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Absenca

BambooHR alternative

A BambooHR alternative for teams that only need leave

BambooHR is a genuinely good full HR system: hiring, onboarding, performance, payroll and an employee database in one place. It's priced like one too. BambooHR lists Core at $10, Pro at $17 and Elite at $25 per employee per month; companies of 25 employees or fewer pay a flat $250, $425 or $650 a month.1 If what you actually need is to track who's off, approve requests and keep balances right, Absenca does that for free up to 10 people, and Pro is $37.50 a month for up to 50.

In short

If you want a complete HR system, BambooHR is the stronger, more comprehensive choice, and Absenca isn't trying to replace it. If you only need to track who's off, Absenca is a dedicated leave tool with a free plan and no sales call. Absenca costs less than BambooHR's Core plan for teams of 10, 20, 30 and 50 people.1

Start free See pricing

BambooHR vs Absenca

BambooHR compared with Absenca
BambooHR Absenca
Free plan None1 Free for up to 10 people
Price $10 to $25 an employee a month; from $250 flat up to 25 people1 Pro: $37.50 a month for up to 50 people
Buying A quote request1 Self-serve sign-up
Contract Month to month or longer2 Month to month
Full HRIS (hiring, performance, payroll) Yes; payroll and time tracking are add-ons1 No; Absenca tracks leave only
Carry-over Yes, with expiry up to a year3 Yes, with caps and expiry, on every plan
Seniority entitlements Tenure milestones4 Seniority tiers, on every plan
Slack Its own Slack app5 A bot for requests and approvals, on Pro
Microsoft Teams Through third-party apps6 No Teams bot yet
Leave attachments Yes7 Yes, on the request
Public holidays 180+ countries8 190+ countries
Calendar sync iCal feeds7 Google and Outlook sync, on every plan

Absenca vs BambooHR →

What a team pays each month

Monthly price by team size on Absenca and on BambooHR Core
TeamAbsencaBambooHR Core
10 peopleFree$2501
20 people$37.50$2501
30 people$37.50$3001
50 people$37.50$5001

Monthly prices in US dollars, before tax. Absenca bills Pro for all 50 seats, so every team from 11 to 50 people pays $37.50.

Why teams pick Absenca

Pay for leave, not a whole HRIS

If you don't need hiring, performance reviews and payroll, you shouldn't pay for them. Absenca costs less than BambooHR's Core plan for teams of 10, 20, 30 and 50 people.1

Start free, sign up yourself

Free for up to 10 people and self-serve from there, with no demo or quote before you can try it. BambooHR plans are bought through a quote request; its pricing page has no self-serve checkout.1

Deeper time-off features

Half-day and hourly leave, TOIL, blackout periods and seniority tiers come with every plan. Bradford Factor analytics come with Pro.

Lives where your team works

Request and approve leave in Slack. The Slack bot is on Pro and the Custom Pack, not on the free Starter plan.

Keep BambooHR, move leave to Absenca

  1. Pick a cut-over date

    Choose the day Absenca takes over, and on that day note each person's remaining balance in BambooHR. BambooHR can stay your HR system of record while Absenca runs time off. Absenca has no BambooHR sync, so a new joiner is added to both. Setup is an afternoon rather than a project. BambooHR says full implementation generally takes four to six weeks; companies under 25 employees use a self-guided QuickStart.2

  2. Set up your office

    Add your office with its work week, leave year start and public holidays for its country. Then add your leave types and policies: accrual schedules, carry-over caps and expiry, and seniority tiers.

  3. Import your people from a CSV

    Fill in Absenca's template with each person's name, email, department, role, office and start date. Absenca checks every row before it imports anyone, then emails each person an invitation. CSV import is on every plan.

  4. Set opening balances

    Adjust each person's balance to what BambooHR showed on the cut-over date. Absenca records each adjustment, with your reason, in the audit log.

  5. Go live

    Your team signs in with a Google, Microsoft or Slack account. Approved leave syncs to Google or Outlook calendars, on every plan. Turn on the Slack bot, on Pro, to request and approve leave in Slack.

The full walkthrough, with what to check before and after the cut-over: move your leave data.

Where BambooHR might be the better fit

We'd rather you pick the right tool than the loudest one. If the points above matter more to you than price, BambooHR is a perfectly good choice.

Frequently asked questions

Is Absenca a BambooHR replacement?

Only for the leave side. BambooHR includes applicant tracking in every plan and performance management from Pro; payroll, benefits and time and attendance are paid add-ons.1 Absenca is a dedicated leave and absence tracker: if leave is the main thing you use BambooHR for, Absenca covers it in more depth, and you can keep BambooHR for the rest.

How much cheaper is Absenca than BambooHR?

Absenca costs less than BambooHR's Core plan for teams of 10, 20, 30 and 50 people.1 BambooHR lists Core at $10, Pro at $17 and Elite at $25 per employee per month; companies of 25 employees or fewer pay a flat $250, $425 or $650 a month.1 Absenca is free for up to 10 people. Pro is $37.50 a month for up to 50 people, or $33.75 a month billed annually ($405 a year).

How long does Absenca take to set up?

Minutes: sign up, add your people from a CSV and set your leave types. BambooHR says full implementation generally takes four to six weeks; companies under 25 employees use a self-guided QuickStart.2

Other comparisons

Absenca vs BambooHR → Vacation Tracker alternative Timetastic alternative Leave Dates alternative Calamari alternative Day Off alternative LeaveBoard alternative absence.io alternative Factorial alternative Flamingo alternative Personio alternative Sage HR alternative Breathe HR alternative PTO by Roots alternative absentify alternative BrightHR alternative CharlieHR alternative WhosOff alternative What leave software costs All features

Every BambooHR fact on this page links to its source and the date we checked it. Features and prices change, so check BambooHR's own pages before you decide.

Sources

  1. bamboohr.com/pricing, checked
  2. bamboohr.com/faq, checked
  3. bamboohr.com/product-updates/set-expiration-dates-for-carryover-time-off-balances, checked
  4. bamboohr.com/resources/guides/customize-bamboohr-nonprofit, checked
  5. bamboohr.com/integrations/listings/slack, checked
  6. bamboohr.com/integrations/listings/pyn, checked
  7. help.bamboohr.com/s/article/639584, checked
  8. bamboohr.com/product-updates/add-holidays-in-bulk-by-country, checked