The roster app for cafes.
Opens at 6:30, peaks by 9, quiet by 3. Half the team are students whose availability changes every semester. Cafe rostering is its own problem — this is the tool shaped like it.
Built around your week
Students’ availability, always current
Your baristas paint their availability in the app — Tuesdays gone when the timetable changes, back when exams end. The roster builder only ever offers people who can actually come.
The 6:30am open, verified
Geofenced clock-on means the person opening actually opened. You see the real start time from home, not a guess from the till report.
Weekends priced before you commit
Weekend hours cost more. The builder shows the wage bill move as you drag shifts, so Saturday’s roster fits Saturday’s takings — before you publish, not on payday.
Small-team pricing that starts at $0
A four-person cafe pays nothing, forever — every feature, both apps. Grow past four and plans start at $29 a month including GST.
Questions cafes ask
Is Rostru really free for a small cafe?
Yes. Up to 4 rostered people is free with every feature — managers and owners don’t count toward the 4. Past that, Counter is $29 a month including GST.
My staff are mostly uni students. Will they use it?
The staff app is free on iPhone and Android and four taps deep: shifts, availability, leave, swaps and clock-on. Students keep their availability current because it’s less effort than being rostered on a lecture day.
Does it handle the hospitality award?
Rostru doesn’t calculate penalty rates — we’d rather say so plainly. It warns on long weeks, short rest and overlaps, and exports approved, geofence-verified hours as CSV for your payroll to apply the award.
What does setup look like?
Paste your people from a spreadsheet, draw the fence around the cafe, add your roles. Most cafes publish their first roster the same evening.
Worth reading first
Put next week together tonight.
Free for up to 4 rostered people. Paid plans from $29 a month including GST, 30 days free, no card to start, and your data waits 90 days if you walk away.