8 best absence management software + buyer’s guide

Managing employee absences can be a headache — especially without the right tools. From tracking PTO requests and reducing absenteeism to supporting compliance with labor laws, an effective absence management system helps HR teams run operations smoothly — without unnecessary admin work. But with so many options on the market, how do you choose the right one?

We’ve done the research for you. This guide breaks down the top eight absence management software options, comparing features, pricing, and user reviews. We’ll also cover key decision-making factors in a concise buyer’s guide to help you find the best tool for your organization.
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The information below is based on our research from March 2025 to April 2025. All user feedback referenced in the text was sourced from independent software review platforms (like G2 and Capterra) in March 2025 and April 2025.
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8 top absence management software solutions on the market

• Leapsome: Best for growing teams seeking a robust human resources information system (HRIS) that unites strong absence management and time-tracking functions with people enablement features.
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• BambooHR: Best for small businesses looking for a simple leave-tracking tool with fewer employee engagement capabilities.
  
  
• Workday HCM: Best for enterprise-level companies needing integrated absence management as part of a broader human capital management (HCM) platform.
  
  
• ADP Workforce Now: Best for global companies wanting to consolidate global payroll and leave management.
  
  
• Rippling: Best for small to medium-sized tech-forward companies looking to integrate absence management with payroll, IT, and benefit administration.
  
  
• Factorial:  Best for small to medium-sized businesses seeking absence management features and additional HR functionality but not prioritizing People analytics.
  
  
• Personio: Best for European organizations that want a leave-tracking tool with comprehensive HR functionality but don’t need built-in learning and development capabilities.
  
  
• Deel: Best for global companies managing international contractors or employees who need localized, compliant absence management.
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1. Leapsome

Main features

• PTO management — Standardize approval workflows, automate balance calculations, and allow employees to check their leave entitlements.
  
  
• Attendance policies — Create customized attendance policies and assign them to distinct groups of employees (for example, those working in different offices or countries).
  
  
• Real-time calendar — Verify who’s out of the office on any given day.
  
  
• Time tracking — Track employee working hours, support compliance with applicable labor laws, and sync timesheets with payroll.
  
  
• Reporting & analytics — Automatically generate absence reports and view real-time insights into critical metrics like absenteeism rate.
  
  
• Payroll — Develop and manage payroll policies, take care of payroll preparation, automate payroll cycles, and export payroll data.
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Pros

• Combines core HRIS tools with industry-leading people enablement features
• Granular automations and powerful AI capabilities 
• Lower price point than many other options on this list
• Employee self-service portal makes it easy to submit PTO requests
• Robust, integrated People analytics to fuel data-driven decision-making
• User-friendly, intuitive interfaces for HR leaders and employees alike
• Supports an impressive 38 languages
• Award-winning customer success team
• ISO 27001:2022 certified and GDPR/CCPA compliant 
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Cons

• Some newer HRIS features are still being developed 
• The range of tools can lead to an initial learning curve
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Pricing

Leapsome’s modular pricing starts at US$3 (user/month).
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2. BambooHR

Main features

• PTO management — Manage leave requests and view team calendars to keep track of who’s away.
  
  
• Time off calculator — Calculate PTO accruals and forecast how much time off employees will have on specific dates.
  
  
• Policy creation — Build policies for different types of leave, including custom accruals (carryovers, waiting periods, and maximum balances).
  
  
• Time tracking — Allow employees to clock in and out of work, automate time entry approval workflows, and export timesheet data for payroll.
  
  
• Reporting & analytics — Filter data by employee, department, or date and generate basic reports.
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Pros

• Several HR capabilities outside of absence management
• Quick setup for small HR teams
• Simple, aesthetically pleasing user interface (UI)
• Self-service options make it easy for employees to submit time-off requests
• Users report good experiences with customer support
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Cons

• No advanced absence planning or capacity forecasting
• Limited analytics and benchmarking
• Not ideal for global teams
• Some users say customization options are lacking
• Some users mention limited reporting capabilities
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Pricing

BambooHR’s pricing isn’t readily available.
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3. Workday HCM

A screenshot of Workday's time and scheduling hub.
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Main features

• PTO management — Centralize leave tracking, support global compliance, check real-time PTO balances, and view team calendars.
  
  
• Automated approvals & reminders — Send and receive automated reminders when team members request time off.
  
  
• Policy creation — Develop custom attendance policies, automate tracking and enforcement, and create documentation for disciplinary actions like written warnings.
  
  
• Time tracking — Allow employees to clock in and out of work, define rules for time entry formats, apply custom business rules, and set up multilevel timesheet approvals.
  
  
• Reporting & analytics — Access real-time absence dashboards, generate custom, no-code reports, and support audit and compliance tracking.
  
  
• Payroll — Process payroll in the United States, Canada, the UK, and France. Access a range of integrations with third-party payroll providers for other countries. 
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Pros

• Integrated with a full HCM tech stack
• Good for compliance and strategic HR
• Flexible report builder 
• International presence 
• Employee self-service portal streamlines absence management 
• Users praise the platform’s ease of use
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Cons

• It may be overly complex for smaller businesses and startups
• Complicated implementation and configuration
• Users report a high price point, which may be prohibitive for small businesses and startups
• Users mention that Workday has a steep learning curve
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Pricing

Workday’s pricing isn’t readily available.
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4. ADP Workforce Now

Main features

• PTO management — Configure rules for various leave types, automate accrual management, enable self-service time-off requests, and support eligibility and compliance tracking.
  
  
• Time tracking — Allow employees to track time by web clock, physical time clock, mobile app, or manual entry. Streamline timesheet management and approvals and sync with the payroll function.
  
  
• Reporting & analytics — Create standard payroll reports, build custom reports, and access dashboards showing PTO usage trends, pending actions, and labor cost trends.
  
  
• Payroll — Automate payroll processing, handle tax calculations and filings, and make retroactive adjustments and off-cycle payroll runs.
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Pros

• Strong payroll integration
• Wide variety of HR capabilities outside of absence management
• Compliance tracking and documentation
• Employee and manager self-service capabilities 
• Policy-based automations 
• Audit-ready history
• Scalable 
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Cons

• Well-established in the US, not as strong in international markets
• Users feel the UI is clunky
• Users report slow and frustrating customer support
• Users say new features are difficult to integrate at first
• Users mention PTO requests can be buggy
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Pricing

ADP Workforce Now’s pricing isn’t readily available.
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5. Rippling

Main features

• PTO management — Manage PTO accruals, automate approval workflows, and support compliance.
  
  
• Policy creation — Create custom attendance policies (for example, by setting accrual caps, carryover rules, and eligibility criteria).
  
  
• Time tracking — Automate and streamline employee time management with various time capture methods, alerts for events like overtime or missed breaks, and compliance support.
  
  
• Reporting & analytics — Use prebuilt reporting templates and analyze time off and leave patterns.
  
  
• Payroll — Automate payroll, handle tax filings, support global compliance, and process off-cycle payroll runs. 
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Pros

• Absence management features integrate deeply with payroll and benefits
• Tilt integration allows for a highly personalized leave management experience 
• Support global compliance 
• Real-time reporting and audit trails
• Employee and manager self-service capabilities 
• Users report that Rippling is intuitive for employees and HR admins
• Users praise Rippling’s library of integrations
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Cons

• Currently only supports two languages
• Tilt integration required for some leave management capabilities 
• Some users feel Rippling is a complicated platform, which may be a barrier to small businesses and startups
• Some users report frustration with Rippling’s customer support
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Pricing

Rippling’s pricing isn’t readily available.
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6. Factorial

Main features

• PTO management — Streamline the entire time-off process, support compliance, and provide employees with self-service capabilities.
  
  
• Policy creation — Build and assign custom time off policies based on criteria like location, contract type, and department.
  
  
• Real-time calendar — View approved and pending absences, check which employees are off, and sync with external calendars.
  
  
• Time tracking — Allow employees to clock in and out of work, automate timesheet management and approvals, and allow for custom schedules.
  
  
• Reporting — Track, analyze, and optimize organize-wide time-off trends with manager dashboards, automated reports, and various data visualization options.
  
  
• Payroll — Carry out payroll if your business is located in Spain. Integrate with third-party payroll systems for payroll preparation in other countries. 
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Pros

• A good all-in-one HR solution for SMBs and mid-market companies
• Custom workflows and policy flexibility 
• Employee self-service capabilities 
• Users appreciate Factorial’s ease of use, especially for global teams
• Users praise Factorial’s customer support
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Cons

• Support and documentation vary by language and region
• Users feel reporting features are limited, especially as you scale
• Users report frequent price hikes
• Users say certain features are difficult to onboard, and customer support documents are lacking
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Pricing

Factorial’s modular pricing starts at US$8 (user/month).
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7. Personio

Main features

• PTO management — Allow employees to request time off, set up manager approval workflows, and calculate leave balances and accruals.
  
  
• Policy creation — Build customizable PTO policies, establish different leave types, and support compliance with local regulations.
  
  
• Real-time calendar — Get a real-time view of who’s out of the office.
  
  
• Reporting & analytics — Monitor absence trends, identify patterns, and make more strategic HR decisions.
  
  
• Time tracking — Enable employees to log their working hours (including by project), establish approval workflows, and set up hardware integrations for on-site tracking.
  
  
• Payroll — Take care of payroll processing (Germany only). Access other features to help with payroll preparation (like employee data management and payroll reports) in other countries. 
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Pros

• Well-established in Europe, especially Germany
• Good compliance support for European businesses 
• Several additional HR capabilities 
• Users enjoy the platform’s user-friendly nature
• Managers praise how easy it is for individual contributors to use Personio for time tracking and leave management
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Cons

• Not ideal for global organizations due to European focus
• Basic tools for performance, engagement, and feedback
• No surveys or built-in LMS
• Some users report that technical issues hinder platform usability
• Others report challenges using Personio with a global workforce
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Pricing

Personio’s pricing isn’t readily available.
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8. Deel

Main features

• PTO management — Automate approvals and notifications, synchronize external calendars (like Google and Outlook), and assign coverage when employees are away.
  
  
• Policy creation — Create tailored time off policies, including options for paid/unpaid leave, accrual settings, and carryover rules.
  
  
• Time tracking — Enable employee clock-ins and clock-outs, make manual and bulk entries, set up approval workflows, and link time entries to specific projects.
  
  
• Reporting & analytics — Access real-time dashboards that display key HR metrics, generate customizable reports, and monitor compliance.
  
  
• Payroll — Take care of global payroll processing, support global compliance, use the Employee of Record (EOR) feature, and provide employees with self-service capabilities. 
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Pros

• Good for remote and distributed teams
• Supports global payroll and compliance 
• Real-time compliance alerts
• Employer of record (EOR) function
• Self-service and transparency for employees
• Users praise the platform’s simple setup and onboarding process
• Users appreciate Deel’s UX
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Cons

• Not ideal if most of your employees are based in just one country, as it’s designed with international teams in mind
• Not built for in-depth performance management
• No integrated learning and development features
• Limited customization capabilities for complex organizations 
• Some users mention missing or lackluster reporting and analytics capabilities 
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Pricing

Deel offers a limited free plan. Paid plans start at US$20 (user/month).
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Absence management software buyer’s guide

To identify the best absence management solution for your organization, you’ll need more than just a list of providers. You’ll also need to identify your priorities regarding functionalities and business needs in advance.

The right choice will vary from company to company. For instance, small businesses may find that a relatively streamlined and cost-effective absence management tool serves them well. At the same time, large-scale enterprises may need additional HR support and reporting capabilities.
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Key absence management software features

Keep an eye out for these capabilities.
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Automatic leave workflows

Leave requests shouldn’t require endless back-and-forth. Good absence management software lets employees submit requests and get manager approval in just a few clicks. Bonus points if the platform has a centralized team calendar. 
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Customizable leave policies

Cookie-cutter attendance policies just don’t cut it for modern organizations. Custom guidelines allow you to support legal compliance across jurisdictions, support diverse team member needs, be more scalable, and facilitate a better employee experience. 
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Additional HRIS capabilities

An absence management tool that integrates seamlessly with other HR features like core HR, time tracking, and payroll ensures consistent workflows, saves money, and reduces administrative burden by consolidating multiple HR processes in one place.

Even better? If the platform also has people enablement features like Leapsome, you can invest in employees’ development and your company’s long-term success. 
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Absence analytics & reporting

Leave management can get complicated, especially when it comes to custom policies and compliance across multiple business locations. Built-in analytics and reporting give organizations the visibility and insights to spot patterns, support compliance, and enable more strategic HR conversations. 
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Evaluating software based on business needs

Your ideal solution depends on your company’s size, needs, and priorities. Keep these factors in mind as you decide.
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Organizational size & growth goals

Small businesses need simplicity and affordability, while enterprises need customization, analytics, and compliance. When choosing a leave management solution, factor in your company size and future growth plans. If scaling is on the horizon, pick a modular platform like Leapsome that can adapt as you grow.
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Remote & hybrid workforce needs

If your team is remote, distributed, or hybrid, choose a tool that supports global compliance and allows you to create custom attendance policies for employees in different countries. Look for self-service capabilities, an intuitive UI, and integrations with communications tools like Slack and Microsoft Teams. 
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Budget considerations

It’s no secret that budget is an important consideration in any software selection process. After all, our research found that half of all People leaders faced budget cuts recently, and 85% felt pressured to reduce HR budget and consolidate HR tools.
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Streamline your absence management system with Leapsome

Whether you’re a small business looking for simplicity and affordability or a global enterprise needing compliance support and custom reporting, the right leave management system can transform your internal operations for the better. The good news is that the perfect solution is almost certainly included on the list you’re reading right now!

We think Leapsome could be an excellent option for your organization. Our absence management platform is an intuitive, all-in-one solution backed by robust HRIS and time-tracking capabilities. With automated leave tracking, customizable policies, and built-in analytics, managing absences has never been easier.
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☑️ Customization, analytics, superior UX — Leapsome has it all

We’re here to make your HR processes and leave management experience seamless. 

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