ShiftCal

Overview

ShiftCal is workforce software for gyms and other shift-based businesses, combining roster planning with clock-ins, leave and payroll exports. It suits gyms coordinating instructors across locations, especially when schedules begin in spreadsheets or photos. Its strongest case is bringing planning and attendance into one workflow; its plan limits and conflicting employee caps call for a close fit check.

Key features

ShiftCal’s assistant and solver draft rosters around coverage, staff availability, rest periods and fairness rules. For gyms, class-shaped shifts, multi-gym instructor scheduling and shift swaps are practical tools for covering classes across sites. The assistant can also extract roles, shifts, sites, rules and coverage needs from Excel, PDF or CSV files and schedule photos, which may shorten the work of getting an existing roster into the system.

Automation remains reviewable: a confirmation card appears before assistant changes are applied or published. Employees can use the app for calendars, push notifications, GPS or kiosk clock-ins, leave requests and swaps. Timesheets can be exported as CSV, Excel or PDF; these are payroll-compatible formats, not named payroll integrations.

GPS clock-ins collect precise location at clock-in rather than tracking employees in the background. The privacy policy also describes HTTPS/TLS transmission, secure authentication and infrastructure access controls. AI assistant messages and provided files can remain on account-linked servers for up to 12 months after the conversation’s last activity, a relevant consideration for employers handling sensitive schedules or documents.

Pricing

ShiftCal has a free plan and a 14-day trial. Its pricing note says paid plans start at €2.99/mo, but the plan figures supplied do not align cleanly with that starting price: Pro is €€299 a month, billed monthly at launch pricing per active employee, while Crew is €€999 a month. Confirm the applicable price and billing basis before choosing a paid plan.

The Free plan is the clearest low-risk starting point, but its five people and one site are more restrictive than the separate staff-limit figure of 10 staff. Resolve which cap applies to the intended use; neither the broader figure nor the pricing note should be treated as overriding the plan’s stated limit.

Platforms

ShiftCal is available on Android, iOS and the web. The employee app supports attendance and shift-related tasks, while web access gives schedulers another way to manage the operation.

Who it's for

Gyms with class-based rosters, instructors working at multiple locations and recurring coverage changes are the natural fit. Shift swaps, availability management, trainer scheduling, multi-location scheduling and a built-in time clock address a connected set of staffing needs rather than scheduling alone. ShiftCal also targets restaurants, hotels, retail, clinics and factories, but a gym should weigh the plan caps and verify that its expected headcount fits.

The contact team supports scheduling, time tracking, payroll exports and accounts, replying in English, Spanish and six more languages. That breadth is useful for multilingual teams, though the export formats should not be mistaken for direct payroll integrations.

Pros and cons

• Pro: Roster drafting accounts for coverage, availability, rest and fairness, while importing common schedule files and photos can reduce manual setup.
• Pro: Scheduling, swaps, leave and GPS or kiosk clock-ins sit alongside CSV, Excel and PDF timesheet exports, connecting planning with attendance.
• Pro: GPS is collected at clock-in rather than in the background, and assistant edits require confirmation before application or publication.
• Con: Free is capped at five people and one site, and the separate 10-staff limit makes the applicable ceiling worth confirming.
• Con: The stated €2.99/mo starting point sits uneasily beside Pro at €€299 a month and Crew at €€999 a month; verify the paid price and billing basis before committing.
• Con: Payroll output is described as files in common formats, not integrations with named providers.
• Con: Assistant messages and supplied files may stay on account-linked servers for up to 12 months after the conversation’s last activity.

Alternatives

Compare gym staff scheduling software if you want to weigh category options against your team’s roster needs.

Connecteam is another freemium option with a free plan, trial and Android, iOS, web and API platforms. Choose it if those platform options suit your requirements; the available plan details also describe limited feature access on its free tier.

TNC Track offers five free seats, with additional seats at $5/seat, and keeps Team and Attendance free forever. Consider it when that per-seat model or its free core modules better match your budget.

Sling’s free plan supports up to 30 users and includes shift scheduling, time-off requests, available shifts, news sharing, long-term scheduling and private messaging. It is a stronger fit if a larger free user allowance and those listed team tools matter more than ShiftCal’s gym-specific class scheduling and roster imports.

Rosie has a free plan for up to 15 people at one site, with rosters, shift templates and auto-fill; its Pro plan is $3.50 a month billed per person, per month. It may suit a small single-site team seeking those roster tools at a per-person price.

Shifton offers a free-forever Basic functions plan for up to 10 team members, including shift scheduling, a calendar and a time clock. Consider it if that free headcount and core attendance setup are the priority.

Cicini

Emplora provides a free plan for one location and up to 15 employees, with three teams, schedules and shifts, QR employee access and team management. It is worth considering when those free-plan limits fit better than ShiftCal’s five-person cap.

Homebase

Verdict

Choose ShiftCal if your gym needs class-aware roster drafting, multi-location instructor coverage and attendance tools connected to leave and swaps. Its file imports and review-before-publish assistant workflow are meaningful advantages for schedule-heavy teams. Look elsewhere if the five-person free cap is too tight, if direct named payroll integrations are essential, or if the paid price and employee billing basis do not hold up against your budget.