Comparison

Shift Calendar Alarm vs Shift Alarm

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

Head to head
About

Shift Calendar Alarm

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If your shifts move around from week to week, you probably spend more time than you'd like resetting alarms and double-checking them before an early start. Shift Calendar Alarm takes care of that. Put your shifts on the calendar, and the app sets your iPhone alarms for the next 60 days, then updates them on its own whenever your schedule changes. Start by saving the shifts you work most, like early, late, night, or on-call, as Shift Types. Each one can have up to three alarms, on the day itself or the evening before, which helps when a very early start means you want a heads-up the night before. Then tap dates on the calendar to schedule them, with more than one shift on the same day if that's how your week looks. The calendar and shared images show the month’s scheduled day count, counting each date once, and dim days outside the month. Even if your schedule is never quite the same, there's often a stretch that repeats, and Patterns save you from tapping it in again and again. Line up those shifts in order, say two early days, two nights, and two days off, pick a start date, and the whole stretch lands on your calendar at once. Your first pattern is free. Tap any date to see that day's shifts, alarms, and notes together, and a small dot on the calendar tells you which days have notes. A note can stay with its Shift Type or be rewritten for a single day. If you don't need one particular alarm, say on a day you've swapped with a coworker, you can skip just that one without changing the shift itself. Scheduled Alarms shows everything that's about to ring, and Alarm Health checks permissions and sync status and points out anything that needs attention. You only need to rebuild alarms by hand if sync runs into a problem. The Home Screen widget keeps today's and tomorrow's shifts and alarms in view, and a 9:30 p.m. reminder tells you what tomorrow looks like before you go to bed. You'll also find Silent Alarm Mode, calendar images you can share with family or coworkers, iCloud sync, language settings, and Light and Dark Mode. The free version includes 3 Shift Types, 1 pattern, and 8 scheduled shifts. Premium removes those limits. Shift Calendar Alarm is made for keeping track of your own shifts and alarms. It isn't a team scheduling, payroll, or HR tool. Highlights: - Calendar-based shift planning - Multiple shifts on the same day - Date details and notes - One-time alarm skips - Up to three same-day or previous-day alarms per Shift Type - Automatic sync of native iPhone alarms for the next 60 days - Scheduled Alarms, manual rebuild, and Alarm Health - Home Screen widget for today’s and tomorrow’s shifts and alarms - 9:30 p.m. reminder with tomorrow’s schedule - Silent Alarm Mode, calendar image sharing, and iCloud sync - Multi-day Patterns, with your first pattern free - Free: 3 Shift Types, 1 pattern, and 8 scheduled shifts, with Premium unlimited Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Shift Alarm

Features
Read full description

Work shifts and lost track of which days you're on or off? Shift Alarm is the alarm clock that turns itself on for your work days and off for your days off, automatically, based on your schedule. Built for anyone working 12x36, 6x2, 6x4, or rotating shifts: nurses, security guards, factory workers, or any job with a schedule that keeps changing. WORKS WITH ANY SCHEDULE Set up your shift cycle once (6x2, 6x4, 12x36, or any other combination of work days and days off) and the app figures out on its own, every single day, whether today's alarm should be on or off. ROTATING SHIFTS (MORNING / AFTERNOON / NIGHT) Work in a factory with shifts that rotate between morning, afternoon, and night? Set each shift with its own alarm time and the app switches the alarm time automatically based on the day's shift. VISUAL CALENDAR See at a glance, on a monthly calendar, which days will have the alarm on and which are your days off, before the day even arrives. WORKS OFFLINE, NO ACCOUNT NEEDED No login, no internet required. Everything stays saved on your own phone. A REAL ALARM Rings for real, with sound and vibration, even with the phone locked, and if you restart the phone, alarms are rescheduled automatically. No more forgetting the alarm on during your day off or off during a work day. Set it up once and let Shift Alarm handle the rest. Free 15 day trial. After that, choose an annual subscription or a one time purchase (lifetime). Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Shift Calendar Alarm4 screens
Shift Alarm4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Shift Alarm at none against Shift Calendar Alarm's 2. Shift Alarm also leads on update cadence (weekly vs fortnightly). On price, ads, 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. Shift Calendar Alarm sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month. Shift Alarm asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Shift Calendar Alarm ships an update fortnightly, Shift Alarm weekly. The most recent releases landed on November 9, 2026 and November 10, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 4 level
Shift Calendar Alarm versus Shift Alarm: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterShift Calendar AlarmShift Alarm
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyFortnightlyWeekly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
DevicesiPhoneiPhone
Requires iOS26.0 — better26.1
Further details — not scored
Size6 MB19 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperPING CHANG YUJoao Paulo Ferreira da Luz

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Shift Calendar Alarm

Subscriptions2
  • Shift Alarm Premium Monthly$0.991 Month
  • Shift Alarm Premium Yearly$8.991 Year
None

Shift Alarm

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Shift Calendar Alarm free?
Shift Calendar Alarm is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Shift Alarm free?
Shift Alarm is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Shift Calendar Alarm or Shift Alarm have ads?
Neither Shift Calendar Alarm nor Shift Alarm shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Shift Calendar Alarm or Shift Alarm?
Shift Calendar Alarm ships an update fortnightly, and Shift Alarm weekly. Most recently, Shift Calendar Alarm was updated on November 9, 2026 and Shift Alarm on November 10, 2026.

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