According to the Verified Market Research, the size of the global absence and leave management software market reached $ 851.09 m in 2023 and is projected to grow to up to $1621.94m by 2030.
Such immense growth is driven by factors like the need to ensure regulatory compliance and keep track of employee absences with minimum effort, the introduction of remote work and flexible work practices, and many more.
But still, with a plethora of options available in the market, choosing the right leave-tracking software can take time and effort. In this blog post, we will explore the key factors to consider when selecting the perfect leave-tracking software for your organization and analyze some of the best leave tracking software systems on offer for 2024 (both free and paid). Check them out to see which one might fit in better with your organization’s needs and goals.
Types of Absence and Leave Management Software
Companies offer various solutions with different features and capabilities to cater to the diverse needs of organizations seeking absence and leave management software. Choosing the right tool requires careful consideration of your organization’s needs, usability, features, scalability, compliance, customer support, cost, and feedback from other users. Here’s a brief list of the points to consider:
Best Free Leave Tracking Software
1. actiPLANS
- Leave request management
- Team calendar
- PTO management
- Leave approval workflows
- Leave reports
- Mobile apps
Pricing: Free, paid plans start at $1.5 user/month
actiPLANS is a free work and leave tracking software that boasts flexibility and versatility among other benefits.
Leave management in actiPLANS – create an unlimited number of leave types, get your team to request and plan their time off, and review employee availability
actiPLANS provides a leave scheduling interface where employees can review their peer availability, see their leave balances, request any type of leave with a few clicks, and track its approval status. Any leave request can be supplied with a comment where employees can specify the reasons for requesting leave or write comments for their team members about their availability status or contact information.
The platform also allows users to track the work status of their peers, including those on vacation, remote workers, and others who may be absent. Moreover, actiPLANS automatically calculates paid time off and keeps sick day balances current.
Additionally, the tool offers PTO blackout features, making it especially useful during busy periods while still respecting employee time off.
actiPLANS also offers a handy mobile app that allows employees and managers to access your team’s leave time data whenever they are. Using the app, users can make last-minute leave requests and notify colleagues about lateness or early departure from the office. The solution provides perfect visibility into employee absence for any given day and simplifies team communication.
Managers and system admins can set up even the most complicated leave policies in actiPLANS. You can create any number of custom leaves, specify their accrual rules, build leave request workflows, set up state and corporate holidays, and more. Time off reports will give you insight into leave time and balance changes across users and teams, allowing you to recognize productivity trends, and identify absenteeism and burnout early on.
What makes actiPLANS stand out from other software in this list is that it offers an integration with actiTIME – time and task management software. When integrated, they allow you to manage working time and employee attendance in a single environment, giving you more insight into employee productivity, business health, costs, and profits.
Reports dashboard in actiTIME – set up real-time data widgets and add report shortcuts for quick access
In addition, using actiPLANS you can schedule work for your entire team. Simply decide what kind of work you want to schedule – employee shifts, corporate events, project activities, and whatnot. Then, allocate them to your staff members on the visual timeline, considering their requested and approved days off.
actiPLANS is free for teams of up to 3 users. Give it a try – start a free 30-day trial (no credit card required).
Integrations: actiTIME, Calendar integrations via iCal
2. Time Off Cloud
- Leave management
- PTO management
- Calendars
- Reports
- Mobile apps
Pricing: Free, paid plans start at $17.85 per month
Time Off Cloud is PTO and leave tracking software that helps small and medium-sized companies looking to implement their first absence management software.
Time Off Cloud helps companies to switch from papers and applications to online leave management. The software can’t boast advanced functionality or customization potential, but still serves as a great simple tool for managing time off requests, choosing from a few PTO accrual modes, and reviewing team availability. Time Off Cloud is a good choice for first-time leave tracking software users.
Disadvantages (according to user reviews):
- Unable to manage time off hours
- Mobile apps have performance issues
3. LeaveBoard
- Leave management
- PTO management
- Employee database
- Reports
Pricing: Free, paid plans start at $1.35 user/month
LeaveBoard is free leave tracking software for small and medium businesses that allows employees to track time off and provides managers with attendance statistics.
LeaveBoard is exactly what it’s called – a team calendar where employees can see their leave balances, request leaves, and review the availability of others. Managers can set up custom time-off policies, reject or approve leave requests, and build reports to review employee attendance. To use the software on the go, you can use the online web app – a mobile interface that works in your mobile browser.
Disadvantages (according to user reviews):
- No mobile app – only web app
- Old-fashioned interface design
- Performance issues
- Impossible to sync with multiple calendars
4. MobileHR
- Leave management
- PTO management
- Benefits management
- Reports
- Mobile apps
Pricing: Free, one-time fee of $74.99 for unlimited users
MobileHR is leave tracking software that streamlines human resource management in small companies.
MobileHR offers basic leave management functionality: leave requests that can be approved or rejected by managers, request notifications, and simple PTO management features. Leave reports cover vacations, sick leaves, and personal time statistics.
Disadvantages (according to user reviews):
- Mobile app users: unstable server connection
- Mobile app users: unable to log in
5. TIMEOFF.GURU
- Leave request management
- Team calendar
- Reports
- Mobile apps
Pricing: Free, paid plans start at 1€ user/month
TIMEOFF.GURU is leave tracking software that streamlines leave request management.
TIMEOFF.GURU is a free leave tracking software that is built around basic leave request management functionality and custom leaves. The software boasts its interfaces translated into other languages, but the software functionality is very limited. If you are looking for leave balance management, a visual team calendar, advanced features, and flexibility, you need to consider other solutions.
Disadvantages (according to user reviews):
- Unable to manage time off hours
- No custom leave policies
- Reports lack insight
- The website feels unprofessional and misleading: a single-page website with no social media presence and hardly any software reviews while it boasts having 1082 clients
6. Zoho People
- Leave approvals
- Attendance kiosk
- Shift scheduling
- Reports
- Mobile apps
Pricing: Free, paid plans start at $1.25 user/month
Zoho People is leave and attendance management software for growing teams and businesses.
Zoho People provides a simple user-friendly interface for leave management that allows users to request, manage, and track leaves and leave details to minimize leave abuse. Managers can create multiple custom leave types, track leaves based on hours or days, and specify leave types for particular roles, locations, or employee experience levels.
Disadvantages (according to user reviews):
- Sometimes loading takes too long
- Minor lags and bugs
7. greytHR
- Custom leave types
- Leave request management
- Shift management
- Holiday lists
- Reports
- Mobile apps
Pricing: Free, paid plans start at $20 per month
greytHR is free leave management software that is free of charge for teams of up to 25 users.
greytHR captures and organizes leave and attendance data for further payroll processing using an online employee self-service portal or mobile app. The software provides several interfaces for managing shifts and reviewing attendance records, leave policy management settings, and payroll software integrations for easy payroll calculation.
Disadvantages (according to user reviews):
- Not user-friendly interfaces
- Few reports that provide only basic insight
- Poor customer support
- Mobile app users: inaccurate time records
- Mobile app users: performance issues
- Spelling mistakes in the names of the software interfaces
8. Leave Dates
- Leave request management
- Allowance management
- Team calendar
- Leave reports
- Mobile apps
Pricing: Free, paid plans start at $9.00 per user
Leave Dates is free leave tracking software for small and medium-sized businesses with a compelling interface and a powerful set of features.
Leave Dates ensures flexible leave tracking and management with leave request approvals, team calendars, private leave request comments, time off in lieu management, allowance tracking, and more. The dedicated mobile app allows employees to request leaves on the go and track the remaining allowance, while managers can approve or reject leaves using their smartphones. Slack and Google Calendar integrations keep managers updated on approved leaves and leave statistics.
Disadvantages (according to user reviews):
- You can’t manage flexible hours
- Hard to track paid and unpaid time off
- Reports could be more customizable
9. Freshteam
- Employee directory
- Leave approval workflows
- Holiday calendar
- Leave policy management
- Mobile apps
Pricing: Free, paid plans start at $72.20 per month
Freshteam is free leave tracking software for growing businesses that facilitates HR and time off management.
Freshteam takes care of leave tracking and management with employee self-service portals where users can see their leave balances, request time off, and review its approval status. Managers can edit leave policies, build holiday calendars, reject or approve incoming leave requests, and review time off statistics across the team. To make leave management even easier and less stressful, Freshteam allows employees to request leaves, and review their balances and holiday calendars in the mobile app.
Disadvantages (according to user reviews):
- Time off and schedules can be challenging with 24/7 teams
- Reports could be more customizable
- Steep learning curve
- Poor customer support
10. AttendanceBot
- Custom leave types
- Time tracking
- Real-time reporting
- Automatic reminders
Price: Free for teams with up to five users. Paid tiers start at $4 per user per month with basic leave management features.
AttendanceBot is an automated leave management system for Slack, MS Teams, and Hangouts Chat. With its help, you can customize the approval workflow, leave quotas, and holiday management according to your company policy.
You may invite AttendanceBot to your team’s chats and get automatic notifications in the morning and evening so that everyone remembers to schedule their days off without delays. Besides, it’s possible to get summaries of the team’s leave time and download them as Excel reports.
Disadvantages (according to user reviews):
- Difficulty editing time entries
- Limited data export options
- Limits on data storage
- Time off accrual functionality isn’t flexible enough
Best Paid Leave Management Software Systems
1. Calamari
- Time off tracking
- Attendance management
- HR documents
- Notifications
- Reports
Price: Starting at $1.7 per employee a month for leave management functionality alone.
Calamari is an online time off manager that allows you to automate PTO accrual and align the entire leave management processes in accordance with your PTO policy.
The software supports a multi-level approval process to meet the needs of medium-sized companies and large corporations. Using shared calendars, you can track employees’ vacation time, sick leave, days off, and remote work. Synchronize time off requests with G Suite Calendar, Office 365, iOS, Apple, and others.
Disadvantages (according to user reviews):
- Reports are not intuitive enough
- Limited customization options
- Lack of work scheduling functionality
2. Kissflow HR Cloud
- Intuitive Interface
- Flexible Setup
- Powerful Reporting
- Billing & Payroll
Price: Starting at $1500 a month.
Kissflow’s HR Cloud contains a powerful HR leave management system that allows managers to record, monitor, and manage PTO requests using automated validations, balance updates, and visual reports.
Managers can also create custom leave policies and set up a fully customized time off management process. The mobile app allows them to manage leave requests from any place on the go. Plus, you can integrate Kissflow with any payroll system of choice to sync employee data between them and automate leave management and payroll calculation even more.
Disadvantages (according to user reviews):
- No freemium or budget-friendly version
- Problems with customer support
- Some features feel too rigid
- Not easy to deploy
3. ADP Workforce
- Time tracking
- Employee scheduling
- Payroll integrations
- Compliance
- Mobile access
Price: Contact the company.
ADP Workforce is human capital management (HCM) software for companies with more than 50 employees. Primarily, it offers time and attendance record keeping and payroll but also can be applied for recruitment, performance evaluation, and goal tracking needs.
The software maintains accurate compliance with federal, state, and local tax laws, which makes it easier for your company to comply with them. And another super helpful thing about ADP is that recently it started to provide real-time virtual assistance for clients to troubleshoot or answer any questions.
Disadvantages (according to user reviews):
- Reports are difficult to navigate
- Steep learning curve
- Frequent time-out periods
- Frequent software updates cause confusion
- Expensive product, not suitable for smaller teams
4. UKG
- Time and attendance management
- Compliance
- Talent management
- Scheduling
- Reports
Price: Contact the company.
UKG is a comprehensive workforce management platform with robust attendance tracking functionality. It allows you to control labor costs, minimize compliance risks, and improve team productivity by automating time off accrual and enhancing overtime control.
Using UKG, your employees can view their accruals online via their mobile or tablet devices, and request time off on their own, freeing supervisors and HR and payroll staff members from having to respond to these common inquiries. Once a time off request is approved, the data is automatically recorded and applied to update the employee’s online schedule, increasing visibility into team coverage requirements.
Disadvantages (according to user reviews):
- Navigation is a bit complicated
- No free trial or freemium version
- The interfaces lack visual appeal
- Steep learning curve
5. HRnest
- Scheduling
- Time tracking
- Absence history
- Notifications
- File-sharing
Price: Starting at $1.7 per user per month.
HRnest is an HRM software with handy absence tracking functionality. It offers easy leave request submissions and approvals, automated notifications, and a fully customizable workflow.
Work schedules created via HRnest display colleagues’ scheduled leave time so that everyone else can plan their absences accordingly, and managers stay up-to-date. As a manager, you may also generate reports on employees’ leave requests and history of time off, while your employees have access to their PTO balances and can easily keep track of their PTO balances whenever they need to.
Disadvantages (according to user reviews):
- Works slowly sometimes
- Poor overtime visibility
- Complicated data migration process
6. Vacation Tracker
- PTO tracking
- Notifications
- Reports
- Custom leave types
Price: Starting at $25 per month.
Vacation Tracker is an automated leave management system for Slack. It allows you to book and approve time off via Slack and keep your team informed about scheduled absences with the help of daily and weekly notifications
Apply Vacation Tracker to manage active and inactive users, customize their profiles, and generate and export leave reports in CSV format. Use Administrator Dashboard to approve or deny requests, set leave types, manage notifications, and customize all settings.
Disadvantages (according to user reviews):
- Impossible to delete inactive users
- It takes a lot of time to update your office calendar
- Limited functionality
- Not easy to navigate
7. Keka
- Attendance management
- GPS tracking
- Shift management
- Employee onboarding
Price: Starting at $500 a month (up to 100 users).
Keka is a valuable tool for businesses that are looking for a comprehensive HRM solution. It is designed to simplify your HR processes and make them more efficient.
Keka streamlines such functions as employee records management, attendance tracking, leave management, and payroll processing. With its help, HR managers can quickly configure policies for their organization’s leave system, track employee leave balances, and stay on top of each employee’s leave requests with ease.
Employees can request leave time, and the system will automatically notify their managers about that. The managers can then approve or reject requests within minutes, avoiding the dreaded paperwork and manual PTO tracking processes that always eat up a lot of time and money.
Disadvantages (according to user reviews):
- Some essential software integrations are missing
- Not easy to understand, requires learning
- Clumsy user interface
- Limited data export options
Ready to Try Free Leave Tracking Software?
Leave tracking software offers many benefits: better resource management, more accurate project planning, effective teamwork, better collaboration, enhanced performance, and improved employee satisfaction. First of all, leave trackers provide teams with team attendance calendars, allowing them to review peer availability and connect. Next, they ensure a stress-free leave request process so that employees no longer have to fill out any papers and wait for approval for days or even weeks. Finally, project and HR managers get access to team availability and attendance statistics that ensure better decision-making.
If you are not sure what leave tracking software to try first, we recommend starting with actiPLANS – work and leave tracking software. It offers everything you need for effective leave management: a team attendance calendar, custom leaves and approval workflows, automated leave balance calculations, notifications and mobile apps to request and manage leaves on the go.
Book a demo or try actiPLANS for free – start a 30-day trial (no credit card required).
