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Absenca

Leave Dates alternative

A Leave Dates alternative with room to grow

Absenca is a good Leave Dates alternative if you want the same simplicity now with room to grow. It matches the calendar-and-approvals basics, then adds what growing teams reach for: accrual schedules, TOIL, seniority entitlements, Bradford Factor analytics and a Slack bot that takes requests and approvals. Leave Dates has no free plan, only a 30-day free trial.1 Absenca is free for up to 10 people, and Pro is $37.50 a month for up to 50.

In short

Choose Absenca if you want Leave Dates-style simplicity today and room to grow into richer leave policies and chat approvals without changing tools later. Absenca costs less than Leave Dates's Starter plan for teams of 10, 30 and 50 people; Leave Dates costs less for a team of 20.1

Start free See pricing

Leave Dates vs Absenca

Leave Dates compared with Absenca
Leave Dates Absenca
Free plan None; a 30-day trial1 Free for up to 10 people
Price $1.40 to $3.40 a user a month1 Pro: $37.50 a month for up to 50 people
Leave calendar & wall chart Yes2 Yes
Public holidays 150+ countries (230+ on its pricing page)3 190+ countries
Chat bots Slack who's-off reports; no Teams or Google Chat4 Requests and approvals in Slack, on Pro
TOIL (time off in lieu) On Essential and Plus5 Yes, on every plan
Accruals & seniority entitlements A yearly allowance; no accrual policy6 Accrual schedules and seniority tiers, on every plan
Bradford Factor analytics No; an Excel how-to7 Yes, on Pro
Leave attachments Yes8 Yes
Google & Outlook calendar sync Google and Outlook, on Essential and Plus1 Google and Outlook, on every plan
Reports Excel export and email summaries9 CSV, XLSX and PDF exports; scheduled reports on Pro

Absenca vs Leave Dates →

What a team pays each month

Monthly price by team size on Absenca and on Leave Dates Starter
TeamAbsencaLeave Dates Starter
10 peopleFree$141
20 people$37.50$281
30 people$37.50$421
50 people$37.50$701

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

A free plan, not a trial

Absenca is free for up to 10 people, with no time limit. Leave Dates has no free plan, only a 30-day free trial.1

More than annual leave

Accrual schedules, TOIL, seniority entitlements and blackout periods, for when days off aren't the whole story. Leave Dates allowances are a set yearly amount plus carry-over, with no accrual policy.6

Requests and approvals in Slack

Absenca's Slack bot takes requests and approvals, and it's on Pro and the Custom Pack, not on the free Starter plan. Leave Dates' Slack app, on Essential and Plus, posts a daily who's-off report; it doesn't take leave requests or approvals in Slack.10

Analytics that matter

The team energy score comes with every plan, not just a calendar of who's away. Bradford Factor scoring comes with Pro. Leave Dates has no built-in Bradford Factor score; its help centre shows how to work one out in Excel.7

How to switch from Leave Dates

  1. Pick a cut-over date

    Choose the day Absenca takes over, and on that day note each person's remaining balance in Leave Dates.

  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 Leave Dates 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 Leave Dates 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, Leave Dates is a perfectly good choice.

Frequently asked questions

Is Absenca a good Leave Dates alternative?

Yes, especially if you need more than annual-leave tracking. Absenca adds accrual schedules, a Slack bot that takes requests and approvals, and absence analytics while keeping the basics simple. Leave Dates allowances are a set yearly amount plus carry-over, with no accrual policy.6 Leave Dates' Slack app, on Essential and Plus, posts a daily who's-off report; it doesn't take leave requests or approvals in Slack.10

Can I import from Leave Dates?

Yes. Absenca bulk-imports your people from a CSV during setup, on every plan.

How much does Absenca cost compared with Leave Dates?

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). Leave Dates charges every employee $1.40 (Starter), $2.70 (Essential) or $3.40 (Plus) a month in US dollars, or less billed yearly.1 Absenca costs less than Leave Dates's Starter plan for teams of 10, 30 and 50 people; Leave Dates costs less for a team of 20.1

Other comparisons

Absenca vs Leave Dates → Vacation Tracker alternative Timetastic alternative Calamari alternative Day Off alternative LeaveBoard alternative absence.io alternative BambooHR 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 Leave Dates fact on this page links to its source and the date we checked it. Features and prices change, so check Leave Dates's own pages before you decide.

Sources

  1. leavedates.com/pricing-plans, checked
  2. leavedates.com/features, checked
  3. help.leavedates.com/article/145-importing-and-using-public-holidays, checked
  4. leavedates.com/integrate-with-us, checked
  5. help.leavedates.com/article/176-setting-up-overtime-time-off-in-lieu-toil, checked
  6. help.leavedates.com/article/137-leave-allowances, checked
  7. help.leavedates.com/article/129-reporting-on-leave-sickness-or-absence, checked
  8. help.leavedates.com/article/113-requesting-time-off, checked
  9. help.leavedates.com/article/120-reporting, checked
  10. help.leavedates.com/article/75-using-slack-with-leave-dates, checked
  11. leavedates.com/why-us, checked
  12. help.leavedates.com/article/141-bulk-import-employees-leave-or-allowances, checked
  13. help.leavedates.com/article/91-does-leave-dates-work-on-mobile-devices, checked