Free rota apps in the UK: what you actually get for nothing

If you run a small café or pub, paying for rota software can feel like an extra bill you don't need. Fair enough. There are genuinely free options, and for some venues they're all you'll ever need. This page lays them out honestly, with the limits that matter, so you can pick the right one or decide a paid tool is worth it.

Every competitor detail below is as of October 2026, checked on each company's own pricing page and linked in the sources. Free plans change, so check the page before you commit.

The genuinely free rota apps

Sling: free scheduling for up to 30 users

Sling, now Sling by Toast, says shift scheduling is free for up to 30 users. The free plan includes shift scheduling, time-off requests, available shifts, news sharing, long-term scheduling months in advance and private messaging, plus shift templates and shift offers in its comparison table.

The limits: labour cost management, overtime tracking, mobile time tracking and group messaging are on the paid Premium plan; kiosk clocking in, labour reports and PTO management are on Business. Paid prices are in US dollars.

Best for: small teams that want a proper shared schedule and chat without paying anything.

Connecteam: free for up to 10 users

Connecteam's Small Business plan is described as "Free for life" for up to 10 users. Its scheduling allows a single schedule with unlimited jobs.

The limits: 10 users and one schedule. Above that, paid plans are priced in US dollars per month for the first 30 users, plus a charge for each extra user.

Best for: very small teams that want scheduling alongside Connecteam's other tools.

Findmyshift: free for up to 5 staff

Findmyshift, which prices in pounds, says it "will always be free for small teams of up to 5 staff members". The free plan includes 1 manager and 1 week of forward planning and history.

The limits: 5 staff and one week ahead is tight for most hospitality venues. Paid plans are priced per team in pounds (from £21 a month on monthly billing for up to 20 staff), and it offers a 3-month free trial with all features.

Best for: a tiny team that only plans one week at a time.

Square Shifts Free: up to 5 team members

If you already use Square for your tills, Shifts Free "offers basic Shifts features and is free for up to five team members, including account owners". Shifts Plus starts at £3.00 per team member per month.

Best for: small Square-using cafés and takeaways that want the rota alongside their tills.

The other free options: spreadsheets and WhatsApp

Most UK pubs and restaurants still run the rota on a spreadsheet, a whiteboard and a WhatsApp group. It costs nothing and everyone knows how to use it. Our staff rota template is a decent place to start if you go this way.

The cost shows up elsewhere:

• Your time. Rebuilding the week from scratch every Sunday night.
• Availability by text. "Can I have Saturday off?" buried in a chat, forgotten by Thursday.
• Lost updates. You change a shift, post it in the group, and it disappears under forty messages about a lost phone charger.
• No labour cost until you add it up afterwards.
• No record of who saw which version.

For a team of five that rarely changes, that's manageable. At fifteen or twenty with students, split shifts and match days, it gets expensive in hours.

Free rota options compared

All competitor details as of October 2026.

Before you put your team on a free plan

A rota app only works once every member of staff is on it, so moving later is a hassle. Check these before you invite anyone:

• Your real headcount. Count everyone who'll ever be on the rota, including casuals, kitchen porters and the Christmas temps. A five-person limit goes quickly.
• How far ahead you plan. If you plan a month ahead for events or summer holidays, a one-week window won't work.
• Areas and split shifts. Can it show the same person on the bar at lunch and in the kitchen at night?
• Labour cost. Is it on the free plan, or only paid?
• Currency. If you'll upgrade later, are prices in pounds or dollars?
• Getting out. Can you export your staff list and past rotas if you move?

Where ShiftComplete fits

ShiftComplete isn't free forever, and we won't pretend otherwise. What you get is 60 days free with every feature and no card, then one simple price: £1.49 per staff member per month. A café with 8 staff pays £11.92 a month. A pub with 20 pays £29.80. No per-site fee, no contract, remove staff any time.

It's built only for UK pubs, restaurants, cafés, bars and hotels, and it does more than a schedule:

• Staff set availability on their phones weeks ahead.
• It builds a draft rota in seconds from availability, your events (a Friday match that needs +2 on the bar) and the people you want on, fair across the team.
• Split shifts with up to four blocks per person per day, tagged with custom areas like Bar, Kitchen and Floor.
• Labour cost while you build, holidays recorded, and day notes on the rota.
• Publish to everyone's phone or by email. It runs in the browser, so there's nothing to install.

And it holds the venue's daily records too: temperature logs with out-of-range flags, the 14 allergens for every menu item, opening and closing checklists, incidents and maintenance, and risk assessments. If you'd otherwise pay for a separate food-safety app, that's worth counting.

"The rota stopped being a Sunday-night argument the week we switched over. The chef stopped being the only person who knows what's in the kitchen. And the EHO turn up to a screen, not a box file." Graeme Kirkham, Owner, The Lounge Oswestry & Knock & Snitch

How to choose

• Five staff, simple week, no growth plans? A free plan or a spreadsheet will probably do.
• Up to 30 staff and you just want a shared schedule? Sling's free plan is generous.
• Split shifts, events, labour cost and food-safety records? Try ShiftComplete for 60 days and see whether the hours it saves are worth £1.49 a head.

Whichever you pick, get availability out of WhatsApp and into one place. That alone saves a Sunday night. Start your free ShiftComplete trial, or book a free 15-minute set-up call. For a wider view, see the best rota apps for UK hospitality and our guide on how to write a pub rota.