Rostering is the word the care sector, security and parts of hospitality use for the rota, and rostering software is the same category under that name: the week's shifts, the people on them, the hours and the cost, published and kept. What a UK care home manager means by a rostering system is usually stricter than what a cafe means by a rota app, because the shifts are 24 hours a day, the staffing levels are not optional and the hours per person are watched closely. This page is about what staff rostering software has to do for that employer, where it differs from a spreadsheet, and what the free and paid parts of this site do.
What a rostering system has to hold that a spreadsheet does not
Each person's rate and contracted hours, so a shift has a cost and a person has a limit. Shifts with real hours, including nights that cross midnight, so the totals are arithmetic. The staffing level each shift needs, so an empty shift is visible before the day. A published version and a draft, so a supervisor can change the week without the team seeing half a rota. And a history: who covered, who swapped, who approved, when. The free work rota template on this site does the totals; the paid record does the rest.
Rostering around the clock, and the hours checks that matter
A 24 hour operation multiplies everything. Three shifts a day across seven days with two people a shift is 42 shifts and, at eight hours, 336 rota hours, the same total as the worked example on this site's template but spread differently. The checks that matter are the ones GOV.UK sets and a roster can silently breach: the 48 hour weekly average over 17 weeks, the 11 hours of rest between working days, the 20 minute break in a shift over 6 hours, and the 24 hours off in a week or 48 in a fortnight. A rostering app that shows hours per person as you place them is doing the check; a spreadsheet leaves it to memory.
How rostering software is priced, and how this one is
Per user per month is the category's norm, and for a care home with forty staff on the roster that is forty times the per user figure every month, often with a minimum monthly spend. Deputy's UK page, read on 5 September 2026, lists its plans at £3.25, £4.25 and £6.50 per user per month with a £20 monthly minimum. Weekrota Pro is £6.50 a month for the whole team, flat, however many people are rostered, and both worksheets on this site are free with no account.
Questions people ask about rostering software
Is rostering software different from rota software?
No. Rostering is the care sector's and Australia's word, rota is the UK high street's, and the product is the same: shifts, people, hours, cost, published and kept. This site uses both words because its buyers do.
Does the free worksheet handle a 24 hour roster?
Yes. Enter three shifts a day and the hours in each and it returns the shifts to fill, the rota hours, the average per person and the cost. It does not place names or track nights across midnight; the paid record does.
What does staff rostering software cost here?
Weekrota Pro is £6.50 a month for the whole team, billed monthly, with no per user charge. The worksheets are free without it.