Best Leave Management Software for Small Businesses: 8 Tools Compared
Table of Contents
Updated October 2026. Prices and plan limits were checked on each vendor's own pricing page on October 26, 2026.
Leave management software replaces the spreadsheet, the shared calendar and the email chain with one place where employees request time off, managers approve it and balances update on their own. This guide compares eight employee leave management software options for small businesses (roughly 5 to 50 employees) in the US and UK. It then covers what the free plans really include, when a spreadsheet stops working, how accrual and carryover work, the leave rules small employers need to know and how leave connects to payroll.
Leave management software compared
The table shows the cheapest plan that includes leave management, whether there is a free plan, how each tool handles accruals and carryover, and whether payroll is included. "Not listed" means the vendor's pricing page does not mention it.
Tool | Starting price for leave | Free plan | Accruals / carryover | Payroll | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Payrun | $4.95/user/month billed annually ($8.25 monthly) | Yes, up to 5 users | Accruals in leave policies; carryover not listed | Included from the Pro plan ($9.95/user/month) | Small teams that want leave, employee records, attendance and payroll in one tool |
BambooHR | $250/month flat for up to 25 employees (Core); about $10 to $10.25/employee/month above 25 | No | Yes, on Core | US payroll add-on | Growing companies that want a full HR system |
Connecteam | $29/month for up to 30 users (HR & Skills Hub Basic, billed yearly) | Yes: all hubs except payroll integration for up to 10 users; a limited plan for up to 30 | Accrual caps and carryover from the Advanced plan ($49/month) | Payroll integrations on paid plans | Deskless and frontline teams |
Vacation Tracker | $2/user/month, $50 monthly minimum (Core) | No (14-day trial) | Accruals and TOIL on Complete ($4/user/month) | ADP Workforce Now sync (from Core) | Teams that work in Slack, Microsoft Teams or Google Workspace |
Timetastic | $1.50/user/month (Business) | No (30-day trial) | Accruals on Pro ($2.50/user/month) | Payroll export on the Rota & Time Clock plan ($5.50/user/month) | Teams that want a simple, low-cost leave planner |
Leave Dates | From £0.75/user/month, excluding VAT | No (30-day trial) | Carryover on all plans | Not listed | UK small businesses |
Day Off | Free up to 10 users; Pro $2/seat/month, $20 monthly minimum | Yes, up to 10 users | Carryover rules | Not listed | Small teams that want a free leave tracker |
Gusto | $49/month + $6/person (Simple), includes basic PTO policies | No | Not listed | Included (US payroll) | US small businesses that want leave inside payroll |
Sources: Payrun pricing, BambooHR pricing, Connecteam pricing, Vacation Tracker pricing, Timetastic pricing, Leave Dates pricing, Day Off pricing, Gusto pricing. Prices change, so check the vendor's page before you buy.
How to read it: a low headline price often leaves out accruals. Timetastic, Vacation Tracker and Connecteam all put accrual rules on a higher plan, so compare the plan you would actually need, not the cheapest one.
How we chose and compared these tools
We started from the tools that appear most often in leave management roundups and kept the ones that suit small businesses: public pricing, a self-serve signup and leave features that work without an implementation project. For each tool we checked the vendor's own pricing and feature pages for the cheapest plan with leave, free plan or trial, accrual and carryover rules, mobile access, calendar and chat integrations, and payroll. We did not use paid placements.
Payrun is our own product. We include it because it fits this use case, and we list its limits next to its strengths. Enterprise leave-of-absence tools (for example, those built for FMLA case management at large employers) are out of scope because they are quote-only and aimed at much bigger HR teams.
The 8 best leave management tools for small businesses
1. Payrun: leave, records and payroll in one low-cost tool
Payrun is an HR and payroll platform for small teams. Employees submit leave requests with dates and leave type, requests route through approval workflows, and balances update automatically once a request is approved. A shared leave calendar shows who is off, managers can filter leave by employee, department or status, and admins can add company holidays or import public holidays. Payrun has a web app plus iOS and Android apps.
Price: free for up to 5 users; paid plans from $4.95 per user per month billed annually, with payroll from the Pro plan. Limits: leave policies cover entitlements, accruals and approval workflows, but Payrun's pricing page doesn't list carryover rules, so check how year-end balances work for your policy during the trial. Payrun does not file US payroll taxes. Best for: small businesses that want leave to sit in the same system as employee records and attendance. See leave management in Payrun.
2. BambooHR: a full HR system with mature time off
BambooHR is a full HR system for small and mid-sized companies, and it appeared on every leave management list we reviewed. Time-off requests, accruals and approvals are part of its Core plan, alongside employee records, hiring tools and reporting.
Price: $250 per month flat for companies with up to 25 employees on Core, then about $10 to $10.25 per employee per month. Payroll is a separate US-only add-on. Limits: there is no free plan, and the flat fee is expensive for very small teams that only need leave tracking. Best for: growing companies that want a complete HRIS and will use more than time off.
3. Connecteam: free for small frontline teams
Connecteam describes itself as an all-in-one management solution for the deskless workforce. Its time-off features sit in the HR & Skills Hub, and it is designed around its mobile app.
Price: a free Small Business plan for up to 10 users that includes every hub except payroll integration, plus a limited free plan for up to 30 users; HR & Skills Hub Basic is $29 per month for up to 30 users billed yearly ($35 monthly). Limits: accrual caps and carryover limits need the Advanced plan ($49 per month billed yearly). Best for: frontline and shift-based teams who mainly use their phones.
4. Vacation Tracker: leave inside Slack, Teams and Google Workspace
Vacation Tracker lets employees request and approve leave without leaving Slack, Microsoft Teams or Google Workspace, and syncs time off to Google and Outlook calendars. It has iOS and Android apps.
Price: Core is $2 per user per month with a $50 monthly minimum; Complete, which adds accruals and TOIL, is $4 per user per month with a $100 minimum. There is a 14-day free trial. Limits: the monthly minimums make it relatively expensive for teams under 25 people. Best for: office and remote teams that already run on Slack or Teams.
5. Timetastic: a simple leave planner for small teams
Timetastic, built in the UK and Canada, is a simple leave planner. It has mobile apps on all plans, Google Workspace integration on Business and Pro, Slack from Business and Microsoft Teams on Pro.
Price: Business is $1.50 per user per month, billed month to month; Pro, which adds accruals, is $2.50. There is a 30-day free trial. Limits: no free plan, and payroll export is only on the higher Rota & Time Clock plan ($5.50 per user per month). Best for: small teams that want a clear holiday planner and nothing more.
6. Leave Dates: UK-focused leave tracking
Leave Dates is a leave tracker that prices in pounds by default and supports GBP, USD and EUR billing. Carryover is included on all plans, with TOIL, Google and Outlook calendar sync and Slack on the Essential and Plus plans.
Price: from £0.75 per user per month excluding VAT, with a discount for yearly billing and a 30-day free trial. Limits: plan prices depend on headcount and are shown once you enter your number of users, and payroll is not listed. Best for: businesses, including in the UK, that want a dedicated holiday tracker. For UK-specific options, see our guide to holiday management software.
7. Day Off: a free leave tracker for up to 10 people
Day Off offers a free plan for up to 10 users and a Pro plan with Google and Outlook calendar sync, Slack and Microsoft Teams. It has iOS and Android apps and supports carryover rules.
Price: free for up to 10 users; Pro is $2 per seat per month with a $20 monthly minimum. Limits: it is a leave tracker only, with no records or payroll. Best for: very small teams that want to stop using a spreadsheet at no cost.
8. Gusto: leave inside US payroll
Gusto is a US payroll provider. Its Simple plan includes basic PTO policies and holiday pay, so leave and pay sit in the same system, and its Time & Attendance Plus add-on extends time tracking.
Price: Simple is $49 per month plus $6 per person. Limits: the Simple plan lists only basic PTO policies, and Gusto payroll is for US employers. Best for: US small businesses that want payroll and tax filing first, with simple PTO included.
Free leave management software: what you actually get
Several tools have a permanent free plan that includes leave. The limits matter more than the price, so check the user cap and which leave features stay free.
Tool | Free for | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|
Connecteam | Up to 10 users (all hubs except payroll integration); up to 30 on a limited plan | The limited plan covers essentials only |
Day Off | Up to 10 users | Calendar sync, Slack and Teams are on Pro |
Payrun | Up to 5 users | Leave sits alongside employee records and attendance |
Zoho People | Up to 5 users | Time off management is included in the free plan; paid plans need at least 5 users |
actiPLANS | 1–3 users | Limited functionality on the free tier |
Sources: Zoho People pricing, actiPLANS pricing and the pricing pages listed above.
Free plans usually stop working for one of three reasons: you pass the user cap, you need accrual or carryover rules, or you want leave to feed payroll. If any of those is likely within a year, compare the paid plan you would move to before you commit.
Spreadsheet or software: when should you switch?
A spreadsheet can work for a handful of people on one simple policy. It starts to break when any of these become true:
- You have more than about 10 employees, or several managers approving leave.
- You run more than one leave policy (for example, different allowances by role, tenure or country).
- Leave accrues over time or carries over between years, so balances need calculating.
- Employees work in more than one US state or country, with different sick leave or holiday rules.
- Unpaid leave or leave payouts affect pay, so mistakes turn into payroll errors.
- You need a record of who requested and approved what, and when.
If you mainly need to see who is off, a dedicated tracker is enough. If leave affects pay or you also manage employee records, an all-in-one tool avoids keeping the same data in two places. Our guide to employee leave tracking covers tracking methods in more detail.
Types of leave to set up
Before you configure any tool, list the leave types you offer and the rules for each. Most small businesses need some of these:
- Annual leave or vacation: paid time off to rest, usually accrued over the year or granted up front.
- Sick leave: paid or unpaid time off for illness or injury; many US states and cities set minimums.
- PTO bank: a single pool that combines vacation, sick and personal days, instead of separate balances.
- Parental leave: time off after the birth or adoption of a child.
- Family and medical leave: time off to care for a family member or for a serious health condition; in the US this may be covered by the FMLA or a state program.
- Bereavement leave: time off after the death of a family member.
- Jury duty: time off for jury service, often protected by state law in the US.
- Unpaid leave: approved time off without pay, which must be reflected in payroll.
- Public holidays: company and public holidays, which may or may not count toward annual leave.
How leave accrual and carryover work
Accrual means employees earn leave gradually instead of receiving it all at once. For example, a policy of 15 days a year accrued monthly gives 1.25 days at the end of each month. Front-loading grants the full allowance at the start of the year instead, which is simpler to run but means a new joiner can use leave before they have earned it.
Carryover decides what happens to unused leave at year end. Common options are:
- Full carryover: unused leave rolls into the next year.
- Capped carryover: only part rolls over, for example up to 5 days.
- Use it or lose it: unused leave is forfeited. Some US states restrict or prohibit this, so check the rules before adopting it.
Whatever you choose, write it into your leave policy and set it up the same way in your software. Whether unused leave must be paid out when someone leaves depends on the state; see our guide to PTO payout laws by state.
Leave rules small employers should know
This section is a short summary of common rules, not legal advice. State, local and sector rules can differ, so check the official source for your location.
US: the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)
The FMLA gives eligible employees up to 12 workweeks of unpaid, job-protected leave in a 12-month period for specified family and medical reasons. It applies to private-sector employers with 50 or more employees in 20 or more workweeks in the current or preceding calendar year. To be eligible, an employee must have worked for the employer for at least 12 months, have at least 1,250 hours of service in the 12 months before the leave, and work at a location where the employer has at least 50 employees within 75 miles. Source: US Department of Labor, FMLA.
Most businesses with fewer than 50 employees are not covered by the FMLA, but they may still be covered by state family leave or paid sick leave laws.
US: state paid sick leave and paid family leave
There is no federal paid sick leave requirement for most private employers, but many states and cities have their own. According to the US Department of Labor, as of December 2024, 18 states and the District of Columbia had enacted paid sick leave laws, and 13 states and the District of Columbia have paid family and medical leave programs. Accrual rates, caps and covered uses differ by state. Source: US Department of Labor, paid leave.
UK: statutory holiday entitlement
Almost all UK workers are legally entitled to 5.6 weeks of paid holiday a year. For someone working five days a week, that is at least 28 days. Employers can include bank holidays as part of this statutory entitlement. Part-time workers on regular hours are also entitled to 5.6 weeks, which works out at fewer than 28 days. Source: GOV.UK, holiday entitlement.
How leave connects to payroll
Leave and payroll meet in three places. Paid leave has to be paid at the right rate, unpaid leave has to reduce pay for the right days, and when someone leaves, any leave you must pay out has to appear in their final pay. When leave lives in one system and payroll in another, someone has to copy that information across every pay period, and that is where errors creep in.
There are two ways to close the gap: use a leave tool that integrates with your payroll provider, or use one platform for both. Gusto puts basic PTO inside US payroll; BambooHR offers payroll as a US add-on; Vacation Tracker syncs with ADP Workforce Now. In Payrun, leave, attendance and payroll (on the Pro plan and above) share the same employee profiles, so employee details are entered once. Check how unpaid leave is handled in a pay run during your trial, whichever tool you choose.
Leave policy checklist
A clear written policy makes any leave tool easier to set up. Make sure yours covers:
- Which leave types you offer and who is eligible for each.
- How much leave each type gives, and whether it accrues or is granted up front.
- Waiting periods for new employees, if any.
- How to request leave, how much notice is needed and who approves.
- How many people can be off at the same time, and any blackout periods.
- Carryover rules and caps at year end.
- How public and company holidays are handled.
- What evidence is needed for sick leave, if any, and when.
- Whether unused leave is paid out when someone leaves.
- Which state, local or national laws apply to your employees.
How to choose: 7 questions to ask vendors
- Does it support our leave policies? Check leave types, accrual, carryover and different rules by group or location on the plan you would buy.
- What does it cost at our size? Work out the price for your headcount today and in a year, including minimum fees.
- What do employees use? Check the mobile app, self-service balances and how requests are submitted.
- Does it fit our tools? Look for calendar sync, Slack or Teams if you use them, and your HR system.
- How does leave reach payroll? Ask whether it integrates with your payroll provider or includes payroll.
- What reports and records do we get? Check absence reports, balance exports and request history.
- How long does setup take? Run a trial with real policies and a few employees before you decide.
How Payrun handles leave for small teams
Payrun is built for small businesses that want one system instead of several. Payrun has a web app plus iOS and Android apps. Employees submit leave requests, managers approve or reject requests through approval workflows, and balances update as soon as a request is approved. Leave policies set entitlements and accruals, and you can create separate policies for different teams, locations or employee groups. The leave calendar shows who is off, and admins can add company holidays or import public holidays. Because leave uses the same employee profiles as records, attendance and payroll, information is entered once.
You can start free for up to 5 users or try every feature with a 14-day free trial, with no credit card required. See leave management in Payrun or compare Payrun pricing. If your team is remote, our guide to leave management for remote teams covers leave for distributed teams.
