Last updated on October 17, 2025
If your team spends most of their time in Slack but you’re still tracking leave in spreadsheets, you’re wasting valuable time and making room for mistakes.
The right Slack-integrated leave tools let you do everything right where your team already works: request time off, approve requests, and check balances with just a few clicks.
If you’re ready to make things simpler, here’s our take on 7 tools that make managing leave inside Slack a whole lot easier.
Watch the full walkthrough to see how they work and find the one that fits your team best.
Why Your Team Needs a Slack Leave Management Tool
If you're using Slack but tracking leave in spreadsheets, you're creating extra work. A lot of HR professionals still rely on spreadsheets for leave management, which leads to 2.5x more tracking errors compared to dedicated software.
With a proper Slack integration, you won't manually calculate accruals for every employee. You won't hunt through email threads for leave requests. You won't track holidays and leave laws across different countries by hand.
What Makes a Good Leave Management Tool for Slack
Here's what they need to have in common:
- Ease of use. If you need a manual to approve someone's vacation request, your team won't use it.
- Visibility. You need to see who's off and who's available so you can delegate tasks and set realistic deadlines. Daily or weekly notifications keep everyone informed.
- Custom policies. Whether you have one office or ten, the system needs to handle your specific rules. Accruals, time off in lieu (TOIL), carryover, probation periods, seniority entitlements - these aren't optional features.
- Automation. If you're still manually checking who's off each day, you've defeated the purpose of the software.
- Integrations. This article focuses on Slack, but calendar sync (Google Calendar, Outlook) makes everything smoother.
Vacation Tracker: The Most Complete Slack-Native Solution
Vacation Tracker is ranked #1 leave management software specifically for its native Slack integration. Once you set up your account on the dashboard, you can do everything inside Slack.
What You Can Do Without Leaving Slack
The Slack integration isn't just for submitting requests. You can:
- Request leave with one slash command
- Check your balance for this year and next year
- Request TOIL (if your company offers it)
- See which team members are away
- View your leave history
- Check upcoming holidays
- Approve or deny requests as a manager
Visibility features: You'll get daily or weekly notifications in Slack channels showing who's off for holidays, personal leave, or any other leave type you've configured.
Pricing
Vacation Tracker keeps pricing transparent:
- Core plan for basic leave tracking
- Complete plan with advanced features like custom accruals and detailed reporting
You can review the exact pricing and features to pick what fits your needs.
Tracking Can Be
Learn how to manage time off without
confusion, delays, or admin headaches.
Timetastic: Built for UK Teams
Timetastic is specifically designed for UK employment regulations. If you're based in the UK, this tool handles statutory leave calculations and holiday entitlements automatically.
For teams in North America or other regions, you'll need more manual setup to configure the system properly.
Pricing
Timetastic shows clear pricing on their website:
- Essential plan: $1.50 per user per month
- Timetastic Pro: $2.50 per user per month (includes accruals and advanced reporting)
If your team operates under UK labor laws, Timetastic is worth considering. For international teams, you might need something more flexible.
AttendanceBot: Leave Tracking Plus Time Tracking
AttendanceBot handles leave requests and status updates in Slack, but it's not just a leave tracker. The platform also does time tracking, employee scheduling, and other workforce management features.
The Cost Trade-off
AttendanceBot is pricier than dedicated leave tools:
- Annual billing: $4 per user per month
- Monthly billing: $6 per user per month
If you only need leave tracking, this might be overkill. But if you also need time tracking or scheduling, combining these features in one tool could make sense.
Setup Complexity
Some users mention the initial setup takes more work than simpler leave-only tools. If you're looking for something you can configure in an afternoon, this might not be it.
Calamari: Good for International Teams
Calamari works well for teams with offices in multiple countries. It supports international holidays across 100+ countries, custom approval flows, and integrates with both Slack and Google Calendar.
The Interface Issue
Some reviews mention the interface feels clunky and setup takes time. If you value a smooth user experience, you might want to test this one before committing.
Pricing
Calamari offers time off tracking for $2 per user per month. They have other HR capabilities available if you need them, but the base leave tracking module keeps costs reasonable.
Enterprise Options: BambooHR, Deel, and HiBob
If you're a larger team or need a full HR system beyond leave tracking, these three platforms might fit better than standalone leave tools.
BambooHR: Limited Slack Integration
BambooHR is a popular HR platform. Their Slack integration lets you request time off in Slack, but approvals and most other actions happen on the BambooHR platform itself.
This creates friction. You start the process in Slack but have to switch to BambooHR to finish it. Research shows this kind of context switching slows down approval times.
When it makes sense: If you're already using BambooHR for other HR functions and your leave tracking needs are simple, adding the Slack integration is better than nothing.
When it doesn't: For smaller teams or teams with complex leave policies, dedicated leave tools offer more flexibility. BambooHR doesn't publish pricing on their website - you'll need to go through their sales process.
Deel: Built for Global Payroll and Compliance
Deel is known for global payroll and compliance. It automatically applies leave regulations across 100+ countries with localized holiday calendars and statutory entitlement calculations.
Their Slack integration allows leave requests and status updates for global teams, which helps if you have distributed teams across multiple time zones and countries.
The limitation: Some users on G2 note that Deel's PTO setup feels limited compared to dedicated leave tools. This is common with large HR platforms - their leave modules aren't as sophisticated as companies that focus only on leave tracking.
When it makes sense: If you're already using Deel for payroll and HR, adding their leave tracking Slack integration keeps everything in one system.
Pricing: Deel's pricing is complex and depends on which modules you need (Deel Payroll, Deel HR, Deel IT, or Deel Services). You'll need to figure out your requirements and get a custom quote.
HiBob: Nice UI, Complex Setup
HiBob has a clean interface, flexible workflows, and good reporting. But several users mention the setup is complicated.
Like BambooHR and Deel, HiBob uses custom pricing. You'll need to go through their sales cycle to get actual numbers.
Which Tool Should You Choose?
It depends on what you actually need (I know, not the answer you wanted).
- For small to mid-sized teams that want everything integrated in Slack: Vacation Tracker offers the most complete native integration, allowing you to manage the entire leave process without leaving Slack.
- For UK-based teams: Timetastic is designed specifically for UK employment law and keeps pricing affordable.
- For teams needing time tracking as well: AttendanceBot combines leave and time tracking, although you'll pay more for the additional features.
- For international teams with complex compliance requirements: Calamari supports over 150 countries with location-specific compliance.
- For enterprise teams already using comprehensive HR platforms: BambooHR, Deel, or HiBob might be suitable if you're already invested in their ecosystems. Just keep in mind that their Slack integrations are more limited compared to dedicated leave tools.
The pattern we've noticed: dedicated leave management tools offer deeper Slack integrations and more flexible leave policies than enterprise HR suites.
Enterprise platforms make sense when you need payroll, benefits, performance management, and leave tracking all in one place.
Aleksandra Cvetkovic
Aleksandra has been with the team since day one, bringing her passion for all things marketing.
