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Spreadsheet alternative: RotaBay
A spreadsheet is genuinely a reasonable place to start: free, flexible, and everyone already knows how to open one. It's also honestly where most call schedules live today. The tradeoffs show up once a group grows or the rules get real - no fairness math, no rule checking, and no way for anyone but the scheduler to know it's current.
Feature-by-feature
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| Feature | RotaBay | A spreadsheet |
|---|---|---|
| Auto-generation with fairness math | Yes - fairness-weighted generator, free to try | No - every cell is typed in by hand, no fairness math |
| Published no-login who's-on page | Yes, on every plan | No - export/email a copy, or share edit access |
| Per-provider ICS calendar feeds | Yes, on every plan | No - not without a manual add-on or script |
| Swap requests | Yes, Practice plan | No - edited by hand, no request/approval trail |
| Self-serve signup | Yes - no card, no demo call | Yes - open a blank sheet |
| Published pricing | Yes - Free and $39/mo, shown on this site | Yes - free (the software; your time is not) |
| Flat pricing (not per-provider) | Yes - $39/mo flat, unlimited providers | Yes - free either way |
Pricing
RotaBay
Free, or $39/mo flat
Roster (free): 1 team, up to 10 providers. Practice ($39/mo): unlimited teams, providers and schedules - one flat price, never per provider.
A spreadsheet
Free (the file)
No license cost, but every rule check, fairness tally and swap update is manual work someone on your team is doing instead of the software.
Common questions
Nothing, until the group grows past a handful of people or the rules get complicated. A spreadsheet has no idea what 'no day shift after a night shift' means, doesn't track fairness across weekends and holidays, and can't stop you from double-booking someone by accident - every one of those checks lives in the scheduler's head.
Move off the spreadsheet
Free to start, no card, no demo call. Import your roster and generate a fair schedule in minutes.