Comparison

ShiftCal Shift Work Calendar vs RotaFlow

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

Head to head
About

ShiftCal Shift Work Calendar

Features
Read full description

Take control of your schedule — even with changing shifts. Forget messy spreadsheets, confusing paper rosters, or constantly rebuilding your calendar. ShiftCal is the smart calendar built for people with rotating schedules, irregular work hours, or busy lives. More than just a shift planner, ShiftCal helps you organize work, social life, and wellbeing — all in one place. WHY PEOPLE LOVE SHIFTCAL: ADD YOUR SHIFTS IN SECONDS Our visual interface lets you build your schedule just by tapping or “painting” over the calendar. Create complex rotating patterns once and repeat them automatically for weeks, months, or the whole year. SHARE YOUR SCHEDULE INSTANTLY Stay in sync with colleagues, friends, and family. Create private sharing groups so everyone knows when you're working, free, or on night shifts. Perfect for planning events, childcare, or time off. UNDERSTAND HOW YOUR SCHEDULE AFFECTS YOU Shift work impacts sleep, energy, and recovery. ShiftCal gives you smart insights into your routine — track sleep debt, night shifts, and workload balance to help improve your rest and wellbeing. SYNC WORK AND LIFE TOGETHER Bring everything into one calendar. Sync your shifts with Google Calendar, Apple Calendar, Outlook, and more — so work events and personal plans live in one clear view. EXPORT AND SHARE ANYWHERE Send your schedule however you need. Export as PDF, image, Excel (CSV), or iCal, ready to share with your partner, team, or manager in seconds. MAKE IT YOURS Your schedule doesn’t have to look boring. Choose from 10+ themes, including dark mode and colorful styles to match your taste. WIDGETS THAT KEEP YOU UPDATED See your next shift or weekly overview directly from your home screen — no need to open the app. Perfect for anyone with a changing schedule, including healthcare workers, emergency services, retail staff, hospitality teams, factory workers, freelancers, students, and anyone who wants better control of their time. Download ShiftCal today and make your schedule finally work for your life. Privacy Policy: https://shiftcal.app/privacy Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ SHIFTCAL ENTERPRISE When enabled by your company, access assigned shifts, clock in and out, manage requests and availability, swap shifts, and read updates in one dedicated space.

About

RotaFlow

Features
Read full description

Build your rota once. RotaFlow keeps your shifts, sleep, pay, and time off clear. Made for healthcare workers, emergency responders, manufacturing teams, and anyone working rotating Day, Night, and Off patterns, RotaFlow is a calm, private shift planner for iPhone, Apple Watch, widgets, and Siri. YOUR ROTA AT A GLANCE • Create repeating schedules from popular presets—including 4-on/4-off, Pitman, Panama, DuPont, and DDNNOO - or build your own pattern. • Keep multiple personal rotas, switch between them, and see every shift in a clear calendar and upcoming list. • Add swaps, holidays, vacation, sick leave, training, on-call duty, and other exceptions without changing the base rotation. SLEEP & FATIGUE INSIGHTS • Optionally connect read-only Apple Health sleep data. • Fatigue Guard highlights potential risk from your sleep trends, recovery, night shifts, and consecutive workdays—all processed on device. • See simple explanations and affected days, receive low-noise alerts, and open smarter swap options from a flagged shift. HOURS, PAY & TIME OFF • Set Day and Night hours, unpaid breaks, rates, pay cycles, premiums, weekend or holiday multipliers, and overtime rules. • Automatically estimate paid hours and gross pay, including overnight shifts. • Track overtime and PTO, find leave windows that create longer breaks, and review availability, forecasts, and yearly insights. BUILT FOR APPLE. PRIVATE BY DESIGN. • Check your next shift with Home Screen and Lock Screen widgets, Apple Watch complications, Siri, and Shortcuts. • Add shifts to Apple Calendar, share or import supported .ics files, and coordinate swaps through Trade Board. • Your schedules and sleep analysis are local-first. Optional iCloud sync is off by default. FREE & PRO Free includes rota setup, Dashboard, core Fatigue Guard and Siri features, reminders, and 7-day sharing. Pro unlocks extended planning, advanced sleep and pay insights, richer widgets and complications, precise reminders, PTO tools, advanced overtime summaries, Trade Board features, and more. RotaFlow Pro is available monthly, yearly, or as a lifetime purchase. Manage or cancel subscriptions in Apple ID settings. Fatigue and sleep insights are informational and are not medical advice. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

ShiftCal Shift Work Calendar4 screens
RotaFlow4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: RotaFlow at none against ShiftCal Shift Work Calendar's shown. ShiftCal Shift Work Calendar's advantage is update cadence (every 5 days vs every 2 weeks). On price, in-app purchases, device support and iOS requirement 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. ShiftCal Shift Work Calendar sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month and RotaFlow sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

ShiftCal Shift Work Calendar ships an update every 5 days, RotaFlow every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 12, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 4 level
ShiftCal Shift Work Calendar versus RotaFlow: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterShiftCal Shift Work CalendarRotaFlow
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 5 days — betterEvery 2 weeks
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesYes
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Apple WatchiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch
Requires iOS16.4 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size112 MB19 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperPablo AlmancioFikret Gogic

In-app purchases

3 purchases

ShiftCal Shift Work Calendar

Subscriptions2
  • ShiftCal PRO Monthly$2.991 Month
  • ShiftCal PRO Annual7 Days trial$11.991 Year
One-time1
  • ShiftCal PRO Lifetime$39.99
3 purchases

RotaFlow

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly Pro$2.991 Month
  • Pro Yearly7 Days trial$9.991 Year
One-time1
  • Pro Lifetime$29.99

Questions

Is ShiftCal Shift Work Calendar free?
ShiftCal Shift Work Calendar is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is RotaFlow free?
RotaFlow is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do ShiftCal Shift Work Calendar or RotaFlow have ads?
ShiftCal Shift Work Calendar shows ads; RotaFlow does not.
Which is updated more often, ShiftCal Shift Work Calendar or RotaFlow?
ShiftCal Shift Work Calendar ships an update every 5 days, and RotaFlow every 2 weeks. Most recently, ShiftCal Shift Work Calendar was updated on October 12, 2026 and RotaFlow on October 24, 2026.

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