The short answer
If your priority is writing shift notes, Sparks Scribe is the app I would point a solo support worker to first: it turns what you type or say into a finished, professionally formatted note in about 60 seconds, offers SOAPIE, daily progress, and incident templates, and adds incident reporting and safeguarding on its top plan, from $15 a month including GST. Of the other four, ShiftCare and Astalty are built for teams and coordinators and treat notes as case management, Bugal offers manual notes with no AI writing, and EasyAs does not mention notes on any published page, it handles invoicing only. Disclosure: I make Sparks Scribe, so check every competitor detail against what each company publishes.
There are more apps chasing Australian support workers than any of us have time to trial, and most comparisons rank them by feature count, which just rewards bloat. This one asks a narrower question, because it is the question I care about most: how well does each app actually help you write shift notes? I compare five by name: Sparks Scribe, ShiftCare, Astalty, EasyAs, and Bugal.
One thing up front: I make one of these. Sparks Scribe is my product, so read my verdict on it knowing that, and check every competitor claim against the vendor's current public pages. Every competitor price and feature detail below was collected from each product's public website in July 2026. Where I could not verify something, I say so rather than guess.
How I compared these apps for note-taking
I scored every tool on the questions that decide whether note-writing is quick and defensible, not on how many modules it lists:
- Who writes the note? There is a real gap between AI that turns a sentence into a finished note, voice dictation that types what you say, prompts that nudge you along, and a blank template. I name which is which.
- Is note-taking on the entry plan, or gated? An entry price means little if the notes feature sits behind a higher tier.
- Does it offer a professional structure? Recognised formats like SOAPIE, daily progress, and incident notes make a note easier to write and easier for others to trust.
- Can it handle incidents and safeguarding? A worrying moment needs more than a free-text box.
- Where does it run, and who is it built for? Native iOS and Android matter when your office is the front seat of your car, and a tool built for agencies will always pull toward rostering, not notes.
I also noted price for one real person, trial length, and data storage where the vendor states them. Everything was checked against official public pages in July 2026; prices may have changed by the time you read this.
1. Sparks Scribe: best for AI-written shift notes
Full disclosure first: this is my product. Sparks Scribe was built in Australia by Sparks Support Pty Ltd for independent support workers, not agencies, and note-writing is the thing it is built around. You type a rough note the way you would tell a colleague, or you speak it, and the app returns a clean, professionally formatted note in about 60 seconds. Typing and dictation are treated the same.
The AI Assist drafts from your own words and you review it before saving, so it stays a second set of eyes, not a second author, it will not invent a support you did not provide. Notes can be formatted as SOAPIE, a daily progress note, or an incident report, and every note is stored by client with one-tap PDF export. NDIS-coded invoicing is included on the $15 Essentials plan rather than gated. Vault ($20) adds service agreements, a document and receipt vault, mileage and Xero sync. Safeguards ($39) adds alert detection on notes, incident reporting, per-client risk profiles, and restrictive-practice flagging. Annual plans are $150, $200, and $390.
On the record: a 5.0 rating on the App Store, more than 75,000 shifts booked through the app by thousands of Australian support workers, data stored in Australia, and a 14-day free trial with every feature unlocked and no card required. There is no free tier.
My verdict: if the job you most want handled is writing shift notes, this is the strongest pick here, finished notes from typed or spoken input, recognised formats, and real incident tooling on the top plan. It deliberately leaves out team rostering and payroll; the tools that carry those price them in.
2. ShiftCare: team platform, notes as case management
ShiftCare is a care-management platform built for agencies, listing team rostering, payroll with SCHADS Award interpretation, and a family portal. Its notes sit inside that team context rather than being the centre of the product, and the platform AI it advertises is aimed at scheduling, not at writing your shift note for you.
The bigger issue for a solo worker is the pricing floor. ShiftCare charges per licence with a minimum of five licences on every plan, even if you are the only user, and invoicing requires the Professional plan, which works out at $65 to $75 a month excluding GST for one person depending on billing. You pay as if you had a team of five.
My verdict: capable software, but priced and built for teams. If you work alone and mainly want notes written quickly, it is an expensive and heavy way to get there.
3. Astalty: coordination platform, prompts not AI writing
Astalty is a platform for NDIS support coordinators and providers, with PRODA bulk upload and coordination workflows. For note-writing, the feature to understand is Smart Prompts: they are prompts that guide you as you write, not AI that writes the note from a sentence. That is a genuine difference if speed is what you are after.
The economics suit a coordinator, not a lone support worker. The standard seat is $64 per user per month and the restricted support-worker profile is $30, with e-signatures at $1 each on top, where some tools include signing. You would be paying for coordination depth you may never use.
My verdict: built for coordinators, with prompts rather than AI note-writing, and the most expensive per-seat option here for one person.
4. EasyAs: NDIS invoicing only, no notes feature
EasyAs, from EasyAs Provider Invoicing Pty Ltd, does one job: NDIS invoicing, with every NDIS item number pre-loaded. On note-taking there is nothing to compare, because across its website and both app-store listings there is no mention of progress notes, shift notes, or incident reporting, and no AI features of any kind. A worker using it still needs somewhere else to write every note.
For completeness on price: the Small plan is $19.95 a month on their website and $19.99 via in-app purchase, rising by invoice volume, the pages do not state whether prices include GST, and no free trial is published. Its privacy policy states personal information may be transferred to countries outside Australia, including the United States and European Union.
My verdict: fine at the invoice, but it is not a shift notes app. It covers the bill, not the record of the shift behind it.
5. Bugal: manual notes, no AI writing listed
Bugal is a platform for Australian independents, with a free-forever plan capped at two invoices a month and a 30-day trial. Its published feature list includes shift notes and reports, so notes are there, but they are written manually, there is no AI note-writing mentioned anywhere on its pages.
The paid Solo plan is $35 a month, more than double Sparks Scribe's $15 entry plan. What I could not verify from Bugal's site: whether prices include GST, any AI note-writing (none mentioned), and native mobile apps, Bugal describes itself as a web-based, mobile-first platform, with no App Store or Google Play listing mentioned as of July 2026.
My verdict: a web-based tool with manual notes and no AI writing listed, at more than double the entry price of the cheapest paid option here.
The comparison at a glance
Collected from public pages in July 2026. Price for one person is the real monthly cost for a sole trader, not the headline per-user rate.
| App | Price for 1 person | How shift notes are written | Note formats | Incident & safeguarding | Apps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sparks Scribe | $15/month incl GST | AI-written, finished note in ~60s, typed or spoken (your words, reviewed by you) | SOAPIE, Daily Progress, Incident | Yes, on Safeguards ($39): incident reports, risk profiles, restrictive-practice flags | iOS · Android · Web |
| ShiftCare | $65 to $75/month ex GST depending on billing (Professional, min 5 licences) | Manual notes in a team context; platform AI aimed at scheduling | Care-management notes (team-oriented) | Not published on the pages checked | Worker app + web |
| Astalty | $30/month support-worker profile ($64 standard seat), e-signatures $1 each | Smart Prompts guide writing, not AI writing | Case-note style for coordination | Not verified on public pages | Not verified |
| EasyAs | $19.95/month on their website, $19.99 via in-app purchase (by invoice volume; GST treatment not stated) | No notes, invoicing only, not mentioned on any published page | None (no notes feature) | Not mentioned on any published page | iOS · Android |
| Bugal | Free (2 invoices/month cap) or Solo $35/month (GST treatment not stated) | Manual shift notes and reports, no AI writing mentioned | Manual notes and reports | Not mentioned on any published page | Web-based (no native apps listed) |
All details collected from each vendor's public website in July 2026 and simplified for comparison; prices and plans change, so check the vendor's own pricing page before deciding. "Not verified" means I could not confirm the detail from official public pages and chose not to guess.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best app for writing NDIS shift notes?
For a solo NDIS support worker whose priority is note-writing, Sparks Scribe is my pick: it turns typed or spoken input into a finished, professionally formatted note in about 60 seconds, offers SOAPIE, daily progress, and incident templates, and includes NDIS-coded invoicing from $15 a month including GST. Of the others, ShiftCare and Astalty treat notes as team or coordination case management, Bugal offers manual notes, and EasyAs does not mention notes on any published page. I make Sparks Scribe, so check each competitor detail against what that company publishes.
Which shift notes apps write notes with AI?
Of the five apps in this comparison, one writes notes with AI: Sparks Scribe, which produces a finished shift note in about 60 seconds from typed or spoken input, drafting from the worker's own words for them to review. Astalty's Smart Prompts are reminders rather than AI writing, Bugal's published pages mention no AI note-writing, ShiftCare's platform AI is aimed at team scheduling, and EasyAs's published pages do not mention notes at all.
What is the cheapest app for NDIS shift notes?
Bugal lists shift notes on its free plan, which is capped at two invoices a month. Among paid plans, the cheapest that includes note-writing is Sparks Scribe at $15 a month including GST, which also includes AI-written notes and NDIS-coded invoicing. Astalty's support-worker profile is $30 a month ($64 for a standard seat), Bugal Solo is $35, and ShiftCare works out at $65 to $75 a month excluding GST because of its five-licence minimum. EasyAs is invoicing only and does not offer notes.
Do any shift notes apps use the SOAPIE format?
Sparks Scribe formats notes in the SOAPIE structure (Subjective, Objective, Assessment, Plan, Implementation, Evaluation), and also offers daily progress and incident templates. The other apps in this comparison do not publish SOAPIE support on the pages I checked in July 2026; ShiftCare and Astalty use their own case-note styles, Bugal offers manual notes and reports, and EasyAs does not offer notes.
Which app is best for NDIS incident reporting and safeguarding?
Sparks Scribe's Safeguards plan ($39 a month including GST) is the one built for it: it flags items on saved notes that need attention and records incident reports, per-client risk profiles, and restrictive-practice flagging. EasyAs's published pages do not mention incident reporting, Bugal's published feature list does not mention it, and ShiftCare and Astalty do not publish incident reporting on the public pages I checked in July 2026, so I could not verify it either way.
Can I dictate shift notes in these apps?
Sparks Scribe lets you speak a note and arranges your spoken words into a clean, professional record, treating dictation the same as typing. I could not verify built-in voice dictation for shift notes on the public pages of the other four apps in July 2026, so if speaking your notes matters to you, ask each vendor before you commit.
Where is my client data stored with these apps?
It varies, and you should check each vendor's privacy policy before entering client information. Sparks Scribe stores its data in Australia. EasyAs's privacy policy states that personal information may be transferred to countries outside Australia, including the United States and European Union. I have not verified the hosting locations of the other three tools, so ask before you commit.
Do independent support workers need a shift notes app?
You do not strictly need an app, a notebook can meet the obligation, but a good app makes accurate notes far faster and keeps them organised and retrievable if an invoice is ever queried. The value is in getting a defensible note written while the shift is still fresh, which is exactly what AI note-writing is for.