Best leave management software for small teams

1. 1

   Absenca

   That's us

   Free for up to 10 people, then one flat price

   Absenca is a leave and absence tracker built for small and growing teams. It covers the calendar, approvals, accruals, carry-over, TOIL and public holidays for 190+ countries on every plan. Bradford Factor analytics and the Slack bot are on Pro. 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).

   Best for

   Teams that want full leave tracking without per-module pricing or a big bill.

   Pricing

   Free for up to 10 people; Pro is $37.50 a month for up to 50

   Pros

   • +A free plan for up to 10 people, with no time limit
   • +One flat price for up to 50 people, with no modules
   • +TOIL, accruals and per-office policies on every plan

   Cons

   • −Newer product
   • −No built-in time clock or timesheets (leave-focused)

   See features →
2. 2

   Vacation Tracker

   Chat-first, widely adopted

   A mature leave tracker with a big install base. Vacation Tracker says more than 3,500 companies use it.¹ A Vacation Tracker workspace connects to one platform at a time, Slack, Microsoft Teams, Google Workspace or email, and there's no Google Chat bot.² Strong if you live in chat tools and want a proven product, at a higher price point.

   Best for

   Chat-first teams wanting a proven, well-supported tracker.

   Pricing

   Vacation Tracker's Core plan costs $2 and Complete $4 per user per month, with monthly minimums of $50 and $100.³

   Pros

   • +Vacation Tracker has iOS and Android apps.¹
   • +Vacation Tracker offers a read and write REST API with webhooks on its paid plans.⁴

   Cons

   • −Vacation Tracker has no free plan: new workspaces get a 14-day trial of its paid plans.⁵
   • −Vacation Tracker's Core plan costs $2 and Complete $4 per user per month, with monthly minimums of $50 and $100.³

   Vacation Tracker alternative →
3. 3

   Timetastic

   The simplest staff holiday planner

   A friendly, focused annual-leave planner that's easy to roll out. Best when you want simplicity over depth.

   Best for

   Small teams that value simplicity above all.

   Pricing

   Outside the UK and Ireland, Timetastic charges $1.50 (Business) or $2.50 (Pro) per user per month, billed monthly.⁶

   Pros

   • +Effortless to use
   • +Timetastic has iPhone and Android apps.⁷
   • +Timetastic has a Slack integration on both plans and a Microsoft Teams integration on Pro, and lists no Google Chat integration.⁶

   Cons

   • −Timetastic has no free plan, only a 30-day free trial.⁶
   • −Timetastic records TOIL by adding it to a person's annual allowance rather than keeping a separate balance.⁸

   Timetastic alternative →
4. 4

   Calamari

   Leave and attendance from one vendor

   Combines leave management with clock-in and attendance as separate modules: a good fit when you need both. Calamari prices Time Off, Time & Attendance, Core HR and Scheduling as separate per-user modules, with Performance marked as coming soon.⁹

   Best for

   Teams needing leave plus time and attendance.

   Pricing

   Calamari's Time Off module costs $2.50 per user per month, or $2.00 billed yearly, and Calamari charges at least 10 seats.¹⁰

   Pros

   • +Calamari's Time & Attendance module clocks people in by kiosk, mobile app with GPS, Slack, Teams or fingerprint scanner.¹⁰
   • +Calamari supports half-day, quarter-day and hourly leave.¹¹
   • +Calamari's public API can read and write absences and timesheet entries.¹²

   Cons

   • −Calamari has no free plan, only a 14-day free trial.¹⁰
   • −Calamari's Time Off module costs $2.50 per user per month, or $2.00 billed yearly, and Calamari charges at least 10 seats.¹⁰

   Calamari alternative →
5. 5

   LeaveBoard

   A tidy, basic leave tracker

   A clean leave tracker with an HR dashboard and a shared absence calendar. LeaveBoard is free for up to 9 employees.¹³ It covers the basics well and leaves chat out.

   Best for

   Very small teams wanting a quick, low-cost tracker.

   Pricing

   From the 10th employee, LeaveBoard's PRO plan costs $1.35 per active employee per month, or $13.50 a year.¹⁴

   Pros

   • +LeaveBoard is free for up to 9 employees.¹³
   • +From the 10th employee, LeaveBoard's PRO plan costs $1.35 per active employee per month, or $13.50 a year.¹⁴
   • +LeaveBoard syncs with Office 365 directly; Google Calendar and Apple Calendar subscribe to .ics feeds.¹⁵

   Cons

   • −LeaveBoard uses Slack only for single sign-on; it describes no Slack bot or Slack notifications.¹⁵
   • −LeaveBoard lists no TOIL feature; managers adjust time-off balances by hand.¹⁶

   LeaveBoard alternative →
6. 6

   absence.io

   European absence management with time tracking

   An established European platform with absence management, time tracking and personnel files. Best for German and European teams wanting a broader HR product. absence.io's time tracking and digital employee files come with its Pro and Complete plans.¹⁷

   Best for

   European teams wanting more than just leave.

   Pricing

   absence.io charges €2.99 (Starter), €4.99 (Pro) or €7.99 (Complete) per user per month, 10% less billed annually, with no minimum.¹⁷

   Pros

   • +absence.io hosts all customer data in Germany.¹⁷
   • +absence.io's time tracking and digital employee files come with its Pro and Complete plans.¹⁷
   • +absence.io has iOS and Android apps.¹⁷

   Cons

   • −absence.io has no free plan, only a 14-day free trial.¹⁷
   • −absence.io handles time off in lieu through its time-tracking overtime balance, from the Pro plan.¹⁸

   absence.io alternative →

Every fact about another product links to its source and the date we checked it. Features and prices change, so check each vendor's own pages before you decide.