Comparison

Simple Roster vs Shift Calendar

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Simple Roster

Manage your work schedule digitally with this intuitive app. Access your shifts from anywhere, even offline, and easily plan social gatherings with friends by viewing their schedules. Share your availability with loved ones to keep them informed.

Highlights
  • Offline roster access
  • Intuitive shift entry
  • Friend roster viewing
  • Roster sharing
  • Recurring shift setup (Full Version)
  • Calendar notes (Full Version)
  • iOS calendar sync (Full Version)
Features
Read full description

Simple Roster is an easy-to-use electronic rostering app that makes your everyday life easier. With Simple Roster, you never have to bring a paper roster around, and you can simply check your roster anywhere as long as you have your phone around. Simple Roster is so simple that you will know how to use it in a minute. Using the app is simply intuitive, you will have your roster setup in the app in the first 5 minutes. All rosters and shifts are stored offline in your phone, which means even though you are in a remote area that has no connection, Simple Roster still operates. Simple Roster is designed to be simple and it gets you your information in the least amount of time and least amount of steps. We understand entering roster electronically is normally "a pain in the ass", but Simple Roster makes it easy. As soon as your shifts are setup, then you can setup your roster. To setup a roster, simply pick a start date and start entering... few seconds later, you will see your roster displayed on the roster calendar. Simple Roster also offers a feature that you can enter your friend's roster. With this you'll know when is the best time for you guys to hang out when you guys are having a day off together. You can also share your roster with your friends and families so they know exactly what date you're free and what date you'll be home late. With Full Version, you can choose to repeat your roster over a period. So if you have a repeated roster every 4 weeks, all you need to do is to keep repeating that period and you won’t need to manually enter your roster any more. There is also “Note” function that comes with Full Version as well which you can add note to any calendar date you want. Last but not least, you can sync your roster to your iOS calendar so you can even check your rosters without opening Simple Roster

About

Shift Calendar

Easily manage your work schedule with this app designed for shift workers. Customize your shifts, generate schedules automatically, and add important notes to your calendar.

Highlights
  • Customizable shift work
  • Automatic cycle scheduling
  • Calendar notes
  • Clear shift display
Features
Read full description

Shift Calendar is designed  for people who do shift works. It's easy to manage your job and work time - you can customize your shift work - Cycle scheduling, automatic generation of shift work for each day - Calendar notes, write important notes for each day - Shift works display in calendar clearly

Screenshots

Simple Roster4 screens
Shift Calendar4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Simple Roster at 4.8 against Shift Calendar's 4.2. Simple Roster also leads on review sentiment (85% vs 51%) and ratings volume (770 vs 144). On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Simple Roster sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Shift Calendar sells 4 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Simple Roster holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.2. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Simple Roster has 770 ratings behind it against 144, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 85% of Simple Roster's written reviews are positive against 51% of Shift Calendar's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Simple Roster ships an update every 2 months, Shift Calendar every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on September 23, 2026 and September 6, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Simple Roster versus Shift Calendar: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSimple RosterShift Calendar
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (770 ratings) — better4.2 (144 ratings)
Positive reviews85.4% of reviews — better51.5% of reviews
Number of ratings770 — better144
Update frequencyEvery 2 months — betterEvery 3 months
AdsYesYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch — betteriPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS12.011.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size29 MB27 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperPurple Development章健 杨

Customer experience

Simple Roster

All ratings770 ratings
Positive95.2%
Neutral3.1%
Negative1.7%
Written reviews302 reviews
Positive85.4%
Neutral6.6%
Negative7.9%

Shift Calendar

All ratings144 ratings
Positive75.7%
Neutral9.7%
Negative14.6%
Written reviews68 reviews
Positive51.5%
Neutral14.7%
Negative33.8%

Bugs and requests

Simple Roster

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Calendar dates shown incorrectly
  • Roster sharing feature not working properly
  • App freezes when trying to edit shifts

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add ability to repeat/copy shift patterns
  • Improve calendar sync with other apps
  • Provide more color options for shifts
  • Allow adding notes or reminders to shifts
  • Implement landscape mode support

Shift Calendar

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Simple Roster

One-time1
  • Full Version$2.99
4 purchases

Shift Calendar

One-time4
  • Calendar Notes$0.99
  • Remove Ads$0.99
  • Pro Version$0.99
Show 1 more
  • Add User$0.99

Questions

Is Simple Roster free?
Simple Roster 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, Simple Roster or Shift Calendar?
Simple Roster is rated higher. Simple Roster averages 4.8 out of 5 from 770 ratings, while Shift Calendar averages 4.2 from 144 ratings.
Do Simple Roster or Shift Calendar have ads?
Both Simple Roster and Shift Calendar show ads.
Which is updated more often, Simple Roster or Shift Calendar?
Simple Roster ships an update every 2 months, and Shift Calendar every 3 months. Most recently, Simple Roster was updated on September 23, 2026 and Shift Calendar on September 6, 2026.

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