Chore rota template for a shared house
A template settles the argument about how a rota should be laid out before it starts. This one has a column for the week, a column for the date the week starts and one column per chore, plus a single rule for filling it in: every chore moves one person along each week.
The template, filled in
Four housemates, labelled A to D so you can drop your own names in, share a house with four chores. The first week starts on Monday 12 October 2026.
| Week | Starts | Bins | Kitchen | Bathroom | Floors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mon 12 Oct | A | B | C | D |
| 2 | Mon 19 Oct | B | C | D | A |
| 3 | Mon 26 Oct | C | D | A | B |
| 4 | Mon 2 Nov | D | A | B | C |
Each row names four different people, so the house is covered every week, and each column visits all four people once. In week 5 the pattern starts again at the top.
How to fill in the template
- List the chores first. Put the heaviest ones apart in the list, because the template hands chores out in list order.
- Write the first week yourself. Give the first chore to the first person, the second chore to the second person, and so on down the list.
- Shift by one for each new row. Every name moves one column to the left, and the name that falls off the end goes back to the right.
What the generator adds to a template
Filling in the grid yourself is easy for four people and gets error-prone at eight. The generator does the shifting for you, writes the real dates next to each week and gives every housemate a personal link. That link shows their own weeks and downloads a calendar (.ics) file, so the rota sits in the calendar they already use instead of on a sheet that gets lost.
Free and Pro sizes
The free version makes rotas for up to 4 people and up to 4 weeks, which is exactly this template. Five or more housemates, or a run past four weeks, need the paid Chore Rota Pro licence, which covers up to 12 people and up to 26 weeks and nothing above that.
Privacy: the schedule lives only in the link. Anyone with the link can read the names and chores in it, and nothing is stored on a server. Details are on the privacy page.