Leave Dates is a UK-built holiday and leave management platform designed specifically for the British market. It handles the things UK SMBs actually need — UK public holiday calendars baked in, booking leave in hours or days, an approval workflow, and a team calendar — at a price that starts at £0.75 per user per month when billed annually.
This Leave Dates review covers Leave Dates pricing, what it includes, and how Leave Dates vs actiPLANS stacks up for teams evaluating leave management tools in 2026.
Quick verdict
| Dimension | Score | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Ease of setup | 5/5 | No credit card, 30-day free trial, quick team onboarding via invite links |
| Feature depth | 4/5 | Strong for leave; no time tracking, limited analytics |
| Free plan generosity | 3/5 | 30-day free trial for all plans, no credit card needed; no permanent free tier |
| Paid plan value | 5/5 | From £0.75/$1.05/user/month annually — among the lowest paid rates available |
| UK-specific fit | 5/5 | UK public holidays, hours-based booking, GDPR-friendly hosting |
| Mobile experience | 4/5 | Native iOS and Android apps available on all plans |
| Reporting | 3/5 | Basic export; limited custom reporting |
| Overall | 4.5/5 | Best choice for UK SMBs that want value and high review confidence |
What is Leave Dates?
Leave Dates launched in the UK and remains tightly focused on the British SMB market. The product covers employee holiday booking, approval workflows, team calendar visibility, balance tracking, and UK public holiday management — the core set that most UK HR teams need.
All three plans come with a 30-day free trial, no credit card required. Three paid tiers — Starter, Essential, and Plus — start from £0.75 ($1.05) per user per month billed yearly.
The product does not include time tracking, payroll integration, or a dedicated HR directory. It is purpose-built for leave management and does that job well.
Feature breakdown
Leave request and approval workflow
Leave Dates handles the standard request-approve-notify cycle with configurable rules. Approvers receive email notifications; employees can see their requests and remaining balances in real time.
- Employee self-service leave requests — employees book directly; no HR involvement needed for simple requests
- Manager approval workflow — configurable per team or department
- Overlap warnings — system alerts when too many team members are off simultaneously
- Multiple leave types — holiday, sick, maternity, paternity, and custom types
- Hours and days booking — employees can book leave in partial days or hours
- Half-day and custom duration bookings
- Email notifications at each step in the workflow
UK-specific features
This is where Leave Dates earns its UK-first positioning. Most leave tools treat UK public holidays as an afterthought; Leave Dates bakes them in by default and handles the variations that trip up generic tools.
- England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland public holidays — each devolved nation’s holiday set built in separately
- Automatic holiday calendar updates when government changes bank holidays
- Hours-based annual leave entitlement — correctly handles part-time employees on hour-based contracts
- GDPR-compliant data handling — UK-based company, data processed under UK GDPR
Team calendar and visibility
The team calendar is the most-used feature according to user reviews. It gives managers and employees a single view of who is off on any given day, reducing scheduling conflicts without any manual coordination.
- Shared team calendar — all approved absences visible to managers and team members
- Colour-coded by leave type
- Filter by team, department, or individual
- Calendar export to Google Calendar, Outlook, and iCal
Balance tracking and policies
- Annual leave balance tracking — real-time remaining entitlement
- Carry-over rules — configurable per leave type
- Accruals — build entitlement over the year
- Pro-rata calculations for part-year starters
- Individual allowance adjustments
- TOIL (time off in lieu) tracking on higher plans
Reporting and export
Reporting is functional but not deep. Teams can export leave data for payroll reconciliation, but there is no built-in analytics dashboard or graphical reporting beyond the calendar view.
- CSV and Excel export of leave data
- Leave summary reports by employee, team, or leave type
- Absence rate reporting (higher plans)
- Manager-level reporting access
What is missing or weak
- No payroll integration — leave data must be manually reconciled with payroll systems
- No time tracking — the platform covers leave only; project-based time tracking is not included
- No SSO via Google, Slack, or Microsoft on lower plans — SSO is available on the Plus plan only
- Limited analytics — no people analytics dashboard, absence trend visualization, or graphical reporting beyond basic summaries
- No employee directory or HR profile management beyond basic leave-relevant fields
- Feature differentiation between tiers is not always obvious from the pricing page — some features require a sales call to confirm which plan they belong to
Leave Dates pricing
Leave Dates pricing is available in GBP, USD, and EUR. Prices below are per user per month; yearly billing saves 25% vs monthly.
| Plan | GBP (yearly / monthly) | USD (yearly / monthly) | Key additions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | £0.75 / £1.00 | $1.05 / $1.40 | Core leave tracking, team calendar, manager approvals, UK holiday calendars, mobile apps |
| Essential | £1.50 / £2.00 | $2.03 / $2.70 | Carry-over, accruals, pro-rata, absence reports, calendar sync, TOIL, Slack integration |
| Plus | £1.88 / £2.50 | $2.55 / $3.40 | SSO, API, Webhooks, Zapier, unlimited allowances, personalised leave-year start dates |
Practical cost examples (Essential, billed annually):
- Team of 10: £15/month ($20.30)
- Team of 25: £37.50/month ($50.75)
- Team of 50: £75/month ($101.50)
All plans include a 30-day free trial with no credit card required. The Starter plan covers the core workflow; most growing teams will need Essential for carry-over, accruals, and calendar sync.
Leave Dates vs actiPLANS: how they compare
Feature comparison
| Feature | Leave Dates | actiPLANS |
|---|---|---|
| Free tier | 30-day trial, no credit card | Up to 3 users (full features) |
| Paid pricing | From £0.75/$1.05/user/month yearly | From $1.20/user/month yearly |
| Leave management | Yes | Yes |
| UK public holidays | Yes | Configurable |
| Accruals | Yes | Yes |
| Hours-based leave | Yes | Yes |
| Calendar integrations | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile app | iOS and Android | iOS and Android |
| Reporting analytics | Basic export and summaries | Absence and balance reports |
| Time tracking | No | Via actiTIME integration |
| Primary market | UK | Global |
For UK-based teams, Leave Dates is the natural first option to evaluate. The built-in UK holiday calendars, GBP pricing, and GDPR handling remove friction that generic tools create.
For teams outside the UK, or for teams that need richer analytics or a broader international scope, actiPLANS is the stronger fit. actiPLANS includes iOS and Android apps and starts at $1.50/user/month billed yearly.
Who Leave Dates is for and who it is not for
Ideal users
- UK-based businesses of any size that want leave management built specifically for the British market. Correct bank holiday calendars for all four nations, GDPR-compliant hosting, and GBP pricing all reduce friction that international tools create for UK HR teams.
- Teams that want to try before they buy. The 30-day free trial requires no credit card, giving teams a full month to test the product with real data before committing.
- Teams that prioritize a clean, low-friction employee experience. With a 4.8/5 Capterra score across 392 reviews, Leave Dates has the strongest proof of user satisfaction in this category. If adoption by non-technical employees is a concern, this track record matters.
- Budget-conscious SMBs that need carry-over, accruals, and pro-rata calculations but cannot afford a full HRIS. The Essential plan at £1.50/$2.03 per user per month billed yearly covers all core policy features.
- Companies that value responsive customer support and iterative product development — the support team’s reputation in reviews is unusually strong.
Less ideal users
- Companies outside the UK who do not need UK-specific holiday calendars or GBP pricing. Leave Dates can be configured for non-UK companies, but the product’s advantages are most obvious for British businesses.
- Organizations that need deep reporting, people analytics, or HR dashboards. Leave Dates covers the basics well, but power users who need custom reports, absence trend visualization, or integration with payroll will hit the reporting ceiling quickly.
- Teams that need SSO on a budget — SSO is only available on the Plus plan.
- Companies that need time tracking integrated with leave data — Leave Dates is leave-only.
Leave Dates: our scorecard
| Category | Leave Dates | actiPLANS |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | 30-day trial, no credit card — no permanent free tier | Up to 3 users, full features, no time limit |
| Paid plan value | Excellent — from £0.75/$1.05/user/month yearly | Excellent — From $1.20/user/month yearly |
| UK-specific fit | Excellent | Excellent |
| Setup and onboarding | Excellent | Excellent |
| Leave management depth | Excellent | Excellent |
| Reporting and analytics | Moderate — basic export | Good — absence reports |
| Mobile app | Good — native iOS and Android | Good — native iOS/Android |
| Customer support | Excellent | Excellent |
Conclusion: should you use Leave Dates?
For UK-based SMBs, Leave Dates is the most well-reviewed option in this price category, and the UK-specific features — correct bank holidays for all four nations, hours-based entitlement, GDPR-compliant hosting — are genuine differentiators, not just marketing points.
If you are UK-based and your team needs a clean, affordable leave management tool, Leave Dates is an excellent choice. The Essential plan at £1.50/$2.03 per user per month billed annually covers everything most growing teams need, and the 30-day free trial means you can test it with your whole team before spending anything.
The main reasons to look elsewhere: limited analytics for larger teams and a UK/GBP focus that creates friction for international companies. For teams outside the UK looking for a Leave Dates alternative — or teams that want richer analytics and a global-first product — actiPLANS is the stronger fit at a comparable price.
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