Free leave management for up to 10 people
Free leave management software that runs your leave properly
Run requests, approvals, balances, accrual policies, public holidays and absence reporting for up to 10 people — free, with no credit card and no two-week countdown. Larger teams use Pro, at $37.50 a month for up to 50 people.
Free for up to 10 people · 11 to 50 people: $37.50 a month on Pro
"Free" leave management software usually means a demo in disguise: one leave type, basic approvals, and a trial that ends the moment HR has actually moved off the spreadsheet. Absenca's free plan runs the real leave engine for up to 10 people — policies, balances, approvals and reports — sized for a small team rather than cut down to nudge you onto a card. The Slack bot and advanced analytics are on Pro and the Custom Pack, not on the free Starter plan.
It's aimed at the person who owns absence for a growing company: an HR coordinator, ops lead or office manager who needs accurate balances and an approval trail today, and the same tool — with the same history — once headcount passes 10. At that point Pro is $37.50 a month for up to 50 people, or $405 a year.
What you get
The full policy engine, free
Accrual rules, carry-over caps, seniority entitlements, pro-rata for joiners and leavers, half-day and hourly leave — not just a calendar with a request button.
No card, no trial clock
Sign up and run absence management indefinitely for up to 10 people. Nothing expires, and you're never asked for payment details to start.
Approvals with a full history
Requests route to the right manager and approve in one click, and each request keeps its approval history — the record HR needs when a balance is questioned.
Honest pricing past 10
Cross 10 people and Pro is $37.50 a month for up to 50, with all your policies, balances and history intact — no migration, no reset.
What "free" actually includes here
The free plan is the leave management product, not a teaser: a shared leave calendar and wallchart, request-and-approve workflows, real-time balances with automatic accrual and carry-over, every leave type (vacation, sick, personal, parental, unpaid, TOIL and custom), public holidays for 190+ countries applied per office, blackout periods, an in-app notification centre, email notifications and CSV reports. The Slack bot is on Pro and the Custom Pack, not on the free Starter plan.
The basics aren't paywalled to force an upgrade. For up to 10 people you get the same leave engine a paying customer does — which is what makes it usable as your actual system of record rather than a stopgap you'll outgrow in a month.
Why give the leave engine away free?
Most leave tools are priced for HR buyers at larger companies, so smaller teams either overpay or stay on a spreadsheet. Absenca's free plan for up to 10 people exists to be the genuinely better option for that smaller team — and Pro's flat $37.50 a month for up to 50 people keeps it predictable as you grow.
The trade is simple: start free, keep the data if you grow, and pay one flat plan price instead of being funnelled onto a card after a trial. There's no "contact sales" wall for normal absence management.
Free, without cutting corners on accuracy
A free tool is only useful if the numbers are right. Balances reflect accrued-to-date plus carry-over minus what's booked, with part-timers pro-rated and public holidays deducted correctly per office — so an employee on the free plan sees a balance they can actually trust, and a manager approves knowing it's enforced, not estimated.
Why teams choose Absenca
- The leave engine, free for up to 10 people
- No credit card and no trial countdown
- Accruals, carry-over, seniority, blackout periods and per-office holidays included
- Approval workflows with each request's approval history
- Slack bot on Pro
- Pro past 10 people: $37.50 a month for up to 50, with your data kept
Frequently asked questions
- Is Absenca really free leave management software?
- Yes. The free plan covers up to 10 people with the calendar, approvals, accrual policies, carry-over, public holidays and reports, with no credit card and no time limit. The Slack bot is on Pro and the Custom Pack, not on the free Starter plan.
- What's the catch with the free plan?
- There isn't one for small teams. It stays free for up to 10 people with no card on file and no expiring trial. You only pay if you grow beyond 10: Pro is $37.50 a month for up to 50 people.
- What does the free version include?
- The same leave engine paying customers use — accruals, seniority entitlements, blackout periods, half-day and hourly leave — for up to 10 people. The Slack bot, audit log and advanced analytics are on Pro and the Custom Pack, not on the free Starter plan.
- What happens when we pass 10 people?
- You move to Pro, at $37.50 a month for up to 50 people, keeping all your policies, balances, history and settings — nothing is reset or migrated.
- Is this a full HR system?
- No — Absenca is dedicated leave and absence management, not a full HRIS, payroll or time-and-attendance tool. It does the time-off part thoroughly and works alongside whatever HR software you already use.