Shift Schedule Planner
Build weekly rotas in seconds. Add your team, drop in shifts, and instantly see total hours and labor cost — print or export when you're done.
On your team
This week
Scheduled total
This week
Team
Data
About the Shift Schedule Planner
The Shift Schedule Planner is a free online tool that helps small businesses, café owners, retail managers, clinic coordinators, and team leads build clear weekly rotas without spreadsheets or paid software. Add your team, drop shifts onto each day, and instantly see how many hours each person is working and what the total labor cost will be.
Every shift is colour-coded by employee so the rota is easy to read at a glance. Move between weeks with one click, copy this week's schedule into next week as a starting point, and print a clean version to pin on the staff board.
All data is stored locally in your browser — there's no account, no cloud sync, and no monthly subscription. Export your schedule to JSON whenever you want a backup or need to move it between devices.
How to Use the Shift Schedule Planner
Add Your Team
Click Add Employee and enter each person's name, role, and optional hourly rate. Pick a colour so their shifts stand out on the rota.
Drop in Shifts
Click Add Shift (or the + Add button on any day) and pick the employee, date, start, and end time. Add a role like "Front desk" or notes if needed.
Navigate the Weeks
Use the arrows to jump between weeks, or click This week to snap back. Each week shows its own hours and labor totals at the top.
Copy to Next Week
When your shifts repeat week to week, click Copy to next week and just edit the few that change. Saves rebuilding from scratch.
Track Hours and Cost
The summary cards show total scheduled hours and labor cost for the visible week. Each team member also has their own running total.
Print or Export
Click Print to get a clean paper version of the current week, or Export JSON to back up your full schedule for re-import on any device.
Common Use Cases
Café & Restaurant Rotas
Schedule baristas, servers, and kitchen staff across opening, lunch, and dinner shifts — see staffing coverage and labor cost before posting the rota.
Retail Store Schedules
Plan floor staff and cashiers around peak hours, weekends, and stock-take days. Colour-coding makes overlapping shifts easy to read.
Clinics & Salons
Build a weekly rota for receptionists, hygienists, and stylists. Role tags help you ensure each chair, room, or station is covered.
Small Office On-Call
Rotate support, on-call, and after-hours coverage across the team. Export the JSON so anyone on the team can re-import the same view.
Volunteer Coordination
Schedule volunteer shifts for events, food banks, or community programmes. Set hourly rate to 0 to skip labor cost calculations.
Family or House Chores
Use it as a household rota — assign cooking, school runs, or pet care across the week and print one copy for the fridge.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the Shift Schedule Planner free?
Yes. Every feature — unlimited employees, unlimited shifts, copy-to-next-week, print, export and import — is free. No sign-up, no trial, no monthly fee.
Where is my schedule saved?
Only in your browser's localStorage on this device. Nothing is uploaded. If you clear your browser data the schedule is erased unless you exported it.
How are shift hours calculated?
We compute the difference between the start and end time of each shift in hours. If the end is earlier than the start, we treat it as an overnight shift and add 24 hours, so a 22:00–06:00 shift is 8 hours.
Does it handle overnight shifts?
Yes. Enter the start time on the day the shift begins; an end time earlier than the start time is automatically treated as the next morning.
Can I track labor cost?
Yes — set an hourly rate per employee. The dashboard shows total labor cost for the visible week, and each team member's individual total appears next to their name.
Why don't I see a "delete shift" button in the calendar?
Click any shift in the calendar to open it for editing — the edit dialog has Delete and Duplicate-to-next-week buttons.
What does "Copy to next week" do?
It duplicates every shift in the currently visible week, shifted forward by seven days. Run it once and then jump to next week to make small edits.
Can I share the schedule with my staff?
Click Print to produce a clean weekly view for pinning on the staff board or sending as a PDF. For digital sharing, export the JSON and send the file.
Does it support multiple shifts per employee per day?
Yes — add as many shifts as you need on the same day for the same person. Each shift appears as its own coloured card in that day's column.
Does it work offline?
Once the page is loaded, yes. All logic runs in your browser, so you can add and edit shifts without an internet connection.
Can I open it on a different device?
You'll start with an empty schedule because data is stored per-browser. Use Export JSON on your first device and Import JSON on the second to move everything across.
What happens if I delete an employee?
All shifts assigned to that employee are removed as well. Export your data first if you want to keep a record.