# Rota Calendar vs Shift Work Calendar

The clearest difference is update cadence: Rota Calendar at every 3 days against Shift Work Calendar's every 3 weeks. Shift Work Calendar's advantage is rating (4.9 vs 4.7). On price, review sentiment, ratings volume and ads 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 Work Calendar sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $6.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

Shift Work Calendar holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.7. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 728 and 292 respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 65% of Rota Calendar's written reviews are positive against 58% of Shift Work Calendar's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

Rota Calendar ships an update every 3 days, Shift Work Calendar every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 19, 2026 and September 22, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Rota Calendar | Shift Work Calendar |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | [4.7 (728 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/rota-calendar-shift-planner/id430229059/reviews) | **[4.9 (292 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/shift-work-calendar-scedu/id6478971643/reviews)** |
| Number of ratings | **728** | 292 |
| Positive reviews | **65.2% of reviews** | 58.3% of reviews |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | **Every 3 days** | Every 3 weeks |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Size | 38 MB | 16 MB |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | 15.0 |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | **iPhone, iPad, iPod** |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [JRW Studio Limited](https://appshunter.io/developer/430229062) | [Maryana Yurieva](https://appshunter.io/developer/1559522500) |

## 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 Work Calendar

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/shift-work-calendar-scedu/id6478971643)

This app helps shift workers manage their schedules with customizable color-coding, icons, and break time tracking. It offers features like automatic rotation filling, memo notes, and detailed monthly reports for earnings and shift insights.

**Highlights:** Customizable shift color-coding and icons, Break time tracking within shifts, Automatic rotation filling, Daily memo notes, Monthly earnings and shift reports, iCloud syncing across devices, Flexible shift notifications

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

**In-app purchases (2)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Scedu Pro Monthly Subscription | $6.99 | per month |
| Scedu Pro Annual Subscription | $29.99 | per year |


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Rota Calendar free?

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

### Is Shift Work Calendar free?

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

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

Shift Work Calendar is rated higher. Rota Calendar averages 4.7 out of 5 from 728 ratings, while Shift Work Calendar averages 4.9 from 292 ratings.

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

Neither Rota Calendar nor Shift Work Calendar shows ads.

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

Rota Calendar ships an update every 3 days, and Shift Work Calendar every 3 weeks. Most recently, Rota Calendar was updated on September 19, 2026 and Shift Work Calendar on September 22, 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.*