Calamari vs Leave Dates (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Leave Dates grades higher than Calamari: 2.6 against 2.4 out of 4.0.
Checked Nov 12, 2026 · graded Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
Leave Dates grades higher on value for money. They get the same grade on the free plan, features, ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Calamari
Modular HR system for time off, attendance, core HR and reviews
Leave Dates
Annual leave planner and absence tracker for small teams
Which one is for you
Pick Calamari if
- Fits if you only need one or two HR modules and want to pay for just those
- Works for small teams comfortable with a $20 monthly minimum
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want one bundled price, as each module is priced separately
- Tight if you add up modules: all five come to $11.50 a person a month
- Watch out: there is a $20 a month minimum in the pricing calculator
- Watch out: SAML login is a paid add-on, and the page doesn't state its unit
- Not for you if you need payroll, as there is none
Pick Leave Dates if
- Fits if you run a small team and only need to track who is off when
- Works for teams that want Outlook or Google Calendar showing leave
Look elsewhere if
- Not for you if you want payroll, performance or hiring, as it is leave only
- Tight if you want calendar sync or time off in lieu, which need the £1.50 Essential plan
- Tight if you need SSO, the API or webhooks, which need Plus at £1.88
- Watch out: prices are in pounds, excluding VAT, and the USD and EUR switch could not be read
How we grade them
| 2.4GPACalamariFair | 2.6GPALeave DatesGood | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | BTime Off and Core HR are $2 per employee a month billed yearly, inside the cheapest quarter. All five modules add up to $11.50, above the category middle. | A£0.75 per user a month billed yearly, about $1, under 60% of the category's cheaper quarter. Calendar sync needs Essential at £1.50, still under $2. |
| Free plan and trial | C14-day free trial with no card needed, and no free plan. | C30-day free trial of every feature with no card needed, and no free plan. |
| Features | CTime off, attendance, core HR, reviews and scheduling. SAML is a paid add-on, and the AI review help is marked coming soon. No payroll. | CWall and year charts, requests and approval, allowances, time off in lieu and reports. It does that one job fully, and it is a small job: no payroll, performance or hiring. |
| Ease of use | CNo store rating on record. Policies, approval flows and schedules need setting up per module. | CNo store rating on record. Allowances, leave years and approvers need setting up for each team. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb plus iOS and Android apps, with 7 integrations on record. No desktop app. | BWeb plus iOS and Android apps, with Outlook, Google Calendar, Slack and Zapier. No desktop app. |
| Best for | picking only the HR modules you need | a shared leave calendar for small UK teams |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Calamari and Leave Dates. How we grade
Price against what you get
Calamari starts at $2 a month for each person and scores 2.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Leave Dates starts at about $1 a month for each person and scores 2.3.
They score the same, and Leave Dates starts $1 a month lower. Of the other HR software on the chart, none scores higher than Calamari for less, and none scores higher than Leave Dates for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- Calamari also covers time tracking, goals, shift scheduling and employee records.
- Leave Dates also covers calendar and reports.
At a glance
| Calamari | Leave Dates | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free trial |
| Starts at | $2 per employee / month per module, billed yearly | £0.75 per user / month, billed yearly |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | 14-day free trial, no credit card required | 30-day free trial of every feature, no credit card needed |
| Web | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Calamari | Leave Dates |
| Price read from | calamari.io | leavedates.com |
| Checked | Nov 12, 2026 | Nov 12, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Calamari
- Each module is priced separately per employee; combining all five costs the sum of their rates.
- The pricing calculator applies a minimum total of $20 per month for the selected modules.
- SAML integration is a paid add-on, shown at $1 billed yearly or $2 billed monthly; the page does not state the unit.
- The page labels its AI support for performance reviews as coming soon.
Leave Dates
- The pricing page shows prices in GBP by default, exclusive of VAT, with a currency switch for USD and EUR that could not be read here.
- Calendar sync, time off in lieu and overlap limits need Essential; SSO, API, webhooks and Zapier need Plus.
- The price scales with the number of users, and the page shows the per-user figure billed yearly.
- It covers leave and absence only; there is no payroll, performance or hiring module.
Key features
Calamari
- Time off management
- Policies with unlimited absence types, multi-country rules, automatic carry-over and entitlement calculated from accrual rules.
- Time and attendance
- Seven tracking methods, listed in the page data as mobile, web, Slack, QR, NFC, GPS and kiosk.
- Core HR
- A central employee database with documents, permission settings, approval flows and notifications for important dates.
- Performance reviews
- 90 to 360 degree review cycles with questionnaires, goals, reviewer assignment and manager summaries.
- Scheduling
- Schedules for shift-based or mixed workforces that sync with the leave and time-tracking modules.
Leave Dates
- Wall chart and year chart
- A shared calendar view of who is away, so managers can plan around absences.
- Leave requests and approval
- Staff drag over dates to request time off, the approver is notified, and the requester is told the outcome.
- Allowances and carry over
- Allowances can be tracked in days or hours, pro-rated for starters and leavers, and carried over between years.
- Calendar sync
- Leave records can be synced to Outlook or Google Calendar, including a shared company calendar, on Essential and above.
- Time off in lieu
- Staff can log overtime and the balance is tracked as time off in lieu, on Essential and above.
- Reports
- Daily or weekly email summaries, downloadable reports, and a daily Slack summary on Essential and above.
Plans
Calamari
Time Off$2
per employee / month, billed yearly ($2.50 billed monthly)
Online time-off requests, absence calendar, unlimited absence types, automatic carry-over and balance calculations.
Core HR$2
per employee / month, billed yearly ($2.50 billed monthly)
Central HR database, documents, permissions, approval processes, custom fields and employee requests.
Time & Attendance$2.50
per employee / month, billed yearly ($3 billed monthly)
Timesheets and time tracking with seven tracking methods.
Performance Review$2.50
per employee / month, billed yearly ($3 billed monthly)
Review cycles (self, peer, top-down and external), questionnaires, goals and manager summaries.
Scheduling$2.50
per employee / month, billed yearly ($3 billed monthly)
Weekly or monthly schedules planned per employee or role, with drafts, published versions and sync to leave and time tracking.
Leave Dates
Starter£0.75
per user / month, billed yearly (£9.00 per user a year)
Unlimited employees and leave, allowances in days or hours, bank holidays, wall and year charts, reports and email summaries, web and mobile apps.
Essential£1.50
per user / month, billed yearly (£18.00 per user a year)
Starter plus Outlook and Google Calendar sync, overlap and leave limits, multi-person requests, time off in lieu, a Slack daily summary and company-wide policies.
Plus£1.88
per user / month, billed yearly (£22.50 per user a year)
Essential plus personal leave-year start dates, unlimited allowances, SSO, API, webhooks and Zapier, and policies by leave type.
Ways to pay less
Calamari
- Annual discount
About 20% off with yearly billing
The pricing calculator shows each module cheaper per employee when billed yearly than when billed monthly (for example $2 against $2.50 for Time Off).
Leave Dates
- Annual discount
25% off with yearly billing
The pricing page's Monthly and Yearly toggle states a 25% saving for yearly billing.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Calamari or Leave Dates?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Leave Dates is cheaper to start with: about $1 a month for each person, against $2 a month for each person for Calamari. Calamari starts at $2 per employee / month per module, billed yearly, and Leave Dates starts at £0.75 per user / month, billed yearly.
Which has a free plan, Calamari or Leave Dates?
As of Nov 12, 2026, neither Calamari nor Leave Dates has a free plan. Both have a free trial.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.