# Calendars vs Simple Rota Maker

The clearest difference is rating: Calendars at 4.7 against Simple Rota Maker's 3.0. Calendars also leads on ads (none vs shown) and review sentiment (55% vs 27%). Simple Rota Maker's advantage is iOS requirement (15.0 vs 18.2). On price, update cadence, in-app purchases and monetization model there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Calendars sells 18 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month and Simple Rota Maker sells 6 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

Calendars holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 3.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Calendars has 122K ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 55% of Calendars's written reviews are positive against 27% of Simple Rota Maker's.

Calendars ships an update every 11 days, Simple Rota Maker every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 26, 2026 and June 1, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Calendars | Simple Rota Maker |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | **[4.7 (122K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/calendars-schedule-planner/id608834326/reviews)** | [3.0 (2 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/simple-rota-maker/id1290921414/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | **122K** | 2 |
| Positive reviews | **55.4% of reviews** | 27.3% of reviews |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Ads | **No** | Yes |
| Update frequency | **Every 11 days** | Every 2 weeks |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Best chart rank | **#115** | — |
| Size | 408 MB | 28 MB |
| Requires iOS | 18.2 | **15.0** |
| Devices | **iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch** | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Readdle Technologies Limited](https://appshunter.io/developer/285035419) | [Members of Us Limited](https://appshunter.io/developer/1124075762) |

## What reviewers say

### Calendars

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/calendars-schedule-planner/id608834326)

**Currently charting:** #115 Top Free · Productivity, #120 Top Grossing · Productivity (US App Store)

This app combines a calendar, task manager, daily planner, and habit tracker. It helps users plan their day, build habits, boost productivity, and stay organized with seamless syncing across all Apple devices. Features include event creation, to-do list management, natural language input, and integration with popular meeting platforms.

**Highlights:** Calendar, task, and habit management, Daily, weekly, and monthly views, Natural language event creation, To-do list organization, Cross-device syncing, Meeting platform integration

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

**In-app purchases (18)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Calendars PRO 1 Month | $3.99 | per month |
| Calendars by Readdle: Interesting Calendars | $3.99 | per year |
| Calendars PRO 1 Month | $3.99 | per month |
| Calendars PRO 1 Year | $19.99 | per year |
| Calendars PRO 1 Year | $19.99 | per year |
| Calendars PRO 1 Year | $19.99 | per year |
| Calendars PRO 1 Year | $19.99 | per year |
| Calendars PRO 1 Year | $21.99 | per year |
| Calendars PRO 1 Year | $29.99 | per year |
| Calendars PRO Lifetime | Free | one-time |
| Invites & Attendees Upgrade | $1.99 | one-time |
| Smart Input Upgrade | $1.99 | one-time |
| Full Upgrade | $4.99 | one-time |
| Interesting Calendars | $5.99 | one-time |
| My schedule planner, Organizer | $6.99 | one-time |
| Full Pack | $12.99 | one-time |
| Reminders & Calendars | $19.99 | one-time |
| Recurring Events | $31.99 | one-time |

**What reviewers like**

- 🌟 Excellent calendar app
- 👍 Easy to use and organize
- 🎨 Helpful color-coding
- 📆 Seamless integration with other calendars
- 🗓️ Detailed monthly/weekly views

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Occasional glitches and data loss
- 💰 Concerns over subscription model
- 🕰️ Cumbersome date/time selection process
- 🔍 Limited location search functionality
- 🔄 Sync issues between devices

**Reported bugs**

- Disappearing events and appointments
- Upgrade process causing data loss
- Freezing and crashing on certain devices

**Requested features**

- Recurring events for free users
- Customizable widgets and app icons
- Ability to archive/restore past events
- Improved Apple Watch integration
- Shared calendars and family management


### Simple Rota Maker

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/simple-rota-maker/id1290921414)

This app helps you create and manage work schedules and personal appointments. It can automatically generate rolling rota patterns for multiple workers and includes a task manager for to-do lists and audio notes. Share schedules easily with dynamic links.

**Highlights:** Automatic rolling rota generation, Manual schedule creation, Integrated task manager, Audio note recording, Shareable dynamic links, Export rotas to spreadsheets, Worker availability settings

**Features:** macOS Compatibility

**In-app purchases (6)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Simple Rota Maker Pro | $1.99 | one-time |
| Monday to Saturday Rota | $2.99 | one-time |
| Saturday To Sunday Rota | $2.99 | one-time |
| Simple Rota Maker Ad Free | $3.99 | one-time |
| Customise day of week roster | $4.99 | one-time |
| Rolling Block Scheduler | $9.99 | one-time |


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Calendars free?

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

### Is Simple Rota Maker free?

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

### Which has better reviews, Calendars or Simple Rota Maker?

Calendars is rated higher. Calendars averages 4.7 out of 5 from 122K ratings, while Simple Rota Maker averages 3.0 from 2 ratings.

### Do Calendars or Simple Rota Maker have ads?

Simple Rota Maker shows ads; Calendars does not.

### Which is updated more often, Calendars or Simple Rota Maker?

Calendars ships an update every 11 days, and Simple Rota Maker every 2 weeks. Most recently, Calendars was updated on September 26, 2026 and Simple Rota Maker on June 1, 2026.

---

*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*