Rota vs Vellum
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side β with what reviewers say about each.
Rota
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Rota is a private, offline-first shift scheduling app for people who work shifts. Keep your roster on your own device, whether you work in healthcare, hospitality, security, manufacturing, or another rotating schedule. IMPORT AND VIEW YOUR ROSTER β’ Import PDF, Excel, CSV, PNG, JPEG, and WebP roster files with a guided mapping flow. Text PDFs are read on device; scanned PDFs and images can use on-device OCR. β’ See colour-coded shifts in month, week, list, and roster-overview views. β’ Set your own shift names, colours, and times, then focus the calendar on your own shifts or view the whole team. β’ Add optional pre-shift reminders and sync shifts to a calendar you choose. β’ Add Home Screen widgets for Today & Tomorrow, This Week, Two Weeks, Weekly Timeline, or List, with optional event details. FREE MANUAL SCHEDULING β’ Create any number of blank rosters and edit assignments day by day. β’ Maintain separate member libraries, reuse members across rosters, and choose when changes are synchronized. β’ Keep every roster, member, and shift editable on your device. SHIFT ALARMS β’ On iOS 26 and later, create system alarms from a roster and shift that can alert through Silent Mode and Focus. β’ Follow the shift start or end time, then choose a before, on-time, or after offset and an optional snooze duration. β’ The first persistent alarm rule is free; the one-minute test alarm uses no slot. HANDLE REAL-WORLD CHANGES β’ Record covers, same-day or cross-day swaps, repayments, and overtime locally. β’ Keep a local swap history and compare suggested swaps. β’ Review your shift mix and hours trend. ROTA PRO β ONE-TIME PURCHASE Rota Pro permanently unlocks rotation scheduling, rule-based generation, auto-extension to a chosen date, roster merge and comparison tools, PDF/Excel/CSV export, and unlimited persistent shift-alarm rules. Every generated roster remains editable. PRIVACY No account is required. Rota has no business backend and no ads. Rota does not upload or collect rosters, names, imported files, settings, alarm rules, or local .rota backups. User-directed exports go only to the selected destination, and calendar events follow the provider of the system calendar you select. The core app works offline; the optional one-time Rota Pro purchase needs a network connection to process and restore your purchase.
Vellum
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Vellum Journal is a calm, focused space for capturing thoughts, notes, and everyday moments. Write without distraction and organize your entries into topics. Use tags, notes, and Markdown to give your ideas structure while keeping everything easy to find. CORE FEATURES β’ Create entries and organize them into topics β’ Add tags and notes β’ Write with Markdown β’ Search your library β’ Export your content β’ Keep your library on your device by default VELLUM PRO Vellum Pro is available as a one-time in-app purchase and adds: β’ Cross-device library sync through your private iCloud database β’ Notion workspace integration and export A separate Vellum account is not required. Sync starts only after you enable it on a device signed in to iCloud. Content is sent to Notion only when you choose to export it to your connected workspace.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: Vellum at every 5 days against Rota's every 2 weeks. Rota's advantage is iOS requirement (15.1 vs 18.6). On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price Β· Rating Β· Positive reviews Β· Number of ratings Β· Update frequency Β· Ads Β· In-app purchases Β· Monetization Β· Best chart rank Β· Devices Β· Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Rota sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Vellum sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Rota ships an update every 2 weeks, Vellum every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on October 9, 2026 and October 14, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Rota | Vellum |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Update frequency | Every 2 weeks | Every 5 days β better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod β better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 15.1 β better | 18.6 |
| Further details β not scored | ||
| Size | 34 MB | 43 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | η€ΌζΊ ζ¨ | εζ¬ εΆ |
In-app purchases
Rota
- Rota Pro$2.99
Vellum
- Vellum pro lifetime$2.99









