Leave that shows up in Google Calendar
Approved leave, automatically in Google Calendar
When leave is approved in Absenca, it lands on the person's Google Calendar — with an out-of-office entry if they want one — plus a shared team calendar of who's away.
Free for up to 10 people · 11 to 50 people: $37.50 a month on Pro
A leave tracker that nobody sees on the day someone's off isn't doing half its job. People still get booked into meetings while they're on vacation, and colleagues still ask "wait, is Sara out today?" in the calendar they actually live in. Absenca closes that gap by syncing approved leave straight into Google Calendar.
Each person's approved time off appears on their own Google Calendar, and people who turn on out-of-office also get a Google Calendar out-of-office entry covering the whole leave, so anyone checking their availability sees they're away. A shared team calendar shows everyone's absences in one place — and the leave year, balances and accruals keep running accurately in Absenca underneath.
What you get
Leave on each person's calendar
Approved leave is written to the employee's own Google Calendar automatically — as an all-day event, or a timed block for half-day and hourly leave.
Optional out-of-office
Turn it on and Absenca also adds a Google Calendar out-of-office entry for the leave. On Google Workspace, Gmail and Google Chat can show that status to colleagues about to contact the person.
Shared team calendar
A single Google Calendar of who's off across the team or office, that colleagues can subscribe to and see alongside their own events. Available on Pro and the Custom Pack, not on the free Starter plan.
Calendar feeds (.ics)
Prefer a read-only link? Subscribe any calendar app to a personal or team leave feed, so absences show up without a full Google connection.
How the Google Calendar sync works
Each person connects their own Google Calendar once, from their account in Absenca, in a couple of clicks. From then on, every leave request that's approved in Absenca is pushed to their calendar automatically, and a cancelled or withdrawn booking is taken off again, so nothing stale is left behind. For the shared team calendar, an office admin connects Google once and Absenca creates a dedicated calendar for it.
Half-days and hourly leave carry across as a timed block rather than a full day, so a morning off doesn't show as a whole day away.
Show you're away, without declining for you
With out-of-office on, the leave is also an out-of-office entry in Google Calendar, so schedulers see the person is away before they send an invite. Absenca doesn't decline invitations on anyone's behalf: it marks the time and leaves the reply to the person.
You decide how visible it is — an event on personal calendars, an out-of-office entry as well, or just an entry on the shared team calendar — to match how open your organisation keeps its calendars.
Accurate balances stay in Absenca
The Google Calendar sync is a view onto the truth, not the system of record. Accruals, carry-over, seniority entitlements, public holidays per office and approval workflows all run in Absenca, so the numbers stay right whether someone books from the web or from Slack. Outlook and Microsoft 365 calendars sync the same way for mixed environments.
Why teams choose Absenca
- Approved leave written to Google Calendar automatically
- Optional out-of-office entries covering the whole leave
- Shared team calendar of who's away
- Half-day and hourly leave sync as partial blocks
- Calendar feeds (.ics) for any calendar app
- Free for up to 10 people; Pro is $37.50 a month for up to 50 people
Frequently asked questions
- Does Absenca sync leave to Google Calendar?
- Yes. When a leave request is approved, Absenca writes it to the employee's own Google Calendar automatically, and to a shared team calendar of who's away if your office has one.
- Can it mark me out of office in Google Calendar?
- Yes, if you turn out-of-office on. Absenca then adds a Google Calendar out-of-office entry covering your approved leave, and removes it if the leave is cancelled.
- Will it decline meetings during my leave?
- No. Absenca marks the time as out of office but never declines invitations on your behalf, so you stay in control of your replies.
- Does it handle half-days and hourly leave?
- Yes — half-day and hourly leave sync as a timed block rather than a full day, so a morning off doesn't show as a whole day away.
- What if I'd rather not connect a full Google account?
- You can subscribe to a calendar feed (.ics) instead — a read-only link that shows personal or team absences in any calendar app, including Google Calendar, without a full account connection.
- Does it also work with Outlook or Microsoft 365?
- Yes. Absenca syncs to Outlook and Microsoft 365 calendars as well, where approved leave shows as out of office, so mixed teams get the same view.
- Is the Google Calendar integration free?
- Personal calendar sync is on every plan, the free Starter plan included; the shared team calendar is on Pro and the Custom Pack, not on the free Starter plan. 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).