- Holiday tracker apps at a glance
- Ten holiday tracker apps worth a look
- Which holiday tracker fits your team
- Set the bank holiday rule before anyone books
- Simple holiday planner or full HR system?
- Six things to set up in any holiday tracker
- Signs you've outgrown the holiday spreadsheet
- My plain advice on choosing a holiday tracker
- Frequently asked questions
A holiday tracker app lets staff request annual leave, managers approve it and everyone see who's off, replacing the shared spreadsheet or wall chart. Some are simple holiday planners, others sit inside wider HR software with sickness, rotas and records. This page compares ten holiday tracker apps in no particular order, with the UK entitlement rule to set up correctly.
The holiday spreadsheet works until two people book the same week in August, someone forgets to update it and nobody knows how many days anyone has left.
A holiday tracker fixes that with requests, approvals and balances in one place. The ten apps below are listed alphabetically and in no particular order, and every description comes from the vendor's own website, read this week. If you need wider HR help as your team grows, my guide to HR support services for small businesses is a good next step.
Holiday tracker apps at a glance
I checked the free plan column on each tool's own website, as of Oct 2026. Yes means the site says the tool, a plan or version of it, or its downloads are free. Trial only means a time-limited trial. Not stated means the pages I read named neither, even where there's a button inviting you to try it, so check the vendor's page before you sign up.
| Tool | Type | Good for | Free plan |
|---|---|---|---|
| Breathe | UK HR software | Holidays plus people records | Trial only |
| CharlieHR | HR software for small companies | Founder-led companies | Not stated |
| Leave Dates | Staff leave planner | Replacing the holiday spreadsheet | Not stated |
| LeaveBoard | Leave management and HR software | Leave balances and sick-leave trends | Not stated |
| LeaveWizard | Leave planner and booking system | Seeing gaps in cover | Trial only |
| myhrtoolkit | UK HR system for SMEs | Holiday planner within UK HR | Trial only |
| TeamSeer | UK absence management software | Cutting absence admin | Not stated |
| The Holiday Tracker | Staff holiday software | Simple holiday booking only | Trial only |
| Timetastic | Staff leave and holiday planner | Booking leave on mobile | Trial only |
| Vacation Tracker | Leave tracking inside work chat | Booking leave in Slack or Teams | Trial only |
Ten holiday tracker apps worth a look
Breathe
Best for: Growing UK firms that want leave booking as part of an all-in-one HR platform with records, onboarding and reporting.
CharlieHR
Best for: Founders and managing directors who want a leave management system alongside onboarding and performance tools.
Leave Dates
Best for: Office managers who want a simple annual leave planner to replace spreadsheets for booking and approving holidays.
LeaveBoard
Best for: Small businesses that want leave allowances, public holidays and sick-leave reporting in one cloud HR tool.
LeaveWizard
Best for: Managers who want a staff holiday booking system that shows who's working, who's off and where the gaps are.
myhrtoolkit
Best for: UK SMEs that want a holiday planner and absence management as part of a fuller HR system with a free trial.
TeamSeer
Best for: Employers that want absence management software built to reduce the admin of tracking staff time off across a team.
The Holiday Tracker
Best for: Small employers that want a single-purpose employee holiday tracker and nothing else, starting with a free trial.
Timetastic
Best for: Teams that want annual leave and absences booked and approved on desktop or mobile, with rotas and a time clock too.
Vacation Tracker
Best for: Mid-sized teams that want leave requested and approved inside Slack, Microsoft Teams or Google Workspace.
Which holiday tracker fits your team
- A single-purpose holiday tracker: The Holiday Tracker or Leave Dates.
- Leave inside Slack or Teams: Vacation Tracker.
- Holidays within UK HR software: Breathe or myhrtoolkit.
- Seeing gaps in cover: LeaveWizard.
- Founder-led small companies: CharlieHR.
Set the bank holiday rule before anyone books
GOV.UK says most workers who work a 5-day week must receive at least 28 days' annual leave a year, the equivalent of 5.6 weeks, and that an employer can include bank holidays as part of statutory annual leave.
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This trips up a lot of small employers. If your contracts say 28 days including bank holidays, but your tracker adds the bank holidays on top, staff will see more days than they're owed, and you'll have an awkward conversation later. If contracts say 20 days plus bank holidays, the tracker needs to show that. Set it up to match your contracts on day one, and check part-time allowances too.
Simple holiday planner or full HR system?
A simple holiday planner does one job well: requests, approvals, balances and a calendar of who's off. It's quick to set up and easy for staff to use.
A full HR system adds sickness, records, documents and sometimes rotas. It's worth it once you're juggling several of those jobs in different places.
Chat-based trackers live inside Slack or Microsoft Teams, so staff request leave where they already talk. They suit office and remote teams more than frontline staff without work accounts.
Six things to set up in any holiday tracker
- Each person's annual allowance and leave year.
- Whether bank holidays are included or extra.
- Part-time and irregular-hours allowances.
- Who approves leave for each team.
- Limits on how many people can be off at once.
- Carry-over rules at the end of the year.
Signs you've outgrown the holiday spreadsheet
- Two people booked the same week. You need clash rules.
- Nobody trusts the balances. Automate them.
- Approvals live in email. Put them in one place.
- Carry-over is a guess. Set the rule in the app.
Do you make a holiday tracker or HR tool? Tool makers can ask to be considered for a featured place on this list.
My plain advice on choosing a holiday tracker
Ask two of your staff to book a pretend holiday during the free trial, and ask the manager who approves most leave to approve it. If either of them needs help, the app's too complicated for your team. Then load one real person's allowance and check the balance against their contract before you roll it out to everyone.
If leave affects your payroll, my guide to payroll software for small businesses covers the next step.
Frequently asked questions
What is a holiday tracker app?
It's software where staff request annual leave, managers approve it and everyone can see who's off and how many days are left.
How much annual leave do UK workers get?
GOV.UK says most workers on a 5-day week get at least 28 days a year, the equivalent of 5.6 weeks.
Do bank holidays count as annual leave in the UK?
They can. GOV.UK says an employer can include bank holidays as part of statutory annual leave.
Can a holiday tracker handle part-time staff?
Most can work out allowances for part-time workers. Check how each app handles irregular hours.
Is a holiday tracker worth it for a small team?
Yes, once leave clashes or balance questions start eating into your week. Many have a free trial.
Can staff book holidays on their phone?
Many holiday trackers have mobile apps or work inside chat tools staff already use.
