Free tool
Rotating shift schedule generator
Pick a shift pattern, name your crews, and get a 24/7 rota with every shift covered and the hours checked. Export it to Google Calendar, Outlook or a spreadsheet. Free, no sign-up, nothing leaves your browser.
2-2-3 (Pitman), 28 days
DDay 07:00 to 19:00NNight 19:00 to 07:00
| Oct 2026 | Nov 2026 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | Mo26 | Tu27 | We28 | Th29 | Fr30 | Sa31 | Su1 | Mo2 | Tu3 | We4 | Th5 | Fr6 | Sa7 | Su8 | Mo9 | Tu10 | We11 | Th12 | Fr13 | Sa14 | Su15 | Mo16 | Tu17 | We18 | Th19 | Fr20 | Sa21 | Su22 |
| Crew AAsha, Ben | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | ||||||||||||||
| Crew BCarlos, Dana | D | D | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | D | D | D | D | D | ||||||||||||||
| Crew CElif, Farid | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | ||||||||||||||
| Crew DGrace, Hiro | N | N | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | N | N | N | N | N | ||||||||||||||
| Crew | Shifts | Hours | Weekend shifts | Longest stretch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew A | 14 | 168 | 4 | 3 |
| Crew B | 14 | 168 | 4 | 3 |
| Crew C | 14 | 168 | 4 | 3 |
| Crew D | 14 | 168 | 4 | 3 |
Export
The cycle is 28 days and the plan covers whole cycles, so every crew works the same.
Common rotating shift patterns compared
Every pattern here gives one crew per shift, every day. Hours are the average per person per week over a full cycle.
| Pattern | Shift | Crews | Cycle | Hours / week | Good to know |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2-2-3 (Pitman) | 12h | 4 | 28 days | 42 | Every other weekend off and never more than 3 shifts in a row. The most popular 24/7 pattern. |
| DuPont | 12h | 4 | 28 days | 42 | Up to 4 shifts in a row, then a full week off once a cycle. Popular where people want long breaks. |
| 4 on, 4 off | 12h | 4 | 16 days | 42 | Easiest to remember. The days you work drift through the week, so weekends are uneven over short plans. |
| Southern swing | 8h | 4 | 28 days | 42 | Three 8-hour shifts, so no 12-hour days, but 7 shifts in a row and a weekly change of hours. |
| 24 on, 48 off | 24h | 3 | 3 days | 56 | Fire, EMS and some on-site support. Only works where people can rest during the shift. |
| 2-2-3, days only | 12h | 2 | 14 days | 42 | 12-hour day cover seven days a week, for teams that close overnight. |
Shift schedule or on-call rotation?
Use a shift schedule when
Someone has to be working at all times: a NOC, a support desk with a 24/7 promise, a control room. People are on shift, at work, and paid for every hour of it.
Use an on-call rotation when
Nobody needs to be working overnight, but someone must answer if something breaks. That is a weekly or daily rotation with a backup, built with the on-call schedule generator.
Many teams run both
Shift crews cover working hours in each region and an on-call engineer takes what is left. Lay the shifts out here, then cover the gaps with an on-call rotation.
What makes a shift rota work
One crew per shift, every day. The coverage tile checks every day of the cycle. A custom pattern that leaves a shift empty, or puts two crews on the same one, is flagged before anyone sees it.
Enough rest between shifts. Most working-time rules expect at least 11 hours between two shifts. The generator warns when a pattern ever drops below that, which usually happens when nights switch straight to days.
Short stretches. Three or four 12-hour shifts in a row is the practical limit for most people. The longest stretch tile shows the worst run in the pattern.
Weekends shared evenly. Plan a whole number of cycles and every crew gets the same number of weekend shifts. The note under the grid says how many weeks that takes.
For building the same patterns by hand, read how to add rotating shift patterns to Google Calendar.
Frequently asked questions
How do I make a rotating shift schedule?
Decide the hours you need covered and the shift length (8 or 12 hours), pick a pattern that fits, split your people into crews, and give each crew the same cycle starting a few days apart. The generator above does the offsets for you and checks that every shift has exactly one crew.
What is a 2-2-3 shift schedule?
A 12-hour pattern where each crew works 2 days, has 2 off, works 3, has 2 off, works 2 and has 3 off, over 14 days. Four crews cover 24/7: two on days and two on nights, swapping every two weeks in the common Pitman form. Everyone works about 42 hours a week and gets every other weekend off.
What is the DuPont schedule?
A 4-week, 12-hour pattern for four crews: 4 nights, 3 off, 3 days, 1 off, 3 nights, 3 off, 4 days, then 7 days off. The week off is its main selling point; the price is stretches of 4 shifts in a row and a quick switch between nights and days.
How many employees do I need for 24/7 coverage?
A 24/7 seat is 168 hours a week. At about 42 hours each, that is 4 people per seat with no slack, which is why 2-2-3, DuPont and 4-on-4-off all use 4 crews. Allow for holidays and sickness and plan on 4.5 to 5 people for every position that must always be filled.
Is a 12-hour or 8-hour shift pattern better?
12-hour patterns give more days off and fewer handoffs, which suits most operations teams. 8-hour patterns keep each day shorter, which matters for tiring, high-concentration work, but mean working more days in a row and more handoffs.
Can I put the shift schedule in Google Calendar or Outlook?
Yes. Download the calendar file for all crews or for one crew and import it into Google Calendar, Outlook or Apple Calendar. Each shift becomes an event at its start time in your calendar’s time zone, named with the shift and the crew.
Is this shift 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
Build the on-call rotation
A fair weekly or daily rotation with a backup for every shift, for the hours your shift crews do not cover.
Run rotations in Slack
Pagerly runs rotations from Slack: reminders before each handoff, swaps and overrides, and an@oncall user group that always points at the right person.
Price the rotation
Work out what standby and call-out pay come to across a year for the on-call side.
Put your on-call where your team already is.
Install in two minutes. Import your existing schedule. Page someone tonight.