"Leave tracking software" covers two very different products wearing the same label. BambooHR, Rippling, Deel, Factorial, and Justworks are enterprise HR suites, where leave is one module inside a much bigger, pricier platform. Then there's a growing field of specialists that do one thing: leave requests, approvals, and balances, for a fraction of the cost.
We compared 11 tools across both groups on starting price and functionality, to work out which one actually fits a given business heading into 2027, including where SimpleLeave sits in that picture.
- Not sure yet what you need: start with SimpleLeave, free up to 5 employees, no time limit
- Already buying a full HR suite for other reasons: BambooHR, Rippling, Deel HR, Factorial, or Justworks bundle leave in for free
- Live in Slack or Microsoft Teams already: Vacation Tracker is built around that workflow
- Small team, tight budget, no need for SSO or an API: SimpleLeave and Day Off both have genuinely free entry tiers and paid tiers under £1.50/user/month
The Market at a Glance
Every tool below is plotted on two things: starting price per user per month in GBP, and a functionality score out of 10 built from our own research into policy customisation, integrations, compliance reach, and reporting. It's not a third-party index. Prices marked with a tilde (~) are approximate GBP conversions from the vendor's published USD pricing; Leave Dates and SimpleLeave price natively in GBP.
Price vs. functionality by tool
Bubble position = starting price (x) and functionality score out of 10 (y). Hover a point for detail; full figures are in the table below.
| Tool | Group | Starting price | Functionality (/10) |
|---|---|---|---|
| SimpleLeave | Specialist | Free ≤5, then £0.60/user/mo | 6 |
| Leave Dates | Specialist | £0.75/user/mo | 7 |
| Day Off | Specialist | ~£0.75/user/mo (free tier available) | 5 |
| Timetastic | Specialist | ~£1.10/user/mo | 6 |
| Vacation Tracker | Specialist | ~£1.50/user/mo (free tier available) | 6 |
| Calamari | Specialist | ~£1.50/user/mo (Time Off module) | 7 |
| Deel HR | Enterprise suite | Free leave module, but paid platform from ~£11.10/employee/mo | 8 |
| Factorial | Enterprise suite | ~£5.90/user/mo | 7 |
| Justworks | Enterprise suite | ~£5.90/user/mo + ~£37 base | 6 |
| Rippling | Enterprise suite | From ~£5.90/user/mo | 9 |
| BambooHR | Enterprise suite | ~£7.40/employee/mo | 8 |
The Top 5 Established Players
These are enterprise-grade HR platforms built for large, complex organisations. Payroll, benefits, compliance, and workforce planning all sit under one roof, with leave tracking as one module among many rather than the main event. They suit companies that need a single system of record for the whole employee lifecycle and have the headcount, and budget, to justify it. If you only need leave tracking done well, that breadth costs you: higher per-seat pricing, longer implementation, and features you'll likely never touch.
BambooHR: full HRIS with time-off built in
A full HRIS with time-off management built in rather than bolted on — approvals, accruals, and calendars sit alongside employee records and payroll sync.
- Strength
- Unlimited custom leave policies even on the entry (Core) tier, plus a built-in AI assistant for HR questions.
- Weakness
- Pricing isn't published transparently, a ~£185/month minimum applies under 25 employees, and some users report year-end leave-balance glitches.
- Tiers
- Core ~£7.40 · Pro ~£12.60 · Elite ~£18.50 per employee/month.
- Best for
- Companies that want one system for HR and leave, not just a calendar.
Deel HR: free leave tracking, bundled with global payroll
Leave tracking is the free on-ramp into Deel's much larger global payroll and Employer-of-Record business — built for compliantly managing distributed, multi-country teams.
- Strength
- Compliant leave tracking and holiday calendars across 100+ countries, plus burnout indicators most rivals lack.
- Weakness
- The free tool is a loss-leader for a much bigger platform; adjacent modules run ~£11.10–£14.80/employee/month, and PTO policy customisation is limited in some countries.
- Tiers
- Deel HR free · Compensation ~£11.10 · Workforce Planning ~£13.30 · Engage ~£14.80 per employee/month.
- Best for
- Global or remote-first teams already using, or considering, Deel for payroll and EOR.
Rippling: leave tied directly into payroll and IT
A modular HCM platform: leave connects directly to payroll, benefits, and even device and IT management — the deepest automation of any tool in this comparison.
- Strength
- Leave data flows straight into payroll and benefits — the deepest automation of any tool researched.
- Weakness
- No fixed public tiers or free trial, so full pricing needs a custom quote, and the PTO calendar UI lags Rippling's other modules.
- Tiers
- From ~£5.90/user/month; modular add-ons quoted individually.
- Best for
- Fast-growing companies wanting HR, IT, and finance data unified in one system.
Factorial: design-forward HR for European SMBs
A modern, design-forward HR platform popular with European SMBs, with leave management as one of several core modules.
- Strength
- Clean interface with strong visual reporting and analytics for a mid-market HR tool.
- Weakness
- Advanced reporting and workflow customisation are gated to higher tiers.
- Tiers
- From ~£5.90/user/month.
- Best for
- Design-conscious SMBs, especially in Europe, wanting HR and leave together.
Justworks: leave tracking inside a PEO relationship
A PEO (professional employer organisation) — leave tracking rides alongside payroll, benefits administration, and compliance support handled by Justworks directly.
- Strength
- 24/7 human HR support bundled in, which none of the other tools in this comparison offer.
- Weakness
- Leave-specific features are basic, with limited custom accrual rules and thin reporting, and the flat ~£37/month base fee adds fixed cost regardless of headcount.
- Tiers
- From ~£5.90/user/month + ~£37/month base fee.
- Best for
- Small companies wanting a full PEO relationship, not a specialist leave tool.
The Top Challengers
The established players bundle leave into a much bigger HR suite. This group does one thing: leave and absence tracking, built as a focused product rather than a module. That focus shows up in the pricing, a fraction of what the enterprise suites charge, and in how fast teams can get set up, often in a single afternoon rather than a multi-week rollout. The trade-off is scope: fewer of the payroll, benefits, and IT integrations that come bundled into a full HRIS. For companies that just need leave requests, approvals, and accurate balances handled well, that trade-off is usually worth making.
| Tool | Starting price | Free plan | Standout feature | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SimpleLeave | £0.60/user/mo | Yes, up to 5 employees, forever | Heatmap reporting & TOIL/multi-country support at the cheapest price point researched | Small businesses that want more than a calendar without a higher price point |
| Vacation Tracker | ~£1.50/user/mo | Yes, small teams | Native Slack, Teams & Google Workspace apps | Teams that live inside chat apps |
| Timetastic | ~£1.10/user/mo | No (30-day trial) | Burnout board & SSO on Pro tier | SMBs wanting simple, well-designed UX |
| Leave Dates | £0.75/user/mo | No (30-day trial) | 230+ country holiday calendars | Multi-country teams wanting a specialist tool |
| Day Off | ~£0.75/user/mo (Lite) | Yes, 1 approver/policy | A free plan that's actually usable | Very small teams / startups |
| Calamari | ~£1.50/user/mo (Time Off module) | Trial only | Strong multi-country compliance | Teams wanting HR/attendance modules alongside leave |
Deeper detail on the other challengers — SimpleLeave gets a full section of its own next.
Vacation Tracker: leave requests inside Slack and Teams
Built to live inside the tools teams already use — leave requests and approvals happen natively in Slack, Microsoft Teams, or Google Workspace rather than a separate app.
- Strength
- Setup is fast (vendor claims under 30 minutes) and the chat-app integrations are the deepest of any tool researched.
- Weakness
- Reporting is limited and HRIS integrations are light compared to Leave Dates or Calamari.
- Tiers
- Free plan available · Paid from ~£1.50/user/month.
Timetastic: simplicity as the whole pitch
Positions itself on simplicity ("beautifully simple" is the vendor's own pitch), with a Business tier for the basics and a Pro tier that adds analytics.
- Strength
- Known for ease of use and responsive customer service; Pro tier adds a "burnout board" for absence-risk alerts.
- Weakness
- SSO, absence-trend insights, and integrations with Teams, QuickBooks, and Sage are all locked to the ~£1.85 Pro tier.
- Tiers
- Business ~£1.10 · Pro ~£1.85 · Rota & Time Clock ~£4.05 per user/month.
Leave Dates: the most policy depth of the specialists
A three-tier structure (Starter/Essential/Plus) that scales feature depth with price, aimed at teams that want a specialist tool with more policy depth than most.
- Strength
- 230+ country bank-holiday imports, TOIL tracking, and pro-rated allowances give it more policy depth than most specialists.
- Weakness
- SSO, API/webhooks, and Zapier are reserved for the top "Plus" tier — the cheap entry tier is fairly bare.
- Tiers
- Starter · Essential · Plus, from £0.75/user/month, billed annually, native GBP pricing.
Day Off: a genuinely usable free tier
A genuinely free tier, not just a trial, for single-approver, single-policy setups, aimed squarely at very small teams.
- Strength
- A free plan that covers real usage, not just a demo.
- Weakness
- Hourly/daily accrual tracking, carry-over, and integrations (Teams, Outlook, Slack) all require the ~£1.50 Pro tier.
- Tiers
- Free · Lite ~£0.75 · Pro ~£1.50 per user/month.
Calamari: modular, compliance-focused
Sold as separate modules rather than tiers — Time Off is the entry point, with Core HR, Time & Attendance, and Performance available as add-ons.
- Strength
- Strong multi-country compliance support across its modules.
- Weakness
- Costs stack fast if you want more than leave tracking — each extra module is another ~£1.50–£1.85/user/month.
- Tiers
- Time Off ~£1.50 · Core HR ~£1.50 · Time & Attendance ~£1.85 · Performance ~£1.85 per user/month.
Where SimpleLeave Fits
SimpleLeave leads on price and value. Starter is free forever for up to 5 employees, and Business runs £0.60/user/month after that, the cheapest paid tier of any tool in this comparison, and one of the only ones with a permanent free plan rather than a time-limited trial.
It's not just a cheap calendar. Beyond the core essentials (one-click email approvals, multi-leave-type accrual tracking, team calendar, privacy controls on sensitive leave), it covers ground several challengers charge extra for: heatmap reporting to spot leave trends and plan workforce coverage, individual and group reports for fast manager-level visibility, and weekly digest emails so managers stay current without logging in. It supports multiple leave patterns, full-time, part-time, and TOIL, and works for businesses with employees across different countries. An iCal integration is on the roadmap for 2027.
Where it still trails the top challenger tiers is SSO, an API/Zapier connection, and native Slack/Teams integration, the features that separate Leave Dates' and Timetastic's top plans from their entry tiers. But the team behind it is small and responsive, and the roadmap is genuinely shaped by client requests, so a missing integration is a conversation rather than a dead end.
Given the free tier and no lock-in, SimpleLeave is a sensible first stop for most teams sizing up this category. Trial it against your actual workflow, and use anything it doesn't cover to decide whether you need a deeper specialist tool or a full HR suite instead.
Learn more about our leave management softwareBottom Line
Not sure yet what you actually need? Start with SimpleLeave. It's free to trial properly, not a time-boxed demo, covers the essentials plus reporting most challengers charge extra for, and gives you a real baseline to judge every other tool in this comparison against, including whether you need one at all.
Already buying, or considering, a full HR suite for payroll, benefits, or IT reasons? The leave tracking that comes with BambooHR, Deel, Rippling, Factorial, or Justworks is "free" in the sense that you're paying for the platform anyway.
Live in Slack or Teams already? Vacation Tracker is built around that workflow specifically.
Small team, tight budget, don't need SSO or an API? This is SimpleLeave's and Day Off's lane: genuinely free entry tiers, paid tiers under ~£1.50/user/month, and no contract.
Sources
Pricing and feature research for this comparison drew on vendor pricing pages and third-party review sites, including G2 and People Managing People.