Rota Calendar | Shift Calendar |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | [4.7 (731 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/rota-calendar-shift-planner/id430229059/reviews) | **[5.0 (1 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/shift-calendar-auto-schedule/id6476062772/reviews)** |
| Number of ratings | **731** | 1 |
| Positive reviews | 65.4% of reviews | — |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | **Every 5 days** | Monthly |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Size | 38 MB | 35 MB |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | **12.0** |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPod |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [JRW Studio Limited](https://appshunter.io/developer/430229062) | [晨 房](https://appshunter.io/developer/1683285100) |

## 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


### Shift Calendar

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/shift-calendar-auto-schedule/id6476062772)

This calendar app is designed for shift workers, offering automatic calculation of time off for work cycles. It also includes additional tools specifically for managing shift-related schedules.

**Highlights:** Shift worker focus, Automatic time off calculation, Work cycle scheduling, Shift-related tools

**In-app purchases (1)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Shift Calendar Premium | $9.99 | one-time |


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Rota Calendar free?

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

### Is Shift Calendar free?

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

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

Shift Calendar is rated higher. Rota Calendar averages 4.7 out of 5 from 731 ratings, while Shift Calendar averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.

### Do Rota Calendar or Shift Calendar have ads?

Neither Rota Calendar nor Shift Calendar shows ads.

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

Rota Calendar ships an update every 5 days, and Shift Calendar monthly. Most recently, Rota Calendar was updated on October 23, 2026 and Shift Calendar on October 24, 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.*