Work schedule maker

A work schedule maker that builds the week in minutes and puts it on every phone

Set your shifts up once, then make the week with a click per cell. Next week starts as a copy of this one, the hours and pay add up under each name while you work, and “Publish” sends the finished schedule to the InShift app on every employee’s iPhone or Android.

Start for freeSee how the week is made ↓

What making a schedule looks like here

A work schedule is a grid: people in rows, days in columns, a shift where they meet. In InShift the grid is the “Planner” of the admin panel, in any browser. A location keeps the shifts it runs as shift types, so filling a cell is picking “Morning” or “Evening” from a short menu, and a one-off stocktake from 21:00 to 01:00 is a “Custom shift” in the same menu.

Everything placed is a draft until you press “Publish”. Drafts are yours alone: the team never sees a half-made week, and a draft can be changed or deleted without anyone getting a notification. After publishing, the week is in the app on each person’s phone, and every later change reaches the person it affects as a push with the old and the new time.

Shift types

The shifts you run, set up once per location

A shift type is a name, a start and an end, the days of the week it runs, a color and, if you pay per shift, a price. It can also have its own time on a particular day, so a “Morning” that opens later on Saturday is still one type. The planner offers a type only on its days.

  • “Morning 08:00–16:00”, “Midday 10:00–18:00”, “Evening 13:00–21:00” in the demo; your own names and times in yours
  • A shift through midnight, 22:00 to 06:00, is one shift with its hours counted right
  • A type can belong to a job position, so the menu offers it to the right people
  • Each location has its own set; a second site gets its own shifts
Setting up a location and its shift types

The grid

A click on a cell places a shift, and the cost shows as you go

Click a person’s empty cell, pick the type, and the shift is on the grid as a draft. Under each name the week’s hours and pay add up with every shift, so an expensive week is visible before anyone sees it. The recording below is the demo organization: two shifts placed, then “Publish”.

  • A second shift on the same person at the same time is flagged at once: “Time conflict”
  • “Someone needed” leaves a shift with nobody on it in its own row, to be filled later
  • To move a shift to another day or person, open it and change “Date” or “Employee”; there is no dragging
  • A published shift can still change: the person gets “Shift time changed” with the old and new time
Adding, changing and removing shifts

Next week

A good week becomes next week in one click

Most weeks look like the last one. “Copy last week” shows how many shifts it will bring over and copies them as drafts, so you only fix the differences: a day off, a holiday, an extra person for the weekend. A shift that would overlap one already on the grid is skipped.

  • “Copy last week?” with the count of shifts and the dates, then “Copy (39)” in the demo
  • Copies land as drafts; nothing reaches the team until “Publish”
  • A month of a steady schedule is four copies and a few edits
Copying a week

Coverage

Before publishing, check each shift is covered

The same schedule in the “List” view turns around: dates in rows, shift types in columns, the people on each shift in the cell. An empty slot with a plus is a shift that still needs someone, and a click on it opens the choice of person. It is the fastest way to see a Saturday evening with one person short.

  • “Week”, “Month”, “Year” and “List” are four views of the same data
  • “All locations” puts every site on one screen for an owner with several
  • A gap can go to the team as an open shift: people apply, the manager picks
Shifts that still need someone

From a phone

The same schedule maker in the manager’s pocket

A manager with the right to edit the schedule gets a “Planner” in the InShift app: the location’s month by shift type, an “Add” on every empty slot, drafts that only the manager sees, and “Publish (N)” when the changes are ready. A call-out at 7 in the morning is fixed before reaching a laptop.

  • Drafts stay the manager’s until “Publish (N)”, exactly as in the panel
  • Requests for time off and swaps approved from the same app
  • The team gets the same push whichever device the change came from
The planner in the app

The finished schedule

What the made schedule turns into

Every frame is the demo organization as it is.

  • The “Month” view: a letter per shift and the count per person, the whole month at once.
  • “All locations”: every site’s week on one screen.
  • “Print”: a PDF for the wall, or “Download Excel” for whoever wants the file.
  • An open shift: position, type, days, “Offer to the team” and how many people are needed.

A schedule template, or a schedule maker that stays live

A spreadsheet or a free template makes a good picture of the week. The trouble starts on Tuesday, when the week changes.

Filling the week

Template or spreadsheet
Type the times into every cell
InShift
A click per cell, the type brings its time and color

Next week

Template or spreadsheet
Copy the tab, fix the dates by hand
InShift
“Copy last week”: drafts with the right dates

Getting it to the team

Template or spreadsheet
A photo or a PDF in the group chat
InShift
“Publish”: the week in the app, a push to every phone

A change on the day

Template or spreadsheet
A new version, and hope everyone opens it
InShift
The person affected gets the old and new time as a push

Hours and pay

Template or spreadsheet
A formula that breaks when a row is added
InShift
Hours and pay under each name while you build

Swaps and time off

Template or spreadsheet
Texts to the manager
InShift
Requests in the app, approved in one click

Worth knowing before you start

What the schedule maker does and does not do, so there are no surprises in the first week.

You make the schedule

InShift does not generate a week for you. The speed comes from shift types, a click per cell and “Copy last week”.

Shifts do not drag

A shift moves by opening it and changing the date or the person. One click opens it, one click saves.

No availability grid

A day someone cannot work comes in as a “Day off” request, and the manager sees it before placing shifts.

Your rules, your law

Rest periods and weekly limits are not checked for you. The hours per person are always in view, so the manager sees a long week at once.

12-hour or 24-hour time

The organization picks the time format and the first day of the week; a US company starts with 1 pm and a week from Sunday.

The Free plan

One location and up to 10 people run on the Free plan with no end date. The schedule covers this week and next there.

From a blank grid to a published week

  1. 1

    Sign up

    Email and a password, or “Continue with Google”, at admin.inshift.app. Every section is there from the first minute.

  2. 2

    A location and its shifts

    The name of the site and the shift types it runs, with the days of the week and a color.

  3. 3

    The team

    “Add Employee”, or “Add multiple” with the names pasted from your sheet. Each person joins the app with a six-character code and their own email.

  4. 4

    The week and “Publish”

    A click per cell or “Copy last week”, a look at “List”, then “Publish”. Everyone has the schedule on their phone.

Frequently asked questions

Is the work schedule maker free?▾

For one location and up to 10 people, yes: the Free plan has no end date and plans the schedule for this week and next. Larger teams move to Basic, priced per active person a month with unlimited locations. The rota maker tool and the Excel templates on this site are free and need no sign-up at all.

Does it make the schedule automatically?▾

No. InShift does not generate a week. The manager places shifts with a click per cell from the location’s shift types, and “Copy last week” carries a good week forward as drafts, so a steady schedule is made once and adjusted after that.

How long does a month take?▾

Setting up the shift types takes a few minutes once. After that, one week is a click per cell, and every next week starts as a copy with only the differences to fix. The “Month” view shows the result whole before you publish it.

Is there an app for the work schedule?▾

Yes, the InShift app for iPhone and Android. Employees see their shifts, get a push for every change and ask for time off or a swap. A manager with the right to edit the schedule gets the “Planner” in the same app, with “Add” on empty slots and “Publish (N)”.

Can employees swap shifts or pick up open ones?▾

Yes, as requests. A person offers a shift to a coworker, and the swap is approved according to your “Request rules”. An open shift is offered to the team, people apply with “I want it”, and the manager picks who gets it.

Can I print the schedule or get it in Excel?▾

Yes. “Print” in the planner gives a PDF of this location or all of them, and “Download Excel” gives a file with the shifts and the coverage. The hours and pay for payroll come out of “Payroll” with “Export to Excel”.

Does it work for several locations?▾

Yes. Each location has its own shift types and people, a person can be scheduled at more than one, and “All locations” shows every site’s week on one screen. On the Basic plan locations are unlimited.

Make next week’s schedule today

Set up the shifts, fill the week, publish. The team has it on their phones the same minute.

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