Comparison

ZenShift vs Shift Planner

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

Head to head
About

ZenShift

This app helps manage complex shift schedules, automatically calculating hours, overtime, and earnings. It supports various rotation patterns and offers customizable templates for quick entry. View your schedule on a monthly, weekly, or yearly basis and export reports.

Highlights
  • Customizable shift rotation patterns
  • Automatic calculation of hours, overtime, and earnings
  • Monthly, weekly, and yearly calendar views
  • Shift templates with reminders
  • Export schedule and reports to PDF
  • Cloud synchronization across devices
  • Widgets for upcoming shifts
Features
Read full description

ZenShift is a personal shift calendar for rotating work schedules, day and night shifts, and custom cycles. Set up a pattern once, see your workdays at a glance, and estimate your hours and earnings. PLAN YOUR SHIFTS • View your schedule by month, week, or year. • Add shifts from templates, paint dates with a tap, or remove them with the eraser. • Keep multiple shifts on the same day, including overnight and 24-hour shifts. • Create templates with times, breaks, hourly rates, colors, icons, and reminders. • Repeat two days on/two off, three on/three off, 24 hours on/three days off, or your own cycle. Choose start and end dates, pause a rotation, and recalculate it. • Keep manual shift edits when recalculating a rotation. Template updates apply to shifts that have not started by default; changing past linked shifts requires confirmation. Individual overrides are preserved. WORK AND PERSONAL PLANS TOGETHER • Add meetings, appointments, workouts, birthdays, and trips beside your shifts. • Use timed, all-day, and multi-day events with colors, locations, and notes. • Set daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly repeats and event reminders. • Get a warning when a timed event overlaps a shift. • Remove one occurrence or an entire recurring series. UNDERSTAND YOUR HOURS AND PAY • Track work hours after breaks, night hours, overtime, and extra income. • Set hourly rates for individual shifts and templates, with a default rate as a fallback. • Choose your monthly overtime threshold and night period. • See estimated earnings for completed shifts and the forecast for upcoming shifts. • View reports by week, month, year, or a selected period, with breakdowns by shift type, day, week, and month, plus averages. • Assign missing rates in groups from the report. Add shift notes and reuse extra-income templates. SHARE AND KEEP YOUR SCHEDULE • Customize a PDF with your calendar, summary, breakdowns, and shift details. • Send the file using your phone's sharing options. • Export shifts to a selected device calendar. • Use one account to sync your schedule between iPhone and iPad. • Get shift reminders and review notification history. MAKE IT COMFORTABLE Choose English or Russian, light or dark theme, text size, currency, week start, and 12/24-hour time. Adjust animations and haptic feedback. The basic calendar works locally without a required account. Earnings are estimates based on your entered rates, not payroll payments. Night-time breaks are estimated proportionally because their exact timing is not recorded. Cloud services need an account and internet access. Check the app for ad-removal options and terms. Set up your first template and make your work schedule easier to follow.

About

Shift Planner

Easily manage your work schedule with this app. Organize shifts, track hours, estimate earnings, and receive smart reminders. Supports custom rotations, multiple calendars, and data export.

Highlights
  • Customizable shift rotations
  • Work calendar views
  • Earnings estimation
  • Smart shift reminders
  • Schedule export (ICS, PDF, image)
  • Multiple work schedules
Features
Read full description

Shift Planner — the easiest way to manage your work schedule Tired of juggling shift schedules? Shift Planner helps you organize your work calendar, keep track of upcoming shifts, and plan your life around work—without messy spreadsheets or endless group chats. Set up your schedule in minutes - Quick onboarding to create your first schedule right after installation - Ready-made rotation templates: 2/2, 3/3, 4/4, 5/2, 24/48, and more - Create your own custom rotation with day shifts, night shifts, and days off - Different schedules for different weeks (for example, day shift one week and night shift the next) - Manually assign shifts to any date Easy-to-use calendar - Monthly, weekly, and daily calendar views - "Next Shift" card with a live countdown - Color-coded shift types (day, night, evening, or custom) - Add notes, vacation, sick leave, training days, or days off - Multiple work schedules with separate calendars Shift types & templates - Customize shift name, start and end time, and break duration - Set hourly or per-shift pay to estimate your earnings - Duplicate and archive shift templates - Unlimited shift templates Statistics & insights - Track worked hours and completed shifts - Estimate your earnings for any period - View breakdowns by shift type and week - Compare your statistics with previous months - Analyze workload and days off Smart reminders - Receive notifications before every shift (15 minutes, 1 hour, 2 hours, and more) - Get reminders the evening before or up to 2 days in advance - All reminders work locally on your device Export & sharing - Export your schedule as an ICS file for Apple Calendar and Google Calendar - Export your calendar as a PDF - Export statistics reports as PDF - Share your monthly schedule as an image Personalize your experience - Light, Dark, and System themes - Available in English, Russian, Spanish, French, Italian, Polish, and Portuguese - 12/24-hour time format, currency selection, and customizable first day of the week Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ PREMIUM LIFETIME Unlock the complete Shift Planner experience with a one-time purchase. No subscription. Premium Lifetime gives you full access to all features of the app, including all current and future Premium features. Pay once and keep Premium access permanently.

Screenshots

ZenShift4 screens
Shift Planner4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Shift Planner at none against ZenShift's shown. ZenShift's advantage is monetization model (ad-supported vs free with in-app purchases). On price, review sentiment, update cadence and in-app purchases 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 11, 2026 and October 8, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
ZenShift versus Shift Planner: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterZenShiftShift Planner
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (2 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings2 — better—
Update frequencyFortnightlyFortnightly
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationAd-supported — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPod — better
Requires iOS16.015.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size63 MB34 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperDmitry NikitinIANA DROBOTUKHINA

Customer experience

ZenShift

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews3 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Shift Planner

Written reviews3 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

ZenShift

No in-app purchases

None

Shift Planner

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is ZenShift free?
ZenShift is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Shift Planner free?
Shift Planner is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do ZenShift or Shift Planner have ads?
ZenShift shows ads; Shift Planner does not.
Which is updated more often, ZenShift or Shift Planner?
ZenShift ships an update fortnightly, and Shift Planner fortnightly. Most recently, ZenShift was updated on October 11, 2026 and Shift Planner on October 8, 2026.

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