Comparison

Rescue Shift vs First Responders Cal

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

Head to head
About

Rescue Shift

This app helps firefighters, paramedics, and EMTs manage their complex rotating work schedules. It displays your entire work calendar, tracks overtime and training, and allows you to share your schedule with family.

Highlights
  • Custom rotation scheduling
  • Overtime and training tracking
  • Retirement countdown
  • Family schedule sharing
  • First responder focused
Features
Read full description

RescueShift is shift scheduling software built for fire departments, EMS agencies, and 24/7 public-safety crews. Retire the station whiteboard, the group text, and the spreadsheet. Your whole crew (and your family) works off one live schedule. WHAT YOU CAN DO • See who's on duty today, by station and apparatus • Run traditional rotations: 24/48, 48/96, 24/72, 3x12, 4x10, Kelly days, or a custom pattern • Post open shifts to a sign-up board and let members claim them from their phone • Catch coverage gaps before a unit drops below minimum staffing • Approve trades, PTO, and shift drops in one inbox with a staffing-impact check • Track FLSA 7(k) overtime across 7–28 day work periods • Put a live, read-only coverage board on any station TV, no login needed • Track certifications and continuing education so nothing expires unnoticed • Share your personal schedule with up to 10 family members BUILT FOR FIRST RESPONDERS Firefighters, EMTs, paramedics, engineers, and 911 dispatchers. It also fits contract ambulance services, hospital emergency departments, and any team that runs around-the-clock coverage. PRICING Free for individuals (ad-supported). Premium ($2.99/mo) removes ads and adds family sharing. Department plans add the admin dashboard, roster, trades, whiteboard, and analytics. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://rescueshift.com/privacy https://rescueshift.com/terms

About

First Responders Cal

Manage your work schedule and time off with a calendar designed for first responders. Create custom shift patterns, track leave balances, and sync with your device's calendar. Get reminders and view your schedule at a glance with customizable widgets.

Highlights
  • Custom shift pattern creation
  • Time off and balance tracking
  • Overnight shift display
  • iOS Calendar sync
  • Customizable stat cards
  • Home screen widgets
  • Unlimited custom event types
Read full description

First Responders Cal is a schedule management app built for firefighters, police officers, corrections officers, and EMS personnel. Manage shifts, track time off, create custom patterns, and sync with your iOS Calendar — all designed around the way first responders actually work. SMART CALENDAR View your schedule in month grid, list, or yearly overview. All-day events display as full-width badges. Swipe between months, tap the year to jump to today, and swipe up to collapse the calendar and focus on the day's events. SHIFT PATTERNS Create custom shift patterns with working and off-day cycles — 24/48, 48/96, or any rotation your department uses. Categorize patterns by Fire, Police, EMS, or Other. Apply a pattern once and your schedule populates automatically without duplicates. OVERNIGHT SHIFTS Events that span midnight display correctly on both days. Set a shift from 08:00 to 04:00 the next day and it shows exactly where it should. TIME OFF TRACKING Track vacation, sick leave, personal days, and unlimited custom types. View balances broken down by Current, Earn, Total, Used, and Remaining. Choose yearly, quarterly (Q1-Q4), or custom date range tracking. Set accumulation by weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, or custom pay periods with optional caps and carryover. CATEGORY LINKING Link related event types to share a balance pool. Family Sick can draw from Sick days. The math updates automatically across all views. CONSECUTIVE EVENTS Create multi-day events like vacations or extended leave directly from the Add Event sheet — no need to add one day at a time. CUSTOM EVENT TYPES Go beyond the built-in types (Shift, Court, Detail, Vacation, Sick, Personal, OFF). Create unlimited custom event types with your own name, icon from 100+ SF Symbols, and color from 60+ options. Rename and rebrand built-in types to match your department's terminology. STAT CARDS Build a personalized dashboard. Display any event type as a stat card with custom icons, colors, and time frames. Track your next shift, upcoming court dates, and more at a glance. NOTIFICATIONS Set reminders globally or per event type. Choose how many days in advance and at what time you want to be notified. Every event type can have its own notification preferences. iOS CALENDAR SYNC Sync your schedule to any iOS Calendar automatically. Events appear, update, and delete in your device calendar as you make changes. Optionally display iOS Calendar events and Reminders alongside your schedule in the app. WIDGETS Add your schedule to your Home Screen with three widget options: a month calendar overview, today's event list, or a date card — all updated in real time. THEMES & CUSTOMIZATION Light, dark, or auto theme. Adjustable font sizes from 12 to 20 points. Modern design with filled accent circles, glass-shimmer status blocks, and deep indigo gradients optimized for the latest iOS visual language. DATA MANAGEMENT Export and import your full schedule for backup or device transfer. Selectively clear calendars, shift patterns, or profile data without losing everything else. All data is stored locally on your device. Nothing is sent to external servers. PERFORMANCE Fast cold start, smooth scrolling, efficient caching, and lazy loading across all views. Built to handle large schedules without lag. Built for those who serve.

Screenshots

Rescue Shift4 screens
First Responders Cal4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: First Responders Cal at none against Rescue Shift's shown. First Responders Cal also leads on update cadence (every 3 days vs monthly) and monetization model (free vs free with in-app purchases). Rescue Shift's advantage is device support (3 vs 1) and iOS requirement (15.1 vs 18.6). On price, rating, review sentiment and ratings volume 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. Rescue Shift sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $2.99 per month and First Responders Cal sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 1.0 for Rescue Shift against 1.0 for First Responders Cal. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1 and 1 respectively. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 0% and 0% positive.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Rescue Shift ships an update monthly, First Responders Cal every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on September 9, 2026 and September 14, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Rescue Shift versus First Responders Cal: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterRescue ShiftFirst Responders Cal
PriceFreeFree
Rating1.0 (1 ratings)1.0 (1 ratings)
Positive reviews0.0% of reviews0.0% of reviews
Number of ratings11
Update frequencyMonthlyEvery 3 days — better
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone
Requires iOS15.1 — better18.6
Further details — not scored
Size66 MB14 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperEduardo VerdePEDRO NIEVES

Customer experience

Rescue Shift

All ratings1 ratings
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%

First Responders Cal

All ratings1 ratings
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Rescue Shift

Subscriptions1
  • Premium RescueShift$2.991 Month
1 purchases

First Responders Cal

One-time1
  • Full Access$4.99

Questions

Is Rescue Shift free?
Rescue Shift is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is First Responders Cal free?
First Responders Cal is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Rescue Shift or First Responders Cal?
Rescue Shift and First Responders Cal are both rated 1.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 1 and 1 ratings respectively.
Do Rescue Shift or First Responders Cal have ads?
Rescue Shift shows ads; First Responders Cal does not.
Which is updated more often, Rescue Shift or First Responders Cal?
Rescue Shift ships an update monthly, and First Responders Cal every 3 days. Most recently, Rescue Shift was updated on September 9, 2026 and First Responders Cal on September 14, 2026.

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