ShiftCal

ShiftCal helps shift-based businesses schedule staff, manage time off, record clock-ins by GPS or kiosk, and export payroll data. For gyms, schedules can account for classes and instructors working across multiple gyms, with shift swaps available to arrange cover. Its assistant and solver draft rosters around coverage, availability, rest, and fairness rules; the assistant can also extract roles, shifts, sites, rules, and coverage needs from Excel, PDF, CSV files, or schedule photos. A confirmation card appears before changes are applied or published. Employees can use the app for calendars, push notifications, clock-ins, leave requests, and swaps. Timesheets and payroll can be exported in CSV, Excel, or PDF formats. ShiftCal is listed for Android, iOS, and web. Its Free plan is free for five people and one site, with no card required and cancellation anytime; the pricing note lists paid plans from €2.99/mo and a 14-day trial. Precise location is collected only at workplace clock-in, not tracked in the background.

ShiftCal brings scheduling, clock-ins, leave management, and payroll exports together for shift-based teams. Review the Free plan limits and data-retention details against your workplace needs.

ShiftCal suits gyms and other shift-based workplaces that need roster planning, time tracking, leave requests, and payroll exports. Its gym-specific scheduling supports classes and instructors at multiple locations.

ShiftCal is workforce software for scheduling, attendance, leave and payroll-file preparation in shift-based workplaces. It is particularly suited to gyms coordinating classes and instructors across more than one site. The main buying question is whether its roster automation and clock-in workflow outweigh the plan limits and retention policy for your operation.

Overview

ShiftCal brings roster creation, availability management, built-in time clocks, time-off requests, shift swaps and payroll exports into one service. Its stated audience includes gyms, restaurants, hotels, retail businesses, clinics and factories, so the core tools are broader than fitness scheduling alone. Gym operators get support for class-shaped shifts and instructors moving between gyms, which is more specific than a generic shared calendar.

The product is available on Android, iOS and the web. Its headquarters are in Spain, and support is offered in English, Spanish and six additional languages for scheduling, time tracking, payroll export and account issues.

Key features

Roster automation and imports

The assistant and solver draft rosters using coverage requirements, availability, rest rules and fairness rules. That makes ShiftCal a stronger fit for managers dealing with recurring constraints than a simple drag-and-drop timetable. The assistant can extract roles, shifts, sites, rules and coverage needs from Excel, PDF and CSV files, as well as schedule photos, potentially reducing the effort of moving an existing roster into the system.

Automation remains subject to approval: a confirmation card appears before assistant changes are applied or published. That safeguard is useful when a generated roster affects classes, locations or employee hours, although managers still need to review the proposal.

Attendance and employee workflow

Employees receive calendars and push notifications, can request leave, and can offer or accept shift swaps. Clock-ins support GPS or a kiosk. For workplace GPS clock-ins, precise location is collected at the clock-in event rather than tracked continuously in the background, a meaningful distinction for staff privacy.

Timesheets can be exported in CSV, Excel or PDF formats. Those files can fit payroll processes that accept imports, but ShiftCal does not name specific payroll integrations. Security measures described for the service include HTTPS/TLS transmission, secure authentication and infrastructure access controls. AI assistant messages and supplied files may remain on servers linked to the account for up to 12 months after the conversation's last activity, so organizations should compare that retention period with their internal policies.

Pricing

ShiftCal uses a freemium model, with a 14-day trial and paid plans advertised from €2.99 per month. The published plan entries require careful interpretation because their limits and currencies differ.

• Free: $0.00 per free, for five people and one site, with no card required and cancellation at any time. It is appropriate for a very small single-location team, but the five-person cap leaves little room for a typical gym roster.
• Crew: €999.00 per month, billed monthly, for up to 10 employees and one location. It includes a starter AI assistant and the iOS and Android app. This is aimed at a small team needing mobile access, though the listed price is substantially higher than the advertised “from” figure.
• Pro: €299.00 per month, billed monthly at launch pricing and charged per active employee. It includes unlimited employees, locations and organizations, unlimited AI assistant use and priority support. It is the relevant tier for multi-site operators, but the combination of a monthly base figure and per-active-employee billing should be confirmed before commitment.
• Enterprise: custom pricing. It adds SSO, API access, dedicated onboarding and 24/7 support with an SLA to the Pro package, making it the choice for organizations with identity, integration or service-level requirements.

The separate staff-limit entry states 10 staff, while the plan descriptions show five people on Free and unlimited employees on Pro. Treat those figures as plan-specific and verify the applicable cap for your account.

Platforms

ShiftCal runs on Android, iOS and the web. The employee app supports calendars, notifications, leave, swaps and GPS or kiosk clock-ins, while the web option suits managers handling rosters, imports and exports.

Who it's for

Choose ShiftCal if you run a gym or other shift-based business where coverage, rest, availability and fairness rules complicate scheduling, especially across multiple locations. It is also a sensible fit when schedules arrive as spreadsheets, PDFs, CSV files or photos and payroll depends on file exports. A five-person, one-site operation can start on Free; larger or multi-location teams should examine the paid billing terms closely. Look elsewhere if you need a named payroll connector, a lower-cost path beyond a very small team, or retention terms shorter than 12 months for assistant conversations and files.

Pros and cons

Pros

• Constraint-aware roster drafts: Coverage, availability, rest and fairness rules are considered together, which addresses problems basic calendars leave to managers.
• Gym-relevant scheduling: Class-shaped shifts, multi-gym instructors and swaps support common fitness-operations scenarios.
• Flexible attendance: GPS and kiosk clock-ins, plus leave and swaps in the employee app, connect scheduling to daily staffing.
• Review before publishing: A confirmation card keeps assistant-generated changes from being applied automatically.
• Broad export formats: CSV, Excel and PDF timesheets can serve payroll workflows built around files.

Cons

• Plan figures are difficult to reconcile: Free, Crew and Pro show different employee limits and currencies, while a separate entry cites 10 staff.
• Payroll is file-based: No specific payroll integration is named, so exports may still require manual handling.
• Retention may matter: Assistant messages and supplied files can remain linked to an account for up to 12 months after last conversation activity.
• Small-team economics need scrutiny: Crew's published monthly price and Pro's per-active-employee billing may not suit a budget-conscious small gym.

Alternatives

Gym Staff Scheduling Software is the broader comparison page for evaluating other gym-focused options.

Connecteam is worth considering if you want Android, iOS, web and API coverage with a free tier and a limited-feature entry plan.

TNC Track suits teams interested in five free seats and a pay-as-you-grow structure, with team and attendance features free forever.

Rosie is an alternative for up to 15 people on its free plan, with rosters, shift templates and auto-fill.

Shifton offers a free-forever basic tier for up to 10 team members with scheduling and calendar tools.

Sling fits teams that prioritize a free plan for up to 30 users with scheduling, time-off requests and available shifts.

Homebase provides restaurant labor-management options and separately priced task and tip manager add-ons.

Exerp is a paid alternative available on Android, iOS, web and API.

Jax is a paid Android and iOS option with Core and Scale tiers based on staff counts.

Verdict

ShiftCal is a strong choice for gyms and other shift-based teams that need rules-aware roster drafting, multi-location coverage, employee clock-ins and payroll-ready exports in one workflow. Choose it when those operational links matter more than a simple calendar. Look elsewhere if your team is larger than the free allowance but cannot justify or reconcile the paid tiers, needs a named payroll integration, or requires tighter control over assistant-data retention.