OneTimeEmployee shift scheduling you own forever.
When I Work is $2.50 per user per month and Deputy starts at $4.50 — for 20 employees that is $600 to over $1,000 a year, forever. Shiftly is the useful 90% of both: a drag-drop weekly calendar, swaps, open shifts and a live labor-cost estimate on your own server. $29, once.
Shiftly in 60 seconds
Everything in the box
Self-hosted drag-drop scheduling, swaps, open shifts and live labor cost — no per-employee fees.
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.
Publish and notify
Publish a week and affected employees get notified (email optional via your SMTP), plus CSV export and a print-friendly view.
Shiftly vs When I Work
When I Work charges $2.50/user/mo. Here's what actually differs.
| Shiftly | When I Work | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $29 once | $2.50/user/mo |
| 20 employees, 1 year | $29 | $600 |
| Drag-drop schedule | Yes | Yes |
| Availability + time off | Yes | Yes |
| Shift swaps + open shifts | Yes | Yes |
| Labor cost + budget alert | Yes | Paid tier |
| Self-hosted, data stays yours | Yes | No |
| Works offline / on your LAN | Yes | No |
One month of scheduling one small team more than pays for Shiftly, and it never bills per head again.
Pick how you pay
Subscriptions if you want them — but the whole point is the lifetime tier.
Up and running in three steps
Buy once on Whop
One payment of $29 gets you the packaged Windows installer with updates, or clone the MIT source at github.com/bensblueprints/shift-scheduler-mvp and run it free.
Run desktop or deploy
Run npm run desktop as a local window, or docker compose onto a $5 VPS when you need it public.
Build the week
Drag shifts onto the grid, publish, and affected employees get notified.
Fair 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.
Related tools
More pay-once apps from the OneTimeSuite catalog.
More about Shiftly
Every page we publish about this app — comparisons, personas, platforms and the problems it solves.
For you
Stop renting. Own Shiftly.
Self-hosted drag-drop scheduling, swaps, open shifts and live labor cost — no per-employee fees.
Get Shiftly — $79 forever