Time & Workforce
The Best Leave & Absence Management Software of 2026
A shortlist of PTO and leave management tools ranked from verified product data, so you can compare accrual rules, approvals and payroll sync instead of vendor claims. Every score traces back to a fact we checked against vendor documentation and public sources.
- products compared
- 4
- with a published score
- 1
- per employee per month
- $4–$7
- last updated
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PTO & Leave Management ranked by LeadChange Score
Zoho People8.1
PTO & Leave Management ranked by LeadChange Score
Ranked by LeadChange Score from verified facts; products with too few verified facts are not scored yet and come last. Prices are list prices as published by each vendor.
Filter by verified facts
Zoho People
Best for Small and mid-sized teams that want a published per-user HR price
Zoho People is a cloud HR system from Zoho Corporation covering onboarding, employee records, attendance, leave, help desk, performance, compensation and learning, with the Zia AI assistant. US prices start at US$3 per user a month billed annually, with a free edition for up to 3 users and a 30-day trial.
OnPay
Primarily payroll software; PTO tracking module is secondary
Best for Small businesses that want payroll with taxes and year-end forms included
OnPay suits US small businesses that want full-service payroll at one published price: $49 a month plus $6 per worker, with federal, state and local tax filings, W-2s, 1099s, multi-state payroll and unlimited pay runs included. Setup and data migration are free, and support is by phone, chat and email.
Sling
Best for Shift-based teams in restaurants, retail, hospitality and caregiving
Sling fits shift-based teams in restaurants, retail, hospitality and care that want scheduling and messaging free for up to 30 users, and time tracking and labor cost tools for a low per-user price: Premium is $2.00 and Business $4.00 per user a month, 15% less billed annually.
- Pricing model
- Per user5
HR Cloud
Primarily HRIS software; PTO tracking module is secondary
Best for Frontline-heavy employers in manufacturing, retail, hospitality, construction or senior care
HR Cloud is an onboarding-led HR platform for frontline teams, with onboarding, offboarding and People HRIS, then recruiting, performance, time off and the Workmates engagement app across three plans.
Not scored yetWhat HR Cloud costs
LeadChange Score: editorial assessment based on public information.
Find your fit
By industry
By company size
Compare the top 4 side by side
| Product | Score | Starting price per employee3,5 | Pricing model | Free trial | Open API8,11,12 | SOC 2 Type II2,4,7 | Mobile apps5,9,13 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zoho People1 | 8.1 | Not disclosed | Per user | iOS, Android | |||
| OnPay3,10Primarily payroll software; PTO tracking module is secondary | Not scored | $7/employee/mo | Base fee + per employee | Not disclosed | Not disclosed | ||
| Sling5 | Not scored | $4/user/mo | Per user | Not disclosed | iOS, Android | ||
| HR Cloud6Primarily HRIS software; PTO tracking module is secondary | Not scored | Not disclosed | Quote only | iOS, Android |
Not disclosed = the vendor doesn’t publish it.
Pricing at a glance
Monthly list cost from each vendor’s published base and per-employee prices, before discounts.
10 employees
$40–$190/mo
Median $115/mo
Published list prices of 2 products at 10 employees
50 employees
$200–$470/mo
Median $335/mo
Published list prices of 2 products at 50 employees
200 employees
$800–$1,520/mo
Median $1,160/mo
Published list prices of 2 products at 200 employees
How the 4 pricing models work
- Per employee per month
- The standard model, charged per active employee.
- Free tier
- Limited free plans for small teams, usually with basic accrual and calendar features.
- Bundled with HRIS
- Included in HR, payroll or time-tracking subscriptions, with depth varying by tier.
- Base fee + per employee1 of 4 products
- A platform fee plus a per-employee fee for leave case management products.
How to choose PTO & leave management software
6 criteria · Requirements by company size · 5 red flags
A PTO tool is only useful if balances are right. Evaluate how it models your policies and how it hands data to payroll.
Bring your actual policy documents to the demo and ask the vendor to configure them live.
Accrual rule flexibility
Policies vary by tenure, hours worked, carryover, caps and waiting periods, and rigid rules force workarounds.
Policy variation by group and location
State and local rules differ, and so do company policies by role.
Payroll and HRIS sync
Balances and paid time off must reach payroll correctly or pay is wrong.
Statutory leave tracking
FMLA eligibility and the 12-workweek entitlement must be tracked with documentation.
Approval workflow and coverage visibility
Managers need to see who else is out before they decide.
Time clock and scheduling integration
Hourly workforces need time off reflected in schedules and hours.
Requirements by company size
Small businesses
- Simple accrual setup and a team calendar
- Payroll sync or clean export
- Mobile requests
Watch out for
- Paying for statutory leave modules you do not need
- Rigid accrual rules
- Per-user pricing that includes non-employees
Mid-sized companies
- Multiple policies by group and location
- FMLA tracking for eligible employees
- Integration with HRIS, payroll and scheduling
Watch out for
- Manual balance adjustments with no audit trail
- Alert noise without ownership
- Reports finance cannot reconcile
Enterprises
- Complex policy rules across entities and jurisdictions
- Leave case management with documentation
- Configurable approvals and reporting
Watch out for
- Custom accrual logic priced as services
- Slow policy changes
- Weak integration with global or multi-entity payroll
Red flags
- The tool cannot model your actual accrual policy without workarounds
- Balances do not sync with payroll
- No audit trail for manual balance changes
- Statutory leave is 'supported' but the vendor cannot show eligibility logic
- Pricing counts contractors or inactive users as paid seats
Popular comparisons in this category
Popular alternatives
Related subcategories
- HRIS Software
Systems of record for employee data, self-service, time off and HR workflows.
25 products ranked
- Workforce Management Software
Suites that plan, schedule, track and pay hourly and frontline labor.
16 products ranked
- Time & Attendance Software
Time clocks, timesheets and attendance rules that feed payroll.
18 products ranked
- Employee Scheduling Software
Shift schedules, availability, swaps and coverage for hourly teams.
14 products ranked
- Payroll Software
Software that calculates pay, withholds and files payroll taxes and pays employees.
22 products ranked
- Onboarding Software
New hire paperwork, tasks, training and first-day setup.
12 products ranked
- Performance Management Software
Goals, reviews, feedback and calibration for employee performance.
13 products ranked
- Leave of Absence & Accommodations
FMLA and state leave eligibility, notices, intermittent leave and ADA accommodation cases.
Learn
From the leadership library
- How to prevent burnout in the workplace: what managers can change
Prevent burnout by changing the work, not only the worker. Managers control much of what causes it: unfair treatment, unmanageable workload, unclear communication, lack of support and time pressure.
Frequently asked questions
What is PTO tracking software?
PTO tracking software records time-off balances, applies accrual rules, routes requests to approvers and shows team availability. Leave management tools add tracking for statutory leave and documentation, and sync balances with payroll and scheduling.
Do I need PTO tracking software?
You do when spreadsheets cause balance disputes, policies differ by group or location, or you must administer FMLA. A very small team with one simple policy can often manage with a shared calendar.
What is the difference between PTO tracking and leave management?
PTO tracking covers accrued paid time off and requests. Leave management adds protected and statutory leave, such as FMLA, with eligibility rules, notices and case documentation. Employers with 50 or more employees often need both.
Who is eligible for FMLA leave?
Employees who have worked for a covered employer at least 12 months, have at least 1,250 hours in the prior 12 months, and work at a site with 50 or more employees within 75 miles. Eligible employees may take up to 12 workweeks.
PTO tracking software vs HRIS: which do I need?
Many HRIS products include basic PTO. A standalone tool makes sense when policies are complex, you need statutory leave tracking or you use an HRIS without leave depth. Check accrual flexibility before paying for a separate tool.
Which PTO & leave management platforms in our ranking integrate with Microsoft Teams?
Microsoft Teams, listed by 2 of the 4 PTO & leave management platforms in our ranking: HR Cloud and Zoho People.
How we research
Ranked by the LeadChange Score, computed only from verified facts: capability coverage (30%), pricing and value (20%), integrations and API (15%), security (15%), fit and support (10%) and data confidence (10%), times a category fit. Products with too few verified facts are not scored yet and come last. Payment never changes a score or a position.
Facts, not impressions · Missing data is never assumed · Independent of revenue
Facts, not impressions
Every input is a fact verified against vendors’ official documentation, with the date we last checked it.
Missing data is never assumed
Unverified items are left out of the score and lower its coverage; below 60% coverage a product is not scored yet.
Independent of revenue
Rankings never depend on whether a vendor pays us.
How this page was made
What it is built from
21 verified facts, each checked against the vendor's own pages or another primary source, most recently on Oct 24, 2026.
Method
Scored and compared with the LeadChange methodology, version 1.3. Read the methodology
Independent review
Not reviewed yet by our independent reviewer. How we review
Hands-on testing
We have not tested these products hands-on: this page uses public information only.
Who made it
The LeadChange Research Team, following a written research process. No named expert has reviewed this page. About us
Independence and errors
Who pays us never changes a score or a rank. If something here is wrong, tell us and we correct it publicly. Request a correction
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Sources
The 15 pages this page's facts come from, with the day we last checked each one. The numbers beside the figures above link here.
Quotes from the sources
- Zoho Corporation · checked Oct 24, 2026 zoho.com/people/zohopeople-pricing.html“ESSENTIAL HR US$3 US$3 /user/month billed annually” “After you sign up for the trial of your selected plan, you can access all the plan features free for 30 days.”
- Zoho · checked Oct 24, 2026 zoho.com/compliance.html“Zoho is SOC 2 Type 2 compliant.”
- OnPay · checked Oct 12, 2026 onpay.com/payroll/software/costs-pricing“Payroll Essentials $49 base + $6/worker per month” “Get started at just $49 base + $6/worker per month. No hidden fees, ever.”
- OnPay · checked Oct 12, 2026 onpay.com/security“Third-party Certification: OnPay holds third-party auditor certification with the AICPA’s SOC program and is SOC 2 Type II compliant.”
- Sling · checked Oct 13, 2026 getsling.com/pricing“Understand your labor data, pull reports for payroll, and run your business efficiently! $4.003.40 per user per month” “Customers using Premium or Business plans have the option to save 15% by paying annually.”
- HR Cloud · checked Oct 24, 2026 hrcloud.com/software-pricing-and-program-trials“HR Cloud quotes your organization based on headcount, plan and add-ons.” “HR Cloud offers a personalized demo rather than a self-serve free trial.”
- HR Cloud · checked Oct 24, 2026 hrcloud.com/soc2-data-security-compliance-protocol“keep it all away from prying eyes inside our SOC2 Type 2 compliant software solutions.”
- Zoho Corporation · checked Oct 24, 2026 zoho.com/people/api/overview.html“Forms API Cases API Timesheet API Onboarding API Announcements API Leave Tracker API Attendance API”
- Zoho Corporation · checked Oct 24, 2026 zoho.com/people/peopleapp.html“Zoho People's iOS and Android apps let employees, managers and HR executives seamlessly perform their HR activities even when they're remote.”
- OnPay · checked Oct 12, 2026 onpay.com“Get one month free”
- Sling · checked Oct 13, 2026 api.getsling.com“In order to interact with the API you need to have an authorization token”
- HR Cloud · checked Oct 24, 2026 hrcloud.com/faq“We also offer APIs for deeper integrations with custom or proprietary systems.”
- HR Cloud · checked Oct 24, 2026 hrcloud.com/employee-mobile-app“The HR Cloud® app can be easily distributed using the App Store and Google Play for fast adoption.”
- dol.gov · checked Oct 26, 2026 DOL Wage and Hour Division: Family and Medical Leave Act
- dol.gov · checked Oct 26, 2026 DOL Fact Sheet #21: Recordkeeping Requirements under the FLSA