Free tool
On-call schedule generator
Build a fair on-call rotation in a minute: add your team, pick the shift length, and get a schedule with a backup for every shift. Export it to Google Calendar, Outlook or a spreadsheet. Free, no sign-up, nothing leaves your browser.
On-call rotation patterns, and which team size they suit
Most on-call schedules are one of these, or a weekly rotation with one of the others layered on top.
| Pattern | Team size | Trade-off |
|---|---|---|
| Weekly | 5 to 8 people | One handoff a week, easy to plan around. A bad week is a whole week. |
| Daily | 3 to 5 people | Load is spread thin, but there is a handoff every day and context gets lost. |
| Two-week | 8+ people | Fewer handoffs and longer gaps between turns. Long enough to burn someone out if pages are frequent. |
| Primary + secondary | Any size, 4+ | A named backup for every shift. The secondary is usually next week’s primary, so they warm up. |
| Weekday / weekend split | 6+ people | Weekends rotate separately, so nobody gets stuck with every Saturday. |
| Follow-the-sun | 2+ regions | Each region covers its own daytime. No night pages, but needs people in at least two time zones. |
Using the schedule as a template
Google Calendar
Download the .ics file, open Google Calendar settings, choose Import & export, select the file and the calendar to add it to, then Import. Use a shared team calendar so everyone sees the same rotation.
Outlook and Apple Calendar
In Outlook on the web, use Add calendar then Upload from file. In Apple Calendar, choose File then Import. Shifts appear at your handoff time in that calendar’s time zone.
Spreadsheet
The CSV has one row per shift with primary, secondary, start and end. It opens in Google Sheets or Excel, which is handy for payroll or for an on-call compensation sheet.
What makes an on-call schedule fair
Enough rest between turns. The generator shows rest between shifts: with five people on a weekly rotation, each person gets four weeks off between turns. Under three weeks is where on-call starts to wear people down.
Weekends shared evenly. The weekend spread is the difference between the person with the most weekend days and the person with the fewest. Plan a whole number of cycles and it drops to zero.
A named backup. A secondary on-call means a missed page goes to someone who knows they are responsible, not to a channel where everyone assumes someone else has it.
Handoffs during working hours. A morning handoff on a weekday lets the outgoing engineer explain open incidents in person.
For more depth, read how to build a fair on-call scheduleand how to add rotating shift patterns to Google Calendar.
Frequently asked questions
How do I make an on-call schedule?
List everyone who can respond, in the order they should rotate, pick a shift length (weekly is the most common), choose a handoff day and time when the team is at work, and lay out enough weeks that everyone takes at least two turns. The generator above does this and shows the load per person, including weekend days.
What is the best on-call rotation schedule?
For most teams of 5 to 8 engineers, a weekly rotation with a weekday morning handoff and a secondary on-call is the best default. It gives each person several weeks off between turns and makes the handoff a conversation rather than a message at midnight.
How many people do you need for a 24/7 on-call rotation?
At least four, and five or more is healthier. With four people on a weekly rotation, each engineer is on call one week in four, which is about the limit most teams can sustain alongside project work.
Should on-call hand off on a Monday or a Friday?
A weekday morning, often Monday or Tuesday. A Friday handoff leaves the new person facing the weekend with no time to ask questions, and a Monday handoff lets the outgoing engineer walk them through anything still open.
Can I import the schedule into Google Calendar or Outlook?
Yes. Download the calendar file (.ics) and import it into Google Calendar, Outlook or Apple Calendar. Each shift becomes an event named after the person on call, at your handoff time in your calendar’s time zone.
Is this on-call schedule generator free?
Yes. It is free, needs no sign-up, and runs entirely in your browser: the names you type are never sent anywhere.
Keep going
Run this rotation in Slack
Pagerly turns the same rotation into a live schedule: reminders before each handoff, swaps and overrides in Slack, and an @oncall user group that always points at the right person.
Page whoever is on call
Connect your monitoring and Pagerly pages the current on-call by phone, SMS and app, then escalates to the secondary if nobody answers.
Price the rotation
Work out what this schedule costs in standby and call-out pay across a year.
Put your on-call where your team already is.
Install in two minutes. Import your existing schedule. Page someone tonight.