Leavely vs absence.io
German-based absence management tool with a focus on calendar views and reporting.
absence.io is a German-built absence management tool known for its clean calendar interface and reporting capabilities. It's popular across Europe but was designed with the German and EU market in mind — not the UK. That means UK-specific features like statutory leave calculations, UK bank holidays, and Bradford Factor monitoring are either missing or require workarounds. Leavely is built from the ground up for UK businesses, with GBP pricing and full compliance with UK employment law.
Leavely
£8/user/mo
All features included. No tiers.
absence.io
From ~£2.50/user/mo (EUR pricing)
Pricing at time of writing
Feature comparison
Based on publicly available information from absence.io's website as of March 2026. Features and pricing may have changed since publication. All trademarks belong to their respective owners.
| Feature | Leavely | absence.io |
|---|---|---|
| Visual leave calendar | ||
| One-click approvals | ||
| Automatic balance tracking | ||
| UK bank holidays built in | Manual setup | |
| Custom leave types | ||
| Bradford Factor monitoring | ||
| TOIL tracking | ||
| Return-to-work forms | ||
| Employee directory | ||
| Document management | Limited | |
| Role-based access (4 levels) | Basic | |
| Full audit trail | Limited | |
| UK employment law compliance | ||
| GBP pricing (no FX fees) | ||
| Company-wide leave blocks | ||
| No credit card for trial |
Why teams choose Leavely over absence.io
Built for UK businesses — Leavely is designed around UK employment law, statutory leave entitlements, and UK bank holidays. absence.io was built for the EU market.
GBP pricing with no currency conversion — absence.io prices in EUR, which means UK businesses pay foreign exchange fees and deal with fluctuating costs.
Bradford Factor monitoring included — automatically track and flag absence patterns. This is a UK-specific HR metric that absence.io doesn't support.
TOIL tracking built in — manage time off in lieu natively. absence.io doesn't offer dedicated TOIL tracking.
UK bank holidays pre-loaded — absence.io requires manual configuration of UK bank holidays. Leavely has them built in from day one.
Return-to-work forms digitised — complete RTW interviews within the platform, a key UK HR compliance requirement.