For most UK SMEs, Book Time Off is the right pick · £1 per user per month flat, no Pro tier, no upgrade path, no features you won't use. Leave Dates wins only if the lowest headline price is your priority and you will pay annually. Timetastic is worth its price only if you genuinely need wellbeing analytics · otherwise you are paying 20 to 100% more for the same job.
The real question to ask first
Almost every comparison article on this topic asks the wrong question. They line three tools up, list every feature each one has, and assume more features are always better. That assumption is wrong for leave management.
The right question is this: do you actually need a platform, or do you just need a wallchart?
If you run a UK SME with somewhere between 5 and 100 employees, what you actually need is straightforward:
- A view of who is off this week and next
- A way for staff to request time off and managers to approve it
- A balance of days remaining for each person, so nobody overbooks
- UK bank holidays handled automatically, with the right region per team member
- Maybe half-days, maybe a few extra leave types like sickness or compassionate
That is the entire job for the vast majority of UK SMEs. Anything beyond that · burnout dashboards, hierarchical departments, public APIs, multi-policy departmental rules, custom approval matrices · is paid-for noise unless you have a specific reason to want it.
Once you accept that frame, the three-way comparison gets simple: which of these tools does the basic job well, at the lowest price, with the least friction? The honest answer is Book Time Off, and we are going to spend the rest of this article explaining why.
Our recommendation up front
Book Time Off · £1 per user per month
One plan. The cheapest paid option of the three. No standard vs Pro decision, no contract minimum, 30-day free trial with no card required. Calendar and wallchart views, custom allowances per person, custom leave types, UK bank holidays loaded automatically from the GOV.UK feed, half-day bookings, one-click email approvals, departments with max-absent limits.
Why pick this: for the simple case (most UK SMEs), it does the job at the lowest price with the least amount of admin overhead. You can have your team set up and booking leave in under 30 minutes.
The other two have their place · we set out exactly when below. But unless you fit one of those specific cases, you are paying more for things you won't use.
The pricing math at three team sizes
Per-user pricing is easy to misread. Here is what each tool actually costs at common UK SME team sizes, based on published rates as of May 2026. Currency note: Leave Dates publishes tiered pricing in sterling from £0.75 per user per month on annual billing; Timetastic and Book Time Off publish flat sterling rates.
Side-by-side comparison table
The features that come up most often when teams are choosing between the three. Book Time Off in the first column.
| Feature | Book Time Off | Leave Dates | Timetastic |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cheapest paid plan | £1 per user / month | ~£1 per user / month | £1.20 per user / month |
| Single flat plan (no upgrade tier) | Yes | No (free + paid) | No (Standard + Pro) |
| Free trial (no card needed) | 30-day trial | 30-day trial | 30-day trial |
| Wallchart view | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Calendar view | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Custom allowances per person | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Custom leave types | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| UK bank holidays auto-loaded | Yes (GOV.UK feed) | Yes (100+ countries) | Yes (250+ countries) |
| Half-day bookings | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Departments & max-absent limits | Yes | Yes | Departments yes, limits less obvious |
| One-click email approvals | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Timetastic import | Yes (built in) | Generic CSV | n/a |
| Setup time (5-person team) | ~10 minutes | ~30 minutes (more options) | ~20 minutes |
| Wellbeing / burnout analytics | No (by choice) | No | Yes (Pro only) |
| Native mobile app | Mobile-friendly web | iOS & Android | iOS & Android |
| Public API | No | Yes | Yes |
The honest read: the core leave-tracking job is the same across all three. Book Time Off is cheapest, simplest to set up, and has built-in Timetastic import for switchers. The features the other two add (mobile apps, wellbeing analytics, public APIs) are real but only earn their keep if you actually use them.
Book Time Off in depth
Book Time Off was built around one belief: most UK SMEs need a working wallchart, not a platform. The whole product is shaped by that · one plan, one price, no Pro tier dangling more features above you, no migration path you have to think about as you grow.
Why this is the right pick
- One price, no decisions. £1 per user per month flat. You don't have to evaluate Standard vs Pro, you don't have to predict which features you'll need in two years, you don't have to worry about being upsold. Sign up and use it.
- Cheapest of the three for paid teams. Same price as Leave Dates' paid plan, 17% cheaper than Timetastic Standard, 50% cheaper than Timetastic Pro. The savings are real money: £180 to £600 a year for typical SME team sizes.
- Wallchart-first design. The team view is the home screen, not buried under menus. You see who's off this week the moment you log in.
- UK bank holidays from the source. We pull directly from the GOV.UK feed for England & Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland; bank holidays never come out of anyone's allowance.
- Custom allowances per person, custom leave types. Set 22 days for a part-timer, 28 for a senior, separate balances for sick or compassionate leave, all visible on the same view.
- Built-in Timetastic import. If you're leaving Timetastic, the export-import path is a documented, supported workflow rather than a generic CSV upload.
- 30 days, no card required. Try the entire product before you put any payment details in. If it doesn't fit, you don't do anything.
The honest trade-offs
- No native mobile app yet. The web app is mobile-friendly and works fine on a phone, but if your team needs an Android or iOS app on their home screen specifically, Timetastic and Leave Dates have native apps.
- No public API or Slack/Teams integration. If you need to wire leave data into Slack, Teams, or other systems via webhooks or API, Leave Dates is stronger here.
- No wellbeing analytics. No burnout boards, no absence-trend dashboards. We don't plan to add them · we believe most SMEs don't need a dashboard to know who is overworked.
- One leave-year-start per company. Most SMEs have a single leave year (April or January). If you genuinely need different leave-year start dates per employee, Leave Dates handles that.
- Newest of the three. Smaller user base than Timetastic. The trade-off is responsiveness · we typically reply to support emails the same working day, and we're still small enough to ship requested features quickly.
Leave Dates in depth
Where it wins
- The lowest headline price. From £0.75 per user per month on the annual Starter tier (£1 monthly), with a 30-day free trial and no card. If price is your single deciding factor, this is the cheapest on paper.
- Multiple leave-year start dates per employee. Useful for unusual setups where different staff joined on different historic anniversaries.
- Public API and Zapier. If you want to pipe leave data into Slack, Teams or other systems, Leave Dates exposes the hooks.
Where it falls short for most SMEs
- The lowest rate needs annual commitment. On monthly billing it is £1, the same as Book Time Off, and the planner carries more configuration overhead.
- Configurability becomes complexity. Multiple G2 and Capterra reviewers describe it as "a bit limited in customization" and "feels heavier than necessary for simple teams". Powerful if you need it, slow setup if you don't.
- Pricing in dollars. Despite being UK-based, paid pricing is quoted in USD · your monthly bill moves with the exchange rate.
- No flat single-tier plan. The two-tier free/paid structure means you have to think about migration the moment you cross 5 people.
Timetastic in depth
Where it wins
- The most refined UX. Thirteen years of iteration shows. It is the most polished of the three and reviews consistently rank it highly.
- Pro tier wellbeing features. The burnout board flags employees who haven't taken enough leave; absence trends show patterns over time. If your business takes wellbeing reporting seriously, this is genuinely useful.
- Native mobile apps. Strongest mobile experience of the three with strong app store ratings.
- Charity / NHS discounts. 50% off for registered charities, certified B Corporations, Fair Tax Mark holders, 1% for the Planet members and NHS Trusts. If you qualify, the price advantage flips.
Why it's the wrong pick for most SMEs
- It is the most expensive of the three. Standard is £1.20 (20% more than Book Time Off). Pro is £2 (100% more). Over a year, a 15-person team on Pro pays £360 vs £180 with us.
- Most of the differentiated features sit in Pro. So you either pay the Pro premium or pay Standard for what is essentially the same job another tool does cheaper.
- You probably won't use the wellbeing analytics. They sound useful but most SMEs already know who is overworked · they don't need a dashboard for it. If you won't look at the burnout board monthly, the Pro premium isn't earning its keep.
- Departments are flat, not hierarchical. Some multi-entity reviewers note this is a real limit for them.
Switching to Book Time Off
If you're currently on Timetastic, Leave Dates or a spreadsheet, the move to Book Time Off is straightforward. Here is the realistic path:
Sign up for the 30-day trial · no card needed
Trial is the full product. You can put your whole team in, configure everything, and book real leave during the trial. If you decide it's not for you at any point in those 30 days, nothing happens · we don't auto-charge.
Import your team (Timetastic export supported directly)
If you're leaving Timetastic, download your full-organisation export and upload that one file · the format is supported directly, so people, allowances and starting balances come across together. Coming from Leave Dates or a spreadsheet, add your people by invite and set each allowance once. Either way you are live in minutes.
Cut over at the start of a leave year (cleanest) or mid-year (still fine)
The cleanest cutover is on 1 April or 1 January when allowances reset anyway. If you're mid-year, just enter each person's remaining balance as their starting allowance, and only re-enter the still-future approved bookings. Past leave doesn't need to come across.
Tell the team there's a new tool, send the magic link
Each team member gets a link to set their password and log in. The interface is simple enough that most people figure it out without training · book leave, see the team wallchart, see your balance.
For broader context on switching, our Timetastic alternatives comparison covers the migration question from another angle, our BreatheHR alternatives guide covers the case where you're moving down from a full HR suite, and our Excel vs leave management software comparison covers when staying on a spreadsheet is genuinely the right call.
FAQ
Which is the cheapest of the three?
Leave Dates' annual Starter is the lowest headline price, from £0.75 per user per month. Book Time Off is £1 per user per month flat · simpler, with no tiers, no upgrade path and no annual lock-in, and 17% cheaper than Timetastic Standard (£1.20) and 50% cheaper than Timetastic Pro (£2).
Why pick a simpler tool over a more configurable one?
Most UK SMEs only need to know who is off, who is in, and how many days everyone has left. Configurable tools let you set up multiple leave policies, hierarchical departments and complex approval workflows · but if you don't actually need those features, they slow setup down and create more places to misconfigure things. The simpler the tool, the faster everyone learns it and the less time you spend in the admin panel.
Do I really need wellbeing analytics like Timetastic Pro's burnout board?
Almost certainly no. Wellbeing analytics are useful in the abstract but most SMEs already know who is overworked · you don't need a dashboard to tell you. Timetastic Pro adds about 60-100% to the bill in exchange for these features. Unless wellbeing analytics is going to be a regular part of how you manage people, the standard tier or a simpler tool gives you the same outcome at a fraction of the cost.
Can I import my data from one of these tools to another?
All three make it quick to bring your team across. Book Time Off has a documented Timetastic import flow (it reads the Timetastic full-organisation export), which is the smoothest single migration path between any two of the three tools. Historic leave data is harder to migrate cleanly across any leave tool, so most teams cut over at the start of a new leave year.
Which is best for a 10-person team?
Book Time Off at £1 per user per month, £10 a month total. Leave Dates is from £7.50 a month for 10 on its annual Starter tier (£10 monthly). Timetastic Standard is £12 a month, Pro is £20. Unless you specifically need the configurability of Leave Dates or the wellbeing features of Timetastic Pro, you are paying for things a 10-person team won't use.
Is Book Time Off too new to trust?
Book Time Off is the newest of the three but is operated by an established UK business (BDI Resourcing Ltd, based in Bristol) rather than an unproven startup. The trade-off you get for picking the newer tool is responsiveness · we typically reply to support emails the same working day, and we are still small enough to ship requested features quickly. The 30-day free trial with no card means you can try the whole product before committing.
Sources
Pricing and feature claims are taken from the products' own published pricing pages and from independent review aggregators. Last verified May 2026.
| Source | Used for |
|---|---|
| Timetastic pricing page | Standard and Pro plan rates, free trial terms |
| Leave Dates product page | Feature set, integrations, current pricing tiers |
| Capterra Timetastic listing | User base, review trends, feature parity |
| Capterra Leave Dates listing | Review trends, feature confirmation |
| G2 Leave Dates reviews | Configuration depth, customer use cases |
| FitSmallBusiness leave management review | Leave Dates current pricing tiers |
| Tekpon Timetastic review | Standard vs Pro feature breakdown |