Ferrow 2.3: shift swaps with manager approval
Staff can now swap shifts from their phone, and you keep the final say (sample).
Rotas, shift swaps and timesheets for teams that work in shifts
Ferrow (sample) is a young product from a team of eleven in Springfield. The graph shows everything we have shipped since the first rota in a cafe back office, and what we are building now.
Free for teams of up to eight people. No card needed (Example prices).
Branch offline-clock-in, being built
offline-clock-in
Building now
Clock in without Wi-Fi
Times are kept on the phone and sync when the signal comes back.
v2.3, Today, October 2026
v2.3
Today, October 2026
Shift swaps with manager approval
v2.2, July 2026
v2.2
July 2026
Staff set their own availability
v2.0, March 2026
v2.0
March 2026
Timesheets merged into the app
Clock-in times land next to the rota, ready for payroll.
Branch timesheets, tested by 40 teams
timesheets
Winter 2025
Beta with 40 teams (sample)
v1.0, September 2025
v1.0
September 2025
Public launch, free for small teams
v0.4, April 2025
v0.4
April 2025
Closed beta in 12 cafes (sample)
v0.1, November 2024
v0.1
November 2024
The first rota, built for one cafe's back office
Released on main Branch being built Being explored Today
Three jobs, one app
Ferrow does the three things a shift manager does every week. Each one shipped in a release you can find on the graph.
Build the rota
Drag people onto shifts for the week. Ferrow shows who is free, who is over their hours and which shifts are still empty.
v0.1
Shipped in
Swap a shift
Staff offer a shift from their phone, a colleague takes it and you approve with one tap. Nobody texts you at midnight.
v2.3
Shipped in
Close the timesheets
Clock-in times land next to the rota. Check the differences, approve the week and export the hours for payroll.
v2.0
Shipped in
Made in a cafe back office
The first version was built for one cafe owner who planned twelve people on a spreadsheet and answered swap requests at night. Most of our customers still look like her.
- Works on any phone, nothing to install
- One rota per location, shared with the whole team
- Your data exports as CSV at any time
Teams that work in shifts
Five to eighty people, one manager with too many tabs open. Most of our teams fall into three groups (sample).
Cafes and restaurants
Short shifts, students with changing timetables and weekends that never look the same.
- Shift swaps
- Availability
- Templates for busy weeks
Clinics and practices
Reception and support staff around fixed opening hours, with cover for every desk.
- Cover warnings
- Timesheets
- Payroll export
Warehouses and depots
Early starts, overtime and people who clock in from the loading bay.
- Timesheets
- Break reminders (building)
- Overtime totals
Your first day, as a short branch
Most teams go live on the day they sign up. Four steps, then the week is published and your branch joins the main line.
1
Import your staff
Paste names and emails from a spreadsheet, or add people one by one. About ten minutes.
2
Build the first rota
Start from last week’s rota. Ferrow keeps your shift names and times.
3
Invite the team
Everyone gets a link by email or text. The app works on any phone, no store download needed.
Live
Publish the week
The rota goes live and staff see their shifts. From here, swaps and timesheets follow.
Pricing per person on the rota
Free
Up to 8 people and one location, rotas and swaps
$0
Team
Timesheets, availability, payroll export
$3 a person a month
Business
Several locations, single sign-on, priority support
$5 a person a month
Paying yearly
On Team and Business
Two months free
Example prices, before tax. You only pay for people who are on the rota that month.
Every plan includes
- Unlimited managers and rotas
- The app on any phone, without a store download
- Your data as CSV whenever you ask, also after you leave
- A person replies to support email within one working day (sample terms)
What we are building next
Every open branch off the main line. A solid lane is being built, a dashed lane is still an idea we are testing with teams. Dates are aims, not promises.
Branch offline-clock-in, being built
offline-clock-in
Building
Clock in without Wi-Fi
For basements, warehouses and sites with a weak signal. Aimed at v2.4.
Branch break-rules, being built
break-rules
Building
Break reminders by local rules
The rota warns when a shift is too long without a break, using the rule you choose.
Branch multi-site, being tested
multi-site
Testing with 9 teams (sample)
Several locations, one rota
Move people between sites and see cover for each one.
Branch labour-cost, being explored
labour-cost
Exploring
Labour cost against takings
We are talking to teams before we build anything here.
Branch open-shifts, being explored
open-shifts
Exploring
Open shifts for a pool of casual staff
A shift anyone on a list can claim, first come first served.
Released on main Branch being built Being explored
Tell us what is missing
Most branches started as a sentence from a manager on a demo call. We count requests by team, and every branch is tested with real teams before it merges.
A small team that ships every few weeks
Ferrow Labs (sample) started in 2024 when two friends, a cafe manager and a developer, rebuilt her rota spreadsheet as an app. Today we are eleven people in one office in Springfield.
Founded
2024
Team
11 people
Seed round
$2.1M, 2025
Teams on Ferrow
About 900
Company facts (sample). Seed round led by Northgate Ventures (sample).
Updates from the team
What forty cafes taught us about swaps
Most swaps happen in the evening, and most are between the same few people (sample).
How we hire: a paid trial day instead of a take-home test
One real day with the team tells both sides more than a weekend assignment (sample).
Questions before you switch
Is Ferrow too young to rely on?
It is a young product, and we say so. Everything we ship is on the changelog, your data exports as CSV at any time, and the free plan lets you try it on a real week first.
How long does it take to move from a spreadsheet?
Most teams publish their first rota on the day they sign up. Paste your staff list and copy last week’s shifts.
Do my staff need to install an app?
No. Ferrow opens in the phone’s browser from a link. It can be added to the home screen like an app.
What happens to our data if Ferrow closes?
You can export everything as CSV whenever you like. We would give every customer at least 90 days’ notice and a full export (sample terms).
Does it work for several locations?
Yes, on the Business plan. Multi-site rotas with cover per location are being tested now and are on the roadmap.
See your own rota in Ferrow
Twenty minutes on a video call with someone who builds the product. Bring last week’s rota and we set it up with you, or start on the free plan and ask us later.