Free rota planner for teams that work shifts
Build a staff rota online in minutes, let the team swap shifts on their phones, and let the hours add themselves up for payroll. Free forever, with no cap on people or sites.
A rota maker, not a blank spreadsheet
Everything a shift team needs to plan the week and pay people right, in one free tool.
Build the week from templates
Set a shift pattern once (4 on 4 off, 2-2-3, a plain week) and the planner fills the month. Drag to adjust, copy last week in one click.
The team sees it on their phones
Publish and everyone gets the rota in the app with a push notification. No group chat, no "which version is this", no reprinting.
Swaps without the phone calls
Staff offer a shift, a colleague picks it up, the manager approves in one tap. The rota updates itself and keeps the history.
Hours add themselves up
Every published shift counts towards the timesheet, including shifts that run past midnight. Export to Excel for payroll at the end of the period.
See what a shift costs
Give each person an hourly rate and the planner shows the wage cost of the day as you build it, so you spot an expensive week before you publish it.
One account, every site
Run one cafe or a chain of them from a single login. Locations, roles and managers live in the same place, with no extra spreadsheets.
Why a free rota planner
Most rota software charges a few pounds per person every month, which adds up fast on a team of twenty. InShift keeps the planner, the app, swaps and timesheets free at any size, so cost is never the reason a shift goes uncovered. You get the parts that actually save a manager time, without a per-seat bill.
How to make a rota
Create a free account
Email and a password, 30 seconds. In the browser, nothing to install.
Add your team
Type them in or import a list. Each person joins from their phone with a code.
Make the rota
Pick a pattern or drag shifts onto the grid. The planner flags clashes and adds up the hours.
Publish
The team gets it instantly with a push. Any later change reaches them the same way.
Try it without an account
Three free tools that need no sign-up and no email. Build a rota or add up hours right now, and move to an account when the team has to see it.
Build your first rota tonight
Set up the team, drop in the shifts, publish. Everyone sees it on their phone. Free, with no cap on people or sites.
Create a free account →Questions
Is the rota planner really free?
Yes. Building rotas, the mobile app, shift swaps and hours tracking are free with no cap on the number of people or sites, and no trial that expires. We plan to charge only for enterprise extras (SSO, API, advanced reports).
How is this different from Deputy, When I Work or 7shifts?
Those are strong tools, but they charge per person per month once you pass a small free tier. InShift keeps rota building, swaps, the app and timesheets free at any team size. The trade-off is that we are younger and have fewer deep integrations.
Can I use my own shift pattern?
Yes. Set start and end times, breaks and a repeat (4 on 4 off, 2-2-3, days on/off, a plain 5-2) and the planner generates the rota forward. You can always override a single day by hand.
Does it handle night shifts that run past midnight?
Yes. A shift from 19:00 to 03:00 is stored as one shift and its hours are counted correctly. You set each person's hourly rate and the timesheet totals the hours worked.
How does the team get the rota?
They install the InShift app (iOS or Android) and join with a code. When you publish or change the rota, they get a push notification and see the current version, not a screenshot in a chat.
Can I export the rota and hours?
Yes. The timesheet exports to Excel for any period, with each person, their shifts, hours, rate and total, ready to hand to whoever runs payroll.