Papershift review (2026): is it worth €3.60 a month, billed yearly?
German shift planning, time tracking and absence software
Black Friday: is there a Papershift sale?
Papershift report card
Fair · out of 4.0 · graded Nov 12, 2026
Best for German shift and absence planning
Papershift covers shift planning, time tracking, absences and payroll prep for German-speaking teams. Shift planning starts at the second plan, every booking carries a EUR 39 monthly base fee, and the pricing page is in German.
Who Papershift is for
- Fits if you run a small team in Germany and want shifts, absences and time tracking together
- Works for a business that can read the German pricing page and pay in euros
Who Papershift is not for
- Pricey if you are very small, as every booking adds a EUR 39 monthly base fee
- Skip it if you want shift planning on the cheapest plan, as Core is time tracking and absences only
- Watch out: prices are in euros and exclude VAT, and the page is in German
- Watch out: higher support levels than Basic are sold separately
Why Papershift gets a 2.2
Five grades, each with its reason. The GPA is their average: an A is 4 points, an F is none.
- CValue for moneyEUR 3.60 a person a month on yearly billing, excluding VAT, plus a EUR 39 base fee. Shift planning starts at Premium, EUR 5.40. For five people that is well above the category middle.
- CFree plan and trialA 14-day test account with all features after booking. The page does not say whether a card is needed. There is no free plan.
- CFeaturesShift planning, automatic assignment, time tracking, absences and payroll prep. The cheapest plan, Core, has no shift planning, so the listing shows a gap.
- CEase of useNo store rating on record. Accounts, rules and staff have to be set up first.
- BPlatforms and integrationsWeb plus iOS and Android apps, with five integrations listed.
What these grades rest on. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from Papershift's own pages on 12 November 2026. Not based on using the product, and shorter than our full reviews. How we review and grade.
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<a href="https://toolgpa.com/tools/papershift#review"><img src="https://toolgpa.com/badge/papershift.svg" alt="Papershift: 2.2 GPA on ToolGPA" width="196" height="56"></a>Where Papershift stands among shift scheduling apps
Papershift's GPA of 2.2 is higher than 6 of the 23 other shift scheduling apps we grade, and level with 4.
It stands best on platforms and integrations (B, above 2 of 23) and worst on features (C, above 0).
Its paid plans start at about $4.02 a month for each person, against a middle price of $5.33 for the category: 7 of the 17 others that charge start lower.
On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 2.3 out of 4. 3 tools score higher and cost less.
Each grade against the category
Every bar is all 24 shift scheduling apps we grade, cut by the letter each got. Papershift’s own letter is outlined.
- CValue for moneyAbove 2 of 23, level with 15
- CFree plan and trialAbove 5 of 23, level with 12
- CFeaturesAbove 0 of 23, level with 14
- CEase of useAbove 0 of 23, level with 16
- BPlatforms and integrationsAbove 2 of 23, level with 21
Price against what you get
Each dot is one of 18 shift scheduling apps. Further left costs less, and higher up scores better on features, ease of use and platforms. Point at a dot to see which tool it is.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Keep Papershift, or make your own?
Keep it
To replace Papershift you would be making payroll taxes worked out and filed with the government for you. That is not a weekend's work, with an AI app builder or without one.
That makes this kind of software worth paying for, not this one in particular: 13 of the 23 other shift scheduling apps grade higher. It costs $48.26 a year.
What you could make
- Time off and employee records: an app builder makes these well.
What you could not
- Payroll taxes worked out and filed with the government for you.
- A rota the whole staff sees on their phones, with swaps and alerts.
- Clocking in from a phone, checked against where and when.
- A real app for iOS and Android. Something home-made would be a web page.
- It is priced for each person, which means accounts and billing for a team.
- It plugs into other products, DATEV, LODAS and Personio among them.
What this rests on. Papershift’s listing: what it does, where it runs, what it plugs into and what it costs. It is a judgement about the kind of software this is. We have not built a replacement for it, and making your own means looking after it too. How we decide, and every tool’s verdict.
What is Papershift?
Papershift is a German cloud workforce tool covering shift planning, digital time tracking, absence management and payroll preparation. It is sold in three packages priced in euros per employee, and its pricing page is in German. Data is stored in the EU and exports to DATEV and LODAS are listed.
Worth knowing
- Prices are in euros, exclude VAT, and the page is in German; the shown totals assume 16 employees.
- Shift planning starts at Premium; Core is time tracking and absences only.
- Every booking carries a €39 monthly base fee that includes Basic support; higher support levels are sold separately.
- For teams of up to 15 there is a separate Papershift Light, and larger companies get an individual Enterprise quote.
Key features
- Shift planning
- Schedules are built visually and shared online, with multi-location planning, work-time models and break rules in the Premium and Professional packages.
- Automatic shift assignment
- Premium assigns shifts automatically by rules; Professional lists fully automatic filling of the schedule.
- Time tracking
- Staff clock in via smartphone, tablet or browser, with automatic break rules set per employee.
- Absence management
- Absence requests and employee-specific target hours are in every package; Professional adds blackout periods and employee-specific holidays.
- Payroll preparation
- Professional calculates hours and surcharges (night, Sunday, holiday) and exports to DATEV and LODAS for the tax advisor.
- HR records
- Employee profiles with master data, uploaded contracts and documents, tags and qualifications, and EU-hosted storage described as GDPR-compliant.
Papershift pricing
As of Nov 12, 2026, Papershift is a paid product with a free trial, starting at €3.60 per employee / month, billed yearly (€4 monthly), plus €39 base.
- Starts at
- €3.60 per employee / month, billed yearly (€4 monthly), plus €39 base
- Free plan
- None
- Free trial
- 14-day free test account after booking, all features
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Core | €3.60per employee / month, billed yearly (€4 monthly), plus €39 base | Digital time tracking, absence management, employee profiles and documents, no shift planning. The page shows €57.60 a month for 16 employees. |
| Premium | €5.40per employee / month, billed yearly (€6 monthly), plus €39 base | Adds digital shift planning, rule-based automatic shift assignment, work-time models and multi-location planning. €86.40 a month for 16 employees. |
| Professional | €8.10per employee / month, billed yearly (€9 monthly), plus €39 base | Adds full automation, absence blackout periods, surcharges, DATEV and LODAS export and reports. €129.60 a month for 16 employees. |
Read from papershift.com on Nov 12, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with Papershift before you buy.
Ways to pay less
- Annual discount10% off with yearly payment
The pricing page says paying yearly saves 10% against monthly payment, on a one-year subscription.
Stated on papershift.com
Works with
Papershift alternatives
- Papershift vs Staffomatic
Free trial · from €2.00/mo
- Papershift vs Shiftbase
Free plan · from €27/mo
- Papershift vs Planday
Free trial · from $2.99/mo
- Papershift vs Connecteam
Free plan · from $29/mo
- Papershift vs Deputy
Free trial · from $5/mo
Common questions
Does Papershift have a Windows app?
No Windows app was listed when its pages were read on Nov 12, 2026. Papershift is listed for Web, iOS and Android.
Does Papershift have a macOS app?
No macOS app was listed when its pages were read on Nov 12, 2026. Papershift is listed for Web, iOS and Android.
Is Papershift open source?
Papershift is not described as open source on its own site, as read on Nov 12, 2026.
Sources for this page
The prices, plans, platforms and features above were read from these pages on Nov 12, 2026.