The price anchor
| Shiftly | When I Work | |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly | $0 — no subscription | $2.50/user/mo |
| Annual | $0 after purchase | $600 |
| 5-year total | $29 | $3,000 |
| 10-year total | $29 | $6,000 |
Subscription figures from the vendor's published pricing ($2.50/user/mo, ~$600/yr); the Shiftly column is the full price, paid once.
Break-even analysis
One month of scheduling one small team more than pays for Shiftly, and it never bills per head again.
- After 1 year: Shiftly has cost you $29 total — When I Work has cost $600.
- After 3 years: Shiftly is still $29 — the subscription is at $1,800.
- After 5 years: Shiftly is still $29 — the subscription is at $3,000.
What you get for $29 once
- Drag-drop weekly schedule. Drag shifts between employees and days; shift templates like Morning or Close fill a week in two clicks.
- Availability and time off. Weekly windows and approved time off, with unavailable, time-off and double-booked conflicts flagged red on the grid.
- Shift swaps. Employee-to-employee swap requests with manager approval; approving reassigns the shift instantly.
- Open-shift pickup board. Post unfilled shifts and assign a claimer in one click.
- Labor cost estimate. Hourly rate times scheduled hours per employee and week, with an over-budget warning, all in integer cents.
- No renewal, ever. The license does not expire and there is no per-seat meter — $29 is the whole price.
Pricing questions
Is it really free on GitHub?
Yes — Shiftly is MIT-licensed at github.com/bensblueprints/shift-scheduler-mvp. The $29 buys the packaged Windows installer and updates; building from source is free.
Where does my roster and wage data live?
In a SQLite file on your own server or LAN — your roster and wages never leave your box.
Is this a subscription in disguise?
No. $29 once, no renewal, no per-employee monthly fee.
Shiftly — $29, one time
Or get Shiftly plus every other app in the suite: the OneTimeSuite bundle is currently $97, one time.