Leave Monitor is a lean leave management tool built for small businesses that want the basics done well: book leave, get it approved, see who is off. Nothing more, nothing less. At £1/user/month, it is among the lowest published prices for any leave management tool with a web interface.
This Leave Monitor review covers Leave Monitor pricing, what it includes, where it is intentionally minimal, and how it compares to actiPLANS for teams choosing between depth and simplicity in 2026.
Quick verdict
| Dimension | Score | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Ease of setup | 5/5 | Deliberately simple — minimal configuration, fast to start |
| Feature depth | 2/5 | Core leave management only; no integrations, analytics, or advanced policies |
| Free trial | 3/5 | 30-day free trial, no credit card required — no permanent free tier |
| Paid plan value | 5/5 | £1/user/month |
| Integrations | 1/5 | No calendar sync, SSO, or HRIS integrations listed |
| Mobile experience | 3/5 | Responsive web; native iOS and Android app listed as coming soon |
| Reporting | 2/5 | Basic leave summaries only |
What is Leave Monitor?
Leave Monitor is an intentionally minimal leave management tool designed for small businesses — typically under 50 employees — that want to move off spreadsheets without acquiring more software than they need. The product covers leave requests, manager approvals, balance tracking, and a team absence calendar. It does this well. It does not try to do much else.
The pricing model is straightforward: £1/user/month billed monthly, approximately £0.95/user/month billed annually (5% annual discount). There are no feature tiers and no add-ons. Every user gets the same feature set. A 30-day free trial is available with no credit card required.
Leave Monitor supports multi-region setup and multi-language access, making it usable for small businesses with employees in different countries — not just UK teams. That said, its simplicity and UK bank holiday defaults make it most natural for UK-focused businesses.
Feature breakdown
Leave request and approval
Leave Monitor covers the core request-approve cycle with the minimum viable configuration. It is fast to set up because there is little to configure: you add employees, set allowances, and the approval workflow is ready.
- Employee self-service leave booking — employees request leave with dates and type
- Manager approval with email notification
- Rejection with comment — managers can decline with a note
- Multiple leave types — holiday, sick, and custom types
- Email notifications for requests, approvals, and rejections
- Overlap visibility — managers can see who else is off before approving
Absence calendar and team visibility
The absence calendar is the feature most commonly cited in positive reviews. It gives the whole team a single place to see who is off and when — the primary output that moves a business off a shared spreadsheet.
- Team absence calendar — all approved absences in one view
- Colour-coded by leave type
- Manager view showing full team; employee view for self and immediate team
- Public holiday calendar — UK bank holidays pre-loaded
Leave policies and balances
Leave Monitor supports the essential policy features that most small businesses need. Advanced configurations — carry-over with expiry, accrual with complex rules, multi-tier approval — are not part of the feature set.
- Annual allowance tracking — real-time remaining balance per employee
- Carry-over — basic carry-over from one period to the next
- Individual allowance adjustments per employee
- Custom work schedules
- Part-day bookings — half days supported
- Multi-region setup — configurable for teams across different countries
- Multi-language interface — employees can use the platform in their local language
Reporting
Reporting is limited to basic summaries. There is no analytics dashboard, no trend visualization, and no CSV/Excel export prominently listed.
- Leave balance summary per employee
- Leave taken by type per employee
- Manager reporting access for their team
What is missing or weak
- No native mobile app currently — Leave Monitor is accessible on mobile via a responsive browser; iOS and Android apps are listed as coming soon but not yet available
- No calendar integrations — no Google Calendar, Outlook, or iCal sync listed
- No SSO — employees manage a separate Leave Monitor login
- No HRIS integrations — no connections to BambooHR, Personio, or similar platforms
- No time tracking — leave management only
- No payroll integration
- No advanced accruals — complex accrual rules, pro-rata calculations, and TOIL tracking are not in the feature set
- No API for custom integrations
- No permanent free tier — a 30-day free trial is available, but ongoing use requires a paid subscription
Leave Monitor pricing
| Billing | Price | Example: 20 users |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly | £1/user/month | £20/month |
| Annual (5% discount) | ~£0.95/user/month | ~£228/year (~£19/month) |
A 30-day free trial is available with no credit card required.
Practical cost examples (monthly billing):
- Team of 10: £10/month
- Team of 25: £25/month
- Team of 50: £50/month
Leave Monitor vs. actiPLANS: how they compare
Feature comparison
| Feature | Leave Monitor | actiPLANS |
|---|---|---|
| Free tier | 30-day trial, no credit card — no permanent free plan | Up to 3 users, no time limit |
| Paid pricing | £1/user/month monthly | From $1.20/user/month yearly |
| Leave management | Basic | Full-featured |
| Accruals | Basic | Yes |
| Calendar integrations | No | Yes |
| Mobile app | No — browser only (app coming soon) | iOS and Android native apps |
| Reporting analytics | Basic summary only | Absence and balance reports |
| Time tracking | No | Via actiTIME integration |
| Multi-language | Yes — 10+ languages | No |
| Primary market | UK small business; multi-region capable | Global |
Leave Monitor is the cheaper option — £1/user/month versus $1.20/user/month – $1.50/user/month for actiPLANS. But the comparison is not just price: actiPLANS includes native mobile apps, calendar integrations, and more complete accrual and policy features. Leave Monitor is the right choice if price is the primary driver and the feature gap is acceptable. For teams that will grow and need more capability over time, actiPLANS offers a better platform to grow into.
Who Leave Monitor is for and who it is not for
Ideal users
- UK-based small businesses with under 30 employees who want the cheapest possible leave management tool that actually works. At £1/user/month, a team of 20 pays £20/month — less than most equivalent tools charge per user. If cost is the primary constraint and the core feature set is sufficient, Leave Monitor is the right answer.
- Business owners or operations managers handling HR alongside other responsibilities who want something simple enough to manage without any training or configuration overhead. The absence of advanced features is a genuine advantage if those features would just create maintenance burden.
- Teams coming directly off a shared spreadsheet or paper-based system who want a tool that is recognizably similar in simplicity but adds approval tracking, balance management, and a team calendar.
- Small international teams that need multi-language support and multi-region setup at a minimal price point.
Less ideal users
- Growing businesses that will need more capability in 12–24 months. Leave Monitor does not have an upgrade path within the product — when you outgrow it, you will need to migrate to a different platform. Teams with growth plans may be better served by starting with a tool that will scale with them.
- Teams that want to connect leave to Google Calendar, Slack, or Outlook. Leave Monitor has no listed integrations, meaning leave requests and approvals exist in isolation from the tools employees already use.
- Companies that need employees to book leave from mobile with a native app experience. The browser-only approach works for desk-based employees but is friction for field-based or mobile-first teams.
- HR teams that need audit trails, compliance-grade reporting, or works council documentation — Leave Monitor’s reporting is too basic for these use cases.
- Organizations that need complex leave policies: multi-tier accruals, carry-over with expiry, pro-rata for part-time employees, or TOIL tracking.
Leave Monitor: our scorecard
| Category | Leave Monitor | actiPLANS |
|---|---|---|
| Price | £1/user/month | From $1.20/user/month yearly |
| Free plan | 30-day trial only — no permanent free tier | 3 users free, no time limit |
| Setup simplicity | Excellent | Excellent |
| Leave management depth | Basic | Excellent |
| Advanced policies | Limited | Full |
| Calendar integrations | None | Yes |
| Mobile app | None (coming soon) | Native iOS/Android |
| Reporting | Basic | Good |
| Integrations | None listed | Yes |
| Scalability | Limited | Excellent — up to 200+ users |
Conclusion: should you use Leave Monitor?
Leave Monitor is the right tool for the right team. If you are a small business with under 30 employees, price is your primary driver, and you need the core leave management workflow — book, approve, track balances, see who is off — then £1/user/month is an excellent deal. The tool does what it promises without unnecessary complexity.
The case for looking elsewhere is feature growth. Leave Monitor is a deliberately minimal product. When your team starts asking for calendar sync, mobile apps, or more sophisticated reporting, you will outgrow it quickly. Teams with any ambition to scale their HR operations are better served by a platform built to grow with them — even at a slightly higher per-user cost.
For teams looking for a Leave Monitor alternative with more capability built in — native mobile apps, calendar sync, and a permanent free tier for 1–3 users — actiPLANS is worth evaluating alongside Leave Monitor.
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