Software Comparison
ShiftCare vs Lumary: which NDIS platform suits your organisation?
If you are comparing ShiftCare and Lumary for your NDIS operation, the first thing to understand is that these two platforms are not really competing for the same customer. Knowing where each is designed to sit will tell you more than a feature table.
ShiftCare is a mid-market NDIS platform with published per-user pricing, solid billing for direct support providers, and a mature implementation for organisations under 200 staff. Lumary is an enterprise platform built on Salesforce, designed for large providers running plan management, support coordination, and direct support from a single system — with implementation measured in months and pricing negotiated per organisation.
The comparison is most relevant for providers in the 50–200 staff range who have outgrown the simplicity of ShiftCare but are unsure whether the Lumary implementation investment is justified. We cover both platforms honestly, and flag a third option that sits between the two.
Feature comparison
The dimensions below reflect what operations managers and care coordinators tell us matters most when evaluating NDIS provider software. The notes explain the differences, not just whether a feature exists.
| Feature | ShiftCare | Lumary |
|---|---|---|
| NDIS billing | Deep NDIS billing with PACE integration, PRODA bulk uploads, plan-managed, self-managed, and NDIA-managed claim workflows. Xero and MYOB integrations are mature. Billing is where ShiftCare puts most of its depth. | Enterprise billing across plan management, support coordination, and direct support simultaneously. Built for providers running complex multi-funding arrangements where all three streams need to reconcile in a single system. |
| Rostering | Solid scheduling with shift offer and bid workflows for availability-based filling. Some coordinators report UX friction when managing complex schedule changes across large carer pools. | Configurable rostering with enterprise depth. The capability is real, but requires significant setup before the rostering layer is tuned to your operation. Not ready out of the box. |
| Mobile carer app | Mature, widely adopted. Carers who have used it are familiar with the workflow. Functional for daily shift management, availability, and basic notes. | Available, built on Salesforce infrastructure. Functional for platform administrators; less optimised for support workers using a phone in the field. |
| Implementation | Weeks, largely self-service with vendor support available. Small providers are typically operational within days. Mid-size providers with complex data migrations may take longer. | Months, typically requiring specialist Lumary consultants. Configuration, data migration, staff training, and testing are all part of the implementation project before you roster live shifts. |
| Pricing | $8–$25 per user per month, published on the website. Accessible for small providers; cost escalates as headcount grows, which is a common trigger for providers to re-evaluate. | Quote-only enterprise pricing, negotiated per organisation. No publicly listed rates. Implementation consulting is an additional cost on top of the licence. |
| Service streams | NDIS direct support is the primary focus, with some home care capability. Providers running plan management alongside direct support commonly find they need separate tooling for plan management billing. | Direct support, plan management, and support coordination in a single platform. Designed for providers who need all three service streams managed and billed from one system. |
| Best suited to | 20–200 staff NDIS providers where the primary pain point is billing and scheduling. Strong fit for operations where NDIS direct support is the core service and billing accuracy is the top priority. | 100+ staff organisations running multiple NDIS service streams. The implementation investment and enterprise pricing are proportionate to the complexity of that operating model. |
Information based on publicly available product documentation and provider feedback as of June 2026. Features change; verify directly with each vendor.
Where ShiftCare is strong
ShiftCare has the largest market share among Australian NDIS direct support providers for a reason. These are the areas where it consistently performs well.
NDIS billing depth and PACE integration
ShiftCare's billing module handles plan-managed, self-managed, and NDIA-managed participants within a single workflow. PACE and PRODA integration for bulk claim uploads is live and used in production by many providers. For organisations where billing accuracy and claim submission throughput are the primary operational challenge, this is ShiftCare's genuine strength.
Accessible pricing for growing providers
At $8–$25 per user per month with published pricing, ShiftCare is one of the more transparent NDIS software options in the market. Small and mid-size providers can assess cost against headcount without a sales process. The per-user model is straightforward until you reach a scale where it becomes material.
Fast to implement
Most providers are running live in ShiftCare within days to a few weeks. Onboarding is largely self-service, with support available. There is no multi-month implementation project, no specialist consultant requirement, and the coordinator learning curve is short.
Mature carer app and shift offer workflow
ShiftCare's carer-facing mobile app is widely adopted and familiar to support workers across the sector. The shift offer and bid feature works well for organisations using availability-based filling from casual pools. For carers who already know it, retraining cost is low.
Xero and MYOB integrations
ShiftCare's integrations with Xero and MYOB for payroll and accounting are mature and used in production. For organisations whose finance workflows depend on one of these, the integration is real and reliable.
Where Lumary is strong
Lumary is a serious enterprise platform. Its strengths are real, but they are concentrated in areas that matter most to large, complex NDIS organisations.
Plan management and support coordination billing
Lumary is designed for organisations that run plan management and support coordination as service lines alongside direct support. Managing the billing complexity of all three — funding source reconciliation, PRODA/PACE submission, participant plan tracking — in a single system is where Lumary has a genuine capability advantage over platforms built for direct support alone.
Multi-service stream coverage
For a large NDIS provider managing direct support, plan management, support coordination, and possibly CHSP or HCP programs from one platform, Lumary's Salesforce-based configurability allows the platform to be shaped to the service structure. Most mid-market platforms are not designed for this breadth.
Salesforce ecosystem integration
Organisations already running CRM, fundraising, or HR operations on Salesforce can integrate Lumary into that infrastructure. For large providers with established Salesforce environments, this interoperability has genuine operational value.
Configurable reporting across funding bodies
Providers with structured compliance reporting obligations to multiple funding bodies can build and adapt reports to specific requirements. For large organisations with dedicated data and compliance teams, this configurability is an advantage over platforms with fixed report sets.
Where each platform has limitations
An honest comparison covers the downsides. These are the limitations that come up most consistently when providers evaluate each platform.
ShiftCare limitations
- –Per-user cost becomes significant at scale. Providers with 80–150+ staff routinely flag this as the trigger for re-evaluating the platform.
- –Rostering UX shows friction on complex schedule changes. Not a dealbreaker for most, but noticeable for coordinators managing large, fluid carer pools.
- –SCHADS edge cases — broken shifts, casual public holiday rates at 275%, sleepover disturbance pay — have been flagged by coordinators as requiring manual cross-checks in some scenarios.
- –Participant records are functional but not the depth of a purpose-built care record system. Goal tracking and care plan structure are limited.
- –Not built for plan management or support coordination at scale. Providers adding these service lines typically need separate tooling.
Lumary limitations
- –Implementation is a substantial project. Expect months before the platform is configured and operational, typically with specialist Lumary consultants involved.
- –Quote-only pricing makes cost assessment opaque before you are deep into a sales process. Implementation consulting fees add to the total cost of ownership.
- –Not proportionate for providers under 100 staff who primarily deliver direct support. The configuration depth that powers large operations is overhead for smaller ones.
- –The Salesforce-derived mobile interface is functional for administrators but creates friction for support workers in daily field use.
- –SCHADS accuracy depends on how the implementation was configured. Edge cases are only as right as the setup that models them.
Who each platform suits
ShiftCare may suit you if:
- –Your primary operation is NDIS direct support delivery with 20–150 staff
- –NDIS billing accuracy and PACE claim submission are your main operational pain points
- –You need to be operational quickly without a consultant-led implementation
- –Your finance team relies on Xero or MYOB and needs a mature integration
- –Transparent per-user pricing and a published cost structure matter to your evaluation
Lumary may suit you if:
- –You have 100+ staff and run plan management or support coordination as service lines alongside direct support
- –Billing complexity across multiple NDIS funding streams is the central operational challenge
- –Your organisation already has Salesforce infrastructure and can leverage the ecosystem
- –You have the internal resources and timeline for an enterprise implementation project
- –Configurable compliance reporting across multiple funding bodies is a core requirement
What this comparison misses
Providers searching ShiftCare versus Lumary are often in the 50–200 staff range having a specific conversation: ShiftCare's per-user cost is becoming a concern as the team grows, but Lumary's implementation investment and Salesforce complexity is not justified for a direct-support-only operation.
That gap is where Teiro sits. It is not trying to replicate ShiftCare's billing heritage or Lumary's multi-stream enterprise depth. It is built for the provider whose primary challenge is modern, compliant rostering — and who needs to be operational in days, not months.
SCHADS accuracy at the rostering layer
In Teiro, SCHADS penalty rate calculations happen at the point of scheduling, not at billing export. Broken shifts, sleepovers, active nights, Saturday, Sunday, and public holiday rates — including the correct casual public holiday rate of 275% with loading embedded — are applied before the shift is confirmed. The loaded cost is visible to the coordinator at the assignment step. No manual cross-checks after the fact.
A carer app built for daily field use
Teiro's mobile app is designed for support workers on a phone between shifts: GPS check-in and check-out, today's shifts, incident reporting, and document capture from the field. App adoption matters for compliance — if carers are not checking in and out consistently, the shift verification record is incomplete regardless of which platform the office runs. The mobile-first design makes daily use straightforward enough that adoption tends to be high.
No implementation project
Most providers are running live rosters in Teiro within a week of setup. Participant records, worker credentials, qualification enforcement, and SCHADS calculations are built into the platform — not configured in a separate implementation project. There is no Salesforce consultant required and no months-long runway before you are operational.
Transparent pricing, free to start
Teiro is free for organisations with 5 or fewer active users — the full platform, no trial expiry, no credit card required. Per-user pricing above that, published at teiro.com.au/pricing. No quote-only tier and no implementation project cost to factor in.
What Teiro does not cover: If your operation runs plan management or support coordination at scale, ShiftCare has limits there and Lumary is the more capable choice for that specific requirement. Teiro is focused on NDIS direct support workforce management. It does not try to replicate Lumary's plan management depth. If multi-stream billing complexity is the core problem, evaluate Lumary or Flowlogic for that scenario.
Common questions
Should I choose ShiftCare or Lumary for my NDIS organisation?
The two platforms are not really competing for the same customer, which is why this comparison is often confusing. ShiftCare is built for NDIS direct support providers where billing and scheduling are the primary challenges — typically 20 to 200 staff, per-user pricing, operational quickly. Lumary is built for large organisations running direct support alongside plan management and support coordination, where the depth of billing configuration justifies months of implementation work and enterprise pricing. If your operation is primarily NDIS direct support delivery under 100 staff, ShiftCare is the more proportionate choice of the two. If you run plan management or support coordination at scale and need them integrated with direct support billing, Lumary is worth the implementation investment.
Is Lumary worth the cost compared to ShiftCare?
For the right organisation, yes. Lumary's enterprise billing depth — particularly for plan management and support coordination across multiple funding streams — is a genuine capability that ShiftCare does not replicate. If that capability is central to your operation, the implementation investment and enterprise pricing make sense. For providers primarily delivering direct support, Lumary is significant overhead. You would be paying for and managing configuration complexity that your operation does not use. ShiftCare's per-user pricing model is substantially lower total cost of ownership for providers in that range.
What happens when I outgrow ShiftCare?
The trigger point is usually one of three things: per-user cost becomes significant as headcount scales past 50–80 staff; the billing module's limitations in SCHADS edge cases or plan management become a daily friction point; or the coordinator experience in the rostering UI degrades as the schedule grows more complex. At that point, providers typically evaluate Lumary (if they are running plan management at scale), Flowlogic (similar profile to Lumary, Australian-built), or a modern mid-market platform with better rostering UX. The decision depends on whether the complexity driving the pain is billing depth across multiple service streams, or operational tooling. Different problems need different solutions.
Are there alternatives to both ShiftCare and Lumary?
Yes. The comparison between ShiftCare and Lumary tends to frame the choice as either accessible mid-market billing or enterprise multi-stream complexity. There is a gap between those two positions that many providers sit in: operations that have outgrown the per-user cost of ShiftCare but are not running plan management at a scale that justifies Lumary. Teiro is built for that range: modern rostering with SCHADS accuracy at the scheduling layer, a carer mobile app designed for daily field use, NDIS billing, qualification enforcement at point of assignment, and transparent pricing without an implementation project. Free for up to 5 active users. Worth adding to your shortlist if neither ShiftCare nor Lumary fits precisely.
See Teiro for your NDIS operation
If ShiftCare's per-user cost is a concern as you scale, or Lumary's implementation investment is more than your operation needs, book a 30-minute walkthrough of Teiro. We will show you the scheduling board, SCHADS calculations, carer app, and NDIS billing in a live environment.
No implementation project. No enterprise pricing. No commitment required to start.
Free for 5 or fewer active users. No credit card required.