Add up a timesheet in seconds with our free calculator.Open the calculator
TimeTracker
Start free

Vacation Tracker Alternatives That Track Hours Too

Vacation Tracker handles days off well, but it never sees the hours worked. Here are four alternatives, and who each one is really for.

Try TimeTracker freeSee the comparison
Why people switch

Why people look for a Vacation Tracker alternative

What it is

A Vacation Tracker alternative is another leave-management tool you move to when Vacation Tracker stops fitting your team. Two reasons come up most. The first is the monthly minimum: the Core plan is $2 a user, but you pay at least $25 a month, so a team of 5 pays $25 rather than $10. The second is scope. Vacation Tracker records days off and nothing else, so it cannot tell you where the working hours went. Below we compare TimeTracker with three other leave tools, including two with real free plans, so you can pick on price and on what you actually need.

Who needs this

A service business that sells its people's time and needs to know, in real time, whether each client project is still making money.

Meet both products

Compare the two products at a glance

TimeTracker and this competitor cover the same job in different ways. Here is what each one includes.

Best fit

TimeTracker

Every task carries operational and financial context together. Tracked time, budget impact, and invoicing live in one connected system, so you know if a project is still profitable before it becomes a problem.

Best for
Agencies and consultancies of 2 to 50 people who bill clients for time and need to see project profit, not just hours.
Pricing
Free for up to 3 people, no credit card needed. Pro is $15 per user a month, or $12 per user a month billed yearly, with a 14-day trial.
  • One-click task timers
  • Timesheet submission and approvals
  • Effective-dated billing and cost rates
  • Live project budgets and profitability
  • Client invoicing and payments
  • Client portal with a cost firewall
  • Reports and dashboards
  • Expense tracking with billable markup
Start tracking free

Vacation Tracker

Built to run entirely inside Slack, Microsoft Teams, or Google Workspace. People request leave with a chat command and managers approve it in the same thread.

Best for
Teams that live in Slack or Microsoft Teams and want leave requests handled without leaving the chat window.
Pricing
Core $2/user/mo ($1 annual), with a minimum of $50 a month billed monthly or $25 billed yearly. Complete $4/user/mo ($3 annual), minimum $100 monthly or $75 yearly. Accruals need Complete. 14-day free trial, no free plan.
  • Leave requests inside Slack and Teams
  • Accrual and carryover rules, Complete tier only
  • Shared team leave calendar
  • Custom leave types and policies
  • Departments and locations
  • Google and Outlook calendar sync
Full comparison

See how the alternatives stack up

Pricing, best fit, and top strengths for TimeTracker and every tool in this comparison.

Comparison dimensionTimeTrackerBest fitVacation TrackerTimetasticDay OffAttendanceBot
CategoryProject time trackingLeave managementLeave managementLeave managementLeave management
Best forAgencies and consultancies of 2 to 50 people who bill.Teams that live in Slack or Microsoft Teams and want leave.Small UK and European teams that want the simplest.Very small teams that want a free leave tracker with a.Slack or Teams companies that want leave, hours, and shift.
Starting price$12/user/month$1/user/month$1.5/user/monthFree$1/user/month
Top strengthTies every time entry to a task, so hours and money are.Leave approval inside Slack or Teams is genuinely faster.No monthly minimum at all, so a team of 4 really does pay.A genuinely free tier for up to 10 people, not a trialCovers leave and worked hours together, which most leave.

Pricing checked 2026-07-31. Confirm current pricing on each vendor's site.

Every option, in full

Each Vacation Tracker alternative, and who it suits

Each tool below covers a different kind of team, so this is not a ranking. We list what each one does badly as well as what it does well, with the date we last checked its pricing.

TimeTrackerOurs

Best for

Agencies and consultancies of 2 to 50 people who bill clients for time and need to see project profit, not just hours.

Pricing

Free for up to 3 people, no credit card needed. Pro is $15 per user a month, or $12 per user a month billed yearly, with a 14-day trial.

Checked 13 July 2026

Every task carries operational and financial context together. Tracked time, budget impact, and invoicing live in one connected system, so you know if a project is still profitable before it becomes a problem. A service business that sells its people's time and needs to know, in real time, whether each client project is still making money.

Where it wins

  • Ties every time entry to a task, so hours and money are the same record instead of two systems to reconcile
  • Live budget and profitability rollups instead of a month-end spreadsheet
  • Timesheet approval locks numbers before they hit an invoice, so billed hours cannot silently drift
  • No screenshots, keystroke logging, or GPS tracking, by design

Where it falls short

  • Newer product than long-established time trackers, so its integration marketplace is still small
  • No native payroll run; timesheets export for an external payroll tool instead
  • Built for client-project delivery, not a general work OS, so it will not replace a wiki or a sprint board

Vacation Tracker

Best for

Teams that live in Slack or Microsoft Teams and want leave requests handled without leaving the chat window.

Pricing

Core $2/user/mo ($1 annual), with a minimum of $50 a month billed monthly or $25 billed yearly. Complete $4/user/mo ($3 annual), minimum $100 monthly or $75 yearly. Accruals need Complete. 14-day free trial, no free plan.

Checked 31 July 2026

Built to run entirely inside Slack, Microsoft Teams, or Google Workspace. People request leave with a chat command and managers approve it in the same thread. A chat-first company of 15 people or more that needs proper leave policies and does not need to track billable or worked hours at all.

Where it wins

  • Leave approval inside Slack or Teams is genuinely faster than any web form
  • No cap on user numbers, so the plan does not force an upgrade as the team grows
  • Custom leave types and per-location holidays are deep for the price
  • Month to month with no minimum term, so cancelling is easy

Where it falls short

  • The monthly minimum means a 5-person team on Core pays $25, not $10
  • Tracks days off only. There is no time tracking, so it cannot tell you where working hours went
  • The Core plan caps you at 3 locations
  • No free plan, only a 14-day trial

Timetastic

Best for

Small UK and European teams that want the simplest possible paperless leave book at a low per-person price.

Pricing

Two plans: about £1.20 per user a month, and about £2 per user a month for the pro tier. 30-day free trial, no card needed, no minimum term.

Checked 30 July 2026

Deliberately does one thing: a shared staff leave calendar with no minimum spend and no modules to configure. Priced in pounds, per person, month to month. A UK or European company of 5 to 60 people replacing a shared spreadsheet, that wants a leave book and nothing more.

Where it wins

  • No monthly minimum at all, so a team of 4 really does pay for 4
  • A 30-day trial, longer than most rivals give
  • Very little to set up, which suits teams with no HR person

Where it falls short

  • Leave only. No time tracking, timesheets, or billing of any kind
  • Priced and built around UK and European holiday rules first
  • Few reporting options beyond the leave calendar itself

Day Off

Best for

Very small teams that want a free leave tracker with a real mobile app and no card on file.

Pricing

Free forever for up to 10 users. Pro is about $2 per user a month with a $20/mo minimum, and takes unlimited employees.

Checked 30 July 2026

Free forever for up to 10 users, which is the most generous free leave-tracking tier on this list, with a mobile-first app rather than a chat plugin. A startup or small business under 10 people that wants leave off a spreadsheet today without paying anything.

Where it wins

  • A genuinely free tier for up to 10 people, not a trial
  • Mobile apps are the main way in, which suits teams not on Slack all day
  • Cheap to move up to once the team outgrows the free plan

Where it falls short

  • The Pro plan carries a $20/mo minimum, so 11 people pay $20 rather than $22
  • Leave only. No time tracking or billing
  • Smaller product with a shorter integration list than the bigger names

AttendanceBot

Best for

Slack or Teams companies that want leave, hours, and shift planning from one chat bot instead of three tools.

Pricing

Free for teams up to 5 users. Paid plans run roughly $1 to $2.50 per user a month, with about 20% off on annual billing.

Checked 30 July 2026

Bundles leave tracking, time tracking, and shift planning into a single Slack and Teams bot, so it covers more ground than a leave-only tool. A 10 to 100 person Slack or Teams company that wants time off, attendance, and shifts handled in chat and does not bill clients by the hour.

Where it wins

  • Covers leave and worked hours together, which most leave tools do not
  • Free for up to 5 users, so a small team can start at no cost
  • Adds shift planning, useful for hybrid and rota-based teams

Where it falls short

  • It is a chat bot first, so people not on Slack or Teams get a thin experience
  • No client billing, invoicing, or project profitability
  • Doing three jobs at once means each one is shallower than a specialist tool
Why switch

Reasons teams switch

Popular features

Time Tracking

Employee time tracking your team will actually use

One click starts a timer, or people type hours in by hand. Every entry ties to a client, project, and task, so the record stays clean.

Explore Time Tracking→
PTO Tracking

PTO tracking that keeps every balance correct

Staff request vacation or sick leave in a few clicks and managers approve in one. Balances accrue on their own, and booked days show on the team schedule.

Explore PTO Tracking→
Timesheets

Timesheets your team submits on time

Hours build into a timecard as people work. Send the week for approval, lock it once it is signed off, and bill from a number that cannot quietly change.

Explore Timesheets→
Use cases

Use cases this solves

More comparisons

Compare other tools

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

Is there a free Vacation Tracker alternative?
Yes. Day Off is free forever for up to 10 users, and AttendanceBot is free for up to 5. Vacation Tracker itself has no free plan, only a 14-day trial. TimeTracker is free for up to 3 people and adds time off with real accrual rules on top of time tracking.
How much does Vacation Tracker cost?
Core is $1 a user a month billed yearly or $2 monthly, and Complete is $3 yearly or $4 monthly. Each plan has two minimums: Core is $25 a month yearly but $50 monthly, and Complete is $75 yearly but $100 monthly. Prices checked on their site in July 2026. Our full breakdown of what Vacation Tracker costs covers which plan has accruals, or see leave and PTO tracking inside TimeTracker.
Does Vacation Tracker work with Microsoft Teams?
Yes. Vacation Tracker runs inside Microsoft Teams, Slack, and Google Workspace, and that is its real strength. TimeTracker has no Slack or Teams app, so if chat-based leave requests are what you need, Vacation Tracker is the better buy. TimeTracker works in the browser and in iPhone and Android apps instead.
Can I track employee vacation in Excel instead?
You can, and for a team of 3 or 4 a spreadsheet is fine. It breaks once accrual, carryover, and part-time allowances come in, because every rule becomes a formula somebody has to maintain. A tool that does leave and PTO tracking keeps those balances right on its own.
Does TimeTracker track time off as well as hours?
Yes. Time off runs on real leave policies with accrual, opening balances, requests, and approvals, and it sits next to the timesheets for the same week. That is the main reason to pick it over a leave-only tool.
What is the best free vacation tracker for employees?
Day Off, if headcount is 10 or under, since its free plan has no time limit. Above that, AttendanceBot's free tier stops at 5 users and its paid plans start around $1 a user. If you also need hours, TimeTracker's free plan covers 3 people and includes time off.
Does TimeTracker have a Slack or Teams app?
No. There is no Slack or Microsoft Teams app today, so leave requests happen in the web app or the mobile apps. Vacation Tracker and AttendanceBot both beat TimeTracker on this. Where TimeTracker wins is having capacity planning and worked hours in the same system as the leave.
Which Vacation Tracker alternative is cheapest for a small team?
Day Off, because a team of 10 or fewer pays nothing. After that Timetastic is usually cheapest, at about £1.20 a person a month with no monthly minimum, which matters when Vacation Tracker's $25 floor makes a 5-person team pay double. See how Clockify compares if you want hours as well.
Can I see who is off and who is working in one place?
In a leave-only tool, no. It knows the days off but not the hours worked. TimeTracker shows both, so utilization tracking counts against the days people are really available instead of a flat week.
Is switching from Vacation Tracker hard?
It takes an afternoon for most teams. You set up your leave types, enter each person's current balance as an opening balance, and carry on. Balances are the only thing you have to move by hand, and you can export them to CSV on the way out.
A professional team working on a laptop at a warm wooden desk in an office.

See the days off and the hours in one place

Set up your leave types and your first project in an afternoon. Track hours, book time off, and see who is actually free next week.

Start free