ShiftCare vs Lumary: NDIS Software Comparison for Australian Providers

Different market positions, different buyers

ShiftCare and Lumary are both widely used in Australian disability and aged care, but they occupy different parts of the market. ShiftCare is mid-market: transparent pricing, quick setup, suitable for providers of 10 to 300 staff. Lumary is enterprise-oriented: built on Salesforce, heavily customisable, designed for large and complex providers who need the platform to bend to their workflows rather than the other way around.

Pricing

ShiftCare publishes pricing. Plans start at approximately $9/user/month, with premium functionality at around $25/user/month. A 5-user minimum applies. A 7-day free trial is available.

Lumary does not publish pricing. All plans are quoted based on organisation size, modules required, and configuration complexity. Salesforce licensing is included in Lumary's pricing, but the total cost is consistently described as substantially higher than mid-market alternatives. Implementation costs — which are real and significant for a Salesforce-based platform — are separate.

Verdict: ShiftCare is materially cheaper for most organisations, and you can evaluate it without a sales engagement. Lumary's total cost of ownership, including implementation and ongoing Salesforce licensing, is best understood as an enterprise investment.

Rostering and scheduling

ShiftCare has a solid drag-and-drop scheduling board with recurring shifts, group rosters, availability management, and NDIS shift type handling. Rostering is one of ShiftCare's clearest strengths.

Lumary includes scheduling functionality and integrates with specialist rostering tools such as Skedulo and easyemployer for organisations needing deeper workforce management capability. The native Lumary scheduler handles the core use case; the integrations extend it for complex multi-site operations.

Verdict: ShiftCare's scheduler is more immediately usable and requires no additional integration. Lumary offers more extensibility for complex operations that already use specialist rostering platforms.

Mobile app

ShiftCare provides iOS and Android apps for support workers: shift management, check-in/out, progress notes, and document access.

Lumary has a mobile app for support workers to view schedules, log notes, and record client outcomes. As with the broader platform, the mobile experience is tied to Salesforce infrastructure.

Verdict: Both platforms have functional mobile apps. ShiftCare's is quicker to adopt for support workers unfamiliar with enterprise software. Lumary's is more feature-rich for organisations deeply embedded in the Lumary ecosystem.

NDIS-specific features

ShiftCare covers NDIS price guide integration, bulk invoicing, PRODA/PACE submission, funds tracking, support for self-managed and plan-managed participants, and a client/family web portal.

Lumary covers the same ground and goes further: automated funding claims for NDIS, CHSP, and HCP services simultaneously; custom outcomes tracking aligned to NDIS Practice Standards; built-in audit trails; participant budget monitoring; and a community portal that lets participants request services, view real-time budget balances, and access invoice history.

Verdict: Lumary has deeper NDIS feature depth, particularly for multi-funding-stream providers (NDIS + CHSP + HCP). ShiftCare covers the core NDIS workflow well without the complexity.

Compliance and reporting

ShiftCare includes qualification tracking, incident reporting, SCHADS compliance awareness, and standard audit documentation.

Lumary provides enterprise-level compliance tooling: built-in audit trails aligned to NDIS Practice Standards, automated alerts, custom KPI dashboards, and outcomes reporting. Salesforce's security and compliance posture — used by Australian Government agencies and major banks — underpins the platform.

Verdict: Lumary has stronger compliance and reporting depth for complex, multi-site providers. For most NDIS providers, ShiftCare's compliance tooling is sufficient.

API access and integrations

ShiftCare offers API access and integrates with Xero, MYOB, and payroll platforms.

Lumary is built on Salesforce, inheriting its extensive integration ecosystem. REST API access, webhooks, and custom development are all available. For organisations with custom integration requirements, Lumary's Salesforce foundation is a genuine advantage.

Verdict: Lumary has a stronger integration story for complex or custom requirements. ShiftCare's API is adequate for most standard integrations.

On-premise vs cloud

Both platforms are cloud-only. Lumary inherits Salesforce's enterprise cloud infrastructure. ShiftCare is hosted in Australia.

Support and onboarding

ShiftCare supports self-onboarding with guides, videos, and webinars. Live support is accessible without requiring a dedicated implementation engagement.

Lumary implementations involve a structured project with a dedicated team. For complex organisations, this is appropriate. For smaller providers, the implementation timeline and cost can be a barrier.

Verdict: ShiftCare is faster and cheaper to get up and running. Lumary's implementation is more involved — appropriate for large organisations, a burden for smaller ones.

Pros and cons

ShiftCare pros: Transparent pricing, fast onboarding, purpose-built care rostering, good NDIS billing workflow, no Salesforce complexity.

ShiftCare cons: Limited customisability for complex workflows, no built-in payroll award interpretation, cost scales linearly with team size.

Lumary pros: Enterprise depth on a proven platform, extensive NDIS/CHSP/HCP feature coverage, powerful integration capability via Salesforce, strong compliance posture, customisable to complex organisational structures.

Lumary cons: Quote-only pricing with significant implementation cost, steep learning curve, Salesforce dependency creates ecosystem lock-in, overkill for providers with straightforward workflows.

Which should you choose?

Choose ShiftCare if you are a small to mid-sized NDIS provider (under 200 staff) who needs a capable platform that can be set up quickly without a major implementation project.

Choose Lumary if you are a large, complex provider — particularly one operating across NDIS, CHSP, and HCP simultaneously — who needs enterprise-level customisability and is prepared for the implementation investment.

If the operational core matters most — rostering, carer communication, and client records — and you want a modern, mobile-first platform without Salesforce overhead, Teiro is worth exploring. Book a demo to see how it compares for your workflows.