PTODesk

A leave management system your team will actually use

Requests, approvals, balances and the team calendar in one place. Set up in an afternoon, no HR department required.

Free for teams up to 5 · No credit card

Approve without logging in

#time-off Slack · just now
SM

Sara Malik requested 4 days of vacation

Tue 1 Sep – Fri 4 Sep · “Family trip, back Monday.”

Balance after

8.5 days

Also off

Nobody

Notice given

14 days

Approve Deny

Approved by Ahmed — buttons replaced, balance updated, calendar synced.

Approvals happen where the manager already is

The request arrives in Slack with the balance it would leave behind and who else is already off that week. The decision can be made there, from email, or in the app, and all three stay in sync — a decided request never keeps live buttons.

Approve without logging in

#time-off Slack · just now
SM

Sara Malik requested 4 days of vacation

Tue 1 Sep – Fri 4 Sep · “Family trip, back Monday.”

Balance after

8.5 days

Also off

Nobody

Notice given

14 days

Approve Deny

Approved by Ahmed — buttons replaced, balance updated, calendar synced.

One calendar instead of four opinions

Everyone sees the same month. A manager can spot two people out in the same week before approving the second request, rather than after.

One calendar, whole team

September 2026

3 people off
M T W T F S S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
Sara · vacation Jordan · sick Rina · personal Labor Day excluded automatically

Policies per team, without a rules builder

Six accrual methods, tenure tiers and carryover caps, mixed across departments. Presets rather than a general-purpose engine, which is exactly what keeps setup to an afternoon.

Six methods, mixed across the company

Policies in use

Standard vacation Per pay period · semi-monthly 15 days/yr Engineering, Sales
California sick Per hours worked · 1 per 30 cap 80 h All CA staff
Contractor unpaid Manual no quota Contractors

Tenure tiers step up on the service anniversary

0–2 yrs

10 days

3–5 yrs

15 days

6+ yrs

20 days

An audit trail you did not have to remember to keep

Every approval, denial, balance adjustment and policy change is recorded with the actor and a timestamp. Unlimited admins, so nobody is sharing one login — a real complaint about the market leader.

Who changed what, and when

Audit log

last 24 hours
AH approved Sara Malik · 4 days vacation 14:22
AH adjusted Jordan Tate · +2.0 days, "TOIL" 11:05
LF changed Vacation policy · 15 → 20 days 09:48
AH denied Rina Novak · 1 day personal Yesterday

Every approval, denial, balance adjustment and policy change is recorded with the actor and a timestamp — including changes made from Slack.

How this compares

The honest version. We are not the simplest tool in this category and we do not try to be.

Leave management systemTypicalPTODesk
Number of admins Often exactly one Unlimited
Where approvals happen In the app only Slack, email or web
Stale request cards Buttons stay live Replaced on decision
Audit trail Rarely included Every change, with actor
Setup time Days of configuration An afternoon

Questions

What does a leave management system need beyond a shared calendar?

A balance that is correct without anyone maintaining it, an approval path with a record, and rules that survive someone leaving the company. A calendar tells you who is out; it does not tell you whether they had the days.

Can different departments have different policies?

Yes. Policies attach to employees, so engineering can be on an accrual policy while contractors are on unlimited or manual, in the same company.

Do managers need their own logins?

They can approve from Slack or email without logging in at all. When they do log in, admins are unlimited — we do not charge per administrator or cap them at one.

Plans

Free

$0 /mo

Up to 5 employees

Start free

Starter

$29 /mo

Up to 25 employees

Start free trial

Team

$59 /mo

Up to 75 employees

Start free trial

Business

$99 /mo

Up to 200 employees

Start free trial

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Import your team from a CSV and go live in under an hour.

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