# Rota Calendar vs ShiftCal Shift Work Calendar

The clearest difference is ads: Rota Calendar at none against ShiftCal Shift Work Calendar's shown. On price, update cadence, in-app purchases 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 and ShiftCal Shift Work Calendar sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

Rota Calendar ships an update every 3 days, ShiftCal Shift Work Calendar every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on September 19, 2026 and August 20, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Rota Calendar | ShiftCal Shift Work Calendar |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | **[4.7 (728 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/rota-calendar-shift-planner/id430229059/reviews)** | — |
| Number of ratings | **728** | — |
| Positive reviews | 65.2% of reviews | — |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Ads | **No** | Yes |
| Update frequency | **Every 3 days** | Every 5 days |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | — |
| Size | 38 MB | 112 MB |
| Requires iOS | **15.0** | 16.4 |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | **iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch** |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [JRW Studio Limited](https://appshunter.io/developer/430229062) | [Pablo Almancio](https://appshunter.io/developer/1859498121) |

## 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


### ShiftCal Shift Work Calendar

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/shiftcal-shift-work-calendar/id6757965010)

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Family Sharing, Apple Watch app, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (3)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| ShiftCal PRO Monthly | $2.99 | per month |
| ShiftCal PRO Annual | $11.99 | per year |
| ShiftCal PRO Lifetime | $39.99 | one-time |


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Rota Calendar free?

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

### Is ShiftCal Shift Work Calendar free?

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

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

ShiftCal Shift Work Calendar shows ads; Rota Calendar does not.

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

Rota Calendar ships an update every 3 days, and ShiftCal Shift Work Calendar every 5 days. Most recently, Rota Calendar was updated on September 19, 2026 and ShiftCal Shift Work Calendar on August 20, 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.*