Comparison

Simple Roster vs Roster

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

Roster

Easily manage your work shifts by entering them into your calendar with a single tap. Customize shift times, colors, and names to fit your specific needs. Quickly create complex shift patterns and add notes for each day.

Highlights
  • Quick shift entry
  • Customizable shift details
  • Editable templates
  • Add notes to days
  • Double shifts
  • Recurring shift cycles
Features
Read full description

Get the best free roster app now. Quickly enter your shift patterns into your calendar. Just choose your shift, morning, regular or late and tap the corresponding day. You can define work times, colors, names and many more to fit your needs. With our unique app you can create your whole shift pattern in less than a minute. No app can beat this. Unique features: - Free editable templates. - Single tap to add or delete calendar entries. - Double tap to switch shift entries - Choose work times, names, colors and more. - Option to add notes to any calendar day - double shifts optional: - free of Ads - monthly export of services as PDF-file - matching of the data with iCloud - matching of your services, and notes in your device -calendar (manual and automatic) - Automatically add recurring shift cycles to roster-calendar - Calculations - Auto- Delete for shifts - entries of holiday, vacations, etc. - backup/restore - password protection for App - overtime - fully functioning audio recorder for each day - full-fledged camera application for each day You can purchase Website+Extras for 1 month for the price of $ 1.49. Payment will be charged to iTunes Account at confirmation of purchase. Subscriptions will automatically renew unless canceled within 24-hours before the end of the current period. Your account will be charged for renewal within 24-hours prior to the end of the current subscription period, and identify the cost of the renewal. You can manage your subscriptions and turn off auto-renewal by going to your Account Settings on the App Store after purchase. A once completed subscription can not be canceled before its term expires. You can find our privacy policy under https://www.roster-calendar.com/privacy_app.html and terms of use for more information under https://www.roster-calendar.com/terms_app.html.

Screenshots

Simple Roster4 screens
Roster4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Simple Roster at 4.8 against Roster's 4.4. Simple Roster also leads on ratings volume (770 vs 63) and review sentiment (85% vs 74%). Roster's advantage is update cadence (monthly vs every 2 months). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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 Roster sells 9 in-app purchases, starting at $1.49 per month. 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 4.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Simple Roster has 770 ratings behind it against 63, 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 74% of Roster's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Simple Roster ships an update every 2 months, Roster monthly. The most recent releases landed on September 23, 2026 and September 14, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Simple Roster versus Roster: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSimple RosterRoster
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (770 ratings) — better4.4 (63 ratings)
Positive reviews85.1% of reviews — better74.1% of reviews
Number of ratings770 — better63
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsMonthly — better
AdsYesYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch — betteriPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS12.0 — better15.6
Further details — not scored
Size29 MB27 MB
Age rating4+17+
DeveloperPurple Developmentmichael heinz

Customer experience

Simple Roster

All ratings770 ratings
Positive95.2%
Neutral3.1%
Negative1.7%
Written reviews302 reviews
Positive85.1%
Neutral6.6%
Negative8.3%

Roster

All ratings63 ratings
Positive90.5%
Neutral1.6%
Negative7.9%
Written reviews340 reviews
Positive74.1%
Neutral5.6%
Negative20.3%

User reviews

Simple Roster

From 770 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Easy to use
  • 🚀 Simple and effective
  • 💡 Helpful for shift workers
  • 🔍 Allows viewing of schedules at a glance
  • 🔗 Ability to share roster with others

Room to improve

  • 🐛 App freezes or crashes
  • 🔧 Limited customization options
  • 🔍 Calendar dates not always accurate
  • 💬 Inability to add multiple shifts per day
  • 🔍 Difficult to navigate or use

Roster

From 63 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Easy to use
  • 👍 Helpful for shift work
  • 💡 Customizable color coding
  • 🚀 Efficient scheduling

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Crashes and bugs
  • 🔍 Difficult navigation
  • 💸 Too many ads
  • 🔒 Sync and backup issues

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

Roster

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • App suddenly stops working
  • Notes and schedules disappearing
  • Inability to access past/future months
  • Compatibility issues with device updates

Requested features

4 requests
  • Add multiple shifts per day
  • Improve month-to-month navigation
  • Integrate with other calendar apps
  • Provide better customer support

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Simple Roster

One-time1
  • Full Version$2.99
9 purchases

Roster

Subscriptions1
  • Website+Extras$1.491 Month
One-time8
  • Extra 1$0.99
  • Extra 2 - Security$0.99
  • Extra 3 - Overtime$0.99
Show 5 more
  • Extra 4 - Audio$0.99
  • Extra 5 - Pictures$0.99
  • "More comfortable"$1.99
  • No advertising$1.99
  • All Extras$3.99

Questions

Is Simple Roster free?
Simple Roster is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Roster free?
Roster is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Simple Roster or Roster?
Simple Roster is rated higher. Simple Roster averages 4.8 out of 5 from 770 ratings, while Roster averages 4.4 from 63 ratings.
Do Simple Roster or Roster have ads?
Both Simple Roster and Roster show ads.
Which is updated more often, Simple Roster or Roster?
Simple Roster ships an update every 2 months, and Roster monthly. Most recently, Simple Roster was updated on September 23, 2026 and Roster on September 14, 2026.

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