Roster Flow vs Shiftly
Two Australian products that both go to Xero, priced in completely different ways. Shiftly charges nothing for the platform and takes a fee on temporary shifts it fills. What each company’s public pages say, checked on the same day.
Checked 2 October 2026 against each company’s public pagesWho each may suit
Not a winner. Which kind of business each option tends to fit, from what the public pages say.
- Businesses that want the thing they use and the thing they pay for to be the same thing
- Teams that would rather set their own rates than have an award interpreted for them
- Venues that want award interpretation at no charge
- Businesses that expect to fill shifts with temporary staff and are happy to pay a fee on those shifts
How the price is worked out
The public pricing model, and what counts toward it.
| Roster Flow | Shiftly | |
|---|---|---|
| How the price is set | By the number of active people: bands up to 250 staff, and agreed with us above that | Free for every business at any size, with an 8% platform fee on shifts filled through Shiftly On-Demand |
| Lowest paid price | $29 a month for up to 10 staff | No paid tier is listed; the only charge named is the 8% fee added to the standard shift cost of an on-demand shift |
| Free plan | Free for up to 5 staff | Free for all organisations, with unlimited staff, locations and integrations |
| Free trial | 28 days on a paid plan, with no card to start | Not applicable: the pricing page says no credit card is required to sign up |
| Minimum spend or seats | No minimum; teams over 250 contact us for pricing | The pricing page says there are no per-employee fees, no setup fees and no contracts |
| Currency and tax | Australian dollars, GST included | Not stated on the pages checked |
The same week, step by step
One ordinary week, from building the roster to handing the hours to payroll.
| Roster Flow | Shiftly | |
|---|---|---|
| Build next week | Copy last week, adjust it, and watch the estimated cost as shifts go on | Rostering across multiple locations, with conflict alerts |
| Tell the team | Publish, and everybody rostered is told on their phone | Manager and employee mobile apps, Shiftly Go and Shiftly Me, with live updates |
| Record the hours worked | Staff clock in and out on their phone; differences from the roster are flagged | Clock in and out using geofencing |
| Approve the week | Clear the flagged rows and approve the week | Timesheets including breaks, award rates and approvals |
| Hand the hours to payroll | Send approved hours to Xero as draft timesheets, or export a CSV | Full Xero integration, including staff imports and payroll |
Features, from the public pages
“Not stated on the pages checked” means the page did not say. It does not mean the product lacks it.
| Roster Flow | Shiftly | |
|---|---|---|
| Building and publishing rosters | Yes: copy last week, see the estimated cost, publish to staff phones | Rostering with staff profiles, scheduling across multiple locations and conflict alerts |
| Clocking in and out | From the employee’s own phone in the browser, with an optional photo and distance check | Clock in and out using geofencing |
| Shift swaps | Yes, agreed between staff and approved by a manager | Shift swaps and open shift requests in the Shiftly Me employee app |
| Award interpretation | No. The business enters its own rates and multipliers | Award interpretation and custom pay rules, including shift cost calculations |
| Running payroll | No. Pay runs, payslips and superannuation stay in the payroll system | Not stated on the pages checked |
| Payroll connections | Xero, with MYOB coming soon, and a CSV export for anything else | Full Xero integration, including staff imports and payroll |
| Prices published | Yes | Yes |
Limits and notes
- It does not interpret awards or work out what anybody is paid
- It does not run pay runs, payslips, superannuation or Single Touch Payroll reporting
- It connects to Xero only, with MYOB coming soon; other payroll systems take a CSV
- There is no app to install: staff use the browser on their phone
- It does not build rosters automatically or forecast staffing from sales
- There is no single sign-on
- On-Demand, the part that is charged for, is listed as coming to the east coast
- The 8% fee is added to the standard shift cost and charged only when a shift is filled through On-Demand
- The pricing page lists a question about whether Shiftly runs payroll; the answer was not shown on the page checked
Method and update log
Every statement about Shiftly comes from the pages below, read on 2 October 2026. Roster Flow’s prices come from its own plan list, the same one the pricing page reads. Nothing is taken from review sites, forums or memory, and prices change, so check the source before deciding.
- Shiftly: pricing, read 2 October 2026
- Roster Flow pricing, from the product’s plan list
Still to do on this page:
- Every price, plan and feature against Shiftly’s public pages on the day of release
- That the use of the Shiftly name is descriptive, and cleared in the trademark review
- That the “may suit” lists stay neutral and are supported by the sources
Questions
How much does Shiftly cost compared with Roster Flow?
Shiftly publishes No paid tier is listed; the only charge named is the 8% fee added to the standard shift cost of an on-demand shift, priced free for every business at any size, with an 8% platform fee on shifts filled through shiftly on-demand. Roster Flow is $29 a month for up to 10 staff, priced by band rather than per person, so the bill does not move when a busy month adds casuals.
Does Shiftly have a free plan?
Shiftly lists free for all organisations, with unlimited staff, locations and integrations. Roster Flow has free for up to 5 staff, permanently, with every venue and every feature but the payroll connection.
Does Shiftly work out award rates?
Shiftly: award interpretation and custom pay rules, including shift cost calculations. Roster Flow does not. The business enters its own rates and multipliers, and pay calculation stays in the payroll system either way.
Where do the facts about Shiftly on this page come from?
From Shiftly's own public pages, read on 2 October 2026 and listed at the bottom of this page. Nothing here comes from a review site, a forum or a sales call, and where a page did not say, this one says so rather than guessing.