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TendLife vs ShiftEarn
Both track tips. They’re built for different problems: ShiftEarn is the fastest way to log a number and keep it entirely on your own phone. TendLife turns those numbers into a plan for rent.
Compared . ShiftEarn’s features and prices come from their own site and store listing and can change — check theirs before you decide.
Pick ShiftEarn if…
- You’re on Android. TendLife is iPhone-only right now, so this decides it.
- You want nothing leaving your phone — no account, no sync, no server.
- You want the paid tier to be as cheap as possible: Pro is $2.99/mo or $19.99/yr.
- You work in a language other than English. ShiftEarn ships in nine.
Pick TendLife if…
- You want the tracking to answer “can I afford this,” not just store a number.
- You need bills, due dates, and a safe-to-spend figure that already subtracts them.
- You’d rather ask a question in plain words than read a chart.
- You want the option of read-only bank sync later, without being forced into it.
Side by side
| TendLife | ShiftEarn | |
|---|---|---|
| Platform | iPhone (App Store) | Android-first |
| Log cash tips, card tips, tipouts, wages | under 10 secYes, in under 10 seconds | ~3 secYes, in about 3 seconds |
| Real hourly wage | Yes | Yes |
| Tip forecast from your own history | Yes | No |
| Bills with due dates and reminders | Yes | No |
| Safe-to-spend across your pay period | Yes | No |
| AI coach you can ask questions | Yes | No |
| Optional read-only bank sync | via QuilttYes, via Quiltt | by designNo, by design |
| Works with no account at all | sign-up requiredNo, sign-up required | Yes |
| Free tier | Everything, today | Yes, limited |
| Paid tier | $6/mo, not on sale yet | Pro: $2.99/mo or $19.99/yr |
| Named user reviews on site | collectingNot yet, collecting | Yes |
Tracking vs planning
ShiftEarn is very good at one job: get the number out of your head and into the phone before you forget it. Three seconds, no account, done. If all you want is a running record of what you made, it does that and it does it fast.
TendLife assumes the number is the start, not the end. You log what you walked with, and then the app answers the question you actually had when you were counting it: is rent covered, what lands next, and how much of tonight is actually yours to spend. That’s a safe-to-spend figure calculated across your pay period — weekly, biweekly, whatever yours is — not a calendar month, which is where most budgeting apps fall apart for tipped work.
The Money Coach
This is the piece ShiftEarn doesn’t have. You type “can I afford to go out tonight?” and the answer comes from your logged shifts and your upcoming bills. It can log income or add a bill in one tap from the chat, and when it doesn’t have enough shift history to answer, it says so rather than inventing a number.
ShiftEarn’s equivalent is its real-worth calculator, which is a nice thing to poke at on the website before you download. It answers a different question — what am I worth per hour — and it answers it well.
Bank sync and privacy
ShiftEarn’s pitch is no account, nothing leaves the device, no ads. That’s a real advantage and if it’s what you want, take it.
TendLife trades some of that for automation. Bank sync is optional, read-only through Quiltt, and can be skipped entirely — a lot of people log everything by hand after close and never connect anything. If you do connect, transactions arrive already sorted into categories and recurring bills get spotted for you. Cash tips work either way, because your bank never sees them regardless.
Price
Right now TendLife costs nothing at all — every feature, including bank sync, with no card and no trial clock. When Premium arrives it’ll be $6 a month, and ShiftEarn Pro will still be the cheaper paid plan at $2.99 a month or $19.99 a year. The difference is what sits on the free side: tip logging, income totals, bills, goals, forecasting, and the Coach all stay free in TendLife. Full detail on the pricing page.
Common questions
Is TendLife or ShiftEarn cheaper?
TendLife is free today — every feature, no card. ShiftEarn has a free tier plus a Pro plan at $2.99 a month or $19.99 a year. TendLife’s planned Premium tier will be $6 a month, so ShiftEarn Pro will be the cheaper paid plan. Everything you need after a shift is on TendLife’s free side of the line.
Does ShiftEarn connect to your bank?
No. ShiftEarn is deliberately account-free and offline — it markets itself as 100% private with no account required, which means everything is typed in by hand. TendLife offers optional read-only bank sync through Quiltt, and works fine with manual entry only if you prefer that.
Which one works on iPhone?
TendLife is iPhone-only right now, on the App Store. ShiftEarn is Android-first. If you’re on Android today, ShiftEarn is your option; if you’re on iPhone, TendLife is.
Does TendLife show your real hourly wage like ShiftEarn does?
Yes. Log your hours along with cash tips, card tips, tipouts and wages and TendLife shows what you actually walked with and what that came out to per hour. TendLife also projects what a given weekday tends to pay from your own shift history, which ShiftEarn doesn’t do.
Which one should I pick?
Pick ShiftEarn if you’re on Android, want zero account and zero data leaving your phone, or work in a language other than English. Pick TendLife if you’re on iPhone and want the tracking to turn into a plan — a safe-to-spend number that already knows about rent, bills with reminders, and a coach you can ask questions in plain words.
Other comparisons
Try the free one first.
Log tonight’s shift in TendLife and see whether the safe-to-spend number changes how the week feels.
Download on the App StoreFree today — no card, no trial clock.