Google Calendar is excellent for visibility, but it is not a leave management system.
Google Calendar can show who is away, but high-volume leave tracking needs more than coloured events. LeaveManager gives UK teams request forms, manager approvals, automatic balances, sickness records, TOIL, Bradford Factor monitoring, restricted dates, audit trails, and iCal sync back into Google Calendar when visibility still matters.
LeaveManager
£8/user/mo
All features included. No tiers.
Google Calendar
Included with Google Workspace
Pricing at time of writing
14-day comparison plan
Use your own policies, real managers, and a small pilot team to check whether LeaveManager removes enough admin before you commit.
Based on Google Calendar product capabilities and publicly available Google Workspace information as of July 2026. Google Calendar is a calendar product, not a dedicated leave management system. Features and packaging may change. Google Calendar and Google Workspace are trademarks of Google LLC.
| Feature | LeaveManager | Google Calendar |
|---|---|---|
| Shared team absence calendar | ||
| Google Calendar visibility | Via iCal sync | |
| Employee leave requests | ||
| One-click manager approvals | ||
| Automatic leave balance tracking | ||
| UK bank holidays built in | Manual setup | |
| Custom leave types and policies | Manual event labels | |
| Sickness absence records | ||
| Bradford Factor monitoring | ||
| TOIL tracking | ||
| Return-to-work forms | ||
| Department clash detection | ||
| Blackout and restricted dates | ||
| Approval delegation | ||
| Role-based access control | Calendar sharing only | |
| Employee self-service | ||
| Audit trail for HR records | ||
| All leave features in one plan | ||
| No credit card for trial | Workspace dependent |
Buyer checklist
Feature parity matters, but conversion usually comes down to speed, clarity, and whether the tool removes work for managers on day one.
| Decision point | LeaveManager | Google Calendar |
|---|---|---|
| Start evaluating | Self-serve trial with every core feature switched on | Often needs plan comparison, demos, or sales follow-up |
| Prove fit quickly | Set up policies, invite staff, and approve real requests in days | Implementation depends on package, modules, and admin setup |
| Control total cost | One transparent monthly price for the people-ops toolkit | Pricing can depend on tiers, add-ons, seat minimums, or contracts |
| Keep managers moving | Leave, sickness, TOIL, rotas, clock-ins, expenses, and reviews in one workflow | Core leave tracking may sit beside wider HR workflows or paid modules |
Why LeaveManager
LeaveManager is built for UK teams that want the everyday people-ops work handled cleanly without turning leave management into a long software project.
Approvals stop living in email and chat. Employees request leave in LeaveManager and managers approve from one workflow.
Balances update automatically, so managers are not checking Google Calendar events against spreadsheets before approving time off.
Sickness, TOIL, Bradford Factor records, and return-to-work notes sit beside holiday requests instead of being tracked in separate documents.
Department clash detection and restricted dates help high-volume teams avoid approving too many people off at once.
Audit trails show who requested, approved, changed, or cancelled leave, which a shared calendar was never designed to evidence.
Teams can still subscribe to iCal feeds in Google Calendar, keeping familiar calendar visibility while LeaveManager handles the HR workflow.
Trust signals
A comparison page should make the next step feel low-risk. LeaveManager keeps the buying checks visible before you start the trial.
14-day free trial with no payment card required
No fixed-term contract, minimum-seat lock-in, or module hunt
Privacy information, role-based access, and data export links are available before rollout
Stripe-hosted checkout when you decide to subscribe
Trial plan
Use the free trial to test the workflows that decide whether a comparison turns into a rollout.
Day 1
Add company details, policies, employees, managers, and public holidays before inviting the wider team.
Day 3
Ask one manager to approve holiday, sickness, TOIL, and restricted-date examples in the shared calendar.
Day 7
Review audit history, access levels, exports, billing terms, and whether the process is clear enough to roll out.
Yes. LeaveManager is a strong alternative to Google Calendar for UK teams that want straightforward leave management, transparent pricing, employee self-service, approvals, absence tracking, TOIL, Bradford Factor monitoring, and audit history in one product.
LeaveManager costs £8/user/mo with all core features included. Google Calendar pricing is listed here as Included with Google Workspace, based on the comparison information available at the time of writing.
Yes. Most small teams can set up LeaveManager quickly by adding employees, choosing leave policies, and inviting managers and staff. The goal is to replace manual follow-up with live balances, one-click approvals, and a shared team calendar.
Yes. LeaveManager includes a 14-day free trial with no credit card required, so you can test the leave calendar, approvals, absence tracking, and reporting before choosing a paid plan.
Explore how LeaveManager compares to other leave management software for UK teams.