Calamari review
Bottom line
Calamari is a cloud HR tool that covers time off, attendance, employee records, reviews, and scheduling, with each area sold as a separate module. Its clearest strength is the leave engine, which handles unlimited absence types, multi-country policies, and detailed approval flows. Buyers should budget carefully, since there is no free plan, the trial lasts 14 days, and SAML is an extra cost. It fits distributed or hybrid companies that want leave and time tracking tied closely to Slack, Teams, or Google.
What is Calamari?
Calamari is an HR platform built around leave management, time and attendance tracking, employee records, performance reviews, and shift scheduling. It targets teams that still handle time-off requests through email and spreadsheets and want those workflows in one online system. Each area is sold as a module, so a company can start with a single one, such as time off tracking.
Day to day, employees submit absence requests online and view an overview calendar showing who is out. Requests move through multi-step approval flows, with back-up approvers covering for a manager's absence and reminders for pending requests. Employees can clock in and out from the web, a kiosk app that uses QR codes or NFC cards, the iOS or Android app with GPS location, or from Slack and Microsoft Teams. Managers receive alerts for late arrivals and for team members who have not finished a workday, and reports can be exported to Excel.
Calamari serves small and mid-sized businesses, enterprises, and distributed teams, and the company states it has worked with clients in more than 100 countries. Pricing is calculated per employee and per module, and subscriptions can be billed yearly or monthly. A 14-day free trial is available without a credit card. The company describes onboarding as usually taking three to five days.
What sets the product apart in this category is the depth of its leave rules and its integrations. The restrictions engine can cap absence length, require a set notice period, block requests on chosen weekdays, and prevent absences from overlapping within a team. It also supports unlimited absence types and multi-country holiday calendars. Calamari connects with Slack, Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, Jira, Asana, and Basecamp, and it offers a REST API for custom integrations.
Who it's for
- Remote-first SaaS companies
- Hybrid teams with complex leave policies
- Shift-based and mixed workforces
Who should look elsewhere
- Teams that need a permanent free plan
- Buyers who want AI performance features available now
Typical uses
- Tracking unlimited PTO policies for a distributed team
- Clocking in field staff with GPS on mobile
- Publishing weekly shift schedules by role
- Running 360 degree performance reviews
- Requiring notice periods and weekday limits on time off
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Calamari alternatives and comparisons
Calamari is the only leave management system product we list so far. Browse the category as more are added.