# Rota Calendar vs SpanRota

The clearest difference is iOS requirement: Rota Calendar at 15.0 against SpanRota's 17.0. On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Rota Calendar sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month and SpanRota sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

Rota Calendar ships an update every 3 days, SpanRota every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on October 17, 2026 and October 14, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Rota Calendar | SpanRota |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 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 | 65.4% of reviews | — |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Every 3 days | **Every 2 days** |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | — |
| Size | 38 MB | 7 MB |
| Requires iOS | **15.0** | 17.0 |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPad |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [JRW Studio Limited](https://appshunter.io/developer/430229062) | [Aleksandar Malchev](https://appshunter.io/developer/6810092478) |

## 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


### SpanRota

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/spanrota/id6810092476)

**Features:** macOS Compatibility

**In-app purchases (2)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| ShiftPay Pro Monthly | $3.99 | per month |
| ShiftPay Pro Yearly | $34.99 | per year |


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Rota Calendar free?

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

### Is SpanRota free?

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

### Do Rota Calendar or SpanRota have ads?

Neither Rota Calendar nor SpanRota shows ads.

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

Rota Calendar ships an update every 3 days, and SpanRota every 2 days. Most recently, Rota Calendar was updated on October 17, 2026 and SpanRota on October 14, 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.*